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Web Nuggets: Does anyone bother with Second Life anymore?

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  1.  (8624.1)
    I recently got an email invite to an event on SL and it occurred to me I haven't logged in over a year or two.

    Perhaps it was stagnation. It seemed to me that there was always going to be a limit to creativity based off the actual software and any upgrades to the system would seriously foul up any creations that took tenants a day and age to produce.

    I did actually 'busk' in SL, setting up my preamp to sing and play songs, and I actually made a little lucre at it, although that was hardly my original intent. All too often the spammer/griefer would foul this up, maybe once too often.

    But all that aside, do you still get on SL? Do you have good reasons to start wandering the plains again or do you consider it too much in need of an upgrade to bother?
  2.  (8624.2)
    They kept upgrading the system to the point where, in my case, a brand new Thinkpad lacked the power to run the software. (Instead of fixing all the things in SL that were broken.) So I haven't been inworld in the best part of two years, and don't imagine I'll ever look at Second Life again.
  3.  (8624.3)
    I stopped bothering due to the atrocious performance of the client software and the tendency of anything not involving gambling or sex tending to not work especially well.
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      CommentAuthoroldhat
    • CommentTimeJul 25th 2010
     (8624.4)
    Gods, I'm just remembered Warren's Second LIfe column and how I unleashed the Church Of Elvis on his place haha.

    Similar reasons for leaving. They kept upgrading and upgrading but avoiding the problems that were already there that the entire thing just became a slow, clunky ordeal and I had to step away. It's a shame, really. I was liking the way it was going, since it was basically a physical representation of the internet. Companies had their own turfs, there were slums and areas that fit in to any interest. Porn, furries, steampunk and conservatives al had a home there.

    Anyone remember the post-apocalyptic terrain when it was out? Had some wonderful things like a movie theatre and scavenge/hunting games.
  5.  (8624.5)
    Anyone remember the post-apocalyptic terrain when it was out? Had some wonderful things like a movie theatre and scavenge/hunting games.

    Freaks and mutants doing loping mission runs all over the Wastelands.

    I miss the I AM LEGEND game most, to be honest. For the month or two that it was up, it was the most fun I had in SL, better even than Carnage Island at its peak. I did enjoy being a ninja zombie bastard. Other people probably didn't enjoy that as much.
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      CommentAuthoroldhat
    • CommentTimeJul 25th 2010
     (8624.6)
    Oh, CHRIST, Carnage Island. That was such a fun place...
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      CommentAuthorPaprika
    • CommentTimeJul 25th 2010
     (8624.7)
    I still pop in on the odd occassion to catch up with the a few people I became friendly with, but I might as well do that wireframe or pure text as I couldnt give a monkeys about sculptys or prim hair or shadows etc.
  8.  (8624.8)
    Anyone remember the post-apocalyptic terrain when it was out? Had some wonderful things like a movie theatre and scavenge/hunting games.

    Freaks and mutants doing loping mission runs all over the Wastelands.


    The Wastelands are still there and we still have our scrappy gangs of freaks and mutants and filthy humans scavenging for parts and food when they're not stabbing each other or building something. For the game, I created content for the food resources (mystery meat, bloodmoss, yellow mold, sand hippo bacon to name a few) and some new weapons (but are not available for use yet). We still have our Fight Nights and every once in a while, we twist Giu's arm and he'll show some films at the drive-in. I think the last time he did it, he tortured us with Detroit Metal City.

    There are definitely still performance issues and basic problems LL has repeatedly neglected that have become dead-end obstacles for some content creators with no workarounds. It's definitely understandable that casual users and some content creators have left. I also think LL's development strategies were and still are very poorly planned and managed.

    @oldhat: You're responsible for the First Second Life Church of Elvis? Ha! I remember that well and spread the Good Word to others about it a few weeks ago.

    @Warren: The IAL creators still get messages to this day hoping for the return of that game. Stalking the forests of Central Park and hunting humans in haz-mat suits under Chinatown's hanging lanterns was always fun.
  9.  (8624.9)
    @Warren: The IAL creators still get messages to this day hoping for the return of that game.

    I bet they do. I had to limit myself to an hour a night or else I'd be scragging hazmat suits until the break of dawn.
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      CommentAuthoroldhat
    • CommentTimeJul 25th 2010 edited
     (8624.10)
    Steven, No, not responsible for it. But I did know the creator of it and pointed him to Warren's place for their annual parade. I was, however, the creator of the Fake Doctor's Society (or was it Association?) (where all members gained the title of Dr.)
  11.  (8624.11)
    The way you guys speak of it the most fun thing about Second Life was the equivalent to the 'Mods' for games like Half-Life. Why bother integrating a whole world together when people are try to create completely different 'islands'? Sure, it's ideal, but the system requirements to keep up with even the basic underpinnings of the whole 'world' are outstanding. It didn't seem they had a good plan for growth.

    Maybe if they used something like the World of Warcraft engine, implementing better more intuitive creation tools(I hated the tools, honestly) they'd have a winner on their hands...
    • CommentAuthorOxbrow
    • CommentTimeJul 25th 2010
     (8624.12)
    I just got a machine powerful enough to look in on it a few months ago. I visited some of the lands in Warren's guide. Some were still occupied but the time I saw four people in the Wastelands was the busiest it ever got. As a tourist some of the lansdcape creation was very impressive, but I was obviously looking in after the party.
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      CommentAuthorD.J.
    • CommentTimeJul 25th 2010
     (8624.13)
    This thread is actually making Second Life sound like fun and I don't think anywhere else has ever done that ever.
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      CommentAuthorglukkake
    • CommentTimeJul 25th 2010
     (8624.14)
    I haven't had time for games at all lately - I mostly zone out to my boyfriend playing through games I wanted to play while I've put myself into a food coma - but Second Life always intrigued me.

    Dr. Sketchy's has a Second Life branch though, which really makes me want to create an account just to go visit. A friendly kindly logged into his account and tweeted us photos during their first session, which was neat. The fact that I just don't know anyone who really plays has always hindered me, as it's so much better to learn the ropes with a partner in crime.
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      CommentAuthorPaprika
    • CommentTimeJul 26th 2010
     (8624.15)
    I've tried sketching from SL in the past but it just didnt gel for me the translation from a crisp digital medium to an organic one sounds interesting but for me the translation was to difficult. I'm not sure how Dr Sketchys would work in sl. Maybe a live multi camera stream of a Dr Sketchys would work better. hmm thinking.

    I used to DJ dub in SL every Saturday night as a giant cigar smoking Gorilla but eventually I figured it was more fun to smoke a real cigar and listen to it at my leisure.
  16.  (8624.16)
    Because it was never anything better than "heinously ugly" and buggy and difficult to run, and the features that would have made it worth investing in were never followed up on, such as live-action puppeteering of your avs beyond preprogrammed "dance" motions. It looks like the puppeteering, which was the one thing no MMO had touched before, was abandoned sometime last year: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Puppeteering

    Second Life was the Tragedy of the Commons made (simulated) flesh. As a demonstration of the failure of anarchic approaches to aesthetics and entertainment, it was a success. As demonstration of sex and gambling as an entire economy (and ecosystem) it was a success.

    I still want a digital world. It's what we were promised in every cyberpunk novel and what we all worked so hard for. But until someone gets some decent designers, both artistic and practical, and applies them to such a place, it'll turn into the same insular slushpile that Second Life did.
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      CommentAuthorJon Wake
    • CommentTimeAug 14th 2010
     (8624.17)
    I remember when I wanted to make a Bas Lag retreat in Second Life. I got a bunch of preliminary models built, then realized that unless people could fuck a Slake Moth in agonizing detail, it'd never be economically viable. Race to the bottom!
  18.  (8624.18)
    I'm having a time out until I can learn some manners.
    yes i still log in, I'm making a comic book reader
    <img src="http://img40.imagefra.me/img/img40/8/8/14/bettyboolean/f_12xvoeq6o2sm_2ce47fc.png" border="0" alt="Image Hosting by imagefra.me" />
    im BettyBoolean Dagger there
  19.  (8624.19)
    I'm having a time out until I can learn some manners.
    <blockquote>But all that aside, do you still get on SL? Do you have good reasons to start wandering the plains again or do you consider it too much in need of an upgrade to bother?</blockquote>

    I'm just a little lost soul swimming in a fish bowl
  20.  (8624.20)
    @BettyBoolean

    What do you get out of it? Is it strictly social for you or is it a creative endeavor?

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