I’m revisiting Second Life today because I’m going to a Second Life Expo at the Studenternes Hus in Næstved later today.
It’ been a long time since I even looked at Second Life, but it’s been getting a fair amount of media attention in Denmark lately.
Installed the client on this machine (Vista) and headed off to sign up for an account.
What’s My Name?
The Sign up page is where I encountered the first thing that bugs me about SL. When signing up I can’t choose which last name I want to use.
Linden Labs allow you to choose any first name you want (up to 13 chars) but you can only choose from a list of predetermined last names.
I’m not sure what the reasoning behind this is, but it does strike me as a little strange.
Interminably Slow?
Once inside the game (and game is a very debatable term with regard to SL) I’ve found myself asking why it’s so slow.
This machine is no slouch. It runs World of Warcraft respectably which is an achievement considering all WOW’s know speed issues with Vista.
The graphics in second life remind me of the Anarchy Online, which were good a few years ago, but are simply sub par for today’s online worlds. Just look at the beauty of WOW.
I’m not referring to the landscape, as this is a user generated world where the users generally aren’t professional designers, but the quality of the avatars.
Yet comparing the graphics to AO may be giving Second Life more credit that it deserves. After all, AO’s avatars animated smoothly and don’t move like arthritic crane flies with steep poles up their behinds.
The screenshot above is of my avatar “Ick Oh” (don’t ask) standing in the entrance of the TV2 (One of Denmark’s national TV stations) in SL. It took more than a minute for all the textures to load in properly and that was with the streaming music turned off.
A quick check of the SL system requirements do state that a cable of DSL connection is required, but there is no indication at to what kind of speed requirements.
My experience today would indicate that you’d require a minimum of a 1MB download speed to have a reasonable experience within SL.
If you’re not on 1MB or higher then steer clear of SL.
I haven’t yet tried to build anything in SL, and it’s doubtful I ever will but I do know SL world is user generated and I’m assuming that the majority of textures used to create areas are stock, with the exceptions of things such as logos and the pictures on the wall in the screenshot above. But I do have to wonder at the long loading times when entering areas such as the TV2 building above.
Would a loading screen be better instead of just watching textures appear bit by bit?
I still don’t get Second Life!
Loading times aside, I still don’t get SL. I simply can’t / don’t understand the appeal of a world without goals. When you enter second life you can browse around areas and interact with outer people, but there is no clearly or loosely defined goals.
Maybe it’s just the fact that I’m goal orientated. I’m always working towards something. There is always something I want to achieve. Even relaxation has goal, as the time to relax is a reward for working towards my goals and should be enjoyed. That may simply be vegging out on the couch, but if I’m not enjoying my relaxing time there’s something wrong.
With that in mind, SL is at odds with my personality, because once you’ve explored the areas SL has to offer and made a few friends, there are no goals to achieve.
I can’t see my self wandering through SL looking for something to entertain me or attract my attention.
Maybe that’s why I like WOW as it’s so goal orientated.
Am I missing something?
Maybe I’m missing something when it comes to Second Life? I can’t see how that many people would be attracted to this type of world.
Their homepage quotes the following stats:
Total Residents: 5,824,516
Logged In Last 60 Days: 1,769,831
Online Now: 21,101
It occurs to me that the number of people logged in the last 60 days is probably the only number they should claim as residents. After all, 60 days is a long time on the web and if somebody hasn’t returned in that time, it’s pretty unlikely that they will.
Also, considering the number of people, like myself, who have created accounts just to see what all the hype is about.
I have no proof of this, it’s just my gut speaking, but I would suspect that SL’s real active user base is probably in the 400,000 to 700,000 user range with probably 70 – 80% of those being basic free members (that’s a conservative percentage is favor of SL. Again my gut tells me that it is probably more like 90% of members are free).
Again, I have no proof to back that up. It’s just my just speaking based on my experience of SL and the statistics on the SL website.
Residents Logged-In During Last 7 Days : 476,491
Residents Logged-In During Last 14 Days : 679,933
Residents Logged-In During Last 30 Days : 1,022,177
Residents Logged-In During Last 60 Days : 1,769,831
Total Residents : 5,824,516
I just can’t see that many people paying $9.95 a month and possible additional land ownership charges to roam a virtual world without goals.
But it must be said, that virtual worlds without goals will appeal to a lot of people who wish have a “place to go” online. Just not me!
Maybe I’ll learn something?
Maybe I’ll learn something of interest at the SL show today. Maybe I’ll come home with a reason to spend time in SL. Maybe I’m missing the bigger picture.
If I am, then it will be a revelation to me and you’ll get to read about it here.
If not, this will be the last post I write about specifically about SL unless there is some major innovation or scandal.
Tags:
Anarchy Online,
avatars,
Games,
graphics,
Internet,
MMO,
Næstved,
Second-Life,
Studenternes-Hus,
TV2,
user-base,
Virtual-World,
World-of-Warcraft,
WOW
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