Received Items: LL provide feedback

On March 1st, due to the level of concern arising from the initial beta, LL put out a call  for feedback in the form of a short survey (now closed). This weekend they provided feedback to those who participated in the survey in the form of a proposal on how the new functionality might be improved and a further request for people’s views on the proposal itself.

The notice of feedback came through a notecard from Brooke Linden which was delivered in-world via Dakota Linden. The notecard reads:

Hi all,

We’d like to thank you for your feedback on the use of the Received Items folder. Based upon the feedback, we have pulled together a similar, but hopefully improved, proposal. Please take a look and provide feedback.

After which there are links to the proposal and an additional survey.

The proposal offers the promise of some improved functionality over the initial beta, including:

  • Context-sensitive menus within Received Items that allow you move specific asset types directly to their system folder OR to the Objects folder (so that notecards can be moved directly to the Notecards folder, landmarks directly to the Landmarks folder, etc.), without the need to drag-and-drop manually
  • Selecting multiple items (as opposed to folders) within Received Items will display a similar context menu allowing the items to be moved to an appropriate folder or to the Objects folder
  • Selecting multiple folders will display a menu presenting options to move the folders either to the Objects folder or you MY INVENTORY root folder
  • The promise to “fix” current issue around offline delivery problems through the use of the Received Items folder.

There are a number of other changes outlined, some of which LL are requesting specific feedback against (for example: they are proposing capping the number of items a resident can receive in an hour to prevent the system being used for griefing, and they are looking for suggestions as to a reasonable number at which to cap hourly deliveries), as well as instigating measure that are presumably aimed at getting people to manage Received Items: such as blocking the ability to rez items directly from the panel (which may actually become a floater in its own right).

Overall, the proposal is a step forward compared to the initial beta system, but it is unlikely to address all concerns – which is why open feedback via the JIRA and on blogs / the SL forum relating to specific concerns remains important. However, what is being offered in terms of context menus, the ability to search (and hopefully sort) Received Items does make the idea something of a stronger offering, and if the system does solve issues around failed deliveries, etc., then that alone might well outweigh some of the shortcoming people might otherwise feel the system has – although there are still potential problems that need to be addressed.

It will be interesting to see how the RI project develops, and whether there are further revisions based on the feedback given to the new survey – and whether all the ideas outlined in the proposal are implemented. However, what is really important within this process is the fact that LL are demonstrating a willingness to pro-actively engage with the community and seek solutions where a fundamental change in the way most people work with SL is seen to be counter-intuitive to the ways in which people use the platform, or which seemingly fails to offer any significant advantages over current capabilities – and this is to be applauded.

8 thoughts on “Received Items: LL provide feedback

  1. Oz said that they reversed the decision, but it appears that reversal was reversed again See comments on http://dwellonit.taterunino.net/2012/03/11/poll-second-lifes-new-received-items-folder-feature-love-or-loathe/

    UPDATE: According to subsequent communications from Linden Lab, Lab developers were unable to get the feature to function as promised. Instead, all inventory transfers, in-world purchases, or marketplace purchases – anything sent to your account from any source – will wind up in the Received Items folder.

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    1. Not sure of the point you’re making.

      That Received Items has been intended for all items isn’t new news. It’s been that way since the beta was announced – that’s what got people concerned in the first place – the fact it goes well beyond Direct Delivery.

      Since then, as stated in this piece, LL requested feedback from users on the overall use of Received Items in this manner.

      This weekend, as per this post, they’ve supplied feedback on the feedback, so to speak, in the form of a revised proposal. As such, I don’t see anything in Tateru’s post, other than an update to reflect the actual beta situation as it was, that changes anything to do with LL’s revised proposal and their follow-up survey on the proposal itself.

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      1. Oz Linden said that they’re rolling out Direct Delivery on the whole grid March 21st. I’m uncertain if that means that ‘Received Items’ thing is getting rollout with that. First they said that they’re backing off from ‘Received Items’ for now, but I’ve heard other say that they were unable to separate marketplace deliveries from regular in-world inventory offers so everything goes to ‘Received Items’.

        If that is the case, it’s really a bad thing. ‘Received Items’ doesn’t allow much to be done there. You cannot rez or wear from it. Imagine the following scenario. You go and buy a new outfit. The vendor delivers a boxed item. It gets stuffed in ‘Received Items’ so you cannot rez it from there. First you move it to Objects or somewhere else. Then you rez it and the unpacker script gives you folder with your outfit. You still cannot use it. So some more inventory shuffling is required to move the new folder somewhere else, and then finally you can wear your new outfit. This sounds to me like a much worse user experience than the one we have today.

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        1. I can’t comment on the March 21st DD roll-out date, as I’ve not heard anything.

          It may be that Received Items grew out of the fact that LL are unable to separate-out SLM deliveries from whatever else is inbound to inventories, but it doesn’t change the fact that LL appear to regard Received Items as a “separate” project from DD – hence the beta launch last month. It is, however, interesting to get this context on both projects and adds weight to user concerns that DD and RI amount to an awful lot of rocking the boat for what amounts to very few appreciable benefits.

          The example you raise is something that has been one of many concerns people have been voicing since getting the opportunity to test things on Aditi. Hence the request from LL further feedback at the time (March 1st). While the new proposal doesn’t solve all issues and problems, it is a attempt to offer a means to improve inventory handling within the new system. In that respect, the fact that LL are trying to engage with / respond to users concerns is something I feel should itself be acknowledged & encouraged, even if I’m personally no fan of Received Items itself.

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