When it started in 2003,Second Life(SL ) , the three - dimensionalvirtual worldwhere users can pretend to be whomever — or whatever — they want to be , arrive lots of attending . Although it ’s an on-line surroundings , its influence reaches into the real existence — include a virtual economy that ’s dependant upon actual money . In realness , or perhaps virtual realness , Second Life is a complex environment filled with potential risks and rewards .
At its most basic level , Second Life is an online surround created by Linden Lab , a company based in San Francisco . Second Life is an on-line world in which user ( calledresidents ) create virtual representations of themselves , calledavatars , and interact with other avatar , space or objects .
Second Life is n’t just a fancy chat room — residents can do much more than communicate with one another . For one thing , they can contribute to the universe around them , create edifice , objects or evenanimations . Resident accession to the virtual humanity are calleduser - return content , and this content is one of the factors that makes Second Life such a unequaled on-line environment . User - generated content also explain why Second Life is for grownup only — Linden Lab places few restrictions on residents , mean that you may see some middling raunchy creations while you ’re search the surround .
In Second Life , residents can go to societal gatherings , live concerts , press conference and even college classes . They can do a lot of things you may do in real lifespan — corrupt land , workshop for apparel and contraption , or just visit with friends . They can also do thing that are impossible in the tangible domain — incarnation can flee orteleportto almost any location . Some residents plan little programs , calledscripts , which give avatars or object new ability , include special animations or the power to mother copies of other objects .
In many ways , Second Life is similar tomassively multiplayer on-line part meet games(MMORPGs ) . Like an MMORPG , users represent themselves with a customizable , 3D figure that acts like a computer - generated puppet . user sail through an online human race , encountering unknown landscapes and Modern people . Unlike MMORPGs , residents in Second Life are n’t in a game , though there are games inside Second Life ’s virtual environment . They dwell a practical humans liberal of pre - determined goals or tasks , just like the material world .
Second Life was a huge smasher in the mid-2000s , though interest has waned since then . In 2018 , it was reported to have 500,000 active monthly users ( down from more than 1 million in 2013 ) [ beginning : Buscemi ] . But readjustment pluck up in 2020 , because of the COVID-19 pandemic hold on people at house . So , whether you ’re a former or current user or just curious about Second Life , we ’ll excuse to you how it all work .
Second Life Avatars
New Second Life users choose their avatars from generic male and female templates ( residents and their avatars do n’t necessarily divvy up the same gender ) . Although a resident could use an unmodified guide , everyone else would be intimate that he or she was anewb — a young exploiter who does n’t sleep together how thing operate . Most occupier customize their avatars a slight before leaving Learning Island .
One crucial agent in avatar customization is the stock list . The stock-taking carry hair , skin , objects , animations and consistence parts and has an infinite electrical capacity . A drug user can open his or her inventorying and choose to put on or remove items , like wearable or hairstyles . Residents can add to an incarnation ’s inventory at any time , create a much limitless number of avatar customization options .
They can transfer their avatar ' coming into court as often as they care . Nothing in Second Life is permanent — if a user resolve his or her avatar should develop from a hulking beast to a half - hombre half - girl creature , he or she can make the changes at any time .
A resident can also right on click his or hermouseon the incarnation , which draw out up a pie - form menu . One of the menu choices isappearance , which let a user to adjust the way his or her incarnation looks . For example , if the user require to modify the avatar ’s hairstyle , he or she might use the cock ’s lantern slide BAR to make the hair style longer or shorter . Even with this degree of control , the user can only adjust what is already there . If he or she wanted a all young hairstyle , the exploiter would have to either design it or buy it from another resident .
Some residents make special skin textures for incarnation ranging from naturalistic skin and hair to fantasy - instigate scales or plumage . exploiter can incur dozens of occupant who deal and business deal clothing , skin and even body parts in Second Life . Savvy residents can customise their avatar by creating their own apparel and skins in agraphicsprogram and spell the file into Second Life .
Avatar customization is just one way residents can tweak their Second Life experience . Users can also build aim within Second Life using unproblematic in - world tools and menus . By create and linking together basicprimstructures , users can create more complex objective . They can also apply theLinden Scripting Language , a programing language like toJava , to give objects specific properties . For example , a skilled user could make a puppy blackguard that follow him or her everywhere . occupant make objects for different reasonableness — some do it to bolster the subject of a particular area or incarnation design , others build objects just for sport .
resident can even build houses and other buildings . Some use programs like AutoCAD to contrive their construction before importing them into Second Life . Others purchase building designs from other residents . Buildings can be extremely realistic or defy material - worldly concern purgative .
Second Life ’s capability for customization is extensive . The world inside Second Life does n’t just foster substance abuser - engender cognitive content , it depends upon it . By encouraging drug user creation and involvement , Second Life has created a loyal community of enthusiastic resident .
In the next section , we ’ll learn about the navigation , communicating and fundamental interaction systems in Second Life .
Walking and Talking in Second Life
Second Life ’s controls can be a picayune restrain for new drug user . Its interface includes several menus , buttons andkeyboardshortcuts . Many users find the learning curve too outrageous and cursorily give up — in 2009 only about 10 pct of all substance abuser who made accounting ever bothered to return after their first visit [ source : New Scientist ] .
incarnation can get around Second Life by walking , fly orteleportingto their goal . Residents make their avatars take the air around by using the arrow keys . fight the up - arrow keystone makes the avatar walk forrader , for lesson . Moving themousechanges the situation of the avatar ’s head , making it look around .
At the bottom of the occupier ’s screen are several buttons , including theflybutton . Clicking on this button will set up the house physician ’s avatar into the melodic phrase , allowing him or her to fly around likeSuperman . Flying net ball incarnation navigate over water or avoid other obstruction they might encounter on the ground .
Teleporting is the fastest method of travel in Second Life . Residents can teleport their avatars by open up themap function . A window appears with the mapping of Second Life , and the resident physician simply bivalent - pawl on a destination to teleport there . Some locations may have restrictions , such as an island reserved for private use by another resident physician . In these cases , the avatar teleports as snug to the location as possible without violating access confinement . Without permit , the avatar ca n’t enter restricted areas — the resident would have to ask the area ’s owner for an invitation .
Residents can also choose a few different ways to put across with other drug user . They can opt to employ the Voice feature of speech , which allows residents withmicrophonesto talk to one another live . Residents can also utilize a chat boxful , which opens a windowpane in which users can typewrite messages . Chat corner conversation are broadcast to everyone in the immediate domain , so for more individual conversation , residents caninstant messageanother user .
Pie - shaped menus include option that allow resident to interact with other users or objects . veracious clicking on objects pulls up the carte du jour , display a list of things the resident can do . Another fashion you could interact is to usegestures . Gestures areanimationsthat can transmit a humour or simulate an action . Second Life include a tool that lease you plan your own gestures , or you could get them by buying them or trade in with another resident .
In the next section , we ’ll learn about the locomotive engine running Second Life and what sort of estimator equipment you ’ll take to research the community of interests .
Second Life’s Tech Specs
Second Life use theHavok physics engine . Thissoftwaresimulates real physics within a virtual surroundings . The physics railway locomotive determines how avatar and objects comport within the practical populace , includingcollision detection(the engine tell the software program when two items are poignant and how each should react),vehicle dynamicsand whatanimationslook like .
Residents can hear and viewstreaming sound and videoinside Second Life . Second Life back up sound recording inMPEGand Ogg Vorbis formats . Residents can choose to display TV on specific surfaces in the land they own . To do this , they point the surface ’s grain as a media surface . If any other airfoil within that resident ’s country has the same grain , it will also display the stream video . Since this can cause confusion , residents should verify the open they take has a unequaled texture within their land .
Second Life is compatible both withPCsand Mac computers . Minimum technical necessary for the microcomputer include :
The Mac requirements include the cable or DSL connection , the same amount of computer memory and graphics carte du jour requirement as the microcomputer , and :
Next , we ’ll take an even closer smell at create aim in Second Life .
Creating Things in Second Life
perfectly every object , edifice and flying railcar you see in Second Life was created by a Resident . The basic of objective creation are easy , but it takes a quite a little of practice session and some serious scripting capabilities to make the really impressive poppycock . Fortunately , there ’s a destine place in Second Life for you to do these attainment : thesandbox . The sandpile is a public outer space where house physician apply building different object .
you could start the object creation shaft three way :
When you give the object creation tool , the nonpayment windowpane is " create , " indicated by a magic baton symbol . At the top of the window is a list of the 15 prims — basic shapes like cube , cone and tubes — useable to Second Life users . A seasoned builder knows how to stretch , veer , link and manifold these prims to create everything from a hotel to a Ferrari .
Here are some of the introductory edifice alternative :
With just these simple cock and key controls , you may make almost any stationary object in Second Life . But if you require to bring your institution to life — give them motion and interactivity — you ’ll have to learn theLinden Scripting Language(LSL ) . LSL ismost similarto theC computer programing languageand Java . There are many websites and on-line tutorials for get a line canonical and forward-looking LSL scripts . you could even feel a few at the Second Life assembly .
To attach a hand to a Second Life object , tap the " scripts " tabloid in the edit menu and get across " new script . " Within the script editor is a take out - down carte with gobs of unwashed scripting commands . Although , without a basic understanding of LSL , you ca n’t just piece together a workings hand with those commands .
One of the coolheaded things about Second Life is that you retainintellectual propertyrights for every object you make in - reality . With those right wing , you’re able to choose to allow other masses to edit your object or not . you could also assign a price tag to an object and betray it on the Second Life marketplace , which we ’ll discover more about afterwards .
In the next section , we ’ll take a close look at Second Life residents .
Second Life Population and Rules
Linden Lab listed the universe of Second Life at more than 10,500,000 resident as of October 2007 . That figure sound impressive , but it ’s important to keep a couple of palliate factor in judgement . First , Linden Lab allows users to make more than one account , so some of the 10,500,000 house physician are duplication . secondly , thevirtual worldhas a high churn charge per unit , meaning most visitant only lumber on once and then abandon the programme . In 2007 , some observer marked the churn rate as high-pitched as 90 per centum , mean only 10 percent of all the people who visit Second Life came back after the first visit [ source : New Scientist ] .
One unifying trait all resident portion out is that by creating an account in Second Life they agree to obey Linden Lab’sterms of service(TOS ) . Linden Lab designed the TOS to help protect itself and good occupier from malicious user . Users should register the TOS carefully , especially if they require to participate in Second Life ’s economy . The TOS make it clear-cut that Linden Lab has the right to wipe out a user ’s inventorying , including any in - biz currency he or she might have . The company also makes it clear that users ca n’t view as Linden Lab responsible for incidents that delete exploiter information .
Along with the Terms of Service , Linden Lab requires all user to fall out the Community Standards . Community Standards list several sort of behavior which could ensue in a users ' intermission or banishment from Second Life if he or she infract them . They are :
Linden Lab has employees in Second Life who can respond to situations , but the companionship mainly swear on user to account misbehaving residents . For most first wrongdoer , Linden Lab will make out a monition . However , for repetition offenders , Linden Lab may set aside or rescind the user ’s membership . wrongdoer could lose all their items and money in the game , and as the Terms of Service make exculpated , Linden Lab would not have to give back their money .
Second Life Economy
Second Life ’s economy is free-base off a unit of virtual currency call theLinden dollar . Residents can go to a currencyexchangeservice to exchange U.S. dollars into Linden currency , and frailty versa . The prescribed exchange service is calledLindeX. The exchange pace fluctuates , just like real currencies .
In October 2007 , the exchange rate was about 267 Linden dollar for every U.S. dollar . In August 2021 , you couldexchange a U.S. dollarfor 320 Linden dollars . ( To put it another direction , one Linden dollar was worth $ 0.0031 . ) Most transactions within the game world use Linden one dollar bill .
In May 2020 , Linden Lab annunciate that U.S. dollar transactions would be handled by Tilia , Inc. Although it may seem that someone else has come in to plow Second Life ’s economy , it ’s really the other fashion around . Tilia is a part of Linden Lab and now maneuver virtual economy for other on-line environments as well . As of August 2021,UplandandSansarboth use Tilia technology in their on-line worlds in addition to as Second Life . Sansar , a practical world earth , was in the beginning developed by Linden Lab but sell to Wookey Projects in March 2020 .
ResidentAilin Graefbecame the first person to become a realmillionairethrough transactions in Second Life in 2006 . Graef made her fortune by contend in real estate , becoming what some house physician call aland top executive . She purchase land in Second Life from Linden Lab , developed it using originative and stylish idea , then hire or sell the land back to other residents
Not all purchase use Linden dollars — commonwealth sale and auctions usually call for real cash . If you want tobuy your own landin Second Life , for model , you ’ll require to put down $ 349 for a set - up fee and devote $ 229 per calendar month for maintenance . This will buy a 65,536 square meter island ( an entire region ) . For this fee , you get to choose the island ’s terrain and placement . you may pick up a homestead for $ 149 set - up fee and $ 109 monthly maintenance . A homestead will permit 5,000 prims and no more than 20 avatars at a fourth dimension , but the full region earmark up to 20,000 prims and up to 100 avatars at a time .
Your country usance fee pays for renting quad on aserver . The monthly premium rank fee entitle a occupant to 1,024 square meters of ground at no extra charge . As a user purchases more land , the land exercise fee increases .
As of August 2021 , the body politic usage fee order from $ 4 per month for ownership of up to 512 square beat of extra land to $ 175 per month for up to 65,356 square meters of land . Linden science laboratory bases the Din Land consumption fee off the maximum amount of body politic a occupier owns during each 30 - day billing Hz .
In the next section , we ’ll see at how organizations and outcome in the literal mankind are frustrate over into Second Life .
Second Life and the Real World
Other companies endeavor to avoid that misunderstanding . Coca - Cola , for good example , control a competition in which residents submitted conception for a virtual vending machine . The victor of the contender appeared in a video about designing a Second Life object . By creating interactive message , Coke avoided the booby trap of jumping into Second Life without contributing to the Earth ’s content .
Other companies employ similar strategies . In 2006 , Reebok let user plan shoes for their avatar , then dictate a custom - made copy of the place for themselves to get into in real life [ author : Siklos ] . Starwood Hotels used Second Life to examine building and room designs , taking suggestions from residents and incorporating them into real building architectural plan . Some caller have even used Second Life as a enlisting tool , look for out residents who are particularly adept at creating user - generated content [ source : Benner ] .
While companies continue to try out with an on-line bearing in Second Life , a few cyberspace security experts monish that the practical world is n’t the secure environment in which to conduct business enterprise . They show out that griefers can find elbow room to listen in on confidential conversation or subvert a party ’s Second Life emplacement . Most companies only use Second Life as a selling tool rather than for remote meetings . Some companies are create practical environments of their own in gild to annul the security measure dangers in Second Life .
The COVID-19 pandemic boosted Second Life ’s economy by 30 to 40 per centum , concord to a Linden laboratory representative . However , it was one of many online communities to which people flock during the lockdown . Nintendo ’s " Animal Crossing : New Horizons , " an online experience establish on the Animal Crossing franchise launched in 2001,became a hitwhen millions used the platform as a societal retirement . Fortnite , Minecraft , Among Us and Roblox were also democratic among young players .
