Showing posts with label Tester. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tester. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

The Disappearing Grid

Standing security watch at the Isle of Lesbos means I get to see plenty of pretty girls but I also see plenty of Tester bots (Web). When one appears it is a sure sign to check the Grid Status Reports (Web). Many recent reports are about region visibility issues, something that the Isle has long complained about with little attention and no remedy. From the main entrance of Lesbos three of the six regions can easily be seen so when they "turn off" it is very obvious. What is really happening is that it is the Isle itself, more often than not, that disconnects. The Minimap flickers red indicating a change and in an instant the other regions disappear or appear from view. Teleports work to them but teleports back are hit or miss.

The other night I teleported to the mall region to check on it while it was gone from view then teleported back. I could see the Isle from the mall so thought nothing was wrong. But once again my avie got stuck (Web). I saw myself on the Isle but I couldn't stand on the ground without sinking. And while others could see my chat as if I was on the Isle, I saw chat as if I was on the mall. In effect, my camera moved to the Isle with my body but my actual presence was still in the mall. Eventually my two halves snapped back together, but it was annoying.

And I imagine it is playing havoc with traffic numbers and in-world commerce. Despite assurances that teleports aren't affected, I often hear from others that they couldn't directly access the Isle but had to pass through an adjacent region. While grid stability is vastly improved over the last two years it is clear that more work is needed.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Tester Bots are Really Gorgeous

Many moon ago some Lab "grid monkeys" started to regularly visit the Isle of Lesbos. Coming on the heels of a torrent of visits from bots run by a now defunct art community we figured that Performance* Tester (where* is a number; all avies with the last name Tester are Lab-operated) was just another invasion. All were the basic male avie, often wearing a popgun. So we ejected and banned them.

Then I had a conversation with the Linden behind the bots and found out the purpose of the visits. We stopped ejecting and banning the bots and actually use them as a bell-weather for grid performance. And per my suggestion, the avie was changed from a male form to something in a marked box so as to not raise the ire of those not tolerant of noob men. Later when gray "Ruth" avies were replaced with amorphous clouds the Tester series was made to stick to a cloud form.

Or were they? I was in a shop the other day when, despite the region being at capacity 99.99% of the time, a Tester showed up and triggered the Profile Pic Greeter. I looked up and saw this beautiful woman. "Hmmf," I thought. "Performance5 is never this hot when he .. erm .. she .. is on Lesbos!" I'm sure it was really a combination of lag and the lack of a profile pic for any Tester (except Torley Tester). But I think if the Lab would take time to make all their bots look like this woman, I'm sure she'd be welcome anywhere.