Recently, a new online game/community came into existence: Second Life, which describes itself this way:
"Second Life is an expansive online society, lived in and built by its participants. Join a 3D world full of people, activity, and fun, where you and fellow residents can build a shared reality. You choose your own goals – travel and explore, claim and build on virtual land, make friends and socialize, or vie for status and wealth. Whatever you choose to do, your Second Life starts now."
Wired had an article on the game last month describing how many of the games participants may spend a bit too much time in cyberlife. However, some of the events that have unfolded in the Second Life environment sound pretty cool. For example, a group of WWII recreationists took over a small area of the game and posted warnings that anyone who came within would be killed.
So, has anyone tried this out? If so, what's it like? More importantly, is it worth $15 a month?
Played the game for a while *just* before release. Interesting concept... the in-game 3D builder was pretty well done.
The biggest drawback was that every square inch of land was covered by objects (houses, signs, sculptures, etc) that didn't fit together (because you're free to create whatever you want... and people did). Content streams in consistently (and it's especially bad in highly populated areas because there are lots of textures used that all have to stream to you).
The game was fun for about two days (customizing your own character was a blast) but there's no real point to the game. If you're looking for a social environment or want to take your chance at "developing" a 3D playable world then you'll find something in Second Life - if you're looking to play a game, look somewhere else.
My vote is that it's not worth $15/month.
Second Life, is now free. Lagging isn't as bad anymore and only have to pay to play , If you want to own your own plot of land.