Second Life Lacks Buzz, Reuters Bails
Second Life Lacks Buzz, Reuters Bails
November 26, 2008
It was with much fanfare that Reuters opened a virtual office in Second Life in 2006.
The news service has since comes to grips with an essential truth about SL: It never lived up to its hype.
As UK paper The Register notes, Reuters has closed its Second Life Bureau and pulled embedded reporter Adam Pasick aka Adam Reuters out of SL's metaverse, assigning him to, one presumes, more tangible duties. A Reuters spokesperson told The Register:
We're still reporting on Second Life, but only as part of our usual tech and media coverage.
Meanwhile, Silicon Alley Insider has a first-person account from Eric Krangel, the original Reuters staffer assigned to SL:
Is Second Life dying? No, but the buzz is gone...
It's hard to say what, if anything, Linden Lab can do to make Second Life appeal to a general audience. The very things that most appeal to Second Life's hardcore enthusiasts are either boring or creepy for most people: Spending hundreds of hours of effort to make insignificant amounts of money selling virtual clothes, experimenting with changing your gender or species, getting into random conversations with strangers from around the world, or having pseudo-nonymous sex (and let's not kid ourselves, sex is a huge draw into Second Life)...
It was about as fun as watching paint dry.
GP: There are so many jokes one can make about Second Life. Our favorite? Chris Williams of The Register writes:
Last one to leave, turn off the flying penis.
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Posted 03/16/10 at 04:14pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:Ya but the organ grinder got tired of all the "fluffing"...
ZippyDSMlee: JD:Ya but the organ grinder got tired of all the "fluffing"...
Posted 03/16/10 at 11:45am
JDKJ: Have you tried partnering with an organ grinder? If you do a good job, passerbys will fawn over you and throw change in your tin cup.
JDKJ: Have you tried partnering with an organ grinder? If you do a good job, passerbys will fawn over you and throw change in your tin cup.
Posted 03/16/10 at 10:59am
ZippyDSMlee: JD is jsut pissy cuse he is not getting enough attnetion...hey neither am I damnit!!!!
ZippyDSMlee: JD is jsut pissy cuse he is not getting enough attnetion...hey neither am I damnit!!!!
Posted 03/16/10 at 10:18am
Valdearg: @Cminer: LMAO. I was about to say the same thing. The typical Youtube comment implies they've been at it for years.
Valdearg: @Cminer: LMAO. I was about to say the same thing. The typical Youtube comment implies they've been at it for years.
Posted 03/16/10 at 10:17am
CMiner: JDKJ: That happened years ago. Look at your average forum poster/youtube commentor/etc for proof.
CMiner: JDKJ: That happened years ago. Look at your average forum poster/youtube commentor/etc for proof.
Posted 03/16/10 at 10:16am
JDKJ: BREAKING: Goodall Institute for Primate Research teaches chimpazee how to type and post to the Internet.
JDKJ: BREAKING: Goodall Institute for Primate Research teaches chimpazee how to type and post to the Internet.
Posted 03/16/10 at 08:39am
ZippyDSMlee: Afirejar:Left you a warm pile in the Venezuela/censorship article. :P
ZippyDSMlee: Afirejar:Left you a warm pile in the Venezuela/censorship article. :P
Posted 03/15/10 at 04:05pm
Andrew Eisen: I'm still here and I'm doing a lot of behind the scenes work (as time permits me). But it's true, I've only written one piece under the new GP but if that Facebook/JT bit is the last thing I write for the site, I’d be okay with that.
Andrew Eisen: I'm still here and I'm doing a lot of behind the scenes work (as time permits me). But it's true, I've only written one piece under the new GP but if that Facebook/JT bit is the last thing I write for the site, I’d be okay with that.
Posted 03/15/10 at 04:01pm
ZippyDSMlee: I suppose its not inane enough for petes muses*giggles*
ZippyDSMlee: I suppose its not inane enough for petes muses*giggles*
Posted 03/15/10 at 03:55pm
PHX Corp: It had the Video Games tag on it, I thought that it had been a video game law that was concerning it
PHX Corp: It had the Video Games tag on it, I thought that it had been a video game law that was concerning it
Posted 03/15/10 at 03:54pm
JDKJ: And what happened to "Senior GP Correspondent, Andrew Eisen, reporting from San Diego [and who has a better finger on the pulse of GP's readership than some others]?" Huh? Did he fall victim to the Night of the Long Knives?
JDKJ: And what happened to "Senior GP Correspondent, Andrew Eisen, reporting from San Diego [and who has a better finger on the pulse of GP's readership than some others]?" Huh? Did he fall victim to the Night of the Long Knives?
Posted 03/15/10 at 03:53pm
Andrew Eisen: No, but my one example was not meant to cover the entire spectrum. Besides, multiplayer is a big part of video games.
Andrew Eisen: No, but my one example was not meant to cover the entire spectrum. Besides, multiplayer is a big part of video games.
Posted 03/15/10 at 03:50pm
Andrew Eisen: PHX Corp - Are you referring to AB 847? I haven't read the bill but the summary doesn't appear to apply to video games.
Andrew Eisen: PHX Corp - Are you referring to AB 847? I haven't read the bill but the summary doesn't appear to apply to video games.
Posted 03/15/10 at 03:49pm
DarkSaber: 2 mediocre games do not "a big part of video games" make.
DarkSaber: 2 mediocre games do not "a big part of video games" make.
Posted 03/15/10 at 03:49pm
JDKJ: I suspect that'll fall victim to the "pass." Wrong side of the fence. It's North Korea we aren't supposed to like.
JDKJ: I suspect that'll fall victim to the "pass." Wrong side of the fence. It's North Korea we aren't supposed to like.
Posted 03/15/10 at 03:48pm
DarkSaber: Although, following the "MW2 Made Lots of Money" excuse for a story, GP would be hard pressed to justify WHY they passed on it.
DarkSaber: Although, following the "MW2 Made Lots of Money" excuse for a story, GP would be hard pressed to justify WHY they passed on it.
Posted 03/15/10 at 03:47pm
Andrew Eisen: DS - Not necessarily. See recent Ubisoft stories.
Andrew Eisen: DS - Not necessarily. See recent Ubisoft stories.
Posted 03/15/10 at 03:47pm
Andrew Eisen: Zip - Or it will and GP hasn't had a chance in the last couple hours to get to it yet. Or yeah, maybe he’ll pass on it.
Andrew Eisen: Zip - Or it will and GP hasn't had a chance in the last couple hours to get to it yet. Or yeah, maybe he’ll pass on it.
Posted 03/15/10 at 03:46pm
DarkSaber: Only if you play multiplayer AE.
DarkSaber: Only if you play multiplayer AE.
Posted 03/15/10 at 03:45pm
Andrew Eisen: Except, aside from following up on an earlier story, GP frequently reports on internet censorship and net neutrality issues (the internet being a big part of video games and all).
Andrew Eisen: Except, aside from following up on an earlier story, GP frequently reports on internet censorship and net neutrality issues (the internet being a big part of video games and all).
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Comments
*snort*
Good show, Chris.
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"Game on, brothers and sisters." -Leet Gamer Jargon
Secound Life is only worth while for stories about people life who are so sad they make people feel better.
So I guess for them, Second Life is actually their first life!
I disagree. For what its worth, SL was and still is an amazing success.
Sure, it looks like something from 1998, runs pathetically slow given its look, is the home of the worlds greatest (or worst depending on how you look at it) anonymous social deviants, and doesn't have any specific feature that is 'fun', but unlike many virtual worlds, it has survived for a long time and managed to turn a profit. Most MMOGs can't claim half the success.
Of course they have! It's called Trickster, and it's your standard asian import where you play for "free" and buy items from the game store. Actually, based on the art, I'd say it's half furry (more tails and ears, not so much fur and animorphic features) and half loli-bait.
http://trickster.ntreev.net/guide/guide_character.aspx
Never tried it myself, but then I'm not a furry.
I used to play MMOs, and despite being a furry myself, I've never nor will ever play Trickster.
I listen to NPR for news, and some of the programs say you can send comments by way of their live cast in Second Life. Having tried SL, it always boggled my mind that they would even bother. SL is never going to get a general audience appeal. Seriously, the article is right. Even if you can get past the creepiness factor (it really is about half sex), the act of creating game items and locations is dull as hell.