Linden Labs are setting up offices in Brighton, and I see Second Life mentioned almost every day by someone, so I thought I might as well see what all the fuss is about.
I did try to give it a go a long time ago, but was put off when I had to put my card number in, so I bailed. However, they’ve cleverly decided to remove that part of the process, so I signed up, downloaded the client, and logged in..
I’ve played a lot of 3D games over the years, but I realise this isn’t a game, so although comparisons are inevitable, they’re not really that valid. Yes the graphics are of Quake 2 standard. Yes there’s lag. No, the whole thing doesn’t feel that refined. But I kinda like it.
I haven’t signed up yet.. but it’s not that expensive, and it might be interesting to give it a go for a while. I really enjoyed building things in second life (lets not ask what i built), and things can be scripted. I had a quick look at the language, and it doesnt seem that bad.
There’s such huge potential in Second Life and it’s inevitable clones, that it would be madness to ignore or dismiss it. I’ll be logging in again soon, so let me know if you’re already there, or thinking of joining!
There’s definitely potential in 3d virtual environments as user interfaces to a wide variety of things. But I don’t think Second Life is the one that’s going to take off, not the current incarnation anyway.
It very likely we’ll see something comparable built in Flash within the next 12 months too.
The most pervasive problem hindering Second Life is its awful software and interface. Linden Lab have danced away from this issue at every turn over the last 2 years now — and it’s killing their userbase.
I’m Ak Nozomi in Second Life if you ever want to say hello to a man with pink fluorescent hands.