"Get a life", "Get a first life", and so on, and so forth. If you're involved in virtual environments, you've probably heard this phrase a lot. Wagner James Au of New World Notes suggests that people who use those phrases are among the least likely to 'have a life' themselves.

Well, we'd say he's half right. It's more that the people you hear it from don't really have much of an idea of what life is all about and how it works. It's not an uncommon theme. Botgirl Questi points out that in order to see something more clearly, sometimes you have to look at it from a very different perspective.

This week, in The Virtual Whirl, we're going to take a couple perspectives for a spin, and talk about the meaning of life actually is, insofar as the phrase "get a life" is concerned.

Continue reading The Virtual Whirl: The meaning of life

The Virtual Whirl: The meaning of life originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Mark Kingdon, Linden Lab's CEO, has been a bit of a mystery figure since his appointment about a year and a half ago. While he has not been uncommunicative, it's been hard to get a very good sense of the man at the helm of Linden Lab, his passions, interests and direction.

We were very pleased, therefore, when he took the time to sit down with us and answer a whole grab-bag of questions, about himself, about Linden Lab, and - of course - about Second Life. Bear with us, because we've got a lot of ground to cover.

Continue reading Exclusive interview with Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon

Exclusive interview with Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Wagner James Au at New World Notes is carrying some surprising data from ratings giant, Nielsen Media Research. From actual measurements of usage across over 180,000 homes in the USA, Linden Lab's Second Life (paradoxically measured under the 'PC games' category) rates the number two most played title, just behind World of Warcraft.

Forget Warhammer Online, or EVE Online, they don't even make the top ten. World of Warcraft and Second Life beat out Gordon Freeman (Half Life 2), Civilization IV and StarCraft. As for actual weekly usage, Second Life is top of the pops at an average of 760 minutes per user per week. World of Warcraft earns the top spot with 653 minutes per user per week, but has a whole lot more users.

How about Google's YouTube, the 800 pound gorilla and market leader of online video? Just 47 minutes per week (figure from C|net).

Facebook? 84 minutes per week. Myspace, just 10.5 minutes per week (figures from ITProPortal).

This data is measured from actual homes, as we mentioned. Almost 200,000 of them, so it isn't just data that's centric to the hardcore gamer. This is a random sampling of ordinary people.

	Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.

Second Life pwns Gordon Freeman, Warhammer Online, others originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 May 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Among the various business, educational and social uses to which Second Life is put, Role-Playing gamers have quite a number of thriving communities. If you want to role-play in the world of Joss Whedon's Firefly, or Straczynski's Babylon 5, Lucas' Star Wars universe(s), Tolkien's Middle Earth, John Norman's Gor, Frank Herbert's Dune, Roddenberry's Star Trek, or the settings of Doctor Who, Torchwood, Battlestar Galactica, Harry Potter, Final Fantasy VII or CCP/White Wolf's World of Darkness, Second Life is home to all of these and more.

Well, until this week anyway. According to Wagner James Au, Trident Media Group, a literary agent "designed for the twenty first century",which maintains the Herbert Estate sent cease-and-desist notices via Linden Lab requiring one non-profit role-playing community to remove Dune-related names and objects from the virtual environment within two days.

Continue reading Infringers of Dune: Dune role-players shut down by Herbert Estate. Spice keeps flowing

Infringers of Dune: Dune role-players shut down by Herbert Estate. Spice keeps flowing originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 09 Apr 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Starting late last month, the published statistic that showed an unprecedented ongoing reduction in Second Life land area was disabled (perhaps permanently, the Lab hints). The raw data is still available, however, and the decline continues.

We've had no luck in obtaining response or comment from Linden Lab about any of this, but Wagner James Au at New World Notes has fared rather better. However the statements from the lab are fairly tangled and unclear.

The Lab claims that the figures misreport, which is technically true. All of the statistical systems give incorrect information at least several times each month, but according to Jack Linden, the numbers are actually sort of correct, and indeed even skewed slightly in the Lab's favor (the reported losses have been far smaller than expected) -- but just misunderstood.

Continue reading Linden Lab says figures "misleading"

Linden Lab says figures "misleading" originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Obama's FCC transition team includes MMO gamer, virtual world resident originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 19 Nov 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Unlike Second Life's 2003 Tax Revolt, which (at the time) went unnoticed by the mainstream media, the current revolt over void/openspace simulator server pricing is drawing attention in places where a lot of potential customers are being exposed to it -- and it's early yet. More words are doubtless being drafted over the weekend to run on mainstream Web-sites and newspapers.

By mainstream (a word that has an awfully slippery definition), we mean widespread. There are at least three other effective and correct definitions of the word at least one of which conflicts with that, but let's just go with what we have and leave those other definitions for another time. You know what we mean.

Continue reading The revolution in the news

The revolution in the news originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 02 Nov 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Mark Kingdon, Linden Lab's shiny new CEO, made a statement to Wagner James Au at GigaOm about the announced openspace/void simulator price rises that have so many Second Life users up in arms, 'this price adjustment affects only a portion of land in Second Life; it does not apply to private islands or regular mainland property. We made this change to ensure an optimal Second Life experience for all Residents.'

We're not sure if this gets points for being intentionally misleading, or unintentionally misleading. Either way, it scores a lot of points.

Lets break it down a piece at a time.

Continue reading Linden Lab CEO on openspace/void price increases

Linden Lab CEO on openspace/void price increases originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ever since the original panic over Copybot (a Second Life bot that was trivially equipped to duplicate geometry or avatars) there's been a recurring series of rumors about Copybot 2.0, starting from about a week or two after the original fuss.

Every month we get Instant Messages or emails about Copybot 2.0. We also get the occasional message that Elvis Presley has a Second Life avatar, and that someone is spreading a virus around in a Second Life object or texture that will delete our files, kill our housepets and burn our homes down.

Continue reading Copybot: the self replicating meme

Copybot: the self replicating meme originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 20 Mar 2008 06:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cinemassively: The Making of Second Life originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 18 Mar 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Cinemassively: GigaOm interviews Philip Rosedale originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Cinemassively: Sand, Episode 1

Cinemassively: Sand, Episode 1 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Jan 2008 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Real thefts occur in the real world all the time - we know that, and our respective justice systems have long since evolved to deal with them.

When it comes down to virtual theft (characters, gold, or items) whether actually taken from an account or replicated by use of an exploit - most people don't really think it matters. It's not happening in the physical world, right? So it shouldn't, right? Well, it does, and here's why.

Continue reading Why virtual thefts matter

Why virtual thefts matter originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.