Thanks for the history lesson, Breen! I had forgotten about early Linden World, though Ener has posted the old video clip before. Here’s some more info on the early days:

http://secondlife.wikia.com/wiki/Linden_World

http://www.3pointd.com/20060822/the-rock-eating-birds-of-linden-world/

PS: Log into SL now. Surely “you’ve got mail.” Or at least a bunch of IMs and group notices :)

Versatilably yours, Nikki

/me smirks

To some degree, a reinvention has already happened. We just didn’t notice, as it occurred just as Second Life became mainstream back in 2003. Just prior to this their exists(or at least existed, past tense) videos of early development work. Second Life was supposed to be a MMO battle game. It had destructible prims and on-the-fly terraformable terrain. As perspective, Battlefield Bad Company 2, released this year has those 2 features. I have seen a video on you tube(can no longer find it) of a developer excitedly blowing up a building.

Then Second Life came out as we know it. I can only imagine the hurt the the original creators felt. It would not be of surprise if there was some sideways shifts in staff too.

At that point in 2003, Second Life passed from the creators, artists, and programmers to CEOs/Board Members. And today we are seeing the near end of life of that wholly business driven concept.