Second Life

Description

Linden Lab has created Second Life as the next evolutionary leap in the formation of virtual communities. Participants will truly take on a second life, an escape to a place full of people, activity and possibility. From the freedom of creating a personal identity and claiming virtual land to the responsibilities of earning money and maintaining one's health to the social implications of joining a community and collaborating with others, residents of Second Life will face a host of choices daily. Second Life is a multi-layered boundless universe that is constantly changed by - and constantly changes - its inhabitants. Key features of Second Life include:

• Through a real-time reputation system, players rate each other as they interact, allowing players to comment favorably or negatively on each other's personas and property. A series of positive comments confers financial rewards as well as social status upon the beneficiary. A player with a low reputation rating may have to be content with their small, unadorned home, whereas a player with a high rating might find him or herself with extra money to build an addition, or be invited to an exclusive party limited to people of equal status. As in life, players will likely seek a balance between actively participating and watching from the sidelines.
• Second Life has an internal living economy with land ownership, taxes and property rights that will help promote the creation of interesting content. Each player will begin with a stipend, but by constructing proprietary content that is pleasing to others, can charge usage or purchase fees to earn additional money. A group of players might invest their money together to construct a funhouse and charge a fee to customers who want to experience it. In both examples, real-time collaborative creation and the internal world economy will directly impact a player's experience.
• From changing one's appearance to changing one's surroundings, Second Life lets players express their creativity through simplified but sophisticated 3D creation tools. Players can customize their avatar's appearance in an infinite number of ways, allowing them to completely change identities whenever the mood strikes. When players decide to put down stakes, they can build a home from scratch or personalize a pre-designed home with objects and textures from their inventory. They can also bring their creations to life with scripts that add behaviors and special effects. And for those players who think on a grand scale, or who want to construct a major civic work, Second Life's streaming 3D allows any number of players to join together to collectively build anything they can imagine.