Second Life was launched in 2003 and it allows users to download a free client and create their own personalised avatar. The success of the world is completely based on community interaction and asset creation. The developers, Linden, have included a 3D modelling program which allows users to model their own characters and objects for use in the world. They also have a basic scripting language so users can create animations, gestures and even develop their own entertainment activities.
The bustling economy in Linden dollars, which can be exchanged for US dollars in game, is largely based around land. Land is scarce and can be bought, sold or rented. Users can also charge other people money to play the game they created or take part in an activity they scripted in the world. There are various objects which will cost you money and people trying to make money from selling them, the object remains the property of the creator unless they release it. However most things are given freely and the amount of work people put into their creations is very impressive.
Second Life started out as a glorified 3D chat room with a number of places in game people could meet up, flirt, chat and generally catch up with each other. Like an extension of IRC Second Life offered a more immersive social experience. The community and the interaction is the strength of Second Life. However it inevitably has a darker side and one of the strangest aspects of Second Life is the bustling sex trade. Users can buy their character a phallus and even hire a prostitute or engage in various fetish scenes. The range of sexual animations that have been created leave little to the imagination and there are whole areas of the world which are essentially huge adult swinger parks. The popularity of sex themes has led Linden to create an entirely separate grid for children so that they don’t come into contact with anything unsuitable.
Even although the basic client is free if you want to get involved in the world you’ll find you soon need to spend some money. The game is run on thousands of servers and so user generated content costs money to store, consequently you will be charged if you want to upload a file into the game, even if you just create a T-shirt for your avatar.
You can teleport around from place to place instantly or you can fly. One of the things that surprised me when trying Second Life was how sparse the world is. There are large open areas with few people but this is really because the overall scale is massive and busy areas are often extremely crowded.
