Yeah, Raph Koster is a real reliable source.  Let's ask the competition what the have to say about the people who dethroned his company from it's dominance of the market!  Brilliant.  

Besides, even if your article is correct, it still has nothing to do with SL.  If anything it just means I should be seeing Habbo Hotel on the Today Show, instead of Linden Labs spokespeople.  

I don't like marketing, and I don't like when anything gets hyped up well beyond the attention it actually warrants.  

I'm sorry you're such a willing patsy.

Quote from: J ArcaneExcept the numbers don't back it up.  Despite the hype, the service only has a few thousand actual active members, and the servers would cough up a lung if expected to actually hold even that many people at once.  Subscriber numbers are high, but that's because the service is free, few of those accoutns are actually in active use.  GameSetWatch's former column on SL actually eventually died simply because the writer couldn't force himself to keep playing it anymore.  Warren Ellis has made it clear that the only reason for his presence is that he's getting paid for it.  The much talked about Reuters booth is a ghost town, as are the political campaigns that have attempted to set up shop in the land of badly rendered furry porn.

Been in Second Life since July 2004.

Typical concurrency on Second Life these days is between 30-40k, with something like 1.6 million active users in the last 60 days.

There is a huge churn rate, because for people who come to SL expecting WoW, it seems like a big, empty movie lot punctuated by night clubs and casinos. Many stay for a few days, then leave, feeling either bored or mystified. SL sucks for you, I get it. I've talked to dozens of casual visitors to SL like yourself. They don't stay. Steep learning curve, clunky interface, no clear objective or point to being there. Again, I get it, and I can't disagree with you, even about the icky adult content.

Who stays? People who like to build, run a business, socialize, gamble, and roleplay (REALLY roleplay, not just run around killing monsters). I've been involved for three years, and it's increasingly fascinating to me. I run a weekly D&D game in SL, using 3-D scenery, chat-based dice rollers, and players who come dressed as their PCs. It's great fun. And we built everything ourselves. A friend of mine has created an entire Numenorean city in SL and does immersive roleplaying scenarios there with a dozen or more players.

As for the hype, well, time will tell. A lot of eyeballs have been turned to SL as a result, and if it crashes and burns, so be it.

Oh, and did I mention the guerilla marketing?  Apparently I didn't have to.

Yeah, yeah, it's all a conspiracy against the perfect micro-cosm of futurism that WoW represents. Stupid SL-Swine!

Quote from: SosthenesYeah, yeah, it's all a conspiracy against the perfect micro-cosm of futurism that WoW represents. Stupid SL-Swine!

To borrow a line from James McMurray:  "If you want to be wrong because you prejudge my words based on what you think are their motives, go for it."

I'm sorry it offends you so that reality has no connection to what you desperately wish to be true.

I however have no taste for shills, or overhype, and am sick and tired of hearing about a game that gets more attention that it is due by right of it's quality or it's actual popularity.  

I brought up WoW only because it's a game that is actually as popular as Linden Labs marketing department wants the press to believe SL is.  I quit playing the goddamn game months ago, because I felt the botched the expansion and made the game dull as dishwater.  

But hey, believe whatever crazy shit you want, I can't stop you.  Just don't spam forums and news sites with it in an effort to cram it down my throat.

Quote from: J ArcaneOh, and did I mention the guerilla marketing?  Apparently I didn't have to.

LOL, you got me, dude! But I swear I wasn't driving the SL hype machine when it apparently ran over your puppy.

Quote from: J ArcaneOh, and did I mention the guerilla marketing?  Apparently I didn't have to.

You do realize that YOU are marketing Second Life by endlessly ranting about it, right? You sure YOU'RE not the guerilla marketer here? If anything, you've made me MORE curious about it...

It's a bit strange: If they had me they'd have a picture of a Pikachu right next to a.... battlecruiser in space. Odd...

I have to agree with most of J Arcane's points.

I got on, hung out for a couple of weeks, trying to figure out how to put my music project online as a "virtual live performance band" and I figured out I would have to either buy or rent land.. and probably server bandwidth. So it got to be too much money and hassle to worry about.

Quote from: J ArcaneIf anything it just means I should be seeing Habbo Hotel on the Today Show, instead of Linden Labs spokespeople.

Habbo Hotel?

Pool closes in two weeks, from what I understand.  

-Thornhammer

those J Arcane rants were positively pundit-worthy!

very cool.