SL, etc.

I second that. I also gave second life a test drive early last year and had basically the same opinions. I was really frustrated with the fact that, as in real life, people were lying in wait around every corner trying to get me to spend money. It was like a trip to the mall. Every few feet it seemed that a guy at a cart was trying to sell me something, whether it was sex, gambling or code. Just as in real life, the property is way over-priced, there are weirdos lurking about everywhere you go and people gather into cliques to rag on newbies. It seemed like a glorified chatroom to me. If you are into paying for sex that you are having alone at your computer or gambling onine, you could probably find just as satisfying a time elsewhere (for less money). Damn, this makes me sound cheap. At the time, money was REALLY good and I could have afforded to throw it away on such frivolity. It still didn't seem worth it.

bonus features

I tried SL about a year or so ago, as part of my "obsession" with trying new tech. Honestly, I found the interface aspects of it clunky. I guess I'm more forgiving on actual games, as opposed to 3d worlds that you interact in, but I could see the concept getting a lot of mileage once you have the basic interface thing nailed....

And by interface, I mean looking at SL thru a monitor, and moving via keyboard and mouse, just highlights how incredibly lame 3D spaces (not games) are. Same with text chat. Bleh. I was super bored. Plus, it still seems like internet chat has about six messages that are consistently recited... anyone here? any women? who wants cybersex? what's up? where are you from? how old are you? Certainly not very mentally intensive interaction. I'd be tempted to try it again when you can move around by brain command (supposedly there will be some actual products on the market this year, I keep seeing some nifty demos of that tech), and also with something like the old VR visors that were sorta big in the 90s.

Until then... my reaction to SL was just meh.

peace,
--mj
arkiver