iEntry 10th Anniversary
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In this time of economic challenge, it appears to me that business has not fully comprehended the need for technological integration in their business models. Second Life and virtual environments are a part of this integration. Properly considering resources and implementation is key in fully utilizing the tools and potential of Second Life. As the future economies become more clear, integrating all of these technologies will be essentail for any business. Certainly, the company that conceives of the breakthrough in doing this will be among the leaders.
Second Life has grown tremendously, and will continue to grow. The potential for its use is too great to disappear. It concerns me that there continue to be unvalidated attacks from unknown sources. Clearly, there are companies that would prefer Second Life not to succeed. The possible competition with major media providers is too great not to be ignored.
The tools available to every user of Second Life are so varied, average users are able to create content equal to or greater interest than the pablum spoon fed to us by major media outlets everyday. The true potential of Second Life is the liberation of the average user.
The Gamers Game....
Figures for Second Life usage cannot be relied upon. Nor can Kingdon's hype.
It's a known fact that SL's usage figures are gamed by the company. The "15 million users" in fact refers to the total number of ACCOUNTS created during the 6 years SL has been operating; thus is unreliable on 2 counts:
1. Many of said accounts are inactive. In fact, many people log in to SL perhaps three or four times before leaving it altogether - but there accounts remain, and are counted as "users".
2. The figure fails to consider the large number of "Alts" (alternatives accounts) individual users hold. So one person could have 2 (sometimes 3 or 4) accounts, which Linden Lab count as individual "users".
The daily usage figures also cannot be trusted, as they fail to differentiate between actual users, people running multiple sessions with different avatars (Alts) and the widespread use of bots.
The "60 day" totals cannot be trusted, because they are again based on logins, not users. Given that someone can log-in to SL perhaps 3 times a day, and each time counts towards the "60 day" figure - it is easy to see how LL game this number to imply popularity.
The fact remains that while new user registrations are rising, user RETENTION remains a major issue for SL. Any casual visit to the world and a walk through its mainland environments will reveal that given up to 70K of people are supposed to be online at any given moment, massive tracts of the environment remain deserted day in, day out.
As to the "clean up" of "adult content", it seems likely that LL are going to re-harsh the upset they caused at the end of 2008, when they announced a phased 67% increase in maintenance costs for their "low use" sim product. At that time there was a mass exodus from SL; and the land market in-world took a massive hit.
A similar price hike is anticipated come July, when they reveal 2 "new" sim products - or if not a hike, the current $295-a-month "full" sims will have their performance capabilities severely cut, and a new "super sim" offering a little more than the performance of the current "full" sims will be introduced at an increased monthly cost ($350USD, anyone?).
Many of those looking further afield for virtual world opportunities are some of SL's most well-known content providers. With other environments finally starting to get their act together in terms of financial backing, DMCA, IP, and content permissioning, the "clean up" of "adult" content could push a lot more of SL's stalwarts into moving elsewhere.