Exploring my Second Life

I had to see for myself what Second Life was all about after hearing about all of the marketing dollars going into this massive multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). If you’re unfamiliar with Second Life, it’s a multiplayer online game built in 3D that just went from 100,000 users in January to 1 million not too long ago; IBM held a business meeting to discuss MMORPG in this virtual universe, and Fox recently held a movie trailer premiere within the game. SMS in the game has been incorporated to work with the real world, and I wouldn’t be surprised to hear about companies pouring more marketing dollars into this program.

If you haven’t tried Second Life out yet, I highly recommend checking it out once (it’s free, at least if you don’t plan on getting THAT involved).

I would predict that Second Life’s user base will continue to grow, but, ultimately, Second Life really only suites a niche audience, and given the occasional performance lag and the clear financial and time investment required, I wouldn’t be too concerned about MySpace’s position at the top of the hill.

Second Life wreaks of the Matrix to me in some regard; it’s a virtual world where people define their virtual identities and the virtual environment around them. I don’t plan on becoming a resident (my first life is enough!), but it’s utterly fascinating to explore the different residences and see how much effort players put into creating their virtual identities. To think that people invest the time to build houses, furniture, and items for sale . . . you’d think Second Life was training the next generation of 3D artists!