What? No one has discussed "Second Life" on here?

Amazing that it hasn't been discussed.

Anyone on it?

- Jon

If you don't know what I'm talking about, see http://secondlife.com/

I have a lot of friends that are into that.

I'm too busy trying my hardest to have a First Life (tm).

The concept has always been interesting to me, but I just lack the time to really investigate. From what I have seen though, you can't really go far without a decent bit of real world cash and artistic talent.

Yeah, the "real world cash" bit just amazes the heck out of me. People are willing to pay real money for virtual houses, virtual cars, virtual land, etc.

Seems to follow this formula:
The creator = God; able to generate unlimited income because he can generate unlimited land to sell... as long as he keeps those servers up.

The landlords = Clever sharks with enough business sense AND internet-underground sense to make good money.

The citizens = Further proof that "a sucker is born every minute." Or, people who somehow have plenty of money and no real social life.

But being from the Internet generation (almost), I don't see why I should pay for it. In my day, I've spent countless hours in chat rooms, exercising my IMAGINATION to create a fun world to hang out in. For free.

Well, chat rooms are free, except for the time you waste. "All your money won't another minute buy". So, burn that candle from both ends by PAYING to waste time. Unreal... but brilliant... until it colapses.

The thing is, it's not wasting time if it's fun. It's entertainment. It has to be a billion times more rewarding than watching TV.

No.

Hahahahahahaa

Best single word answer ever!

I met some of the Second Life developers and marketing guys at the Maker Faire this past weekend.

I told them that the system gets a bit boring after you've fumbled around a bit. They admitted that they agree with me. They are searching for a way to give people more purpose and make it easier to figure out where people are actually congregating.

I think Second Life is a bit like REAL Life. People are cliquey and stuff. It seems to me that Second Life is an accurate depiction of Real Life, but with more fantasy.

I think I've seen enough of it. Back to something more real - like BF2.

- Jon