Comments on: Second Life scepticism

By: Kabalyero Kidd

Kabalyero Kidd — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 00:01:24 +0000

Unfortunately, I am still in Second Life. I may not spend hours a day anymore but I still follow what’s happening to it. By the way, Philip Linden updated his 2005 look. LOL!

By: Kabalyero

Kabalyero — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 00:18:28 +0000

Any updates? 3 year has passed. Second Life had its ups and a lot of downs but it is still there. Hopefully it will continue on forever.

By: hthth

hthth — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 15:52:50 +0000

So, perhaps only 3,000 paying, economically active people online at any one time. Hardly the economy of the future.

While I do agree with these points to some extent, and have written articles myself about what modern virtual worlds like Second Life are lacking, I think it’s important to consider how young they are.

Only 5 years ago virtual world economies didn’t exist at all. So I think it’s a bit early to decide that they’re hardly the economies of the future. Rather, their current implementation needs heavy improvement.

By: Bad Language / Is Second Life worth it? Wired doesn’t think so.

Bad Language / Is Second Life worth it? Wired doesn’t think so. — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 09:01:13 +0000

[...] the “I told you so” department, I wrote a post in February (Second life scepticism) in which I questioned journalists’ and PRs’ enthusiasm for Second Life: In fact, the [...]

By: Bad Language / More favourite sites

Bad Language / More favourite sites — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 07:29:09 +0000

[...] terrorism’ in Second Life. It quoted anonymous sources from an ingame interview. (See previous post on SL.) Then, I thought, if I write about it, I’m just playing the game of hyping Second Life. So I [...]

By: Michael Kenward

Michael Kenward — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 21:33:09 +0000

Did anyone else sit through an hour or more of IBM tech heads, masterminded by Irving Wladawsky-Berger, espousing the cause of Second Life? It was so enthralling that the guy who invited me fell asleep.

http://irvingwb.typepad.com/blog/2006/09/transforming_bu.html

All form and no substance. They simply failed to explain what it was for.

I get the impression that the code freaks like its approach to graphics. But so what?

By: David Bradley

David Bradley — Thu, 22 Feb 2007 19:50:03 +0000

It’s yet another bubble, as is the whole Web 2.0 thing. Surveys show (don’t ask me for the references) that barely 5% of net use is on blogs, web 2.0 sites and other novelties. Basically, the great unwashed masses simply hit google and search for stuff they want to buy or read about, they don’t even notice the shiny reflected logos if they hit a site called Tossr, Wark, Snurk, or whatever.

Another tuppence worth from the genetically enhanced silver tongue.

By: John Whiteside

John Whiteside — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 18:09:44 +0000

I’ll take that skepticism and raise you. I think the idea of a virtual world is an interesting one and may become something significant, but if so, Second Life is the pre-alpha version – of interest to hardcore devotees but few others.

I spent a little time poking around in it, not because of great interest but simply because I kept hearing the hype, and found that very little seemed to be happening there – and the investment to participation (in time learning how to work your avatar, find your way around, etc.) was pretty steep. (I kept accidentally flying off cliffs and things, and my avatars clothes kept vanishing or turning black as the software struggled along).

Nice breakdown of the numbers – just the kind of thing that’s nice to have when a client wants to run down a Second Life rabbit hole before covering the “first life” basics of their interactive marketing.

By: Helge Städtler » Blog Archive » Second Life: 4 Stunden als besitzloser Punk im Cyberspace - Thetawelle

Wed, 21 Feb 2007 17:49:49 +0000

[...] Second Life scepticism [...]

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 09:58:53 +0000

Out of personal curiosity I’ve dipped into SL, “meeting” and chatting with some interesting people from around the world. It’s not a place for the shy – if you don’t try to interact nothing will happen!

Yes, there are weirdos there. It’s hard to engage with an avatar that is a flickering flame or a stick-insect!

Would I spend more time and (any) money there? Probably not. But as interactions are unscripted you never quite know what might happen next, and this gives it the edge over many computer games.