Second Life 3.3.1.254524 user reviews

Well, Second Life is currently on its 1.6.6(5) version when I write this, so of course things have changed (and will continue to change every 2-3 weeks, as new releases are launched).

It's hard to be an unbiased reviewer of a platform you use every day for several hours, but the best I can do is *try* :)

Firstly - Second Life is not really a "game". It's a virtual reality platform, designed for collaborative work, including a 3D Modeller and Avatar designer and its own scripting (programming) language. No content is provided by the company developing the "3D client application" - the program can be download for free - as well as running the 800 servers which contain the "grid" - persistent storage for all 3D content, which you can "rent", and is laid out as an interconnected "world" in a continuous landscape.

Since every user can add content, describing "what Second Life is" is incredibly hard. It all depends on who you ask. Some will tell you it's an "enhanced" 3D chat game, where you can join all sorts of events (of course, all of them being hosted by other users), socialize, or discuss philosophy and religion. Others will concentrate on the technological aspect, and view it as a 3D tool for quickly building immensely complex structures, and have users interact with them - from car races, to card games, to art displays, whatever you can imagine, you can build it. All content you design is your own intellectual propriety - you can use it elsewhere if you wish.

Others still are interested in the economy (and, through economy, its society) of Second Life. Since you can exchange "Linden dollars" (the in-game currency) with US$ through external, third-party sites (not affiliated with Linden Lab, but normal, regular users of the VR platform), there is real value "in-world". People can speculate at the GOM (www.gamingopenmarket.com) which operates like a stock exchange; buy or sell "virtual land" (essentially, a measure of the persistent content storage that is available for placing your objects permanently in-world); creating content (objects, scripts, avatars and clothes, animations, sounds, textures) and selling it in-world for a profit; or generally provide any other service - like design, marketing, advertising, event hosting, finantial consultancy, whatever your choices are. Very successfull users view Second Life exactly like that - a "second life", operating under similar rules to your own life, where you can get a "job", carve your niche, and even make a profit. Some users allegedly earn US $2000-4000 per month and have quit their day jobs; however, don't expect this to be easy - it certainly requires a total commitment to the platform, and providing unique services that the market demands, and being very watchful on the dynamic change of the virtual world.

So, if you're looking for a fast-paced First Person Shooter, or MMORPG/MMOG, Second Life is *not* for you. Yes, there are lots of "games" inside the platform - things like role-playing games and first-person shooters have been designed "inside" the world itself, and Linden Lab has encouraged game design using Second Life by hosting an annual competition. You can also join boardgames like Chess, Dominoes, or Go, or Second-Life specific games, like Prim Attack, or, rather recently, the very competitive Tringo (recently announced for other platforms besides Second Life). Understanding that Second Life is *not* a game -- although it looks like one, from an aesthetical point of view, and there certainly are lots and lots of "gaming" opportunities inside Second Life -- is the major reason why people join this virtual world, or not.

It's fun, but it's hard work. It's been used to do real projects - helping people with disabilities to communicate, e-Learning and conference rooms, even as a studio for cable TV. But it's mostly a question of creativity and self-expression - imagine a world of Lego blocks that you can use for whatever you wish, and build things together with your friends, for the enjoyment of all.

Some refer to Second Life as "the Matrix, version 0.1". It will be the Matrix in 2015 or so -- when photorealistic engines are able to render movie-quality images in real time, on an average desktop PC or Mac. Right now, we're a step below that - the renderer is pretty sophisticated for a dynamically changing environment where everything can be changed even by turning your head (thus, you cannot pre-generate scenes to render them faster, as most 3D online games do these days), but it's not true photorealism yet.