Within the last 24 hours, we've been getting widespread reports of Second Life instant-messages suddenly being delivered weeks after they were originally sent. Initially it seemed to be a single burst of such messages that were unclogged from some creaking subsystem and delivered in a bunch, but it seems not to be the case.

We've experienced this ourselves over the last day now, with messages suddenly popping out of the Second Life grid, as if they were fresh and new. Initially it seemed that it was messages that had gone undelivered in the last five weeks, but we've just seen two that were originally sent, and apparently remained undelivered for over six months.

In many cases there's very little to distinguish the delayed messages from messages that are fresh and new, and it is causing considerable confusion, as more of these formerly undelivered messages continue to emerge from the system in no chronological order. For organizations and businesses the confusion ranges from relatively mild non-sequiturs to disruptive chaos.

Worse still, this-morning we are getting reports of some of these delinquent IMs reaching people other than the original recipients, though how this could be happening is not yet clear. If that really is the case, then that's a matter for serious concern.

How long have all of these messages languished in the system? How is it that they're suddenly erupting from their obscure tombs and crypts seeking the delivery that has long been denied to them? Is this something we should come to routinely expect?

Linden Lab hasn't issued a full comment at this time, but has indicated that the cause of the issue is presently unknown and that it is being investigated.


This article was originally published on Massively.
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