The Watch – virtual worlds in the news

1. LA Times (USA) – Fans flock to Disney’s Club Penguin Times. “The newspaper industry is constantly bewailing its need for a new economic model, as the Internet upends the old one. Maybe it could take a page from the Club Penguin Times. The Club Penguin Times, after all, is more widely read than New York’s Daily News, the Chicago Tribune or the Dallas Morning News. And it’s not even 3 years old.”

2. Half Life Source (USA) – Sony confirms that the PS3 Home 3D virtual online community service has been delayed until later this year. “Sony Corp’s game unit said on Tuesday it was delaying the launch of its “Home” 3D virtual online community service for the PS3 game console to later this year. It’s been the second such delay for the PlayStation 3. Last Year, Sony postponed the launch of the “Home” service, which is aimed at giving users a place to interact with other PS3 users, to early this year from last Winter.”

3. SecurityPro News (USA) – Next Malware Breeding Ground: Online Games? “Dr. Igor Muttik, senior architect for McAfee Avert Labs, has published a 19-page whitepaper (PDF) warning we may soon see a spike in malware targeting in virtual worlds and online gaming. What would they want with virtual goods? The same thing they always want: money. Virtual goods and currencies can be traded for real goods and currencies. General data can work too for nefarious purposes, so key-logging and the like are distinct possibilities. ”

4. Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies (USA) – Goertzel on “OpenCog Prime: Design for an Open-Source Thinking Machine”. “Dr. Ben Goertzel from Novament will be in the area and has graciously offered to give a presentation of their current project on Sept. 7: Topic: OpenCog Prime: Design for an Open-Source Thinking Machine (Underlying Principles and Early Experiments) OpenCogPrime is a highly detailed software design, aimed at powerful Artificial General intelligence at the human level and ultimately beyond, intended to be implemented within the OpenCog open-source AI software framework.”

5. 1UP.com (USA) – Building a Better Virtual World Through Democracy. “EVE Online is a massive and persistent universe where players have direct involvement in both the economy and the game’s political system. This serves as an important, always-changing, plot device. But because of this, for better or worse, the world lives and dies by community involvement to a much greater degree than most MMOs. If things start to go bad, the game’s subscribers can’t simply take their character over to another server. Unfortunately, some employees of the game’s developer, CCP, have been caught trying to manipulate the system. In response, CCP created an Internal Affairs division to monitor the activities of both player and staff accounts.”

6. Times Online (UK) – Computer warriors pay geek mercenaries to fight their wars for them. “Andy Crowther used to have time to play a lot of computer games. Not any more. At 33, he is now a supermarket manager in North London and has a girlfriend. Despite the intrusion of real life, Mr Crowther still enjoys slaughtering hordes of monsters and capturing treasure in online games such as World of Warcraft and Star Wars Galaxies. But, like increasing numbers of gamers, he no longer has endless hours to earn the “virtual gold” needed to buy weapons and upgrades which make the game more fun. Luckily for him, 400,000 geeks, mostly in East Asia, are available for hire at the click of a button.”

7. itbusiness.ca (Canada) – Toronto’s Webkinz brings fantasy world to real global market. “Webkinz has become a household name in North America by appealing to children with its brand of cuddly, plush animals that come with a key that grants access to a virtual world. Now the company is hoping it can evoke the same interest internationally. Pre-teen kids and their parents are very familiar with the plush phenomenon started by Woodbridge, Ont.-based Ganz Inc. in 2005.”

8. Medical News Today (USA) – Burnt Kids’ Pain Lessened By Distracting Device. “Cunningly disguised as a toy, a new medical device that harnesses the power of distraction can greatly reduce the pain felt by young burns victims. Designed for medical device company Diversionary Therapy Technologies by Sam Bucolo, who is a Queensland University of Technology industrial design Associate Professor, Ditto is a virtual reality-inspired diversionary therapy aid. ”

9. The Washington Post (USA) – Gameworld: Videogaming enters the Third Dimension. “Videogamers, your glasses to transport you into three dimensional space. Visual computing technology company Nvidia (NVDA.O) has unveiled the first mainstream 3D gaming technology at the inaugural NVISION 08 conference in San Jose, which focused on the convergence of technology with Hollywood, games and business. With Hollywood migrating to 3D for event movies like “Journey to the Center of the Earth” and next year’s “Avatar” from James Cameron, the electronics and gaming industries have created new technology that lets home systems and PCs also deliver true 3D.”

10. iTnews (Australia) – VIC government shuts down Second Life presence. “The virtual bulldozers have moved in on Melbourne Laneways on Second Life’s ABC Island, after Multimedia Victoria said it would not renew the lease. The research project was launched in October 2007 to test the ‘potential impact [of virtual worlds] on the economic and social lives of Victorians’.”

Linden Lab blabs about the blog.

ABC Communication Tower

<sarcasm>Linden Lab display their aptitude with resources and their grasp of technologies once again with their plans to close down the current main blog and forums and replace the software behind them.</sarcasm&gt. It seems unfortunate that this company, which we rely on to produce the product we desire, keeps behaving like it had its head chopped off. Do they figure that having gotten this far, and getting this big, without any solid plan, that they can just continue on in the same vein as always and achieve the same or greater results?

The greatest surprise to me in all this is that Linden Lab has discontinued the use of the official blog at least a month, if not more, before the new product has been released; worse, they are committing to a system that has not even been fully worked out yet: “I don’t know yet what the new forum structure will be. We’re happy to hear your thoughts about ideas for different boards though.” – Robin Linden. In the meantime, we are expected to find information based on leads from the message of the day from the log-in screen; this information is to be dispersed in some manner amongst other blogs, side-bars and other unexpected places. It all sounds most unsatisfactory.

The benefits of the new system to residents seem pretty thin on the ground – this is not necessarily a problem. However, if the changes are being made to benefit Linden Lab, it would be a pleasant change to know what those benefits are, rather than being told that they are doing this for the good of the residents – transparency, transparency, transparency!  I’m sure Linden Lab are finding it useful to tuck away all those resident comments on the forums, especially the nasty ones, where the search engines cannot reach, and where folks who are not already residents cannot access them.

It also seems hard to believe that the software Linden Lab is currently using is completely outmoded and inadequate for the task. WordPress and VBulletin? Both configurable and flexible.  How much more integrated do they need to be? How much more nicely will the two new pieces of software play together?

Then there’s the second-most intriguing idea: externally sourced moderators. Some residents are disappointed that resident moderators are not being selected, feeling that they would have a better grasp of “what goes” than outsiders with potentially no experience with Second Life, or, perhaps worse, new folk with a little training in the new rules and regulations pertaining directly to the forums and no knowledge or experience outside that. I think that we are better taking our chances with moderators who are not also residents – less chance for over-emotional involvement.  Also, it always seems that the very folk who want to take on these positions for the love of it are the ones who should not be encouraged to do so – people who want to be politicians should never be allowed to be politicians, either.

Moderation of forums is required. People are people – they make mistakes and  they disagree, sometimes violently. Penalties are required – where is your motivation for keeping within the rules if no penalties apply? However, when it comes to moderation and governance of forums, it’s necessary a) to know where the boundaries are and b) to have penalties that are appropriate and suitable. Linden Lab are not known for making firm boundaries, however, and the only penalties available are (figurative) exile or death. There is no evidence to suggest that these things will change substantively come October.

Maybe Linden Lab is trying to put on a more professional look for all those “mainstreamers” streaming in as the early adopters are pushed out. Maybe this new integrative approach heralds a new phase for both the blog and associated forums and for the whole of Second Life.

Maybe not. What do you think?

Virtual Worlds: more mainstream by the day

The US-based Technology Intelligence Group have released a report titled “Virtual Worlds Industry Outlook 2008-2009”. It’s a really well written document that both looks back at the past year and makes some solid predictions for the coming year.

The standout observation for me is the ‘mainstreaming’ of non-gaming virtual worlds:

Stanford SUMMIT has been leveraging simulations built on the Forterra OLIVE platform to train doctors on key critical thinking skills with trauma patients, 18 of the top 20 educational institutions own land in Second Life with many using it to teach courses, McDonalds has created a Happy Meal virtual world to reinforce their well known brand, and customer and staff meetings are being held by enterprises across multiple platforms.

There’s no doubt that virtual worlds are becoming more mainstream, something that was driven home to me earlier this year when I was asked to consult on a film project (there’ll be more information of that project later this year). The point is, the film in question has a story line with no direct relationship to virtual worlds. One part of the film will feature Second Life – not as a novelty, not in a high-tech context, but in an everyday (rural) life scene. It’s those increasing references in popular culture that will increase the mainstreaming momentum.

The report also states some confidence around the graphics issues besetting virtual worlds:

the current slate of graphics challenges associated with virtual worlds may soon be remembered in the same vein as 64k computers.

If ‘soon’ means in the next year to two years, then there’s another aspect of momentum building because at present the average ADSL broadband customer with a PC older than 18 months or so is still encountering great challenges.

Not surprisingly, the education session is seen as a continuing driver of widespread virtual world adoption:

The training and education market will continue to drive widespread adoption of virtual world technology, as the broad experimentation within Second Life demonstrates. Universities and other teaching institutions that initially experimented with Second Life are in the process of standardizing platforms for virtual classrooms, which will be a boom for companies that are already well positioned in this market, such as Proton Media and Forterra Systems.

The power of virtual world add-ons for traditional websites is emphasised – Google Lively is the high-profile recent example:

The frictionless nature of a ‘go to the meeting room’ button on a web page will lower the barriers to adoption

.

There’s certainly a growing convergence of forces that increase the likelihood of virtual worlds reaching the mainstream. As always, there’ll be plenty of attrition, some conflict and a great deal of uncertainty. In that respect it’s situation normal.

The legal section of the report also makes fascinating reading with a number of precendents only starting to be established. You can view the report in full here.

What are your thoughts – does the report provide any surprises for you?

Students vs Second Life: Round 2

Thank you ... Captain Obvious

Upon reading the comments and articles generated by “Students vs Second Life“, I had several prominent thoughts:

  1. There’s nothing so rarely discussed as “the obvious”. Often things that are considered to be obvious are then not subjected to further thought or discussion, the problem often being that the thing is rarely obvious to everyone. I’m sure the original article was obvious for some, but not for others. Regardless, solutions need to be found for those using Second Life as an educational tool;
  2. A generation is a statistical grouping: it cannot predict the behavior or capabilities of the individual. A generation can only describe trends amongst people or things; also, it can only be used to describe how something acts as a group. This may mean that all the folks on the Teen grid are not wholly representative of their generation – considering how few of them there are, this does not seem an unreasonable assumption;
  3. Second Life is a fantastic product for an underdeveloped market segment: Generation X. For Second Life (and future products of its ilk) to have the greatest life-span possible, will require acceptance that younger people need to be drawn in. Otherwise, it’s more likely that the Millennials will stay within their comfort zone of other virtual worlds;
  4. Millennials who remain inside Second Life may be the anomalies, when compared to the generational stereotype. They are either unusually self-directed, or have found a way of turning the Second Life tool to their own devices – perhaps as an alternative way to interact with people;
  5. Second Life, as opposed to other virtual worlds, has a greater scope for forms of interaction, because you can create in a more sophisticated way. Second Life is clunky and difficult – but it’s hard to create a sleek, wonderful interface and backbone that still does everything Second Life can do now, given the resources available;
  6. Individuals of the Millennial generation are not the only ones necessarily lacking in the skill of freeform play – other generations contain individuals lacking the skill also. However, it is just that – a skill, which can be learned. So why should we bother to learn it? It broadens our creative horizons, and teaches us to think, particularly about things which seem obvious;
  7. The human race is still essentially tribal, which also means that we are exclusionary. Our differences can exclude us from any given tribe. Fancy being the only person of your age on your street spending time in Second Life rather than Habbo Hotel?

Here is a brief wrap-up of what other folks had to say, having read the article:

Kate Amdahl suggests that we create “learning” areas – areas which have pre-generated content, games and interactive mechanisms, to get folks used to the interface and get them spending time in Second Life. From these places, they can make forays out into the rest of the world, and gradually incorporate the overall idea of Second Life into their play-style.

Sabine Reljic seems to indicate that we would be well rewarded by pushing students into Second Life and out of their comfort zones. I wonder what that would look like. Right now, it would seem that pushing students into Second Life and leaving them to their own devices results in them wandering around lost or standing around chatting. This view is supported by the VirtuEd post. Additionally, pushing teens and young adults tends to result in them pushing back – caution is indicated.

Roland Legrand over at Metanomics has written a great post about what the Millennials know about multi-tasking and collaboration that they can teach the rest of us: “we also have an obligation to help them” learn about freeform play.

Over at New World Notes, this post gathered all sorts of interesting comments, and this second post ponders the question of why Habbo Hotel is so popular amongst young Millennials, as opposed to Second Life or Teen Second Life. Of the comments, the most interesting was one which wonders whether Generation X has more of a need to escape into fantasy than the Millennial generation. Did Gen X’ers grow up in a more hostile environment, from which they looked for relief?

At Massively, Tateru Nino states: “Where it might be that they would find additional traction if they could cluster with their cultural peers — members of their own generation — digital avatars consistently thwart the sorts of flocking behaviors. Millennials can’t identify their peers among the avatars of their parents and grandparents’ generations — and for the peer-oriented Millennials, that’s frequently a deal-breaker.” Also, “The very nature of Second Life turns away Millennials in droves. As entertainment, it is as undirected as a public park.”

A study by the University of Leipzig supports the finding that there are few Millennials in Second Life. They state that this is  because Second Life is too realistic, and that virtual worlds should be centered around escapism.

All in all, there seems to be a fascinating spectrum and crossover of viewpoints on the topic, many supported by direct, accreted experience and statistical data. Are your own experiences with students in line with one of these, or do you have a unique perspective to share?

The Watch – virtual worlds in the news

1. The Times Online (UK) – Lifelike animation heralds new era for computer games. “Extraordinarily lifelike characters are to begin appearing in films and computer games thanks to a new type of animation technology. Emily – the woman in the above animation – was produced using a new modelling technology that enables the most minute details of a facial expression to be captured and recreated.”

2. Press of Atlantic City (USA) – Virtual Realtor home finds real fans online. “I like stories that have something surprising about them, as I’m sure most readers do. While it’s nice to have what I know or suspect confirmed, it’s more valuable and maybe entertaining to find out something I didn’t imagine. Early last month, the New Jersey Association of Realtors announced it had opened offices in Second Life, a virtual world online. That was surprising enough, since its members’ obsession with real estate in this world leaves little time to worry about one where there’s no commission for property sales.”

3. The Independent (UK) – Stroke sufferers take virtual road to recovery. “It may look like a futuristic video game, but this virtual reality treadmill could hold the key to rebuilding lives for stroke and injury sufferers. A scientist at Portsmouth University has developed technology that can speed up recovery for patients by tricking them into believing they are moving more slowly than they actually are.”

4. Top 40 Charts (USA) – Worlds & Paid, Inc. Partner To Deliver Advanced 3-D Virtual World with e-Commerce For Darryl ‘DMC’ McDaniels. ” Futuristic 3-D social networking community Worlds.com (OTCBB: WDDD) and PAID, INC. (OTCBB: PAYD) have joined forces to develop a cutting edge, rich immersive 3-D environment for hip-hop legend Darryl ‘DMC’ McDaniels, who co-founded the pioneering hip hop group Run-DMC. The highly symbiotic relationship is expected to open an ever-evolving series of pathways to increase web site traffic, enhance the experience of WORLDS.COM users and PAID celebrities’ fans and grow the revenue and profits of both companies and their clients.”

5. The Vancouver Sun (Canada) – Break the rules in cyberspace and suffer exile in a virtual cornfield. “Where’s Roy Bean when you need him? The legendary hanging judge claimed he delivered the only law west of the Pecos back in the Wild West days in Texas. The modern-day equivalent of is nowhere to be found in the modern frontier known as the Internet. The Internet remains a dangerous place where real-life hucksters, thieves, sexual predators and fraud artists roam all too freely. But it is also home to imaginary worlds that are not unlike the gated communities of cyberspace.”

6. BBC News (UK) – Poor earning virtual gaming gold. “Nearly 500,000 people in developing nations earn a wage making virtual goods in online games to sell to players, a study has found. Research by Manchester University shows that the practice, known as gold-farming, is growing rapidly.”

7. Information Week (USA) – Google’s Lively Unloved. “So Google (NSDQ: GOOG)’s Lively isn’t so lively. According to The Economist, “Hardly anyone is using Lively.” That’s not exactly a surprise. As I said when Lively was released, “Lively feels more like a Google Talk-powered chat room with 3-D camera controls than an immersive environment like Second Life.” And that’s not to praise Second Life, which I find equally tedious.”

8. Christian Science Monitor (USA) – A second income on Second Life. ““Blaze Columbia” is, by any measure, doing well with his line of designer clothing. He’s on track to generate more than $100,000 in annual profits, barely a year after launching his business. And that’s in addition to a first career as a professional photographer. There’s just one big difference between the clothing that this Missouri resident produces and that of any other top-of-the-line dress or business suit: His don’t exist – at least not in the physical world.”

9. OStatic (USA) – An Introduction To OpenSim: the “Apache of Virtual Worlds”. “You’ve probably read a bit about OpenSim, the BSD-licensed virtual world server, and recent news that IBM and Linden Lab are working to make Second Life and OpenSim interoperable. Besides that project, what’s OpenSim about, who’s working on it, what are they doing with it, and how do you get involved as a developer and participant? Here’s a starter’s guide, created with the help of Tish Shute, whose virtual world blog UgoTrade is an indispensable resource on the latest in OpenSim news.”

The Watch – virtual worlds in the news

1. Newstrack India – Stardoll.com is Brit kids’ most popular site. “Britain’s most popular website for under-12s has been set up to pass on the art of knitting clothes for dolls, according to a new survey. The survey by the Internet analysts Nielsen Online put Stardoll.com at the head of its Top Ten sites visited by the youngest web users. Second in the list was Club Penguin, a virtual world in which players adopt a bird and march it round the beach, theatre or school.”

2. Tampa Bay Business Journal – Entrepreneurs find typical business strategies don’t work in a virtual world. “After previous stops in New York, San Francisco and Chicago, the Second Life Community Convention steps into reality at the Tampa Marriott Waterside the weekend of Sept. 5. It’s visiting a city that already has had its share of entrepreneurs who have jumped into a realm only the Internet, and maybe even a little science fiction on the side, could create.”

3. The Times (UK) – Where the web kids are. “Are they lurking in the darker reaches of YouTube? Or delivering a series of ‘pokes’ and other greetings on the social networking site Facebook? Nope. Today’s kids aged 12 and under are likely to be whiling away their online hours playing games on sites you have never heard of.”

4. Wall Street Journal (USA) – Fluid Entertainment Invites Kids to Play With Purpose in Emerald Island. “Today, Fluid Entertainment announces the title and first details for Emerald Island(TM), their original children’s MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) game. The company, whose formation and funding was announced earlier this year, is adding this upcoming title to their extensive library of software games for children. Currently in development and slated for release Fall of 2008, Emerald Island challenges players to become online eco-heroes in a mission to save a vibrant, imaginary, virtual world from environmental destruction.”

5. AsiaOne (Singapore) – Donation, sir? It’s online. “A Singapore charity has taken fund-raising to the virtual world, The Straits Times reported. Instead of selling flags or lucky draw coupons potential donors now visit the giant virtual universe Second Life. They enter a special zone filled with candy castle, lollipop trees and chocolate rivers. Each of these virtual goodies come with an option to buy them, and all it takes is a click for the cost of the items to be debited from their virtual accounts. At the close of the donation drive on Sept 21, the virtual funds, collected in Second Life’s currency Linden dollars, will be converted to real Singapore dollars.”

6. Ars Technica (USA) – One month later: Google Lively? Not so much. “In July, Google released Lively, a “Second Life in the browser” plug-in that lets anyone embed a basic 3D chat realm on a website or blog. We strolled through Google’s new social world back then and found that, possibly as a result of the “20 percent time” Google allows employees to spend on projects like this, Lively seemed to be 20 percent done. Now, a month later, we took another look to see if Lively is living up to its name.”

7. Times Union (USA) – Redirecting kids’ passion for video games. “Your son in high school can lay down a face-melting solo on “Guitar Hero,” while your middle school daughter can reach the highest levels on her Hannah Montana video game. They spend hours, without parental provocation, passionately engrossed in their Nintendo DS and Xbox 360 systems like young Einsteins burrowing into a physics problem.”

8. GigaOM (USA) – Why The MMORPG Subscription-Based Business Model Is Broken. “Famed game developer and analyst Scott Jennings recently announced on his blog that he’s quit online game publishing giant NCSoft to join John Galt Games. His new home is the small casual game startup developing Web Wars, a sci-fi game played via a browser plug-in, where web sites themselves are territories to fight over. (Sort of RocketOn meets battle cruisers.) The move is a bit like a top Hollywood producer quitting the movie business for an obscure online-video startup; it’s such a big jump, you want to know why.”

Weekend Whimsy

1. WoW & Second Life: Review Of MMORPGs (Part 2)

(Note: some swearing in this one)

2. Second Life Visions

3. Lucent Heart

Von Johin’s public relations bid for ‘stardom’

Today we received a breathless press release announcing a ‘world first’. The release in full then some commentary afterward:

PRESS RELEASE
Virtual Reality Becomes Reality for Second Life Musician

Foresthill, CA – For the first time in history, a virtual avatar has received a real worldwide recording contract. Second Life (SL) blues musician Von Johin has been signed to an artist contract with California based Reality Entertainment, Warren Croyle, CEO of Reality Entertainment, announced today. “Never before has a virtual character been signed to a worldwide recording contract. Von Johin is legendary in the virtual community Second Life for his heart pounding live shows,” says Croyle. Second Life resident Pud Puchkina, who in real life is director of operations for the east coast division of Reality Entertainment and Second Life resident Kateyes Wingtips, the virtual representative for Reality Entertainment have been scouting the growing number of live performers in SL for several months and handling the daunting task of choosing the Avatar that fits the ethos of Reality Entertainment – a multimedia, virtual music label, book publisher and film company. Puchkina stated, “It was a hard decision, but Von Johin is the real deal, he is original and plays from his heart. Just the man and his guitar, with just these two instruments and a virtual appeal like no other, he brings crowds to their feet daily.” Reality Entertainment plans to release Von Johin’s debut album exclusively on iTunes and then to all digital download outlets worldwide.

About Reality Entertainment:

www.reality-entertainment.com

Reality Entertainment (RE) is a diverse multimedia company that specializes in music, books and film. Known for #1 musical acts such as Marcy Playground and KC and the Sunshine Band, RE also is known for #1 best selling books on Amazon.com as well as nationally successful films such as The Extraordinary Voyages of Jules Verne.

About Von Johin:

Blues musician, guitarist and vocalist, Von Johin hails from Nashville, TN and grew up playing juke joints across the Midwest. An ardent follower of the blues greats, Von Johin delivers his powerful shows every week in the clubs and dance halls of Second Life. Once you hear Von Johin you never forget him because he is a unique performer who resonates deeply with his audience providing compelling and hypnotizing performances.

About Second Life:

http://secondlife.com

Second Life is a 3-D virtual world created by its Residents. Each Resident participates in a virtual environment via their “Avatar” or second life persona. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has experienced explosive growth and today is inhabited by millions of residents from around the globe. Recently, live performances have become a viral phenomenon in Second Life with real life musicians performing to audiences within the SL global community.

Ok – there are two obvious flaws with the press release. First, there’s absolutely no way of verifying that this is the first avatar to have music ‘published’ worldwide. Second, any individual can now publish their music worldwide on iTunes using services like TuneCore for the princely sum of US $9.99 per year.

Expecting hyperbole from PR people is par for course, but this is an outright case of trying to get the lead spot in a race where the race already over. Applying 20th century concepts (worldwide recording contract) to the metaverse is bordering on farcical. It’ll be fascinating to see if the mainstream media pick this release up.

All that said, no comment is made on Von Johin’s ability as a musician. Avatar music performance in Second Life is one of it’s most interesting activities and here’s to continued growth in that area.

Update: Wired and New World Notes have picked up the story with no hint of understanding that everyone can buy their own ‘world record deal’.

Update 2: Von Johin has contacted us to emphasise that he is the first avatar to sign a record deal and given there’s no contrary evidence we accept that he is indeed the first. We also accept that the record deal may involve activities that offer more than services like TuneCore do. The main point was the hyperbole in the press release and the reality of cheap digital music delivery methods available to anyone wanting to utilise them. Of course, the purpose of record deals are to increase sales, so we look forward to seeing increased sales of music by avatars in Second Life.

Future freedom loss creeps up unawares?

Above and beyond Second Life‘s many attractions, many residents prize the ability to make and enjoy user-created content. It is the main thing that separates Second Life from the profusion of other virtual worlds making their appearance, both recently and further in the past. Nonetheless, Linden Lab is pushing for a more “mainstream” approach. Does this spell out the demise of user-created content? During this push, does Linden Lab plan on cravenly sidling up to each step necessary to achieve this end?

It seems clear that Linden Lab is ready to start making changes, both in their business model and in their approach to the governance of Second Life. In “mainstreaming” the running of the Lab, one hopes that the plan is to move from a start-up model to a corporate model. Right now, the Lab seems to function as a conglomeration of start-ups, each of which has a large amount of trouble communicating with the other start-ups in the system. Improved communication between the parts should improve the overall capacity of the business to run efficiently and competently. In “mainstreaming” Second Life, the newly effective and better-resourced Linden Lab might have less trouble governing, even as they bring in tighter measures to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for all-comers. Unless, of course, they continue in the current vein of slowly taking away our favorite toys and making it look like they’re hoping to keep the patronage of the current crop of residents until the money from future residents – “mainstream” residents – comes flooding in. Hey, Linden Lab? We’re adults – do you seriously think that we’re not going to notice if you pull the table-cloth out from under us, even if the flowers are still standing? Also, as mature-minded folk, we can accept that sometimes you need things for your own benefit – just don’t try to pass them off as things that are for our benefit.

It looks like the coming changes are destined not to be necessarily popular with current residents. Perhaps as the residents we should be concerned about this, about the welfare of our virtual tribes, virtual locations, and virtual hobbies. Linden Lab, perhaps, should not be concerned about our reactions at all. They have a business to run, and profits to be made. If this a major priority for them, they should by all means be looking to the future, to future residents and their desires. If this is the case, it would be nice to see two things happen:

1. A removal of the potentially hypocritical slogan “Your world. Your Imagination.” (or even “Your world, Your Way,” a trademark Linden Lab recently applied for);

2. For Linden Lab to “supercharge” the changes in Second Life and get it all over and done with as fast as possible. They should risk losing all the residents they have now, if that is their end goal anyway. Much better that to be strung along and hugely disappointed in the end.

Despite being supported by observation of the news and current events within Linden Lab, this is to some extent just speculation. Things are certainly changing within Linden Lab, but without more straight from the horse’s mouth, it is very difficult to see where the next few months might take us. I’d personally like to say to Linden Lab, “Don’t take away the thing that makes Second Life special. Let us keep our freedoms, and let us deal with all the consequences that come with them. We live in the real world. Virtual worlds can be a reflection of that reality, as well as having their own unique aspects of reality – don’t make it a sheltered thing, a lesser thing than it has been.”

Linden Lab has claimed repeatedly that they and the residents are partners in this world building – shouldn’t partners tell each other what is going on?

The Watch – virtual worlds in the news

1. 7thSpace – TORC at UH turns to virtual world of Second Life for new study. “The University of Houston department of health and human performance is launching an international effort to recruit 500 participants for a study promoting healthy dietary habits and physical activity. The study will take place entirely in the virtual world of Second Life (SL).” (Also – see our report on Metaverse Health)

2. Network World – 10 questions for virtual world evangelists (Microsoft’s) Zain Naboulsi, and (G-Squared’s) Kyle Gomboy. “Welcome to a new regular feature of this blog … “10 questions for … ” where we talk to interesting people in the Microsoft world through a series of 10 questions (more or less, but who’s counting?) Think of this as a cross between James Lipton (Actor’s Studio) and Robert Scoble (Scobleizer). For the inaugural entry in the series, Microsoft Subnet interviewed two of the people responsible for Microsoft’s presence in Second Life and other virtual worlds.”

3. The Industry Standard – Playboy’s Second Life sim buzzes, even as real-world brand falters. “PaidContent reported earlier this week that Playboy is having a difficult time extending its brand online. Citing a Q2 loss, including declines in online and mobile content categories, it’s easy to assume that Playboy has failed to effectively position its brand on the Web. However, the publisher appears to be succeeding in an unlikely place: Second Life. After launching its virtual world presence early in Q2 last year, rumors abounded that Playboy was pulling up its stakes. Clickable Culture was sure that the Playboy sim was all but abandoned by late July of 2007.”

4. The Houston Chronicle – ‘Avatar’ has taken on life of its own and not just online. “In 2001, the decidedly literate nerd-rock group Harvey Danger penned and sang the lines “I bowed before the avatar / He said the problem’s clear to me / You never got over Morrissey.” The rock cognoscenti would have no trouble identifying the mopey crooner Steven Morrissey of the Smiths, but they may have wondered what precisely an avatar is. Nowadays Harvey Danger would find themselves in no such peril, as avatar appears to be everywhere, though not in the sense that they intended.”

5. MarketWatch – Linden Lab Appoints Frank Ambrose as Senior VP of Global Technology. “Linden Lab(R), creator of the virtual world Second Life(R), today announced the appointment of Frank Ambrose as Senior VP of Global Technology. Ambrose has 20 years of experience in technology infrastructure development, data architecture and operations, including his most recent role as AOL’s Senior Vice President of Technology for Infrastructure and Network Services. Reporting to Linden Lab’s CEO, Mark Kingdon, Ambrose will oversee the development of new processes, systems and tools to maximize the scalability of Second Life’s network architecture.”

6. Wired – Is the Army’s Virtual World Already Here? “The Army wants to build a World of Warcraft-style virtual world for training, DANGER ROOM reported a couple weeks back. “There have been a number of partial explorations in this direction, but nothing near a complete system has been created to our knowledge,” Dr. Roger Smith, an Army researcher, told us. But one commercial game maker insists that’s not true. “There is such a game already in existence,” says John MacQueen from Playnet.”

7. What PC? – Very real legal issues exist in a virtual world. “The past few years have seen the entry of major brands such as Microsoft, Coca-Cola, BMW and Dell into the virtual world Second Life, alongside millions of traditional individual users. Businesses typically use Second Life as a marketing tool to raise brand awareness and as a shop window for products, but it is also used for direct sales and recruitment.”

8. redOrbit – Virtual World in Wii Games is a Fitness Hit You Can Run, Play and Watch It All Unfold With a Cartoon Version of Yourself. “As Kathy Winstead was going for a run one recent day in Ponte Vedra Beach, she saw mountains ahead, as well as waterfalls and fellow runners who waved as they jogged by. “What will they think of next? Rose Signorile, 90, asked as she watched Winstead, 66, exercise with a Nintendo Wii Fitness program at The Players Community Senior Center. Winstead was actually running in place in a classroom at the center on Landrum Lane while watching a cartoon version of herself, on a television screen, running through the beautiful mountain park.”

9. VentureBeat – Six Degrees Games raises $7M for sports virtual world. “Virtual world creator Six Degrees Games has taken $7 million to develop a world for six to 14 year old children with a sports theme. The funding is the company’s first.”

10. CNET – Want to screw up a virtual world experiment? Here’s how. “An island all to yourselves sounds dreamy if you’re planning a vacation with your spouse. But not so in the virtual world, where that sort of solitude is potential poison for companies setting up shop.”

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