Week 5 - Post One

This week, I took a trip around the starter area, looking for places people have built, or are available for other users to purchase.  What I found was a plethora of options, and ideas, ranging from treehouses, to pagoda inspired buildings.  All of these buildings available are more than likely catered to certain people.  Treehouses might be for those who are more outdoorsy, whereas pagodas might be used by the Asian populace, or those who are infatuated with Asian culture.

I was unable to enter most of the buildings I came across, because I was not on the "access list", which is understandable, personally I don't want anyone in the neighborhood to just come in and look at my stuff.

Other examples I found, were extremely elaborate cliffside houses, appealing to me, as I would love to have an amazing house with an incredible view.  Judging by the quality of the structures, people who care greatly about their surrounding environment would enjoy buildings like these.  The Second Life community is as diverse as the world around us, and the structures and items available to customize the environment is definitely a major indicator of this.

Fantasy Themed House, with Sheep.

Magnificent Architecture

Tree/Cliff Houses

Looks like a mobius strip in a way.

Asian Themed

Ice cream store?

Random explosions of images.

Week 4 - Post Two

As mentioned in my last post, this week will be dominantly focused on the economics and market of Second Life.  Some examples of purchasing were shown in the last posting, but for this one, I kind of wanted to get down into the nitty gritty of it all, and therefore, I will only be using text, and references.

Like any company, Linden Labs, Second Life's owner, makes quarterly financial reports.  As the funding for the game is largely provided through player transactions, these statements are available on their website.  Also, because of this, there have been articles about both the in game economy, as well as the effect that it has had on the real world economy.

In an article authored by Dean Takahashi from 2010, it indicates that the Second Life economy's size grew by 65% to $567 Million Dollars.  Linden Labs estimates, that with that increase, Second Life accounts for roughly 25% of the US virtual goods market.  The article goes further in depth, detailing the fact that Second Life users cashed out $55 million REAL dollars, with the top 25 players earning $12 million collectively.  With this, Second Life hired a Chief Financial Officer, by the name of Bob Komin.  Players logged roughly 113 million hours in Second Life for the 4th quarter of 2009.

Reading through some of the comments of an article titled "Second Life economy flat but steady", shows that many people believe that Second Life is on the way out as a virtual world.  While the economy was steady at the time of that article, it appears that it had suffered a roughly 11% decrease in user hours since the article I previously referenced.  While the user hours have no direct effect on the economy, it is quite possible that because people were playing less, they were also spending or selling less as well.

I hope to spend more time in the world this coming week, learning and possibly creating, but most of my emphasis has shifted to interaction, as it appears to be the best way to learn.

-DM


Works Cited

Cremorne, Lowell.  "Second Life Economy: Flat but Steady." The Metaverse Journal.
          November 10, 2010.  Web.  Accessed March 25, 2012.
          <http://www.metaversejournal.com/2010/11/10/second-life-economy-flat-but-steady/>.

Takahashi, Dean.  "Second Life's Economy Grows 65% to $567M." VentureBeat.com.
          VentureBeat, January 19, 2010.  Web.  Accessed March 24, 2012.
          <http://venturebeat.com/2010/01/19/second-lifes-economy-grows-65-to-567m/>.

Week 4 - Post One

For this weeks post, I will primarily be using screenshots from my web browser, in accordance with the questions for this week. How do virtual goods get bought and sold in SL? and What types of virtual goods are on sale and how does the economy of virtual goods sales work in relationship to the broader online economy?  The first question will be the subject of this post.

As discussed with my posts from last week, goods are bought and sold through the Second Life Marketplace, located at https://marketplace.secondlife.com/, and its homepage is shown above.  The other possible way to buy items is via the in game interface, as seen below.

As you can see in the above image, I have the "Mutt Crossing" sign selected, and in the upper left corner of the screen, it shows who I will be paying, what object I am trying to purchase, and the cost of the object. Using the in-game purchasing requires Linden Dollars allocated to the Second Life account, if none are available, it will attempt to allow you to purchase them for United States Dollars.  Fortunately, the area which I am exploring is rife with free objects, although most of them are more suited for female players and avatars.

User creativity and creations are more than welcome, and form the vast majority of the items available.  Users add these items to the marketplace and are capable of making real world money through their transactions.  I will post more about this on Sunday.  See you then!

-DM

Week 3 - Post 2

Today I spent most of the day exploring the Second Life Marketplace, which, thanks to Valkyrie, I found out was online.  There is an astronomical amount of items available.  Ranging from seating to weapons, all the way to private islands!  These are all purchased using Linden Dollars which can be exchanged at a rate of 247 L$ to 1 USD.  Now given my current financial situation, I will not be purchasing any of these items, however, there are quite a few that are free.  In example, my suit and shoes from the previous post were all 'freebies'.  And as such, my avatar now looks distinct and I have not been approached about being a 'noobie'.  While this is good in some aspects, it is bad in others, as with the upgraded style, most people now assume that I know what I am doing and therefore do not offer help regularly.

One person I met today went by the name of Count Acronym, shown above, behind the DJ tables.  He wouldn't go in depth about his reasoning for joining Second Life, and rather, kind of ignored me.  But he was playing music through his DJ decks which incited a dance party in the new player area.

Going around and seeing some of the custom avatars has been awesome.  I have seen Sonic the Hedgehog, a little red bunny, a man in a space suit, as well as a minotaur!  The amount of diversity I have seen in this game continues to astound me.

Sonic

Bunny

Spaceman, and the character who used to be the minotaur, but changed into a Spaceman.

Now that I have actually met someone willing to help me, expect more posts and updates earlier and more often than previously.  See you soon!

-DM

Week 3 - Post 1

I have actually made contact with someone!!!

Valkyrie (twyztdvalkyrie) is a German/English female who is a professional chef in real life.  She has used the Second Life world as a means to bridge the distance between herself and her boyfriend, who lives far away from her.  She and I appear to have a lot in common, as she has difficulty adjusting to this environment from previous experiences as well.  She is on the left of the middle, in the skirt.

That dapper gentleman roughly in the middle is actually me now!  Thanks to Valkyrie, I was able to find some upgraded clothes and a different style, to get out of the ugly "Twilight" look that I had.

I will post more tomorrow evening!  See you then!

DM

Week 2 of Second Life

In my second week in Second Life, I still feel like an outsider, especially as people seem really unapproachable.  I asked for assistance and advice and was given one to two work answers and no specifics about where I was supposed to go.  It appears that this society is based on those who have proven themselves.  Part of the problem that I may be having is that I do not know many of the basics of how the game environment works, and I am not logged on while the "classes" are taking place.

I believe that people who are social outcasts, or have difficulty approaching others for fear of embarrassing themselves.  This society allows people the opportunity to be someone they normally could not be in real life, daring, flirtaceous, and even down right mean (although I have not met anyone from that category as of yet.

At the time of this writing, I am still in the beginners area, and thus, almost everything available is free, and runs the gamut from new avatars, to clothing, to buildings.  These items appeal to everyone, regardless of function, because there is something out there for everyone.

More updates to come soon.

-DM

Wired Analysis.

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/03/no-touchscreen-apple-set/

This article is speculative due to the image and cryptic text provided by Apple.  The lack of the usual "Home" button on an Apple device as well as the size of the icon in relation to the users finger suggests a TV sized screen.  However, the implementation and function of such a device would be limited, most people don't want to have to get up to control their Television sets.  As far as functionality goes, I feel that it would represent an extremely niche market, personally, I would use one to expand my desktop, as most of my TV watching is internet based, and therefore I am in front of my computer more often than not.  There are, of course, the "Apple-philes" who wait on every word out of the Cupertino, California company.  I am not one of those, but due to the amount of people who are, I can see the device, even if it is a touchscreen TV, to be profitable.

http://www.wired.com/reviews/2012/02/samsung-galaxy-note/

This article/review is based on the premise of a device that seems to blur the line between tablet and smart-phone, while being the latter, it is considered to be too large to effectively fulfill that role.  Due to its smart phone abilities, it will more than likely cost more than larger tablets, and due to its size, will cost more than the smaller smart phones, with roughly the same capabilities as both.  This device, on the other hand, opens up another field for game development, the "tablet smartphone", combining the key qualities of both of these and while it is rather bulky for a smart phone, it is more portable than a tablet typically is.  I believe I am permanently on the "smartphone" wagon, however, none of the newer phones (I have a T-Mobile G2) have any significant advances other than OS version to draw me away.  In this aspect, I am waiting for a large breakthrough before I am excited to switch to a new device.

http://www.wired.com/reviews/2012/01/asus-transformer-prime/

This article is rather dated, and I have read about this device previously, but reading about the exact features rekindled my interest in it.  The Asus Transformer Prime is a tablet device which is the first to use quad-core technology, putting it on par with some "Ultrabook" laptops.  Given my adherence to the Android operating system, and the fact that I was planning on purchasing a Samsung Galaxy Tab at some point in the near future, I was excited about Asus's new tablet and its capabilities.  This is another "seen em all" type deal, however, I feel that the increased computing power will again, further the capabilities and limits of devices with relation to gaming.

-DM

Days One and Two.

After my first day in Second Life, I noted two things, having not encountered many people in my travels.  The controls and environments are difficult to get used to after spending much time in other persistent world games, and people are as eager to help out in Second Life as in other games, that is to say, not at all.  Granted, my opinion is based off of interactions with two to three people at best.  However, my opinion may be biased due to a bit of ethnocentrism which I have gained from my adventures in the aforementioned, other worlds.

After my second day, having seen more people, I discovered several with custom avatars and personas, however, again, there was little communication between myself and others, and any communication I observed was crass, and the same can be said about avatar names, observed as "Sex Towel" and "Bitch" (with altered characters).  I also encountered many avatars speaking Spanish, further adding to my inability to communicate.  It seems that people have gathered in a place called Hyannisport and converse a little before going off and doing their own thing.

This ends the analysis of week 1, as I finally converse with people, I will add more.