For the third time this week, I’ve heard that people are sick about hearing about Second Life. Many of these people are other Web 2.0, IT, and metaverse personalities but it makes me wonder if the statement does carry any weight. Are people legitimately sick of hearing about the advancements in Second Life? Or are they sick of hearing about how Second Life is the virtual world? More importantly are people stating that Second Life is not the best platform to work on?
I think that some of these comments stem from the fact that Second Life gets a lot of attention and has become a buzz word. You can go to a bar and ask anyone “Do you know about Second Life?†More than likely the response will be “I’ve heard about it†or “I’ve checked it out but don’t understand it†(you may get the “Yeah and I work for Linden Lab†response if you happen to bar-hop in San Fran.) Jealousy from other developers aside, it seems that a lot of the press about Second Life has turned from negative to positive but now it seems that every week someone is entering into the virtual map. I can completely understand how news about Second Life can become annoying; at times it feels like it follows the formula of “Blah Blah Inc. Enters Second Life†to generate a PR buzz, but I would like to think that is of all news. I think people are sick of hearing about the “new and creative things†happening in Second Life, some of the stuff happening in SL have happened elsewhere, but not at all to the magnitude or scale of a Second Life. I would like to think that Second Life is to social virtual worlds as World of Warcraft is to MMORPG’s, it pwns (for lack of a better word.)
Or does it? Does Second Life really have that much of an edge compared to its other Virtual World counterparts? The answer is yes, but not for the reasons one expects. Second Life is laggy, can be choppy and isn’t the best graphically appealing virtual world, but that is what you get when you have some million users deciding how it is going to look like. Linden Lab’s job is not content creation but platform creating. Unlike there.com, The Sims Online, or even Kaneva (which doesn’t LOOK good graphically), Second Life looks nice, but could look better. Talk to builders and the skin creators about that. Second Life DOES crash, it does have some infrastructure issues that Linden Lab have mentioned and working on fixing (such as a new, improved search that was released today!) Second Life is not going to look nearly as good as Sony Home will when it’s released, but it can. What makes Second Life the best platform to use is that you can do anything, unlike platforms that may be better suited for specific tasks (such as Virtual Laguna Beach and Pimp My Ride). Yes it is not, currently, the best platform to do certain things, sim limits, physic issues, lag, etc do contribute to it, but it is the best platform to work with in a virtual world because of its lack of limitations. The ability to do commerce, socialize, create, and even use it for educational purposes makes it the best virtual world platform even with its shortcomings.
So are people sick of hearing about Second Life, possibly. Until Google, Microsoft, or some other major corporation creates a limitless virtual world with all of the tools and better, with the ability to maintain IP rights (which companies have MAJOR issues with) and ability to perform commerce (not just purchasing more of your virtual world credits, but also selling it), I would really recommend to those who are getting sick to grab some Thera Flu, rest up, and when you feel better get back into Second Life.
Second Life: Land of the WEAK home of the BROKEN
First of all, I have been there, have done that. Had clubs, owned land, made friends, money, and fell in love. Second life on the surface, especially for the newbie and Entrepreneur/artist is a fun and cool place to make some friends, and make some money. It is looked at as a supercharged chat room, a video game. But the nature of its name is where the insidiousness is. As much of a second life (SL) as it might be, in order to operate you still have to use your Real Life (RL) abilities. You do not follow a different thought and emotional pattern when in SL. You can only use what you know in RL. But kidding yourself is one of the appeals of SL. You eventually get lost in it.
At first it is new and exciting. Like a new video game. Learning the functions that move your avatar around, visiting places and socializing with the natives. You are perfect, and you can fly. No sickness, no need for money (well not as much) and people don’t have bad breath and, as a “normal”, “intelligent” person, it is an interesting place to explore and learn. But it eventually becomes one of three things. 1. Boring, like a video game you have played over and over. 2. An environment to explore your creative ability to design and sell things. Or, 3 it consumes your psyche.
The first two are what they are; the third is the meat and potatoes of SL. This is the one that is more consistent. Do you really think the folks at Linden Labs are spending their free time on SL.? No, they are spending the money they are making in RL (SL is a business so it is RL for them) on RL things.
There comes a saturation point where you walk away or get sucked in. I will say this for the last time and it does not apply to you newbie’s, or the smart ones that are making money off the lonely. It is a place to hide from reality. It is a place where weak, lost souls go to escape from the depth and breadth of life. I will allow some latitude for you shut-ins. Some people have nothing else but the four walls of the room they are in. SL can provide a form of “human” entertainment that they otherwise would not be able to get. But, that just causes the shut-in to let go of their emotional self being even more. This is a hard pill to swallow, no one wants to take a good look at them selves and most do not. But the covert nature of SL allows you to cut loose. Sort of the absolute power corrupts absolutely theory. People that stay too long get lost in it. And yes, justifying all the way, that it is just a game. For the predator, and a predator is weak by nature, it is a place to be free of thought and persecution. To dominate the weak that makes SL their home. And, it is a place for the weak to not be judged, a place that they can feel and accept that who they are is ok, even if it is with the few. Some people can handle the trials and tribulations of life, some can’t and they end up in SL. You start to see a symbiotic circle of relationships in SL. For the people designing objects to sell, they may not interact totally and directly with the person/s and, their sales may come from across the board. The newbie that is playing the “game” to the obsessed, but, the obsessed is a long term customer. Theses business individuals usually get in, add new product, convert their lindens to dollars or pounds and get out.
The tragedy is the weak and broken. Don’t roll your eyes, In the Real World we are always conned with flashy marketing to get us to buy something or believe something in order to be more acceptable. Magic creams or potions. Don’t kid yourself; Second Life is about making money. Making money off of what? Our loneliness and our lack of self worth in the real world. HELLO, McFly!! It is called Second Life.
It might be simple, you build a club, people come and visit or create a group, and you solicit for members. People get together and boom, you feel wanted and needed. Building your dream home in the clouds and littering your lawn with cool things like jets and swimming pools. That can make you popular. Walking in a park with your perfect Avatar girlfriend/boyfriend, no RL issues so it is a perfect relationship. That leads to good puppet sex. Mmmm nice. All this is accomplished by tugging on your weakness, your emotional frailty. Either you are not getting it in RL or are too afraid to face the truth of how to exist in RL. You can’t handle the truth and if you are a long term SL puppet, you just can’t handle life, Real Life. Don’t get me wrong, we all like to escape from time to time.
In some places it is much darker, like I said before, predators hunting the weak. The Gorean Master and the slaves that he takes control of. This one is unusual, in that the Master has total control over the slave. The “slave” giving not only total control of their Avatar, and who can communicate to them, but also, control as to when they will or will not talk to what they can wear. Believe me this does carry over to real life. Imagine the fun of kneeling next to your Avatar Master and saying nothing. Second life being nothing more then a place to be told what to do, serving fake food and ale. You want to call it guided, or taught? Hey, what ever floats your boat? I know just a video game, right? This setup just allows the predator to get in that persons head and develop a false sense of security. Tell that to your husband, wife, girlfriend, or boyfriend. Why you are glued to the PC instead of enjoying life, REAL LIFE. And, couples also get on there too, as couples, this is a nutty one. Worked hard all week, beautiful weekend, and, you both are on a computer, every free moment, building and designing that special home, having that child you never could have. (Yes, people do play the part of the child.) I find it unhealthy when instead of developing a better real life and real relationship in RL. You take that precious time and waste it. Yes, ok… You are free to do what you want. But there are plenty of damaged people on SL. And your fantasy could be causing them to loose sense of reality, along with your lost sense of reality. Their marriages, get funky, destroyed, their children get neglected. And you get a ridiculous God complex that makes you anti social in the Real World, which just plummets yourself deeper in to SL. Cha Ching! Sweet business you got Linden People.
You have the 50+ couple that spends every “free” moment in SL being the King and Queen. Oh, and so good to their obedient subjects. At their beckons call, at their total command. Or, the sexual perverts. Ok, my opinion….. That can now live out the fantasy of doing it with a farm animal. Or, kneeling down and being the public toilet. Sex is rampant in SL. The anonymous nature of your avatar is something too. You really do not know if the man is a woman or the woman is a man, plenty of men that are living out their desire to be a Transsexual, or a woman. Plenty of women that want to love another woman, so she hides in the body of a man. I guess what you don’t know won’t hurt you. Hey, no one is getting hurt, no aids. Nicey nice. The soul is willing but the flesh is weak. So, the wall that SL provides, allows for an easier transition to experiment. Sad part is as your getting deeper and deeper; you are getting more lost in fantasy then reality and they start to blend. Actually, you probably were lost between the two to begin with. Now you go out into the real world. Take a break; meet one of your SL friends. Break the rule, cross that line; remember SL and RL are supposed to be two different places. People meet up, some get married, the rare few. But mostly it is a letdown, disappointment, and harm to others. It is a dirty little secret. Who wants to tell people that you got into that trouble because you decided to meet your “make believe” friend?
Lips stay sealed, people get hurt. And in the end, the only place they feel right, the only place that people understand is right back on Second Life. CHA CHING!