Opinion: Second Life’s Numbers Going Downhill

A recent article in “Massively” spelled out what many residents have kept saying would happen if the Lindens didn’t get their act together. More people are moving on from Second Life than moving in.

Second Life’s “User Concurrency” reached 88,000 in Spring 2009, and then began to slowly fall. Officially, the reason is Linden Labs new policies against bots used in camping and gaming. It’s also been thought that after several years, most computer users inclined to give Second Life a try already have. However, this decline comes after a number of questionable decisions by Linden Labs, the Openspace/Homestead controversy, “Age Verification” rules, the end of the Mentor Volunteer group, and others.

Of these decisions, the Openspace debacle may have been the most damaging to Second Life’s numbers. One former SL resident explained that with the new rules and prices, a number of his favorite places closed down, “if the really cool areas with your friends go, then you have little reason to go back.”

By all means, it’s not too late to turn back, but given the Lindens’ past history, people can be forgiven for looking to see what else is out there.

It’s interesting that Massively compared Second Life to Everquest, saying the Metaverse had just about reached the same number of users at the MORPG’s peak. Everquest had been the top game for a few years, then it declined. The arrival of a better game, World of Warcraft is recognized as the big reason, but one gamer pointed out another. The makers of Everquest kept making changes to the game that gradually robbed the game of it’s social aspect, the shrinking number of players finding it harder to meet up to trade or team up. A one-two punch that sent Everquest into a shadow of what it once was.

So far, there is no “Second Life killer” on the horizon that would do it what WoW did to Everquest. But already the actions of the Lindens are driving people to look for new pastures, even if it means abandoning open-ended virtual landscapes and going back to games.


Bixyl Shuftan

Source: Massively

Opinion: A Few Thoughts on Mass-Marketing Second Life

Earlier this fall, another online newspaper wrote a few articles on the subject of mass-marketing Second Life, starting with “Only Mass Adoption of Second Life will Best Address All SL’s Major Challenges.” According to the writer, Second Life had around a quarter million unique users every month. Hardly a bad number, but compared to the millions across the planet visiting virtual words, pretty small.

Among my friends and family in real life who use computers, none of them use Second Life, although a few have given it a try. Among those I’ve met on the Internet, a few have come here and still come by. I myself came here because an online friend kept talking about it. But only a fraction of my ‘net friends I met elsewhere moved on to here. Talking to my friends in World of Warcraft for instance, only a couple ever heard of Second Life. So the writer of “Mass Adoption”s claim that most looking for virtual worlds were passing SL and going onto it’s competitors were quite believable.

So why isn’t Second Life a bigger presence online? My friends gave me a couple reasons. One described a very frustrating first impression, crashing right after first logging in. She decided it just wasn’t worth the trouble. One of SL’s drawbacks is that it needs a fairly new computer to go about, especially in popular places. If one’s on a budget, it may mean Second Life becomes a taxing experience full of lag and crashes, or perhaps out of reach altogether. Such people may turn to places such as Gaia or Runescape.

Another friend was more of an avid gamer, “Sorry, but I miss the chance to go and kill something.” Core gamers may not find much appeal outside the combat areas in SL. And indeed those accessing the ‘net from Internet cafes, which in some places in the world is how the majority of computer users go online, tend to be limited in how much time they can spend, and more inclined to a virtual world that reliably gives faster gratification, such as WoW.

There are other problems. Second Life is often difficult for newcomers to operate at first, having a “high learning curve.” People do not always know how to get money. People may feel out of place in areas full of avatars unlike their own. There are the bugs, that have a habit of coming up at the most inconvenient times. There is the tech support, which can be what one radio talk show called “technical no-support.” There are the Linden policies, which occasionally seem to be designed to shoot themselves in the foot.

And of course, the ever-present lag.

I’ve heard numerous suggestions on how to make Second Life more appealing to the masses. Get a less laggy platform. Allow the option of point-and-click movement. Connect SL to a social network such as Myspace or Facebook. And of course, better customer service and Linden Labs listening to it’s residents better before making a policy change, and numerous others.

Of those mentioned, I’m not sure how feasible the first is (although I'd be singing haleuha if it happened), and the last seems wishful thinking given past history. The option of point-and-click I can see happening. Connecting to a social network I’m a little skeptical of. Some have policies against pages for “fake identities,” and rely a lot on teenagers for traffic whom are too young to use Second Life. One improvement they have made is their website, which has better allowed for residents to find things to do and places to see.

There is one factor I’ve heard mentioned very little. There is one thing being done by much of Second Life’s competition that it doesn’t do.

Advertising.

World of Warcraft advertises. I’ve seen their banners pop up on the Internet somewhere almost every day, even on Second Life’s Wiki. I’ve also seen their TV commercials. And it’s not just games that advertise. IMVU, a social networking place that gets some comparisons to Second Life, also advertises. But Second Life, to my knowledge, has never done any advertising.

In the business world, spending nothing on advertising is usually a sure way to keep your product virtually unknown. So why hasn’t Second Life done so? Possibly because when it was new, there was quite a bit of publicity about it. Science and gaming magazines wrote stories on it. The news did stories on it. It even made mentions on prime time television, notably the CSI “Venus” episode.

With all the free publicity, there was no need to advertise. So much like “Hershey” chocolate for years, Second Life hasn’t bothered with an advertising budget.

While Second Life still gets mentioned on the news, it’s not nearly as often as before. With Second Life no longer new, the mentions it gets in the media are smaller and less often. And it’s not always good publicity, such as the story of a couple whom met on there who broke up after the wife caught the husband with another girl on SL.

Ads needn’t be expensive to make. I’ve seen a mini-movie on SL’s website in the past that would be a good 60-second ad on the Internet, or possibly television, showing the things people can do to have fun in the Metaverse. Ad campaigns can also be done on a budget as well. Internet advertising would be an inexpensive way to get the word out to computer users.

On the other hand, being a longtime SL resident, the question comes to mind of “how badly can the Lindens goof this up?” Some ads can be rather annoying. WoW’s “Mohawk” ad makes me want to send a few Bloodelf arrows at Mr. T to shave it off. Some ads just make no sense, such as the “Hardees” ads with scantily-clad women eating burgers Then there are those that end up backfiring, such as the "Burger King" commercial with a cowboy and a midget, “Texas with a little Mexican,” that brought howls of protest that got the company taking down the ad and apologizing.

So when doing an ad campaign, the Lindens will have to use a little more sense than they’ve shown at times.

On the other hand, what if it works? Suppose a marketing campaign by the Lindens succeeds, and brings in thousands of visitors? We long-term residents will be having to deal with masses of newbie avs moving about. Hopefully Linden Labs will be able to direct them to places like Help Island and The Shelter, and encourage people to make a few more. Residents like myself will have to be prepared to take a little more time to help a newbie out.

But if that means that a few people I know in real life every day will know what I’m talking about when I mention Second Life because they go there too, it will be worth it.

Bixyl Shuftan


So readers, what are your thoughts about how to mass-market Second Life, or why it shouldn't be? Please comment below.

SLOOP - “IN THE NAME OF HELL/ WHO ARE YOU /WHO ARE YOU?”

Avatars and Archetypes.

Part II

The first part of this column was posted a few days ago and I took the liberty of speculating with the idea of being able to cast an objective look on our avatar –and /or our alts- from a Jungian point of view. The fact that Second Life is so obviously projective made me think we could easily “make” archetypal versions of our personality.

And the first archetype I mentioned was the Shadow. And please, if you think this is worth reading, check the column I just mentioned. Lets just remember the Shadow is the personification of that part of human, psychic possibility, that we deny in ourselves and project onto others. The goal of personality integration is to integrate the rejected, the darker side of our life into our total experience. That side is not “bad” by default, it can also be our most creative and free side of our potential.

The second most prevalent archetype is that of the SOUL. “Anima” is the male name of the soul, “Animus” is the female name. This is our inner opposite. Guys meet their Anima, gals meet their Animus. The Anima may appear in so many different ways, as an exotic dancing girl or as an old hag. The Animus may appear as an exotic and sensual young man or as an old grouch. A good example taken from the modern myth department is Lois Lane. Clark Kent is the inferior shadow side of Superman, but Lois Lane is not interested in Clark. She is infatuated with Superman, her Animus, the masculine completion of her personality. (We are not talking about gender issues here: if you are a gay man you will be looking for your Animus and if you are a gay woman, you will be looking for your Anima).

Just asking: anyone has made an alt of the opposite sex just for the fun of it? Well, you are welcome to watch it closely. It’s such a big chunk of yourself.

Jung’s main archetypes are not “types” in the way each person may be classified as one or the other. We each have all basic archetypes within us. And we have seen three of the four main forms or archetypes.

The fourth one is the SELF.

For Jung, the Self is the spirit that connects everything and is part of the Universe. It is the coherent whole that unifies both consciousness and unconsciousness. It may be found elsewhere in concepts as Nirvana, or other philosophical or religious theories that speak of harmony. Jung described the creation of the Self as a process of individuation, the work of a lifetime, the “becoming the person you were meant to be”, where after being able to identify all the archetypes you can, then be able to become you own original self, bringing together all the aspects of your personality as one, and being in charge of them, making you whole again, yet a lot more genuine and free.

So, bottom line: I found the idea of our avatar and alts being parts of our split selves, very interesting –to say the least-. And as those avatars have probably been “constructed” in a very unconscious and playful way… seems like a good idea to take a good look at them and see what we can learn from the virtual version of “who the hell we are”. Second Life may help us to –literally- pull ourselves together.

Covadonga Writer.

SLOOP

I have been in SL for quite a while now, and ever since I got over the initial confusion of being a newbie and learning how to struggle – enough to survive, at least- with the technical issues… I mean, as soon as I could start paying attention to what was really going on here… it hit me clearly that SL was a major projecting test. A fun one, if the experience was pleasant, but undoubtedly a virtual place to massively splash ourselves against. The feedback comes mostly from our fellow SL residents, but in due time I came to realize the most important feed back can be obtained from our own selves.

I wrote a column long ago, about how we all shared the fantasy of being somewhat different, or a bit different, or totally different from who we really are in RL. (That, assuming we really know who we are in RL, which I doubt). And I said I thought no matter what shape or character did we choose to become in SL, deep down we were always going to remain ourselves, because the way we engage in relationships and activities will always respond to the basic pattern of who we are.

And then there was the issue of ALTS. At first I hated them, because I realized so many residents were two timing other people, used them to spy on their friends or partners, or to cheat, or to play malicious pranks. Then I realized they could have other uses, more simple and fun, with no hidden agendas. Like making your alt deal with the business you run here and letting you free to spend time with your friends without having to answer demanding IMs all the time.

But leaving aside those considerations – what you do and how you handle your alts is a matter of ethics and not the subject of this column-, the thing is I realized our alts, being yet another and another projection of ourselves… must have some rich info about who we are. And that could be valuable to ourselves, if we can look at those characters we made, because they are obviously parts of our personality.

My mind had to jump to Carl Jung, there was no way to avoid that.

Jung discovered that people have a preconscious psychic disposition that enables a person to react in a human manner. And this pre-existent disposition feeds itself on the totally unconscious “archetypal image”. These archetypes are potentials for significance and are not under conscious control. We, thus, tend to fear them. Modern man seems to need to believe that his life is totally rational and under control.

Jung linked the archetypes to mankind heredity and they are needed to structure our imagination and shape matter as well as psyche in the human world.

The archetypes belong to the Universal Unconscious, which we all share, as well as it’s potential. This cosmic, universal, unconscious knowledge is filled with myths of the human species.

This theory is way too important, too complicated and too rich to discuss here, but I hope this peeking into it was interesting enough to go a little bit further.

The most basic potential is the Shadow archetype. As we move deeper into the dark side of our personality, personal identity begins to dissolve into latent dispositions common to all humankind. The Shadow is the easiest of the archetypes for most persons to experience. We tend to see it in others, outside of us. We project our dark side into others and make them our enemies… or make them exotic characters that fascinate us. The dark side is not just the “bad”, evil side -in this case the Devil would be the great Shadow image -. The Shadow is also the mystery, the possibility of being creative, of having no limits, of being heroic, of being bold and adventurous.

Now : look around. Take a look at your alts.

Who is that Goth looking chick with piercings all over her body, sexy tattoos, black nails, showing her boobs and working the pole, while you… the one on the keyboard… is wearing an apron, keeping an eye on the timer so the pot-roast wont burn and shouting “Billy stop fighting with your sister!!!!!” ?

Who is that guy with the muscles and the shades, looking like a commando, blowing away anyone who trespasses with a weapon that would be too much for the Terminator, while you… the one typing… just came back from helping your neighbor rescue his cat from the highest tree in his garden… and now types “brb”, because the wife needs help with the dishes???

And who is that whimsical, moody, spoiled –yet harmless- young vampiress that keeps snarling and showing her fangs for no reason, being a nuisance to all her friends?? Oh.. er.. that’s me. J)

Well… you know what I mean. If those aren’t our shadows… who are they? The other question is: If the alter ego you first made when joining SL looks like it might be your Shadow… (or as much of your Shadow you can bear to project), the good news is you are quite in touch with it, and that helps exorcise the bad and bring out the creative –if there is some of that in us-.

If the predominant avi you made for yourself is a version (probably enhanced, but very much a version of the original You, then you might have to give yourself the chance to dig in and discover more about yourself, because you are probably too over adapted. (Which it’s OK, but you might be missing a lot).

And then… there’s other archetypes.

Covadonga Writer

Do have a story to tell?

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Email me at dana.vanmoer(at)gmail.com

In world problems finally noticed!

Most of us have been aware of the asset server problems long before LL deigned to notice it on Thursday when a rolling restart was announced in the hopes this would fix the issues we had been facing and to be fair for most of us there was some improvement although SL was still sluggish and rezzing or buying items was risky at best, downright stupid if you couldn't rez anything or edit it (take note if you can't rez or its slow to respond DON'T GO SHOPPING).
At these times its business that suffer the most as people reign in their spending until the grid is more stable.
Why does LL always wait until the weekend to finally realised it is a serious problem and the grid needs to go offline? Maybe they are sitting there thinking 'yes we fixed it, its only a few residents having problems, its ok we can hold off until monday then fix it, maybe if we ignore it things will improve, its not a problem really' None of us can hazard even a guess at the minds of those poor Lindens trying to keep everyone happy, but guys and girls PLEASE if a problem is not fixed with a rolling restart don't wait 3 days before trying to do something about it! We all know the grid will have to come offline, usually before you do - if its so predictable for the residents then surely someone at the lab can see it too? and step in somewhere in the chain of events and say 'hey if we dont do something now the grid will be offline at the weekend!'
But then I suppose its too much to ask that the lab can think ahead or that they could try thinking like the rest of us, wishful thinking has got them this far hasn't it?