Battleangel | Personal

Following the Second Life hysteria I decided to actually find out for myself what the hoopla was all about. I didn’t expect much but sadly the game failed to live up to even the most basic of expectations.

• The game is a more than anything a capitalist simulator with SIMS ambitions. It’s not surprising then that it is made in the USA.
• Nothing is free in the game and one has to earn so called Linden dollars to do any of the things that the game is about (like owning land).
• Owning land also requires a premium account. And a premium account comes at a premium price. Hence not everyone is created equal. Plus land is essentially taxed.
• Linden dollars are produced through the internal capitalism, through buying linden dollars for real US dollars or through stipends.
• The game has an intricate referral system whereas people can earn money by recommending new citizens if these newcomers choose to themselves get a premium account. Sounds a lot like a pyramid scheme to me.
• Much like real life, begging or stealing is frowned upon. You also can’t kill monsters or some such to receive currency. So you have to “work” but in this case work entails building virtual objects in a CAD-like environment or uploading content from your computer. Of course, uploading costs virtual money (isn’t that like a tax on labor by the way?). As such only one type of skill is valued and all other forms of income depend on irrational factors such as fame.
• Because the linden dollar is tied to a real currency and because the stipends are only applicable for early birds (those that registered in the first half of 2006 or before) or have a premium account. Again, premium accounts aren’t free so you have to invest some to have a basic chance in your “second life.” It would seem this violates what Rawls’ and Dworkin’s liberal equality for instance. Let alone any form of socialism. If anything, the Linden system exacerbates social and economic injustices.
• The network latency was terrible as soon as there were more than three or four people in the same place. I would assume the servers are somewhere in North America and as such the game is worthless for non-Americans.
• The name space that one can choose a surname from is far too narrow. Linden lab argues that this is a way to avoid the “hotmail effect.” So what they’re doing is limiting avatar freedom instead. Much like the virtual economy also limits the freedom that it is arguably there to protect.
• Perhaps the most serious gripe with the game though is the lack of game play. Unless you enjoy this electronic chatterbox, or hoarding virtual money for money’s sake, or are trying to make a buck in real life or enjoy chatting to people or fancy dress parties you won’t get anything out of the deal. It’s a game for small children that enjoy simple social games but one that requires an adult wallet and is clearly marketed to adults. There are no ogres to kill and no missions to take on. It’s all the same old dreary and debilitating things that plague real life. Now why would anyone want to spend time doing that? Plus the game content, being user created and all, is often crude and the poor graphic engine doesn’t help things either. It’s like a 3D version of MySpace complete with hyper social lunatics and bad design.

For those that are looking for more in-depth criticism of the virtual economy of Linden Lab’s Second Life there is always Revolutionary Virtual Market or Ponzi Scheme which exposes the game as a pyramid scheme.