Information AboutSecond Life |
''Second Life'' is a privately-owned, subscription-based Massively-multiplayer Online Real-life Game (MMORLG) created in 2003 by San Francisco -based Linden Lab . Founded by former RealNetworks CTO Philip Rosedale , Second Life gives its users (referred to as "residents") tools to add to and edit its world and participate in its economy. The majority of the content in the Second Life world is resident-created. Linden Lab actively promotes the concept that residents retain the Intellectual Property rights to objects they create (although they are required to offer Linden Lab an open license to it {Link without Title} ). AVATARS Residents of Second Life are represented in the environment by an , or they can be acquired via Motion Capture . Common applications of altering character appearance have included animals, robots, Mechs , Furries and avatars totally non-humanoid. "Tinies", a form of highly customized/tweaked avatar that is roughly one-third normal avatar height, were introduced into Second Life in 2005 and are rapidly gaining popularity. OBJECTS Second Life includes a built-in object editor tool that allows residents to create complex objects out of a set of basic building blocks known as primitives (prims). The environment includes a set of textures that users can apply to their objects, and residents can upload and apply their own images as well (for a 10 Linden dollar fee). Uploaded images can be in JPEG , Windows Bitmap (BMP), or Truevision TGA format. JPEGs, although smaller in file size, are not recommended since images will be converted to JPEG2000 format on upload regardless of original file format. TGA files have the added advantage of Alpha Channel transparency. Residents can apply scripts to created objects, thereby controlling the behavior of the objects within the environment. Second Life uses its own scripting language, called Linden Scripting Language (LSL). LSL has a syntax similar to C , and allows objects to interact with the Second Life world, as well as the Internet (via Email and XML-RPC ). Second Life uses Havok for simulated Physics , though not all objects in the world respond to physics. An upcoming update will supposedly include Havok 2 support, an improvement that Second Life residents have awaited since its announcement by Linden Lab before June, 2002 . All objects and 3D information are streamed in real-time to all clients. This allows for real-time editing of 3D objects so any resident can view what is being created, as it is being created. The interface for creating and editing objects is integrated with the world and requires no external program to use, but the editing of textures requires external software from third parties (e.g. Adobe Photoshop , Corel Paint Shop Pro , or The GNU Image Manipulation Program - the GIMP ). Although there is no additional charge for creating objects in Second Life, there is a cost for every image, sound, or animation that is uploaded. REQUIREMENTS Second Life is available for PCs (1 GHz Pentium III or better, with at least 512 MB RAM ) with Windows XP (SP2) or Windows 2000 (SP4) and Macs (1GHz G4 or better, with at least 512MB RAM) with Mac OS X 10.3.8 or higher. A Linux alpha client (i686) that has been tested on Debian , Fedora Core , and Knoppix is currently available for download and testing, and runs with a few limitations. The Graphics require either an NVidia GeForce 2 or better Graphics Card or an ATI Radeon 8500 (9000 for Macs) graphics card. Second Life also requires a 21MB (Windows) or 32MB (Mac OS X) client Download , and will consume up to 1GB of disk space for Cache . A Broadband Internet connection is required. Dial-up users will find that their connection speed does not allow them to view the world at anything approaching an acceptable Framerate . Current system requirements are posted at the web site . PRICING Second Life currently has four pricing (all prices in United States Dollar s):
Basic memberships receive (the in-world currency) each week they log on; Premium memberships receive every week, regardless of logging in or not, and also have the ability to own up to 512 M 2 of land without additional cost. Owning larger areas of land (" Parcel s") attracts an increasing additional charge (known to users as "tier") ranging from $5 a month up to $195 a month for an entire 65536 square meter Simulator . A Credit Card , compatible Mobile Phone (the mobile phone option doesn't appear to be available in Europe yet), or PayPal account is required on all accounts for age verification, and 7-day free trials come with all paid accounts. Second Life requires users to be at least 18 years of age; access to Teen Second Life is limited to individuals between the ages of 13-17 and requires the consent of the individual's Parent or Legal Guardian and a valid credit card. It should be noted that the pricing plan for SecondLife has varied over time. Previous versions did not feature free first-time Basic Accounts. Early pre-1.2 users had the option of a lifetime subscription for a one-time payment of $225, which, at the time of 1.2 launch and the introduction of tiered land payments, turned into a lifetime tier-free ownership of 4096m2 of land. SUBCULTURES AND COUNTERCULTURES Second Life is comprised of rich, diverse, user-driven subcultures and countercultures. Some Second Life cultures revolve around established "groups." Groups can be created by any user for a fee of 100 Linden dollars. Users are then given three days to recruit an additional two members, or their investment is lost and the group is deleted. A group must then maintain a membership of at least three members at all times in order to remain active. The groups that each user belongs to are displayed in that user's profile. Each group comprises officers and members, with titles determined by group leadership. The officer or member title may appear superimposed above the name of the user's avatar. Users may participate in up to 15 groups, and may choose which group's title to display at any given time. Group activity is usually centered on a particular interest, so creating groups can give people a common ground for discussion and provide an easy way to break the ice. Some groups maintain websites to bridge the gap between real life (referred to as "first life", or abbreviated to "RL" for "real-life") and Second Life (SL) interests. Groups are allowed "ownership" of land and resources, so they comprise the closest thing to a corporation within the Second Life environment. Aside from groups, many of the subcultures found in Second Life revolve around events. Events include many activities related to arts/culture, charity/support groups, commercial, discussion, education, games/contests, nightlife/entertainment, pageants, and sports. Second Life is also being influenced by many Internet Phenomena which include the Moskau Dance, Ulae, and Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Many of these memes are in the form of Gesture s, which are animations that the avatar uses. Often humorous, these gestures are a cause of internet culture spread in Second Life. Second Life Blogs are also rapidly popping up across the Internet. Here, users detail their second lives, sometimes more extensively than their first lives. ECONOMY Second Life has its own Economy and a Currency referred to as Linden dollars (L$). Residents receive an amount of L$ when they open an account, and a weekly stipend thereafter, the amount depending on the type of account. Additional L are acquired by selling objects or services within the environment. Residents may purchase L$ directly or convert between Linden currency and US currency through Linden Lab's currency brokerage, the LindeX Currency Exchange . The ratio of US$ to L$ fluctuates daily as residents set the buy and sell price of L$ offered on the exchange. Linden Lab has stated that the ''Second Life'' economy generates an average of $500,000(US) in economic activity each week. ISSUES & CRITICISMS A number of difficult issues have arisen within the operation of Second Life, both as an online game and a virtual world.
NOTABLE RESIDENTS Listed alphabetically by first name
Most Second Life users prefer to keep their first life and second life separate. This anonymity makes it difficult to determine the identity and number of users who live notable first lives. SECOND LIFE AS THE METAVERSE Second Life is one of several virtual worlds that have been inspired by the science fiction novel '' Snow Crash '' by Neal Stephenson . The stated goal of Linden Lab is to create a world like the metaverse described in ''Snow Crash'': A user-defined world of general use in which people can interact, play, do business, and otherwise communicate. In many ways, though, Second Life more resembles the less polished environment of ''The Other Plane'' in Vernor Vinge 's early novella '' True Names ''. OPEN STANDARDS Linden Lab is currently replacing several Proprietary portions of Second Life with Open Standards ; Open Source technologies such as Apache and Squid are already being used. Throughout 2006 , the built-in Instant Messaging system will be replaced with Jabber , and the current proprietary built-in virtual machine will be replaced with Mono . Linden Lab is also working on an Open GL port of the browser Mozilla , called uBrowser , that will be included in the SL client to enable using webpages as textures on the in-world 3D objects. The plan is to eventually move everything to open standards and standardize the Second Life protocol. Cory Ondrejka, Vice President of Product Development, has stated that a while after everything has been standardized, both the client and the server will be released as open source [http://www.lugradio.org/episodes/42]. TRIVIA
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