I need to "learn" Second Life

[jbischke]

I need to get up to speed on what's going on in the virtual world of Second Life. However, I don't have dozens of hours to kill doing so. Does anyone happen to know of a good way I can get introduced to what's going on in Second Life and what's possible without having to try to figure it out on my own? Maybe a video? An article with a good overview?

Thanks!

[da1prophet]

Do you *want* to learn or do you *need* to learn? Two different things...

IMO, at this point all of the hype about Second Life is more sizzle than steak at least at the moment. It's an interesting concept and the notion of a "virtual" economy that allows you to earn "real" money is fascinating. If you're just *wanting* to learn to not be left behind the technological curve in marketing your product you've probably got a few years.

I'll give you a couple of links to start with. First, from Fortune Magazine:

Why tech leaders think Second Life could be a gold mine. - Jan. 22, 2007

From Inc:

How I Did It: Philip Rosedale, CEO, Linden Lab - Second Life - RealNetworks

And from Wired:

Wired 14.10: Wired Travel Guide: Second Life

I've messed around a good deal with SL and read even more about it--particularly the implications for a "virtual" economy--so if you have any questions or want some specific info fire away...

[dmauder]

Try doing some research on how addictive Second Life is and how it destroys your "first life". A good friend of mine is completely consumed by it. He's already gone through a divorce brought about by the "game". Second Life is all he seems to talk about anymore. Needless to say, we've slowly been drifting apart as friends.

I don't see this as being much different from other games, such as WoW for instance. It totally consumes people and everything else in life suffers at the expense of the game. I've read countless articles and stories about video game addicts who get divorced, lose their families, lose their jobs, etc, because they don't know how to have balance.

Some of you may have seen this already - Get a First Life: A One Page Satire of Second Life

Dave

[icesar]

I tend to agree with Dave. Games that consume large chunks of time are terrible for people with obsessive personalities, and ultimately, they're just a way to escape your "first life." Thanks for the link to the satire article!

[John Wesley]

I agree. Why spend all your time doing something that ultimately never amounts to anything? Seems like a big waste. Unless you can use the virtual world to make a lot of money. I guess that would be sweet.

[da1prophet]

Originally Posted by John Wesley

I agree. Why spend all your time doing something that ultimately never amounts to anything? Seems like a big waste. Unless you can use the virtual world to make a lot of money. I guess that would be sweet.

In theory, I agree with you that playing video games are a huge time suck especially if you have an obsessive personality. Second Life is a bit of a different animal, however, due to its thriving economy and virtual money to real money currency exchange.

A lot of tech prognosticators have suggested that it could be a preview of the future of the web/Internet. Having some familiarity with it, there's much about it that very well could be a harbinger of things to come. At the very least there are certainly some elements of the SL interface/experience that will be significant in the future.

I'd also make a distinction between *understanding* video games--Second Life or otherwise--and *playing* video games. Playing video games to excess is certainly a waste of time. *Understanding* video games is not a bad idea at all considering that in the US alone they represent a $12.5 billion market.

I haven't seen a follow up from the original poster about what he needs to learn about Second Life or why he needs to learn it. Based on everything I've read about SL I wouldn't dismiss it so quickly--it may be at the point that the entire Internet was at 10 years ago. I was fortunate to have "wasted so much time" learning about the Internet, WWW and its components back in 1994 and 1995. That has kept me ahead of the technological curve and has been of great benefit to me professionally. It very well be that those who "waste time" now learning Second Life and its intricacies will be the early mover entrepreneurs of the next-gen Internet. I'd suggest that Jeff Bezos, MarK Cuban, et. al. are very happy that they were "wasting time" with the Internet back when the general public didn't have a clue about what it was or the potential it represented.

[da1prophet]

Originally Posted by icesar

I tend to agree with Dave. Games that consume large chunks of time are terrible for people with obsessive personalities, and ultimately, they're just a way to escape your "first life." Thanks for the link to the satire article!

And to the point of my previous post, keep in mind that once something has entered the cultural zeitgeist to the extent that it *is* being satirized means that its a big deal and could represent a huge market opportunity.

[Atom]

I was just checking out some articles on the financial impact of Second Life. The financial implications seem incredible. People becoming millionaires in real life, by developing virtual real estate??? It's happening. Companies like Toyota and IBM are making strong investments in this virtual communities. Just like real life, some will end up ruining their lives in this game, and others will prosper.

Here's some great articles on the subject. After you check them out, re-read (you did read it already, didn't you???) Steve's blog entry, Life - The Ultimate Game. That article takes on a whole new meaning with all this in mind.

Startup Business- Second Life: It's Not a Game - pg.2 - AOL Small Business

Evolving Excellence: Virtual Quality is Hard to Beat

Second Life cars | 1 | CNNMoney

Dell Enters the Metaverse


http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/200...ultimate-game/

[da1prophet]

Originally Posted by Atom

I was just checking out some articles on the financial impact of Second Life. The financial implications seem incredible. People becoming millionaires in real life, by developing virtual real estate??? It's happening. Companies like Toyota and IBM are making strong investments in this virtual communities. Just like real life, some will end up ruining their lives in this game, and others will prosper.

Here's some great articles on the subject. After you check them out, re-read (you did read it already, didn't you???) Steve's blog entry, Life - The Ultimate Game. That article takes on a whole new meaning with all this in mind.

((snip))

That's what I find most fascinating about SL and why I think that having some familiarity with it isn't exactly the worst idea. The implications of having a "virtual" economy with a real world currency exchange component is mind boggling.

Here's an example--I saw a 'help wanted' ad placed by someone running a business in SL for a personal assistant. The ad said that the PA's duties would be split 'between 'real world' and 'in-world' (meaning within the SL game) tasks." In other words, someone who's making enough money in the SL "virtual world" and has enough of a "to do" list to hire an assistant to help with both realms of their existence. And the person hired is essentially going to have a job with real pay, part of which consists of doing delegated "in-world" tasks--in other words, "playing" Second Life and getting paid for it.

I'm still of the opinion that SL--or a SL inspired "world--is a year or two (or more) away from 'critical mass' but at the very least it offers glimpses of how the Internet can develop. And despite SL being somewhat "ahead of the curve" at the moment in terms of the human/technology interface its one of those things that could potentially be very significant. In any case, I wouldn't just dismiss it as a mere "video game". To do so seems like deja vu all over again to people suggesting that TV/The Internet/personal computers/MP3 players or whatever other transformational technology you want to insert here is a "fad" or a "waste of time". To completely dismiss the potential impact that virtual worlds like SL could have on the future is to be essentially oblivious to how specific technologies have redefined marketplaces and economies, particularly in the computer/Internet era.

Quick footnote--word around the campfire is that Google is researching a SL inspired "virtual world" inspired by their satellite mapping experience with "GoogleMaps". This could be a project that doesn't go anywhere, or it could be huge. Stay tuned...

[AndrewJ]

Here's a fascinating blog about SecondLife with some great graphics too. Virtual Aloft

Andrew

[ticktockclok]

What's SecondLife? Is it some computer game like the Sims?

[da1prophet]

Originally Posted by ticktockclok

What's SecondLife? Is it some computer game like the Sims?

I'd suggest reading the articles that have been posted in this link. At its simplest form, its very similar to "The Sims". Only its an entire virtual world, with its own economy--the most fascinating component of it IMO is that if you "earn" money in the SL world you can convert it to real money via a currency exchange. Many have suggested that its 3D interactivity could represent the future of the Internet. Here's the official SL website, though you might get a better quick intro from some of the other articles linked in this thread:

Second Life: Your World. Your Imagination.

[Michael Chui]

Originally Posted by John Wesley

I agree. Why spend all your time doing something that ultimately never amounts to anything? Seems like a big waste.

One day, the universe will likely settle into a heat death, though by then there will also likely be no sentient species around to witness it. Why do anything?

Second Life is a place, just like your local bar, church, or park. So are most other virtual worlds which are primarily game. They're what sociologists call "third places" (see paper by Dimitri Williams and Constance Steinkhueler on this subject (news story here)).

My personal analogy is a tennis court (or basketball court). The place is there. There are lines drawn on cement, there are nets and places to put the balls and lights and benches and everything. All in support of the game. But if you wanted to, you could bring a picnic basket out and have a nice little family gathering.

Originally Posted by John Wesley

Unless you can use the virtual world to make a lot of money. I guess that would be sweet.

You can use any virtual world to make a sizeable amount of money. It's a matter of how you go about it, and also whether or not it's legal. See term: "gold farmer". Also see "powerleveling services". These are examples of illegal methods. Second Life's primary methods are legal, because Linden Labs grants IP rights to people who create things, so it's legal for you to sell them.