New XStreet, New Problems

It wasn't that long ago that The Lab announced a revamp of the Web-based Second Life® shopping service, XStreetSL (Web). It is now called Second Life Marketplace and it looks pretty much like the previews we were given. No "live" previews that I could find, though hints were given that one could see it early. If I had learned earlier than today that my Favorites, Rated/Unrated Items, and Wish List items would be gone with the revamp, I would have complained at the time. Now I'm looking for a place to bring this to someone's attention though I'm sure the typical Deaf Ear that The Lab is famous for having will be turned. I should have known something was up when the Purchase as Gift option stopped working a month ago.

My Favorites was a great way to quickly access frequently purchased items and to think about possible purchases. Now I have to search for them all again and likely bookmark them in my browser. Or, I could just Landmark the store, buy the items in-world, and tell The Lab "screw you and your commission". Not as convenient, but there is a satisfaction factor.

Rated/Unrated Items was also a great way to track my purchases. I loved giving feedback and, with one exception (see here), helped good relations with many merchants. Maybe I'll be able to rate items I purchase in the new design. The Reviews feature is not available at this time and for the items I've checked, all my ratings and comments from previous purchases are gone.

Wish List? How little I knew ye. I seldom used it but I was making an effort. It was a nusiance but I wanted to use it. Really. There seems to be a new Wish List, non-functional at the moment, but I can't find my old one.

The good news? The design looks nice, many features seem to be merchant-friendly, and the search/sort features remind me of shopping at Amazon.com, though a friend of mine says the new layout is a clone of the shopping area for the game The Sims (Web). I don't see it. Not enough positives for me, however, to make up for the losses, especially with The Lab's recent changes that log my out of all the Web pages tied to SecondLife.com if I'm idle for a few minutes.