Second Life sees inflation?

Are you still whining about Linden Labs having to follow the law with respect to minors using their services? That's kind of sad.

Chris: yes I am.

I can play Xbox with him. Why is that allowed but Second Life isn't?

I can surf the Web with him. Why is that allowed but Second Life isn't?

I can email with him. Why is that allowed but Second Life isn't?

I can IM with him. Why is that allowed but Second Life isn't?

I can go to the beach with him. Why is that allowed but Second Life isn't?

It's a lame rule and one that is because of poor design and poor thinking on Linden Lab's part.

Inflation has been a problem for a while, I believe it was one of the reasons Adam Curry lost interest.

If I could play the game with my son or daughter I'd toss the game as well. There's too many other activities you can do together. Linden has the right to implement stupid rules and we have the right to vote with our wallets.

If I couldn't play the game with my son or daughter I'd toss the game as well. There's too many other activities you can do together. Linden has the right to implement stupid rules and we have the right to vote with our wallets.

I voted with my "attention" and they aren't getting any it. The best thing about it is flying around and bumping into buildings...

I think Robbie's little feelings are hurt coz he got publicy chastised for leting his son take over his second life account.

New worlds will open-up, bigger, faster and cheaper Holodecks.

I still maintain second life is one of the poorest excuses for a "game" there is.

LL basically made half a game, probably ran out of money and just released a basic 3d engine with a simplistic level editor built in. Kinda like a bad version of the starseige tribes engine/editor that came out in what 1998?

Poor poor poor, user created content equates to no content whatsoever. There's a good reason most users are not game developers. Picture chat anyone?

Robby, I'm a big boy and knew what I was doing. I can take the consequences of my actions. All that happened is I spend more time playing Xbox 360.

" user created content equates to no content whatsoever."

If you think there's no content in Second Life, you're not looking properly. I spent last evening in SL attending a trivia quiz that used only user-created content, from questions through the big yellow buzzers that you pressed to buzz in. My partner spent yesterday evening playing a game that someone has created within Second Life that is one of the most brilliantly conceived trading card games I've ever seen. Every aspect of that, from the scripting that drives the cards through to the fantastic art work, was created by users.

I used to be a skeptic too. And then I saw what users could do when you give them the freedom to create what they want. It's not all good, but I've NEVER seen such a wealth of creativity, from fantastic clothing and avatar design through to wholly-created immersive experiences.

Eric is correct about inflation, but that's no surprise. You have an economy where money is constantly created (via buying L$ from the Lindens with real dollars) while there are few, transfers in the opposite direction (even the biggest operators take far, far less out). Increase in the money supply = inflation, which anyone with even the briefest aquaintency with economics knows.

The Lindens are trying to react by cutting the amount of money given to users as a stipend, but that's no good. They're also trying to squeeze the economy by taking more out in tier fees from island-owners, but that won't work either - island owners will just up their rental income, which means more people will buy more dollars to compensate. More money will flow into Linden coffers, but the L$ will continue to plummet.

Stands to reason, a virtual world, is going to have a virtual economy, if they don't mirror the current market plays, it will implode.

I've not looked at Second Life in detail, but in comparison to "I can play XBOX..." does SL have parental controls like the XBOX has?

As for your other examples, well, you left out:

"I can watch porn with my son, why can't I do that in Second Life?"

"I can do drugs with my son, why can't I do that in Second Life?"

I do agree that if they don't have controls in SL to keep minors away from areas they feel they don't need to be in, that's pretty lame. Having the rather strict age limitation for overall access seems pretty limiting from an adoption perspective.

Umm. If it's a 'game', then why not wait til it comes out on Xbox, Robert?

Truth is that it's not 'a game'. If it were a game, people wouldn't be investing real money in it. I'd offer that you may wish to broaden the scope of your reading, at least in this regard, as it's affecting your writing. :-)

Why are RL rules being applied in SL ??

SL s/not have any rules at all ... and that why its called SL !!

I don't think it's inflation so much as it is merely the end of subsidies. The Lindens had a lot of support structures and incentives in place for the first years for the early adopters/adapters and they have been systematically removing all these struts. The sticker shock shouldn't have occurred so steeply and so abruptly, but painful economic moves are sometimes justified more quickly rather than slowly.

Content of all kinds, from amateur to professional, remains rich and compelling.

It's silly to have banned Scoble and his son over playing SL at a trade exhibition openly, making an object lesson of them (and perhaps making a bigger political statement about their independence as a small software company ostensibly free of the need to cater to huge software companies).

9-year-olds are getting into the adult grid in droves now because credit-cards are no longer needed for sign-up. The irony is that using the credit card and giving your ID probably keeps the teen grid from having a larger population. I don't see why the Lindens couldn't take the existing system of PG and M they have on the adult grid and enable avatars 13 years or older in RL to come in PG areas and simply be unable to fly into M areas -- that would enable parents and childrens to work and play together in SL; for teachers to have classes for kids without elaborate and expensive private island purchases, etc.

if you don't think it is a game than that is sad because, clearly, it is. You may invest real money in it, but, you do the same thing in online casinos, and you play games there, don't you? Anyway, I can partly understand the second life rule, for Patrick has told me some of the things that go on in that GAME.

"...I spent last evening..." " my partner spent yesterday evening ..." sounds rocking round your way, heads down gawping at screens getting monitor tans playing a game that simulates life rather than talking to each other in real life, maybe i'm missing someting here but i doubt it.

Chris, while it's wonderful that you want to do everything with your son, the fact is, there are things you just can't do with him that are meant to be for adults only. For example, you can go to another 3D Virtual Community called Jewel of Indra, it's at Jewel of Indra dot com. But, you would NOT want to go there with your son, unless he is over 18 years old. It's a 3D porn site that is very entertaining but meant only for grown ups. Chris, you sound like a really great dad. But, take a break every now and then and come have some adult fun with the rest of us. You may like it. Honest!