The Truth About Second Life

By: Rich Gaudio

I've been reading a lot of articles lately about this "Metaworld" called Second Life. For about a year or so, there has been a big buzz about it, mainly what you can do there, if it is a game or not, how you can make a real life living though you’re Second Life and so-on. I have been a 'resident' of Second Life for over a year now and I would like to speak the TRUTH about it to the best of my abilities.

What is Second Life?

It's an interactive 3D chat site where you can customize your avatar in fairly realistic
detail.

Can you make real life money there?

Yes and no....you CAN make a little bit but when 500 Lindens (in world dollars) is equal
to about $1 in US currency, it's very hard to make any profit at all without first spending
BIG real world bucks to do so.

Haven't people made some pretty big bucks there?

Yes, but very few and only those who got into the metaworld very early on. One of the
most common ways to make money is to buy and sell land. Early on this could be done
easier than it can be now. Before, you could buy a piece of land from $100- $2000 USD
depending on the size of the sim, you would own it and can do pretty much whatever you

want with it. Build it up for yourself or divide it into property to sell or rent out to other residents. You stood to make a decent profit off of that but now, you need to pay a tier fee (like property tax) to the Lindens ( the fictitious name of those who own and operate the metaworld) that can cost a

pretty painful real world penny. This picture above is my Avatar (which we will refer to as my av... cute aint he? ;) ) this beach is very small in comparison to other sim property but it costs me and two of my friends about $15 USD per month each to "own". Will we make any money off of it? No, not likely. We only bought it just so we could design a place to be to our own liking. Another way people have made money in the past was to build and create objects everyone wants/needs. The dude who created the scripted Xcite Penis makes a killing :\ but now, there's hundreds if not thousands of virtual penises to be had and many are free, no more money in that. I think Second Life has come close to its limit on things that the residents need, that CAN possibly exist there.

I've read in computer magazines and webnews that big real world companies invested in owning businesses

In Second Life. Is this true?

Well I can honestly say, I don't know because I've never seen the businesses. There are thousands of inworld businesses, malls, night clubs etc but I have yet to see one owned or operated by a big real world company. I did read an article recently about IBM and Coca Cola investing hundreds of thousands of dollars on sim land builders, designers, and employees to start virtual businesses there and then soon folded because no one visits their sims nor buys their products from them. I mean do you REALLY need a coke in a simulated world? Who really cares if your simulated can of coke looks like the real thing?( pardon the pun) They are easy enough to make yourself that you would be a fool to purchase one.

With 4 million residents, isn't it a good place to advertise at least?

Hehehehe, sorry but the 4 million number makes me laugh. There is NOT 4 million residents, I doubt highly that there is even close to 1 million and 1/3 of accounts held, are alternate accounts. You can have more than one account so 1/3 of the population is really 1 person with more than one account. Some places have high traffic but most do not. The most highly traveled places are usually those with "camping" which is a way to make a small amount of money over time. You sit in a chair, or dance on a dance pad, or other camping tool and make on average about $2L (2 inworld dollars) every 10 or 15 mins. Yes, very boring and it would take you roughly 2 days sitting and doing nothing to make the equivalent of $1 USD but, it’s so hard to make money there that people do this. Any other time there is a good population is usually a mall. Hell, even in sim world we love to shop but when the majority of what you can buy is less than $500L the shop owners don’t bring in the income either, especially when considering they have to pay rent and tier fee also. Most of the time, you find a spot where you like to sit and talk to your friends and that’s where you live most of your Second Life.

Isn't there explicate sex on the mature sims?

Hehehehe well its retarded looking sex but yes.... and not only on mature sims. Seems the Linden gods don't pay too much mind to what goes on on the sims. Sim sex, to me is ridiculous. I don't engage in it and proudly flaunt my virtual virginity (fixes halo). Sex is 'performed' on pose balls which you "sit' on and it animates your av alone or with a partner (or partners if the case may be) They're almost everywhere but I do find them easily avoidable. Some residents live for it, I can’t possibly be bothered with it. Some common employment in Second Life is to be an escort or exotic dancer....

Escorting, which is really simulated prostitution is totally laughable. If you need fake sex enough to pay someone for it you have a serious problem. Exotic dancing on the other hand is in just about every night club and party that no one pays any attention to it anymore. Half naked AVs aren’t a huge turn on in my opinion.

Isn't your Second Life supposed to be only limited to your imagination as it is boasted on the website?

It is only limited to your own imagination, federal state and govt law, things the Lindens WANT you to do and things that are possible in the grid itself. Such as, my av has long hair, I would LOVE for his hair to move more freely and not jab through his body when his head moves, but alas..... to make that possible would involve changing the entire format that Second Life is run on.

Over the last several months, Second Life has been hit with a LOT of legal issues. We used to be able to gamble, we cant now. Banks have closed (and most taking all the money residents set aside in said banks with them) because of tax laws, someone might be hiding money in Second Life *gasp*. Child pornography used to run rampant there, childlike Av approaching you for sex which they couldn't have gotten rid of soon enough for me!!! It isn’t completely GONE but its no longer out in the open and you can report childlike AVs to Lindens because they are supposedly outlawed now. And my theory isn’t that Lindens made these activities illegal because it’s DISGUSTING but because once the big companies saw them, they pulled out. Do you think Nike wants to be associated with simulated child sex? Neither does the Swiss Embassy which was rumored to have wanted to hold meetings there.

In a nut shell, there are more limits there than in real life.... some good limits, some bad.

MSN recently posted an article about charitable organizations in Second Life, isn't that a good thing?

Yes it is, I don't scoff at charity.... BUT when the average Second Life resident has $25 USD or less in their account, Id say the effort would be better spent and more likely to go to the real charity if it was done in real life. I’m sure there are honest people holding the charities in Second life but, lets face it, it’s MUCH easier to lie about who you are there than in the real world.

What are some common problems you face in Second Life?

Wow where to begin!!! I'd say all residents agree the lag is TERRIBLE. Sometimes you can’t even move and then you crash. Sims only hold so many prims (Primitives = pieces or objects) so the more 'things' or people there are on any sim, the worse the lag is. But you can even be lagged down in a vacant lot simply because they servers cant handle the volume of prims the whole metaworld is holding ... and trust me, its many more objects than it is people....

Chat lag has gotten horrible in the past few months... type something and it appears 2 mins later and usually out of the order you typed it in. Lack of prim availability is another issue... even on our little island, we can’t get it fully decorated because we can only set so many pieces down. Newbies or Noobs... the name given to people who have just gotten there... most are under the belief that things are the way they say in the articles. They find you, most of the time naked with their new sim penis they got in the freebie box of the first store they visited... usually they ask you for a job, which you of course cant offer them, then they flat out ask for money.... if you cant give them that, then they ask you for sex... the 3 things that made them want to come in the first place :\

Not all noobs will ask for sex and not all are naked but just about ALL of them ask for a job or how to make money. Another issue is water... there is water ALL over Second Life yet you cant swim without purchasing a HUD (heads up display) or animation override that will allow you to swim... and of course cause you more lag when you wear them ;) what else... lets see... missing inventory... you can buy things that you never actually get or that suddenly disappear. Griefers!! Usually bored teenagers who lie and say they're over 18, create an account and then throw prims down on a sim, usually vulgar ones, in hopes to get the thrill of crashing the sim itself, which of course logs you out of Second Life and you might have to wait to get back in. Crashing on teleport is something new for me.... you travel in SL via teleport if where you’re going is too far to walk or fly to. Lately every time I try to move to another sim I'll crash. These are the kinds of things that big companies can’t tolerate for any business meetings they may have planned to hold there.... they'd be better off in a Yahoo conference.

Wow! Is there anything good about SL?

Sure there is or I wouldn't still be there :) there is fun to be had, I’ve recently learned building and that’s pretty fun. Sometimes there is a good party with a good DJ and you hang out with your friends while your AV’s dance. Mostly I like playing Zyngo, or sitting on the beach with my friends chatting. I've resolved to the notion that no, I wont make a profit there, but I don’t mind spending a few $ a month to pretend my life is more exciting than it really is. There is a real feeling of contentment when my AV looks like he's enjoying himself. It's really just a type of escape from reality so when you understand this, then you can enjoy yourself there. You will be one miserable person in real life if you only go there with the hopes of making profit. So, come, meet people, chat, fly around, have fun... just don’t be naked and beg for money or sex... that’s SOOOOO not cool!!