I told you so!

I don't normally indulge in "I told you so", but this time I'm going to make an exception, because it just feels too good.

Today, Nyx Linden announced, in a posting to the TPV Developers mailing list, that the tentative date for the start of the rollout of server-side baking has been set for July 9. The date is subject to change if showstopper bugs are found, and there will be another round of testing, but in Nyx's words,

Please consider this an official warning that this is imminent - We've been saying for a while that we're getting ready for release. We hope with a solid date in mind, all viewers can start messaging to their users that they will need to update or they will start to see issues. 

As you should know by now, once SSB rolls out, old viewers will only see other avatars as clouds, and new viewers will likewise only see users on old viewers as gray. In short, your SL will be significantly restricted. We've warned you this day is coming, and it's finally here.

I've been saying for quite a long time that LL would do something that would render old viewers unusable. What I thought would be it turned out not to be, but I knew that someday they would do so. They would inevitably get to a point where they were going to have to make a choice between preserving compatibility and advancing the platform. When that choice came, they would do what would be needed to advance the platform.

This is that something.

I've been telling folks about this ever since we started working on Firestorm. I knew that, at some point, Firestorm would be the future-proofed solution for access to Second Life for folks who think that Viewer 3 does not fail to suck.

Guess what? I was right all along.

Yes, I told you so. Nyah nyah nannie nannie boo boo. And here, have a side order of neener neener, too.

To the folks out there who have been accusing me of lying whenever I bring this up (yes, Archangel Mortenwold, I'm looking at you, you hopeless sack of male bovine exhaust): I don't lie. I calls 'em as I sees 'em. I saw this day coming. I warned you about it. You said I was lying. I wasn't. Now pull your head out of your ass and update your viewer. I told you you were going to have to, years ago.

To the rest of you, you now have a deadline. Upgrade your viewer to something that supports server side baking - and your hardware, if you're running something that won't handle a modern viewer - or leave SL. The choice is just that simple.