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Second Life is an open-ended virtual world created by San Francisco-based Linden Lab. It is similar to There, another such world created around the same time, in that one of its primary focuses is socialization, but the similarity ends there. The brain child of former RealNetworks CTO Philip Rosedale, Second Life gives its users (referred to as residents) tools to shape its world. A large majority of the content in the Second Life world is user-created, and one of the unique things about Second Life is that users retain the rights to the objects they create.
Objects
Second Life includes a 3D modeling tool that allows users to create objects of nearly any complexity out of a set of basic building blocks known as prims (short for primitives). Second Life includes a set of textures that users can apply to their objects, but users can also upload and apply their own images. Objects can have scripts which control their behaviors -- Second Life uses its own scripting language, called Linden Scripting Language (most commonly referred to simply as LSL), which has a syntax similar to C. LSL allows objects to interact with the Second Life world and the Internet (via email and XML-RPC). Second Life uses the Havok dynamics engine for simulated physics, though not all objects in the world necessarily respond to physics.
Users of Second Life are represented in the world by a humanoid avatar, which can be customized and clothed in a wide variety of ways. Users can also attach objects to their avatars to further customize them -- the attachments can be something as simple as a pair of glasses, or something as complex as a costume to make the avatar look like something else entirely, such as a cartoon character. Common applications of altering characters have included animals (Second Life supports a strong social Furry group, over 200 known members strong,) Robots and Mechs, and avatars totally non-humanoid. It is also possible for users to upload animations (acquired via motion capture or created with software such as Curious Labs Poser) for their avatar.
Second Life does not have a predetermined theme — Linden Lab has left the task of establishing one up to the users.
Culture
Second Life has a rich resident-driven culture, that has developed new terms revolving around metrics such as Dwell. Other articles will be expanded to cover this growing phenomenon.
Second Life requires a broadband Internet connection, and free software (about 20MB, and available for the PC and Macintosh) that can be downloaded from the Second Life web site (http://www.secondlife.com/).
Second Life currently has four pricing tiers (all prices in United States dollars):
- Basic Access -- one-time access fee of $9.95
- Premium Monthly -- $9.95/month (billed monthly)
- Premium Quarterly -- $7.50/month (billed quarterly)
- Premium Annual -- $6.00/month (billed annually)
Additionally, there is a seven-day free trial, for which a credit card is required for age verification. Second Life requires users to be at least 18 years of age.
Second Life has its own economy and a currency, Linden dollars. Residents receive a small amount of money when they start their account, and a weekly stipend. The size of the stipend depends on the account type. To earn additional money, residents can also sell objects or services for Linden dollars through in-world shops. It is possible to convert Linden dollars to US dollars and vice versa through real-world brokers such as Gaming Open Market (http://www.gamingopenmarket.com/) and IGE (http://www.ige.com/mg/game.asp?gid=31).
References
Many Second Life residents have noted the similarities between Second Life and the Metaverse from Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash.
External links
- Second Life (http://www.secondlife.com/) official website
- Linden Lab (http://lindenlab.com/) official website
Forums
Weblogs
- New World Notes (http://secondlife.blogs.com/) - a weblog about Second Life society by Wagner James Au
- Second Language (http://www.sluniverse.com/language/): "The Voices of Second Life" (a weblog)
- Second Edition (http://www.sluniverse.com/edition/): Regularly updated news site
- Second Thoughts (http://www.sluniverse.com/thoughts/): Reviews
- Individual Players' Blogs
Photo Galleries
Business Directories
- Trade & Services Directory (http://trade.secondserver.net/) - resident-run directory of stores and services
- Avatar Central (http://www.sluniverse.com/avatarcentral/) - Alpha phase directory and classifieds
- The SL Exchange Marketplace (http://www.slexchange.com/) - Real-time Second Life shopping on the web - thousands of items created by hundreds of SL's finest content creators.
Other Sites
- LSL Wiki (http://www.secondlife.com/badgeo), a community effort to supplement the available LSL documentation
- SLAuctions.com (http://www.slauctions.com) - Resident Run Land-Auctioning System
- SL History Wiki (http://profnano.org/sl)
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