What is Second Life? - Comments Page 1

Looks dull to me as well. Least when I can play call for duty 3. It does more for me than that piece of crap game would lol...

Yes I thought what's the big deal myself about Second Life? I downloaded and joined and it is really kinda cool. Met some new friends and email buddies who live all over the world. It's extremely different from other avatar based so called virtual worlds yet it's format makes you feel right at home. I'm not a die hard Second Life user but I do go in couple times a week and wander around. I have not bought property or used thier monetary sytem. I have however had new clothes and vehicles given to me and that is awesome. Everyone should try it at least once.

Second Life is different things to different people. For some it's a comms device. For some it's an outlet for their creativity. For some it's a taste of freedom but for nearly everyone, it's an education. It may be creaking a bit at the seams but for many of us it's a Second Home.

You said: "Linden Labs' decision to open the source code to developers could make Second Life vulnerable to further attacks and expose serious privacy concerns."

I guess this is why Linux is such an un-secure OS, not!. You really are down on open source aren't you Bob?

EDITOR'S NOTE: Not at all... I love Linux and think open-source is great. But the ability to see the source code does give BOTH the Good Guys and the Evil Doers the ability to see where exploitable weaknesses are. Security holes in Linux are reported and patched all the time. Just yesterday there were TEN security patches issued for RedHat Enterprise Linux, six of which were labelled Important or Critical. Check out http://www.reallylinux.com/docs/security.html

A local high tech school held an open house in SL concurrently with real world. And its part of their Masters degree curriculum. Phone companies and others here have stores online. So its wothwhile be aware of it.

On the downside, its a huge time vacuum. It takes hours to just build a decent avatar and a lot of it is illusion as opposed to an alternate form of reality. Its usability and accessibility must get much better before the average person would find it useful. New forms of etiquette must be discovered. And there will be the gaffs, like meeting a potential employer online while a scantily clad warrior princess. Still, it does indicate to me what some of the potential is. Where the web may wander in a number of years.

SL is certainly a fascinating space. Fun, social, readily accessible to a game literate group or even a dinosaur like me.

I see its potential as its greatest asset. Business, communication, education...as Bilbo99 & David say huge educational potential - from virtual med labs through to virtual lectures and experiences that mimic RL without the cost often associated. [Of course it will guarantee work for programmers too :-)]

Can't you picture the psych, sociology, anthropology theses it can generate? A host of new cultures exist here.

Imagine the potential it has at overcoming that "me & keyboard social isolation" distance course participants often cite.

Great! To read this. It's really difficult to explain to people who have never heard about it, what SL is about. Thanks a lot.

Second Life is for those losers who can't cut it IRL. Also for those who can't get a date/a girl/boy friend IRL. Nothing but a prime playing field for predators, scammers, pedophiles, etc. to work their evil. And how lame do you have to be to pay REAL money for FAKE clothes, images, etc.? How can you make money selling fake items/services? At least with games like World of Warcraft or Everquest, you're actually playing a game and having fun. This is just an glorified hybrid of the Sims and an IM/chat program...

EDITOR'S NOTE: Maybe so (and I don't dabble much in ANY virtual reality stuff) but I don't see Warquest as being any different at all. Take a look at Webkinz and other VR worlds that kids are using today. It's only going to get bigger, and at some point (soon) it will no longer be possible to marginalize those who participate in VR as "losers."

I joined recently and its actually okay. I wander around and... well, thats all I really do, but anyway its interesting so far, but he monetary system is odd(to me).

SL is for losers who can't cut real life. All it is is Virtual Barbies. Get a life!

@ Gymmy,why do you people troll us and put us down and stuff like that? There are various universities using SL for meetings and such.

yes, this article is very old, but i thought i would reply anyway...

Since this article IS so old, SL has grown even BIGGER now and much more money is being made these days than when this was wrote...

For example, i know a couple that are ""detectives" as in they live on SL to find out if someone is cheating on their spouse in the game... and you get charged real money for this service... but in real life these ""detectives" are both walmart employees.. they make about $1,500.00 a month doing this service in the game!!

i know google has there own island they pay rent on for there employees to ""have a break"" during their normal RL shift...

and as for the adult portion of this game, there are PAID dominatrics that work on the game to do things to your virtual person, and they get paid as well and make almost 2 - 3,000.00!! a month!!

What you do in SL these days is limited only by how creative you can think!! Go try it out! if it's not your thing, or you dont see the potential simply uninstall it and forget it ever existed, you've got nothing to lose!!

I tried Second Life.

Near the end of my trial of testing it, I told one user that it's not for me and I prefer to do things in a real tangible life. The person tried to use some sort of psychology mumbo-jumbo on me, "What's really going on in your head..." and that I should stay in Second Life. No thank you.

The users I came across in Second Life were either sickly, crippled, and/or lazy people. Another class of people were just like what you see on The Jerry Springer Show.

I don't care if some of them are confined to a wheelchair...read a book or get a rewarding hobby. Do something other than sit and stare at the SL pixel crap fantasy and make-believe.

I will never understand why they enjoy to sexually animate their avatars. I hate to think what the they are doing or thinking while sitting there watching their avatars have sex.

To me, this alone makes them some of the most pathetic people in this world.