I’m just not really a fan of Second Life, and yet, I’ve been in there a few times over the last several days. What the hell? Why am I there? Jeff Pulver showed up the other night and we talked a while, shared some of the things he’d collected in his journeys. He had a Ferrari; I had a go-kart. He had a portable ham radio studio; I had a starfish head.
What the Hell is Up with Second Life?
Really, near as I can tell, it’s like Instant Messaging with a lot more buttons and mousework to push. Okay, so there’s some art to look at while you do this.
So, there are some neat things that you can do, if you’re clever. You can create things, give them properties, and if you’re really good, you can make something that’s actually useful. But I assert that MOST people are closer to my skill level: bumbling around and falling off things, dropping into the ocean and standing around down there until I remember how to fly.
I can’t even make my character look reasonably normal. He’s big and doofus-looking, so fairly accurate to who I am in real life, but he’s wearing red and black zebra upholstery pants. Just hideous.
So What Do You Do, and Why do I Keep Coming Back?
I’m still exploring just to see. I think there’s going to be something better for me that comes along. I think something that makes the whole character process and the movement make more sense. I mean, I play first person games. I play Halo and the like. I know how to navigate a basic game world fairly well, which means the motion controls are stupid for SL, not me.
I think I want something just a little more buttoned up. Second Life feels like using the API for the product, instead of the baked app. But that’s me. What’s the GOOD for this?
Events I’ve Enjoyed
I’ve done a Coffee with Crayon this very morning (see pic above). It was basically a bunch of marketing/advertising/PR types talking, and yet, it was really interesting to me.
We did a flashmob gathering via Twitter that landed us in Jeff Pulver’s Pulveria sim. That was lots of fun. I’ve seen Morpheus Media’s sim where they’ll be doing PodCamp NYC stuff in SL. That was nice. And I’ve seen all the interesting places The Diva Rockin’ has sent me, and that’s been fun.
Is it For Me?
I dunno. I’m on the cusp of caring or not. What do you think? Why are you there? Christopher Penn goes there from time to time, and he’s smart. Lots of really smart people seem to be there thinking it’s a big deal. I’ll just have to decide if I can muster the interest level.
Help Me?
If you’re really clever about this whole image thing, how much would it cost me to get a reasonable-looking character that doesn’t look so stupid? If it’s inexpensive, I might consider it.
Is there somewhere BETTER than Second Life that a Mac user can reach that would make me feel better? You tell me.
Inquiring minds want to know.