Online Virtual World: Called Second Life

A Second Life to Play With

Rico P
It seem like one life isn't good enough for millions of people arround the world. A fast growing number of internet gurus are taking entering the newest online phenomenon called Second Life, a threedimensional virtual world where anything goes.

If your mind can think it, your character will do it. Me among many other avid users really enjoy programs like this. A producer of San Franciso based Linden Lab, the digital network has grown from nearly 100 registered users in late 2006 to nearly 3.6 million as of last week.

In a universe bred by capitalizm, more then 1 million real life dollars are being exchanged every 24 hours to house, clothe or entertain the virtual people known as "Avatars." With the right amount of money you can buy anything from a island to a family.

Anonymously you can make a living as a real estate agent or land speculator in Second Life. Properties will actually increase or decrease in value. The more involved you are in the program, the more and better features you get as well as free credits to get these amazing features.

This is an amazing program but are we going to far with the virtual reality sence? Are we so miserable with are present lives that we would spend hours and crazy amounts of moneyonline pretending to be someone else?. Nobody really knows who the other person or people really are.

Here's an example of what one life can be like in this program. Jane Timberwolf. In real life studies English, writes poetry, has a boyfriend and once worked in online tech support.

In Second Life, she dates what she calls a "Sloyfriend." They both have wings. They fly around to beautiful, origional waterfalls. At night she earns fake money at her job as an exotic dancer. She also owns a "plot of land" where she is designing a house. Her mortgage cost is only $10 a month in real money. She also has "prims" which are used as tokens to purchase essentials as clothes, body types, and building materials.

Its amazing because Second Life is somewhat like Vegas. What happens in Second Life, stays in Second Life. You can spend as much as $400 from credit cards to purchase a country, which is known as a "sims" in the Linden world. There really isn't anything illegal except the use of racial comments or harassment. Violation of the terms will suspend your account, or lead you to be trailed by the Linden police until your arrest or your behavior improves.

Second Life is the most sophisticated virtual world out there. There are other platforms for expression that have been around for decades now. Some use them to act out any kind of fantacy they please. Some use acts of aggression or sexual desires. The most popular places on Second Life have a sexual component to them, Sular added. The same drama that evolves among people who come together, it's like a reality show on your computer screen and you get to participate.

It's also a great place for people with physical diabilities to "fly around and meet new people without being inhibited by their physical limitations. People using Second Life with the right skills can build virtually anything from building to landscape, vehicles, furniture and machines to use. People do things like trade and sell items they have. You can upload your products to the virtual world to maket. So much to do in this fake but real online virtual life. Well this concludes this for now but stay tuned for more. Thanks for reading.

Published by Rico P

I'm a proud father.  View profile

11 Comments

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  • Rebecca Livermore1/16/2008

    I checked out 2nd life but didn't have time to really get involved in it. Good article.

  • Erin Morris1/15/2008

    that's a really cool idea. I'm all for the virtual world, but only to a certain extent. People spend so much time in virtual land, they forget about their real lives sometimes. It definitely requires some balance, but that seems like a really interesting concept. great article!

  • Alicia Bodine1/14/2008

    I've heard people can actually make real money on this site. Maybe you want to consider doing an article on that.

  • mid_evil_thymz1/14/2008

    I know that there are actually places that are offering second life rehab. People are so caught up in the second life they lead that they forget the real world and need help to break free of it. I was looking into second life and world of warcraft but alas I hate spending money so I never did either.. Good Job Rico.

  • Sherry W1/13/2008

    I've never heard of this before. Interesting idea.

  • Scribepal12/20/2007

    I learned something new - I hadn't heard about Second Life before.

  • Kat Vogel12/11/2007

    Rebecca already mentioned The Office episode with Second Life...heh I know I would get hooked on this if I had the program, so maybe it's a good idea I don't?

  • Sparkle77212/11/2007

    Good article. This Second Life seems interesting, but I have more interest in Virtual Reality Gaming rather than a Virtual Reality world.

  • Rebecca L. Wire12/10/2007

    There was a really funny episode of "The Office" which mentioned this game. I had no idea how costly it could be. I can see that turning into a real problem for some people who get caught up in it.

  • julz12/6/2007

    You know I downloaded 2nd life a few months ago and became highly addicted to it. It takes up a ton of space on your computer so my computer ran really slow. It is a great way to pass by time for sure. I havent been on it for a long time, but very cool!

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