SecondLife.com : Living in the digital world
I stumbled upon an interesting 3D Online game which goes by the name secondlife.com.By the time I gathered a little information , the facts about the site seemed stunning.Firstly, it was started in June 04 and has since risen in popularity not only among the game developers but also among quite a variety of people.
At the first instance, it looks like an open source game development site where the environment is faciliated by secondlife folks. However at a much deeper level, it is an innovative experiment to create a digital world in the true sense of the word. It allows users to create avatars and then live in the second life. The MOST interesting idea behind the game is that it does not have any clear rules before hand, except for a few. All the new rules are debated, decided by the in-world members.
Diversity of users is what has made the concept even more powerful. One can buy a piece of land in the vitual space, and then do some creative stuff. One can communicate the same to the “in-world” members and test out one’s products and services. The site is also finding interest among the teaching community where faculty gathers students in secondlife and set an alternative atmostphere, very different from the classroom. Some of the faculty members are encouraging the students to test their entreprenurial skills among the in-world market.
The power of the concept which grows on the user feedback and community behavior is perhaps the singlemost reason for singlelife to become popular. It will be very interesting to future of secondlife. Will the secondlife serve as a place which is build by a large set of communities all around the world? Will the rules and market environments which are created in this digital world be transferred to the real world so as to remove some of the bottlenecks plaguing free market environment ? All the answers to the above questions will be decided as evolution of the site happens.
No wonder the gaming site was recognized by RedHerring as one of the top 100 innovative services in 2004 !