© 2008 Danogo.com - All Rights Reserved - Protected by Copyscape.com

I’ve recently become fascinated by the Internet “game” called Second Life. It’s a web-based 3d virtual world started by the company Linden Lab in 2003 and it’s just now becoming very popular. I’ll even describe how you can make money there and some people have even become real life millionaires buying and selling virtual land! I’m going to tell you about it because its much more than a game. In fact, I think within the next 20 years virtual worlds like this will completely replace the Web.

Second Life was inspired by a Science Fiction book by Neal Stephenson called Snow Crash. The founder of Linden Lab wanted to create a world like the one in the book which the author called a “Metaverse”. He described it as a user-defined world in which people could interact, play, do business, and communicate. Second Life has it’s own virtual money called the Linden Dollar (Linden, or L$). It’s exchangeable for real world currencies in a marketplace consisting of Residents, Linden Lab and actual companies.

To try out the game you have to download and install extra software called the Second Life Viewer. It’s not a big deal to do. Once you have the viewer installed you sign up and now you are a “Resident” with an “Avatar”. An Avatar is just the 3d version of yourself which is a graphic figure you can dress up and make to look however you want. The cool thing is that you can see everybody else who is logged in as 3d people too. So now you can explore, meet other Residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, create and trade items and services from one another.

Appearance and Identity

Residents are the users of Second Life, and their appearance is their avatar. The basic avatar is human in appearance, but avatars may be of either sex, have a wide range of physical attributes, and may be clothed or otherwise customized to produce a wide variety of humanoid and other forms. Avatars may be completely creative or can be made to resemble the person whom they represent. Also, a single Resident’s appearance in Second Life can vary dramatically at will, as avatars are easily modified.

Chat

Within Second Life, there are two main methods of text-based communication: local chat, and global “instant messaging” (known as IM). Chatting is used for public localized conversations between two or more avatars. IM is used for private conversations, either between two avatars, or between the members of a group. Unlike chatting, IM communication does not depend on the participants being within a certain distance of each other. There are some external websites that allow Residents to locate each other from outside of the virtual world, and SLurl.com allows external links through the Second Life World Map to locations in-world.

Motion

The most basic method of moving around is by foot (also running and jumping). To travel more rapidly, avatars can also fly above the terrain without requiring any special equipment, and with scripted attachments there is currently no limit to how high an avatar can fly. Avatars can also ride in vehicles; many vehicles are available—there is a basic go-kart and there are many Resident-made vehicles available freely and for purchase including helicopters, submarines and hot-air balloons. For instantaneous travel, avatars can teleport directly to a specific location. An avatar can create a personal landmark at their current location, and then teleport back to that location at any time, or give a copy of the landmark to another avatar. There’s also a map window that allows direct teleportation anywhere.

Making Money: Economy and Real Estate

Second Life has its own economy and a currency referred to as Linden Dollars (L$). Residents regularly create new goods and services, and buy and sell them in the Second Life virtual world. There are also currency exchanges where Residents can exchange real world currencies for L$. Though the exchange rate fluctuates, as of February 2007 it is reasonably stable at around L$ 266 to one US dollar. These exchanges are open markets, except that Linden Lab sometimes changes in world Linden Dollar “sinks” or sells Linden dollars to attempt to keep the exchange rate relatively stable. A small percentage of Residents derive net incomes from this economy, ranging from a few hundred to several thousand US$ per month, while a larger percentage derive a gross income large enough to offset most of their expenditures in L$.

Premium members can own land! Owning larger areas of land incurs an additional fee ranging from US$5 a month up to US$195 a month for “an entire region”, but in reality it is actually charged for owning up to 65536 m² regardless of how many regions this land is based in. Once you own land you can rent it, build on it or resell it for a profit. You can rent or sell to businesses or individuals which is how the first Second Life Residents have become real world millionaires!

You Own the Rights: Creation and Copyright

One of the distinguishing characteristics of Second Life is that the Residents, not Linden Lab, create most of the content of the world. The Resident avatars are one example of such user-generated content.  There is a 3D modeling tool in Second Life that allows any Resident with the right skills to build virtual objects: buildings, landscape, vehicles, furniture, and machines to use, trade, or sell. This is a primary source of activity in the economy. Any Resident can also make gestures from small animations and sounds from the standard library.

Outside Second Life, Residents can use various graphics, animation, and sound tools to create more elaborate objects, and upload them into the world. Once the creation is in the world of Second Life, the system makes efforts to help protect the exclusive rights of the content creator. A Resident who creates an object and the Resident that owns an object may retain certain rights, rather like copyright in the real world.

Pricing

There are two types of accounts, basic and premium. Basic accounts have no recurring fee, but do not include the right to own land on the Second Life mainland, though ownership of land on private resident-run islands is possible. Pricing on private islands varies depending on the owner of that island. Premium accounts pay US$9.95 per month which includes the monthly tier fee of a small amount (512 square meters) of land (worth $5 a month). The land itself must be purchased either from another player or from Linden Labs by land auction method. Premium accounts receive a weekly stipend (paid in Linden dollars) of L$300 per week.

There is a lot I didn’t cover in this introduction to Second Life. For instance there is a huge virtual training ground being built by many businesses and educational institutions. There is also a vibrant arts and music community. It’s really worth signing up for the free version just to check out.