i am a big nut when it comes to virtual worlds and despite the impression that anyone could easily get from reading this blog, you may think i am rooting for the demise of Second Life, but i am not
i loved Second Life and it gave me a great creative outlet and even an outlet for me as a person. my avatar is so much braver than i am in real life and much more joyful. Ener is for sure my inner child let loose =)
Second Life did not fit me anymore nor could i afford to keep the estate going. if anyone doubts that i loved SL, well pffft on you. if you have channeled $50K to Linden Lab then you can judge me as such if you like. if you have not, then you have not walked in my boots (waaah, i used to have so many beautiful outfits and Zhao shoes – i miss my Zhao shoes) =(
i will forever be grateful for what SL taught me, but loving SL and being fed up with Linden Lab’s kooky policies can co-exist; in my head anyway. Second Life is still better than OpenSim in many regards. the things that are not better for me (not you, but me) are cost, age limits, inability to back everything up, and TOS
unless Second Life totally implodes (which is what it sometimes seems like to me atm), it should be around a while. the new marketing VP will be interesting and maybe some of Second Life needs to be game-like. as a mentor, i ran into countless n00bs that would ask
what is there to do in here?
and that is a valid question. when you first start, you are kind of lost. well many people are. you wander about aimlessly and use search and, well, i dunno? i guess that is why retention is so low. there is a reason that Zynga is worth $4+ billion dollars and LL is worth a few hundred million (and Ener is worth just enough to buy a poutine on friday) =p
farmville is fun! i never played it, but there is no doubt that is is a massive success
if SL had some of those gaming elements, it could mean a rebirth. but frankly, imo, i don’t see anything major changing nor do i see any type of uber smash hit growth and attention like it had in 2006
LL has been talking about that “first hour experience” for like two years!
and so what? if it just gets you in-world faster, so what? so you can get bored faster? how will that help increase retention?
in 2006, i came to SL looking at it like a scaled back version of Blender 3D that you could share your builds in real-time with others. and i looked at a private estate as similar to being a website hosting reseller. i could get a sim (like getting a server), carve it up, and sell parcels to people that wanted to express themselves just like people do with websites. that was then . . .
the reason that OpenSim is growing so quickly is not only because LL is pooping on people (like yanking the plug on the teen grid and enterprise) but many people who are going to OpenSim have defined a specific purpose or use for virtual worlds that does not need anything from Second Life. educators and businesses doing meetings really don’t need access to a zillion clubs for example (or Zhao shoes . . .)
with the freedom and price difference, it is really obvious that OpenSim wins every time for those people
Second Life offers far more content but that is about it for those types of users. the lengthy TOS does not add value to educators or business peeps
the big price of a Second Life sim is not enough to make up for the ever narrowing performance difference. two years ago, OpenSim was pretty choppy. you’d lose your hair and clothes (gee, sounds like a party) but OpenSim is no longer like that. it still is not Second Life, but for 0-20% the cost of Second Life, the bumps don’t feel so bad
Second Life is outstanding for socializing. and people going to Inworldz are most likely looking for a similar experience to Second Life and are probably not educators and business people doing meetings
if Second Life went more “gaming” oriented i don’t think that would change the experience for the current residents. you could still be creative, run shops, have a home, visit with people from all over the world, and whatever else people do. the gaming aspect could open it up to new people looking for something to do
farmville is popular because its game play is just challenging enough and the reward and escape make it worth your time. people are looking for escapes from everyday stress and maybe if Second Life could incorporate those options for people, then it could grow again at a decent rate
advice is cheap (2 cents please) and many people have given it more thought than i have and have come up with outstanding ideas that i think would make a big difference (even Prok has some great advice) but will Linden Lab listen?
probably not and that is where my frustration with them lies
Second Life is great for art receptions (yes, me in a gown!) =)
I understand exactly what you mean by this post. Apart from the teen grid closing in SL, the other reasons for me looking towards OpenSim where the same as you listing.
The world that. as a charity, we are creating will be just for the people we support, teenagers. We don’t really want them exploring a full virtual world like SL and Teen SL, we want them just in our own safe environment, where they can feel open to discuss things knowing that everyone else is of a similar age and going through similar things to them (in our case, cancer).
Although, being part of a huge community like SL would help with the construction of the world. I mean I don’t know how many people you have building over there Ener, but for our world there is just me (feeling quite a lone in a big huge world). So they way that items, buildings, etc. can be so easily bought in SL was a huge plus. I know there are some free buildings, etc. to be in OpenSim grids, but finding them is not as easy and the range not as big.
Jonathan
9 Sep 10 at 4:07 am
“LL has been talking about that “first hour experience” for like two years!” – at least 5. It was the “top priority” for Linden Lab in 2005 and for every year since then, along with reducing lag, and crashes and increasing stability.
Tateru Nino
9 Sep 10 at 5:05 am
gee Tateru, thanks for amping up my cynical pessimism! =D when i hear that from someone like you (that means i have loads of respect for you and that you have an insight into SL and LL that very few people do) it makes me really shrug my shoulders. SL is sooo frigging close to be incredible – well, it is incredible despite LL!
that vibe from four and five years ago was so great, like anything was possible – but now that vibe often feels to me like just another corporation trying to make lots of money =(
hi Jonathan, if you end up in OpenSim, you can have full copy versions of my office stuff and i have a few buildings you may want to use while you get setup. i have never worked with the kind of kids you are doing this for but applaud you for it
i did a website pro bono for a group that was working on reducing teen suicide and i was also a volunteer firefighter and paramedic for two years – giving back and helping others is something i value enormously
a private grid with the ability to hypergrid would work great for you and there are many great things to explore on the OSGrid (5000 regions)
for your group, i would tend to leave almost all building to them. kids learn this very fast and come up with some incredible concepts (lol, i just got goose bumps, i am such a sap). this could be such a great creative outlet for them and creativity does wonders for the soul, body, and mind =)
Ener Hax
9 Sep 10 at 8:46 am
Thanks Ener =)
The grid will be hypergridded, if only for some initial construction. As soon as the board of trustees here give the go ahead, I will have the region bought (through SimHost) and up and running =)
That’s the only problem with working for a charity, some decisions can take a while :(
Jonathan
9 Sep 10 at 9:31 am
please do feel free to ask me anything – i may not know the answer but can certainly help
Ener Hax
9 Sep 10 at 9:34 am
I don’t mean to be discouraging :) I still have hopes. Just not expectations.
Tateru Nino
9 Sep 10 at 9:43 am
(But it’s been so long that every time someone from the Lab says the phrase “first hour” I have this Pavlovian teeth-grinding response and start to growl.)
Tateru Nino
9 Sep 10 at 9:45 am
ooh, very, very well stated! “I still have hopes. Just not expectations.”
old Pavlov’s dog is certainly is appropriate for LL related rhetoric
Ener Hax
9 Sep 10 at 9:59 am
SL (especially the “first hour”) is not for those with no patience, and no curiosity. Of course, to be fair, any complex game/world (such as WarCraft) takes a little while to master as well. If you want a 60 second learning curve, try PacMan.
You know the little (printed) booklet that comes with your nice PC games? Maybe LL should have a nice little printable .pdf bookelet with the basic tips, keyboard shortcuts, etc. emailed or available to new users. (If there is already something out there in a nice format, I’ve not seen it).
In a weird way, the fact that it took a while to figure out actually appealed to me. After over 3 years in-world, I still (occasionally) learn new stuff or more efficient ways to do things. Using OpenSim worlds makes me learn (or re-learn) even more stuff (thanks, Ener Hax!)
No, it’s not Farmville, or Bejewelled. I was fortunate to meet a couple of nice peeps my first week who helped speed up my learning process. The fact that I’m not scared of a little google search (can u say “second life wiki”?) was also in my favor. Sadly, many people are too lazy to search the SL wiki pages or other great resources out there for help. And the removal of the official in-world SL mentor program didn’t help things.
Viewer 2.x… a few nice improvements. Many steps backwards. Sucks for most of us builders/scripters. I force myself to use it (occasionally). It is NOT the savior of SL, as I think Philip has figured out. While it is a noble idea, I hope it dies a quick death and is replaced by an even better viewer (I still ♥ SnowGlobe!)
Anyways, I don’t want a “3D Facebook” type of SL. I don’t want it dumbed-down toooo much. I just hope Philip and his cohorts don’t destroy what’s unique about SL while trying to fix the (many many) large and small bugs/issues/annoyances.
After all, if newbies no longer do the default “duck walk”, it makes it a bit harder to identify them as newbs ;)
Oh, and as someone said, a new graphics engine is LONG overdue.
And I’m not opposed to dropping ‘free’ memberships if it will help fund a better SL. (I know I’ll get some flak on that idea, b/c free users do spend money in-world and otherwise contribute to making SL what it is).
And, thank God for alternatives. I get to hang out in Enclave Harbour, InWorldz, etc. when I tire of SL :)
But I’m all for fast/easy/fun. I’m at least 2 of those!
DreamWalker McCallister
9 Sep 10 at 4:31 pm
nicely written DW and it sounds like Enclave Harbour ranks up their with after hour beer joints! lol, “when i tire of sl” =p
Ener Hax
9 Sep 10 at 7:32 pm
hee hee… i tire of SL a lot, cuz it’s so fun to hang out with you and your crazy self! but feel free to tell me where you hid those beer joints!
DreamWalker McCallister
9 Sep 10 at 8:57 pm
=D only beer joints that have poutine! =p
Ener Hax
9 Sep 10 at 10:14 pm