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'Second Life' aims to become the world of tomorrow

rit.edu — An increasing number of people are ditching their jobs in the real world to make a living entirely online within Second Life ’s virtual economy—making thousands of U.S. dollars selling designs, developing virtual property or creating virtual market branches to offer real products.

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  • upick, on 05/17/2008, -16/+8this site is scary! it attempts to make you want to live on the internet!

    People should stay away and get a real job or at a real life??? Don't you reckon?
    • Jexie, on 05/17/2008, -0/+5I reckon people should do what they want to do, not what you think they should do.
  • psogle, on 05/17/2008, -6/+32I love the internet but I still don't get Second Life - that being said maybe I need to dip in there and try to make a few $
    • SirPopper, on 05/17/2008, -2/+2Hm, I hope I will never go there. It could be that this is the new cyber live, but there are other options for this.
      I thought that second life is more for teenager than for adults, isn't it?
    • KirbyMeister, on 05/17/2008, -4/+5Don't. Second Life, as implemented by Linden Lab, sucks. The orientation sucks, the building could be better, the graphics are relatively demanding, etc. Not to mention the asset server or inventory server could hiccup and lose all your items for a few hours. And that component breaks on a fairly regular basis, too.

      However, if you just want to dick around in a virtual world, you can make your own virtual-world grid with OpenSim and connect to it with the normal LL viewer.
      • dOOBiEx213, on 05/17/2008, -3/+2"the graphics are relatively demanding"
        Ditch the Mac if they're too "demanding." Those graphics are worse than pong...the only reason I don't install that *****.
    • JettaMan, on 05/17/2008, -0/+7Somehow I doubt Second Life is the ticket to being a millionaire. You *might* make enough money to scrape buy with rent and eating Cheerios all day unless you can think of something truly revolutionary that can't be copied easily.
  • davecskul, on 05/17/2008, -12/+5For porno guys that is. Fact: The porn industry has invaded Second Life. People that need a virtual world to live out their fantasies need to get a life.
  • buffyangel108, on 05/17/2008, -3/+10Revenge of the Nerds. Now who's gonna be popular in high school?
    • azurechaos, on 05/17/2008, -0/+6Soon they'll be going to school through Second Life.
      • kidd3ckz, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3Well at least I'm not the only person who realizes that.

        Virtua.edu
  • CDoug03, on 05/17/2008, -9/+76Seriously, who plays Second Life? I am sure 90% of their accounts are inactive.
    • xOKxWhy, on 05/17/2008, -4/+22People who don't have a first life?
    • millertime588, on 05/17/2008, -5/+29I just don't get it. I tired it out one time and it just seemed so boring. The graphics suck, the physics suck, and things were a little buggy. The media and even college professors always act like this game is the future but I don't even know anyone who plays it.
    • robz0r, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1It's just viral.
    • pablo0713, on 05/17/2008, -11/+3CDoug, go visit their web site before you start talking about crap you have no idea about. Second Life is alive and well with over 1 million users logging on and typically 50-60K people logged in at any given time. Don't be jealous of we who are open minded to try out new things and are not the moronic type who comes here and pisses on things he/she has no understanding of.
      • DeadElephant, on 05/17/2008, -2/+11Woah chief, taking a game a bit seriously, aren't you?
      • smartass007, on 05/17/2008, -1/+550K - 60K? that's it? that's the size of an American suburb, not a virtual 'world'.

        let me know when there's a billion people online simultaneously and the 'world' has full sensory immersion and I'll check it out then.
    • azAZ09, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3"Who plays Second Life?" -- depends on your concept of "play".
      Don't start by thinking about second life as a game--a common mistake for people who play MMORPG's.
      Instead think of something like the web with mIRC back in '93-95 --a chat client with free-form graphics some anonymous social interaction for introverted geeks.
      It may not be your thing.
      Yeah, the number of participants seems somewhat exaggerated, considering the number of alts, and inactive accounts but its growth does not rely on storylines, genre's, or current technology.
  • insanebrain, on 05/17/2008, -1/+40I'm still struggling with my first life. ..
  • rodgerse, on 05/17/2008, -5/+6The game is just porn-filled random crap wich is probably the major appeal and I'm not sure how many ppl are even profitting...

    Atleast Entropia Universe is a really respectable profitable mmorpg....but is it easier/harder to win??.
    • pablo0713, on 05/17/2008, -9/+8SL is so much more than porn. Get your head out of your ass and explore SL and you'll see that I'm right. What is so great about EU? EU is a cold and harsh place. At least a newbie in SL can live their lives out with tons of freebies and not have to invest money into it like EU forces its players to do. And EU is so lame. No player built environments. It is barely a step up above a typical MMORPG with the only difference is that the player MUST pay for everything. EU is a game. SL is an environment. Big difference. A person doesn't have to mortgage off their home in real life in order to open up a club in Second Life like Neverdie had to in EU. Whereas EU has one or two people who pimp themselves out with this "you can get rich like me in EU", Second Life has hundreds and hundreds of people who routinely make a living in Second Life. As a result, Linden Labs is way more profitable than Mind Ark will ever be. You don't "win" Second Life. You participate in Second Life. SL is not a game to play but a platform to be a part of. EU is just a game.
    • FearFactory, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2EU is more like an online casino. No matter how much money you put into the game the globals and hall of fames are totally random. No matter what level you are.
  • taradisiac, on 05/17/2008, -4/+1No this is just sad. I have to admit, I've never used Second Life. I'll wait till it stops being cool.
    • nibkey, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2Dive in then man, cool it is definitely not...
    • Loonacy, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3Well I'm so anti-conformist that I'm going to do it since you won't. Yeah! That'll show you.
  • IsmailOo, on 05/17/2008, -6/+6seriously, this is pretty ***** stupid... why not just do everything face to face, you will learn some social skills, seriously.. it seems like people are getting lazier and lazier..
    • wejmahtin, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Sometimes face to face isn't that easy... The group I work in, we have one guy in Australia, one guy in London, one guy in New Zealand...
    • dazparkour, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1Dude! No! Being able to walk to the office is one of the few remaining advantages I have, if the fat people lose weight, I'll have competition!

      If people come off the internet and start talking face to face, I'll only come across as AVERAGE in an interview!
    • diptheria, on 05/17/2008, -0/+5"seriously, this is pretty ***** stupid... why not just do everything face to face, you will learn some social skills, seriously.. it seems like people are getting lazier and lazier."

      Funny you should say this on an online social exchange site like digg....
    • pablo0713, on 05/17/2008, -2/+2Then get off of Digg and stop using your telephone, email, Internet and freaking television you dumb and hypocritical person.
  • OGla, on 05/17/2008, -2/+14That's gonna be super for you resumé.
  • raydeen, on 05/17/2008, -4/+2I know of at least one educational initiative that is aiming to use SL for distance learning. I'm skeptical at best.
  • Panda200x, on 05/17/2008, -6/+1I hope they have an economic depression.
  • celotil, on 05/17/2008, -3/+11Contrary to a majority of the twelve opinions on this story at the moment, I think that anyone who can use a marketplace, virtual or real, to make a living should do so. In the context of showcasing architectural design, engineering ideas, and urban planning, 3D MUD's like Second Life are a viable tool for communicating ideas.

    However, I do have a problem with something done recently to the overall download/upload dynamics. It used to be a case that I couldn't play Second Life simply because my computer couldn't run the graphics well enough. Now it seems, even though my laptop is well capable of displaying the graphics, I still can't participate because the bandwidth requirements are suddenly above my 512Kb SDSL connection, damnit.
    • bronxelf, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2"In the context of showcasing architectural design, engineering ideas, and urban planning, 3D MUD's like Second Life are a viable tool for communicating ideas."

      Agreed, especially as it allows for easy visual communication between people in disparate locations. When you're working with 3d models representing physical space, a simple conference call just isn't going to work as well as something like this.
  • hauntedchippy, on 05/17/2008, -4/+7Despite hearing so much about this game, I've yet to meet anyone who actually plays it.
    • Typhoon2009, on 05/17/2008, -3/+4That's because they all stay at home, in the shadows (since direct sunlight is harmful to them, much like the vampire in I Am Legend).
    • bronxelf, on 05/17/2008, -2/+4Considering the reaction it appears to get, why would anyone talk about it?

      I recently got an SL account and find it to be very enjoyable. I find the 3d building tools to be clunky and not as good as the programs I use otherwise (3ds max, formZ, sketchup, etc.), but they are still valuable tools and the interface allows for excellent community involvement and interaction that you don't get in most other traditional settings. So far, people have been nice enough, and there's a strong architectural community there. Does this mean that I'm boring? Probably, but I can live with that. Does it mean my first life sucks? Sure, but I didn't need SL to tell me that- I knew that _long_ before I got an account. Does it mean I'm anti-social? Hell, I knew that YEARS ago, long before SL was a twinkle in the eye of Linden Labs.

      In the meantime, I'm learning a new way to build 3d models and interact with other people with similar interests, and that's good enough for me.

      • domokunt, on 05/17/2008, -2/+3Welcome cave dwelling troll, we are here to help you. Thanks.
        • bronxelf, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass.
    • pablo0713, on 05/17/2008, -3/+4Yep, I'm the only one I know who is in Second Life. I try to explain it to people and they just don't get it. I'll give them another five years to catch up. After all, I remember obsessively chatting pre-Internet BBS days and people thought I was a nerd. Now, the coolest of the cool endlessly text chats via their phones and IMs. So, while the majority of people out there will insult SL and the users of SL, they will come around eventually when it is "cool" enough for them to admit to using it.
      • kidd3ckz, on 05/17/2008, -2/+3Sorry. SecondLife isn't cool when it leads you to be a fat loser who still lives in ur mom's basement.

        I don't care what you're building down there.

        And I'm not just picking on you, I met total strangers who tried to show me how to "make money on secondlife" its like the same "thrill" as doing raids in WoW apparantly.

        Waste of time. Read a book.
  • sheep1220, on 05/17/2008, -6/+10Second Life - for people who don't have a first.
    • domokunt, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1Okay can we stop with the first life jokes. I mean the obviousness is just killing me.
  • o6uoq, on 05/17/2008, -4/+10http://getafirstlife.com/
  • MrZaiko, on 05/17/2008, -3/+4If it can get you laid(in real life) then I dig
  • DeathJux, on 05/17/2008, -3/+6The only Second Lifer I've known in real-life was my co-worker's wife, who was apparently cheating on him with someone in game... or something.

    My opinion of it is low.
    • pablo0713, on 05/17/2008, -4/+3Then your opinion of life must be low because people cheat on each other all the time...even without the use of a computer. Imagine that!
  • blast_flame, on 05/17/2008, -2/+1A few awesome places exist in second life such as extropia but the majority is crap.
  • RMDTech, on 05/17/2008, -5/+11Wow! So many complaints from people who have never been on Second Life. Personally I say until you've tried it you shouldn't anything bad about it. Besides there are just some things you can do on Second Life that you can't do anywhere else, that have nothing to do with sex.

    Anyway I think if you can find a way to make money, even on Second Life, you should take advantage of it.
  • maxshanly, on 05/17/2008, -6/+3Second Life = The Matrix.
    • DeadElephant, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1How much do clothes cost?
      • Jashobeam5, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Some malls have freebie sections. You can get whole outfits at no cost. I've been wandering around SL for 2 or 3 days and I have yet to see a crowd of people who are social. Mostly it's newbies or land owners. The words "money making scheme" seem to come to mind when I see the price lists and the multitude of "for rent" signs.
    • domokunt, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2With the cool sucked right the ***** out of it.
  • Typhoon2009, on 05/17/2008, -6/+5Sounds ridiculous. What happens if the site gets shut down? You lose your internet connection? Then you can't make any money. Good luck getting a job when your only achievement on your resume is "sold paintings on Second Life." It's one thing to make advertisements to put into the game, but it's another thing to let your life revolve around it. I fear the day we all become social recluses who stay at home all day playing a game. I love gaming, but even I have a certain limit.
    • Niightwitch, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3If the site gets shut down, then you have to start your Third Life.
    • pablo0713, on 05/17/2008, -2/+4Second Life is not a "site." It will never be shut down as long as there are people supporting it. You must not be from a developed country if you still believe you can "lose your Internet connection." The only way someone loses their connection is if they don't pay for it. I would think some employers would find it different and or unique to meet someone who was actually able to construct something or provide a service and profit from it in a virtual environment. Your attitude reminds me of people's attitude towards real life painters. "Painting won't make you money. Go find a real job." People get obsessed with a variety of things. Second Life can easily become an obsession but so can work, sex, games, whatever. But most ignorant people don't realize that SL is filled with so many different types of people that you have (along side of the addicted types) many successful people from real life. They have businesses, families, good lives - but they, for whatever reason, enjoy using SL. Anyway, Second Life is not a game.
    • Culyt, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1I suppose the same thing as when regular businesses go bankrupt, brought out and gutted, or people just get fired. ***** like that happens.

      I don't know too many people in the IT industry that would be fine job wise with their internet connection going down anyway.

      Besides you don't have to be on 24/7, you can make your models, put them in the store and leave for the next month while people wonder in and buy them.

      Well don't put down 'sold paintings on Second Life', put down sold digital media, and if you getting a job in media design they don't care if you sold them in Second Life anyway, its the designs they will look at.
  • rationalist, on 05/17/2008, -2/+8The only thing Linden Lab excels at is hype and dazzling the media and the occasional eager academic with their phony numbers.

    It is a barren place using bleating tech with bleak scalability offering baffling buildability for boring boors.

    Time, tech and tourmaline* have passed Second Life by like a kidney stone. They are the Hillary Clinton of virtual worlds.

    *ok, you try alliterating about alimentary angst re: Soporific Second Life.
    • pablo0713, on 05/17/2008, -3/+2Riiiiight. Well, glad to see you won't be in Second Life. :)
    • smartass007, on 05/17/2008, -2/+2you must be a fan of aleister crowley
  • Almightymole, on 05/17/2008, -3/+2Unless the implementation improves greatly, i am not going to even touch it again. Not only did i found it boring, but god dam buggy. Tried it both on Uni computers (They seem to have it installed on MS Windows on all the department, but not on SUSE.) and my own laptop. It froze the lab machines and caused my laptop to restart after a BSOD and Linux (which just sat with a blank screen).
    I will stick with first life, it has not crashed on me yet, and runs without lag.
    • pablo0713, on 05/17/2008, -3/+1Well, don't blame SL because you had crappy technology to begin with.
      • Almightymole, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1I didn't mention anything about the technology i was running on. However i do admit my laptop is on the borderline of what their client requires, so i presumed it would at least run (and be slow), not crap its self at the login screen...
  • ronaldhennessy, on 05/17/2008, -1/+24Here is an opinion from a person who has actually spent a few years (I log in from time to time, I don't spend all day in world) in SL. Basically, like the real world, making a lot of money in SL will be hard. There are VERY VERY few people who make a living in the virtual world. I can't bother doing that sort of content creation since my first life is rather busy. I just simply log in and hang out and explore the sites much like a tourist. I don't hang out in the sex regions (J.C. why do people get turned on by virtual sex?) or don't even own any land.

    The learning curve is quite steep. That is why so many people don't come back. Even with all of the tutorials available at your disposal, most people are not going to want to bother. On paper, and others like it may become the future of the web, but Linden Lab really has got to get their ***** together if they want to make that happen. Make it easy for n00bs and make it more appealing to the general audience.

    I really don't get why Second Life has become such a web 2.0. whipping boy. It seems like virtually every Digg article about this and the comments that follow tend to fall in the pessimistic territory.

    • willfe, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1"I really don't get why Second Life has become such a web 2.0. whipping boy."

      It's because of what you just outlined -- it's got a steep learning curve and you can't make "instacash" with it. There's a hell of a lot of depth to it if you spend the time to figure out how to contribute your own content (whether it's textures, meshes, objects, scripts, buildings, or writings) and some folks make decent money (not tons of money, just decent money) with it. The Web 2.0 crowd loves to take potshots at it because it's not Yet Another Shiny Web 2.0 App(tm) that runs in a browser and gets lots of VC thrown at it :)
  • GreenOne, on 05/17/2008, -7/+7Second Life is easily the most overhyped, emo-rich, bug-filled online "environment" the world has ever known. It has been plagued with "banking" disasters, lost inventory for users, IM spam, regular crashes, and is built on one of the most amazingly solipsistic premises I could possibly imagine. I participated in SL for two years, becoming increasingly irritated with its poor scalability, suspicious metrics, and incredibly unprofessional management.
    So-called "businesses" in SL are primarily concerned with selling imaginary foofery for your imaginary avatars to use on your imaginary "land", all of which you pay for in real-life cash. The learning curve is incredibly steep, and if you don't have experience with coding, your "opportunities" there are extremely limited.
    I'm also a college educator...and was interested in what SL had to offer in terms of education. I know of not a single example of some "educational" use for SL, outside of perhaps rudimentary 3-D modelling. The "business" and "marketing" educational initiatives are, at best, incredibly ineffective. They are taught in a closed system, with no built-in scarcity, and have nothing to offer in terms of real-world
    impact.
    The so-called educators working with these programs have been sold a bill of goods...and are either too proud or too stubborn to admit that they made a mistake, and thought that Second Life was the coming of Web 3.0.
    • pablo0713, on 05/17/2008, -1/+3Yes, Second Life has problems. Your first paragraph was spot on. But the rest of your diatribe simply sounds like you lacked the mental goods to appreciate and thrive in SL. SL was never initially designed to be an education tool. However, educators are exploring ways of providing education through a virtual world platform. Nobody said it was perfect or could be done easily (but then again how hard is it to gather some people in any space be it virtual or reality and start teaching?) but there are plenty of people trying to make SL be a one size fits all kinda shoe. Don't berate them because they are trying whereas you decided to give up. Second Life is a challenge to one's own intellect. Yes, you have to learn to code, design, texture, make 3D models if you want to get the most out of SL. Thankfully the steep learning curve keeps most dumb asses out.
      • GreenOne, on 05/18/2008, -0/+0Thanks for the smarmy insult. I built, coded, bought and sold land, and made machinima in Second Life for two years. The problems with the platform are, frankly the deal-killers. There isn't a single consistent frame rate for ANY users of SL. Some will say it's great and humming along at 40fps. Others have consistently spotty fps, and some have seriously low 6-12fps rates consistently.
        Losing inventory consistently, especially code-strings and objects I've created is inexcusable. Having the platform crash during presentations is inexcusable - especially when it happens during THREE repeated attempts all on separate dates and times of the day. Having the company alter the platform so that certain commands in the Linden Scripting Language no longer work, wrecking already completed projects, or those in development is also inexcusable. User and tech support is abominable, griefing is a constant problem in public areas, and the inability of LL to consistently govern their creation has been a problem since the platform went on-line.
        This mix of technical and management issues is what makes SL a completely inappropriate platform for educational use - outside of a few, very basic 3-D modeling and scripting uses.
        This says next to nothing about the fanboyish cult of personality that's grown up around SL and it's creator Phil Rosedale. At least Mac fanboys have a leg to stand on. Their hardware and software WORK.
        Second Life is nothing more than an eternal beta-test for a piece of social media that's already jumped the shark.

    • ofathens, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1dugg for 'foofery'
  • kinerry, on 05/17/2008, -2/+3you break your back harder and harder to make anything on it

    it's just not worth the time and effort
  • whomba, on 05/17/2008, -5/+1I currently attend this school and work with some of the people mentioned in this article. In my opinion there is a good idea behind this, however with all the hype and glamor that is being put out there, they must also speak of all the downfalls there are with Second Life.

    "“I fully believe this kind of technology will be the next evolution of the Internet, like the World Wide Web was after news groups,” Anthony says."
    The problem with this that if we rely to heavily on this type of technology, we are going to end up shooting ourselves in the foot. Second Life is created off of user created content, its just a matter of time before we invest to much money in Second Life then have a group of people code giant dildos to fly around the classroom till its totally un-usable.

    Personally I am against most online courses, you lack the face time that is crucial to the learning experience. Without this you truly do become just another number in the books. With Second Life its no different, there are other pieces of software that would do a much better job at online courses such as Breeze.

    All in all should any of my friends, or myself ever have an opportunity to take this class, I would say loud and say proud "Never."
    • pablo0713, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2Second Life has rules which don't allow people to fly dildos around a classroom. But, there are more open areas where one might get away with doing such a thing. Your comments are subjective. Face time isn't as important as you think it is. A smart person can learn in whatever environment they are presented with. While there may be better platforms for online education, you must remember SL was not created to be an education tool. People are exploring ways how to use it for education but it is far from perfect. I would much prefer to learn in Second Life as opposed to a web based online program because, at least through avatars AND voice chat, I can connect with people in a much more realistic way. I would even go far as to say that learning via an avatar in SL makes classes more interesting because people can hide their real identities and thus participate more in a debate or discussion.
      • whomba, on 05/18/2008, -0/+0You are right, my comments are subjective, just my opinion. You are right, a smart person can learn in any environment, they could also just read a book thus eliminating the need for school all in all. SL is not an education tool, nor should it be used as one. By your logic using avatars AND voice chat, you could meet on XBox Live, say in GTA 4 and meet there... this doesn't mean its a good idea. Personally I don't think that users should have to hide behind an avatar in classes to express their opinions. If you are concerned about hiding yourself behind an avatar, maybe you should reconsider you position on your topic.
    • Jashobeam5, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1You are against online classes? You must know your school has one of the most outstanding online grad programs in the nation. I know a recent RIT online grad, and he also thinks SL is idiotic, but he thinks it could be better. Right now it's not worth his time to be in SL with poor graphics and slow movements.
      • whomba, on 05/18/2008, -0/+0I am saying that I am against them, as in I hate them. I realize that they are a necessity for certain majors or different people that can't make it to the school for whatever reason. However I think that people learn and can get more out of a traditional class.
  • JohnnyHotballs, on 05/17/2008, -7/+2i find the name "second life" inaccurate since most people using it don't have a life to begin with.
  • AlanFang, on 05/17/2008, -5/+2Why does the mainstream press keep talking about crappy games like Second Life that no one plays.I mean the Second Life economy basically revolves around pr0n and gambling. Why doesn't the press talk about a more legit game like WoW, which has a much higher user base?
    • azAZ09, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Your basic premise is critically flawed.
      Wow is a Game. SL is not. It is not a MMORPG. There are no rules, and anyone can write the scripts that make objects work with the context world. SL is more like a Chat Client with bells and whistles. It's like criticizing IRC in comparison to games. And I'm not so sure I would call the source "mainstream".
  • deepsemaphore, on 05/17/2008, -2/+3The posts on digg typically fall in the neg category. However, Second Life has already revolutionized one thing...it has lowered barriers for training in virtual environments. And why the focus on Second Life...alone, ever heard of the other emerging platforms, that are attempting to provide similar functionalities. There are a lot of people doing a lot of work yielding 'real' results in such environments
    http://irhbt.typepad.com/play2train/2008/05/our-in ...
    Second Life might not succeed as a particular product, but one of those will definitely:
    Project wonderland, the Croquet Project, Active Worlds etc... they are just pointers to the future. Ah naysayers, what would the world be without you? You make paradigm shifts possible :)
    • Oea420, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1ACTIVE WORLDS?? I was floating around in that client back in 99 I think....... hah

      With midi music and all
  • gridbread, on 05/17/2008, -0/+5Yes, you can basically do everything you would do in a physical classroom, in second life.
    This can be a way to overcome the lack of feedback in long distance learning, and reduce cost with an alternate form of education.
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    ...................................,
  • KayinAngel, on 05/17/2008, -4/+8second life is still around ? Isn't it still mostly populated by porn addicts and furries ?
  • enjourni, on 05/17/2008, -1/+2It is interesting the absolute draw that the online world(s) seem to have for some people. I used to be totally addicted to computers, spending countless hours posting to social networking sites/forums, etc. Communicating with people who I don't know from places on this planet I've never been to. I stopped it, because I realized it's not giving me any real value in my life. Just the illusion of friendship (hey people are chatting with me on this website so they must like me), the illusion of success (I can win UMS games in starcraft over and over without learning anything or being really challenged), and the illusion of status (I can post on digg and feel special because "my voice is heard")

    The net is fascinating, but it's also a curse. More and more technology is being built for technology sake, to suck people into worlds and give them the illusion of life, instead of empowering them in their own lives to do more with what they've been given in the real world. Computers don't have to become sentient to take over our lives... all that has to happen is that we forget that we have our own life in the real world.

    I also find it ironic how many posts are of the opinion "get a real life!" Funny we say that to others, yet we spend our own time posting on digg.
  • sbtbrownis, on 05/17/2008, -0/+6please, please...these comments slating sl remind me of people suggesting that the internet would remain socially irrelevant back in the eighties. sl is just a 3d version of the internet. sure, its slow and buggy, but give it time, and we will all look back at its limitations with a rosy glow of nostalgia. ;)
    • CarnivalOfDust, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1If the future virtual world is based on SL, it's gonna be rubbish! You can't build a house on weak foundations....
  • pablo0713, on 05/17/2008, -2/+8As with any Second Life article and the comments that follow, people keep missing the point about SL. SL is far from perfect technologically speaking. We users of the world do put up with awful amount of grid and server problems. It takes about 18,000 servers to run Second Life spread out all over the world so most users put up with the problems. SL started out to be just like any other MMORPG with the only difference (and a hugely big difference) in that users are able to create the content. I don't think Linden Labs set out to become web 3.0 and their estimation that one day the Internet will be replaced with a completely 3d environment is, to me, far fetched. SL has grown into something that nobody expected it to be. People are trying to turn it in a platform for everything. Can't blame them for trying. You can look at SL and use simplistic terms to describe it like a 3D chatroom or a perv's heaven - but doing so is choosing to look at only one or two aspects of Second Life and ignoring the rest.

    If you want to find a place to talk to people, via text or voice, SL is the place. If you want to build, create, or provide a service, SL is the place. If you want to explore your sexual fantasies (or any fantasy for that matter, SL is the place. If you want to find friends or a mate, SL is the place. If you want culture, SL is the place. You will find, to some degree, a replication of everything that represents our real life human reality. If it can be done in real life, there's probably a facsimile version of it in SL.

    I'll be the first to admit, SL won't be for everybody. Most newbies come into the world and the first thing they ask is "how do I play/beat/win this game?" They've already missed the point. But people who want to banter on about how SL is for no-lifers and losers are dinosaurs in their thinking and have no idea about the true demographic of people who use the Internet and online services in general. Just like the real world, you will find the same group of diverse people online (doesn't matter if it is WoW, SL, Myspace or Xbox Live). The diversity of people in Second Life is truly amazing with (I believe) 50% traffic now coming from Europe. I meet more international people than I do Americans (no, I don't find it hard to believe *wink*) and I am thankful to them all for taking the time to learn my language.

    Anyway, if you're not afraid to try new things, give Second Life a try. Maybe instead of wasting time killing pixelated Orcs, you might find yourself creating avatars of pixelated Orcs or build your very own castle. Whatever's your pleasure, SL can (mostly) provide. And no, SL will never ever ever ever take the place of real life. Speaking to someone in person or feeling water, smelling the air will always be far superior to any virtual environment. But, that doesn't mean we can't enjoy both. Duh.
  • Fallout911, on 05/17/2008, -2/+1goatse sky!
  • wanderson, on 05/17/2008, -4/+5There have been a few clarifications to the original article. Where it read "An increasing number of people...", it should now read "An increasing number of furries". Where it read "making designs", it should now read "making designs of furry dildos". Where it read "virtual property", it should now read "virtual furry brothels". Where it read "virtual market branches to offer real products", it should now read "online stores from which to purchase furry dildos." Sorry for any confusion.
  • Liability, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3
    The main problem I found with SL is that it runs like crap. It is very slow and the interface is very clunky. Having said that, there is HUGE potential for this concept in the future, but I think Linden Labs' implementation is a very primitive exploration of the potential.

  • enjourni, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Also I don't think people have talked about the major reason why these online economies are bad. And that is: because one single company controls the whole thing (the company that made the game.) No impartial 3rd party controls or regulates these online worlds... no FTC, no SEC, etc. There is no guarantee of security, or of reliability (Second Life's servers can go down, what do you do then?) As such, I think investing in Second Life's economy is probably an extremely risky thing to do.

    When online "companies" get listed along with regular real life companies on the NYSE, then maybe they will be worth trusting.
    • CarnivalOfDust, on 05/17/2008, -1/+0Hear, hear. Got it one, bud. I really think that an economy like this is destined for a *massive* collapse. There are things like that guy who bidded for a virtual nightclub and bought it for ~10000s of dollars and is now raking in the cash. But what happens when Linden gets greedy? It's a game, so if they wanted to, they could open a club right next door. (Or an infinite number of clubs, for that matter!).
      There's a line in Superman Returns about land being the one thing that we need that they aren't making any more of - well in this case, Linden Labs can (and likely will) keep making more real estate and selling more virtual dollars until people realise that there is a plateau developing. Then, when everyone starts selling their investments, the whole thing goes belly up.
      There need to be limitations on this kind of thing, and (as you rightly pointed out) one company cannot put in the relevant limitations and still keep stockholders happy.
  • blackjack75, on 05/17/2008, -2/+2Oh, a world in which one single company would own all the earth and sell it bit by bit to a bunch of people with no real goal who are just wandering around endlessly while hiding behind a mask?

    That sure sounds awesome! I wonder which company this will be. My money is on Halliburton.


  • ronintetsuro, on 05/17/2008, -2/+5I got curious. I tried it. I lasted 30 minutes. The tutorial was well done for how to move about the playing space (despite the fact that far more visually intensive games run a lot better on my system, wth?).

    Then I got into the 'rest' of the SL world. Holy god.

    There are three places you can go in this game.

    -Open space with random objects on the ground
    -Casino, where the real world equivalent would be waiting in line for a half hour for free slots that you win a nickle at every hour.
    -Porn, not the good kind

    Once I came across the 32,000 sq foot Casino/Porn Convention, I uninstalled and reformatted my drive. If the conversion to a real life replacement means being depressed about being at a porn convention in a giant casino, ***** shoot me. I hate Second Life for showing me that was ever possible.
  • andrewortman, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1Don't quit your day job until you can make money without any help from "real life" - lots of people spend too much on capital for land and what not and relize they made the biggest mistake in their life.
  • przemeklach, on 05/17/2008, -4/+1I love games, have been gaming for about a decade. I love the fact that I can escape reality; however, I still find Second Life sick. I think people who do it on a regular basis have some sort of mental disorder.
    I like to escape reality so that I can do things that I could never do in real life; like defeat the flood, crush the combine or fight hordes of locus. Playing a game, that has horrible graphics, and doing all the things I could do by just going outside, I'll never understand.
    • CarnivalOfDust, on 05/17/2008, -2/+1But you forget, the appeal of SL for most of the users is that, unlike real life, all of their friends are furries. Which for them is like, I dunno, RealLife+ or something.
    • Oea420, on 05/17/2008, -0/+2Dude... you so can't rain dildos in real life...

      Well, I take that back, you can with the right amount of money!

      30,000 dildos wholesale: $10,000
      Renting aircraft for the day: $10,000

      Raining dildos on NON-virtual people? Priceless
    • przemeklach, on 05/20/2008, -0/+1I'm probably being dugg down by people who play second life. How about using your real life. Tens of thousands of people dream of living in a country that gives you as much potential as you people playing this retarded game. GET A LIFE and take advantage of what you've been given. Count yourself lucky that you weren't born in some 3rd world country.
  • l815, on 05/17/2008, -4/+0It will aim, fire, and miss. I guess many don't realize the Virtual world's era is soon to sleep.
    Graphics and high intensity definition will becoming like the #2 pencil.


  • atomicrobot, on 05/17/2008, -1/+8My first experience with SL pretty much sums it up:

    I logged on, spent 5 minutes creating an avatar and was immediately accosted by a canine furrie with a 10 foot schlong.

    Future marketplace my ass.

  • ZenMojo, on 05/17/2008, -0/+6Welcome to the WORLD of TOMORROW!!!!
    • Amadeus2490, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1Wow, it took so much longer to see this quote than I anticipated.
  • sodoh, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3SL is a joke. Before I get buried I did spend my time on out (just under a year). I had the same visions of coding in SL and making money.

    Here is how money is made in SL.
    0. SL make money on every transaction in/out of the system. They will take your money off your credit card straight away but you could be waiting a while to get your money back when you change it.
    1. Selling Land. However you have money to make money on this part.
    2. Porn. Escort agencies abound. From in game SL sex to webcams to real meet ups. All paid with SL cash.
    3. Casinos.. No wait scratch that one they banned Gambling. You can tell when they did that because the cash flow into SL took a serious dive.
    4. Ponzi Scams. Last one I heard some guy walked off with around $700k of various peoples cash pretending to be an ingame bank.

    After that graphics and coding design will make you money if your good at it until someone steals it.

    For anything else that isn't game playing or yiffing, it is a waste of time. Classroom? meh, you would be better with a webcam and microphone. Anyone tells you it is replacement for that or IM is full of it.
  • GorfTron, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3If I play half-life and second life, do I still have just one life?
    • Sirlolalot, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1bonus diggs if you can set poison head-crabs loose in second life :D
      • Amadeus2490, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1You have one and a half, since you made no mention of having a "real life."
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