Keeping up with the latest in games and tech is not an easy task. After absorbing a lot of hype about Second Life (*cough*CNet*cough*), I finally decided to take a look for myself. So last night I created an account, chose an avatar and jumped into Second Life. Before doing this, I’d taken a look at various videos on YouTube depicting events in SL, but that did not prepare me for the generally surreal feeling of the environment. The resident composed background music plus various Linden Lab announcements added to this air of surreality. This could be a common reaction of SL newbs, or it could just be the reaction of someone who’s more used to jumping into a new online game and killing lots of rats in the first few minutes rather than what is essentially a giant sandbox. Actually, it felt a bit like being in an airport, which to a new arrival, is quite appropriate. Second Life is definitely not a computer game.
It was late, so I only had time to complete the orientation island activities before teleporting to some place whose name I forget right now. I also spent a fair amount of time altering my initial appearance, which still needs a lot of work. Right now I’m in full explorer mode. I want to see what SL has to offer and get some taste for its culture. And since I try to be frugal (that is, cheap) I’m just using a the basic free account.
On the technical side, Second Life feels a bit clunky. I know a good portion of this is due to server lag issues, so it’s no big deal right now, but jerky motions do detract a bit from the sense of immersion. The client interface is just a little clunky too, again not bad and perhaps unavoidable since it is cross platform meaning that the developers couldn’t make use of the usual Windows interface classes. Now that the client is open source, I expect that there will be some improved clients to choose from in the future. The developer side of me can’t wait to tear into this as well as the scripting system that allows SL residents to build things.
I’m not one who blindly follows trends, but I usually try to at least understand what all of the hubbub is about. I suppose that now I’ve become part of that hubbub and hype, but hey! It was late and I was bored…*sweatdrop*