Reply to comment

After recently passing the 1 year mark in Second Life and having immersed in it, it is interesting to consider what other people see when they check out [w:Second Life]. This is especially true in the context of Second Life's 4th Anniversary - which is today.

On reading Getting A Second Life by one such person - there are some points which keep resurfacing. Sure, we can say he doesn't know what there is to do or whatever else - but these are observations by someone from an alien culture. The Carbon Culture, where real life forms congregate. Second Lifers are the Silicon Culture. If you're a silicon based life form, you'll know who you are.

Some quotes:

...When Linden Labs set up Second Life, they had a vision of a William Gibson style cyberspace, with people flying around in 3D conducting business. So they set up their digital world as a free market, with its own currency, exchangeable for real money. Unlike the real world, however, land in Second Life isn’t purchasable; instead, you have to rent it.

This has had an unfortunate effect on the virtual world. If you want to build any kind of building, you need land. If you want land, you need to pay for it with Linden dollars. So you need an ongoing source of Linden dollars, or you need to spend real money. Hence, about half the buildings in Second Life seem to be either strip malls or casinos...

Arguably true. On the mainland, specifically, it's a mess as everyone tries to make their 512 m² plot the center of the [w:metaverse], high powered finance in an economy with an exchange rate not far removed from Costa Rica. As the author of Making Your Mark in Second Life: Business, Land, and Money, I know I'm not responsible for strip malls or casinos... I would never suggest either as a reasonable source of income. I'd hope that people would be more creative, but the apparent truth which cannot be denied is that the original minds in Second Life are grossly outnumbered.

A tourist visits, they see strip malls and casinos. Amusingly, that is what most tourists see in any country that they visit... perhaps a SecondLife tourist board is in order? A thought... Not a very good thought, but amusing.

Returning to the entry:

...Sadly, the quality of 3D objects is additionally limited by the fact that everything has to be built inside the game; there are no proper 3D tools, and you can’t (say) construct something with Google’s SketchUp and import it into Second Life.

So, if 95% of the population can’t afford land, can’t work out how to make things, and eventually get bored with watching pixels dance in a nightclub, what does everyone do? Well, mostly Second Life is a giant chat system. It’s IRC with 3D graphics. There’s nothing wrong with that per se, but it seems such a waste of a 3D rendering engine. And in practice, the 3D doesn’t really add much to the IRC experience...

Dead on, except now with the advent of sculpties one can import primitives - one piece at a time. Maybe it is a step in the right direction, maybe not, who knows. I don't where the '95%' came from - 98.127% of statistics are made up on the spot - but the IRC point is valid. And just think, people will be able to voice chat too - a real bonus where unoriginal minds are in the apparent majority (according to some tourists). Windlight technology will make it really snappy as an IRC client, perhaps.

Is this guy wrong? He's hitting the nail on the head on a few things. Go ahead, clear your head and read what he has to say with an open mind, and spend a few moments considering it. Obviously, many of us feel differently about Second Life - but can you put your finger on what makes you feel differently?