The Watch - virtual worlds in the news

1. Globe and Mail (Canada) - You’ve got the whole world in your hands. “Best to get the hyperbole out of the way early: Spore, the new computer game from Sims creator Will Wright, rolls the past, present and future of interactive entertainment - not to mention life as we know it - into an absorbing ball of fun and big ideas. No matter what you think of video games, it is something everyone, young and old, should see and experience.”

2. Market Watch (USA) - Motorhead Frontman Lemmy to Launch Own Private Army Inside Virtual World Entropia Universe. “Mindark, developer and operator of Virtual World Entropia Universe, and rock icon Lemmy from Motoerhead, today announced a partnership in which Lemmy and his band will team up with Mindark to create Motoerhead Stadium and Lemmy’s Castle within Entropia Universe. The Stadium and Castle are being built utilizing the award-winning CryENGINE(R)2 graphics engine. This will be the virtual universe’s first major virtual rock arena and castle that will enable fans to hear exclusive music as well as battle Lemmy’s Guardians in hopes of joining his private Virtual Army. ”

3. Science Daily (USA) - Real-world Behavior And Biases Show Up In Virtual World. “Americans are spending increasing amounts of time hanging around virtual worlds in the forms of cartoon-like avatars that change appearances according to users’ wills, fly through floating cities in the clouds and teleport instantly to glowing crystal canyons and starlit desert landscapes. Simply fun and games divorced from reality, right?
Not necessarily so, say two social psychologists from Northwestern University who conducted the first experimental field studies in the virtual world.”

4. Kotaku (USA) - Future Trends for Virtual Worlds. “he Virtual Worlds Expo took place last week in Los Angeles, and there’s been bits and pieces of news from the event floating around — the wrap ups of roundtables and panels are the most interesting. Over at Free To Play, they have put together five big trends in virtual worlds, ranging from ‘the war on geekiness’ (oh, ouch) to one I’m most interested in, the movement from virtual world to real world instead of the other way around.”

5. Market Watch (USA) - Forterra Systems Named Winner of “Innovation in Virtual Worlds for Enterprise” Award. “Forterra Systems, the market and technology leader in enterprise virtual worlds, announced today that it was awarded the prestigious Innovation in Virtual Worlds for Enterprises award at the Virtual World Expo held September 3rd and 4th in Los Angeles. These awards recognize the significant achievements in innovation to companies in five categories: Consumer, Enterprise, Youth, Pioneer, and Overall Innovation.”

6. CNN (USA) - Virtual September 11 memorials bring back memories, emotions. “People around the world who are unable to visit Ground Zero and pay their respects to September 11 victims can still find solace in contacting others through the technological wonders of their home computers. Especially if they’re willing to venture into a virtual world. A series of September 11 memorial events in Second Life, a virtual world run over the Internet, were created to give visitors the ability to connect with others scattered around the country and world.”

7. CNET (USA) - Multiverse touts extensible virtual-world effort. “The Multiverse Network, a developer of virtual world platform software, announced Wednesday that it was unveiling what it calls Places, two related social elements that tie Multiverse users together. Essentially connective tissue for users of the Multiverse platform, Places has two separate components. The first is a social networks application that automatically connects people using Multiverse virtual worlds together with others who are also friends in social networks like Facebook.”

8. Los Angeles Times (USA) - Six Degrees Games hopes to become a heavy hitter in the virtual world. “Virtual worlds, once a niche market within the video game industry, are heading to the big leagues. Six Degrees Games Inc., a Marina del Rey company, is planning this fall to launch a sports-based virtual world for kids called ActionAllStars.com. Members will be able to create avatars, chat with buddies as well as collect virtual trophies for competing in games based on baseball, basketball and extreme sports.”

9. IT Business (Canada) - Using the virtual world of Second Life to snag young IT talent. “The competition sure is fierce when it comes to landing good young talent these days. Organizations are standing shoulder to shoulder around the global talent pool, trying to hook their share of Gen X and Gen Y keepers. But despite their youth, these new recruits are as wary and tight-lipped as a wily old bass. If you don’t find just the right way to attract them, they won’t give you a nibble.”

10. NT News (Australia) - Telstra plasters Uluru in Second Life. “It has long been the subject of great controversy and debate in the real world, but now the Territory’s most famous landmark is at the centre of a virtual storm. Telstra is under fire after it posted billboards advertising its BigPond internet service in front of Uluru in the online virtual world, Second Life.”

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More stick for ad farms in Second Life

Jack Linden has provided further clarification on Linden Labs policy on excessive advertising on Mainland sims in Second Life. There’s quite a bit of detail and it all has the ring of council zoning laws.

Here’s a taste:

Adverts should be grounded to the terrain, not floating.
Adverts should extend no higher than 8m from the ground.
No rotating, no flashing content and no particles.
No unsolicited dispensing of IMs, notecards, landmarks or content.
No light sources or glow (full bright is acceptable however).
Advertising hoardings should be Phantom.
Adverts must be clearly PG in nature.
No sound and no temp-on-rez content.
Ban lines should be switched off.

It may sound bureaucratic but it’s a necessary evil that’s unlikely to draw too much criticism from most Mainland residents. What are your thoughts - are these controls necessary or a creativity stifling development?

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ZOMG … Terry Pratchett!

Terry Pratchett. In Second Life. No, your eyes do not deceive you. On the 9th of October, 2008, at 8pm (BST), Pratchett will appear in-world on “Nation” island to take part in a Q&A with fans from across the globe, as a part of a month-long Second Life promotion of this new children’s novel by UK Publisher, Random House.

Pratchett’s latest work, Nation, is set to be published in the UK on 11th September by Doubleday, price £16.99 and in the US on 30th September by HarperCollins.

From Pratchett’s web site:

• “The first Discworld novel, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1985 and there are now 36 books in the series.”
• “Only 12 books have never been out of the top 5,000 chart and three of them are by Terry Pratchett.”
• “Nation is set on a small desert island and challenges the way we think about cultural identity, nationhood and the history of civilization.”

From Pratchett’s Wikipedia entry:

• “Pratchett’s first novel, The Carpet People, was published in 1971.”
• “As of December 2007 [he] has sold more than 55 million books worldwide, with translations made in 33 languages.”
• “Nation (2008) marks his return to the non-Discworld children’s novel.”

In the build up to Pratchett’s appearance, a number of things will be happening to whet our appetite for the grand finale of his appearance. A treasure hunt will run from the 11th of September to the 10th of October, and during each week of that period fancy dress parties, quiz nights and special events will be held.

All events will occur on Elysian Isle (the treasure hunt begins here) or on “Nation” island.

As of 2am on the 11th of September (US Pacific time), the island is accessible to Second Life users, but the treasure hunt was not yet fully set up and ready to run: the group that you need to join to take part has not yet been created (or does not appear in search), and some of the clue cards have not yet been filled in with information. The build on “Nation” island looks to be complete: a lush rain forested isle, picked out with rude huts, lines of crops, unfinished and finished canoes and sea-going craft, and the obligatory ship-wreck. “Nation” island, too, is accessible to the public at this time.

If you head on down to Elysian Isle in Second Life, you can collect a note card (hopefully also as yet unfinished, as it seems somewhat incomplete); here is a precis of the information:

Terry Pratchett Nation Treasure Hunt.

1. Join the “Terry Pratchett Fans” group.
2. Visit the eBook exhibition on Elysian Isle. Look for a poster for a title by Terry and now available in eBook form. Touch the poster; you will get three objects.
3. Follow the instructions contained in the objects you received in step #2.

Good luck!

Be sure to keep a close eye out for the group creation, which should denote the beginning of festivities. There are apparently many delicious prizes to be won, both real and virtual.

Pratchett’s appearance in Second Life is particularly surprising since, due to the onset of a very rare form of Alzheimer’s, posterior cortical atrophy, he has had to give up writing dedications at book signings. One also wonders, since this is a children’s book, and not one of the Discworld series of books for which he is so well-known, why he is making an appearance on the adult Second Life grid.

Perhaps, despite being titled a children’s book, it is yet another example of Pratchett’s work that is accessible by all ages. Like every other book he has written, it probably carries that wonderful satirical flavor and important knowledge about the world that makes fans love his books so much.

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realXtend - the not so slow burner in virtual worlds

Back in February we profiled Openlife, an alternate Second Life-based grid. The realXtend platform underpins grids like Openlife and since February they’ve achieved some significant milestones. Now up to version 0.3, the 3D modelling in realXtend is something to see now. Here’s a snippet:

Caleb Bookers states “When these guys hit 1.0 the web will quake”. At the very least, the graphical improvement on Second Life will cause some sort of impact.

If you’re super keen, download realXtend for yourself - Windows PC’s only at this stage unfortunately.

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The Watch - virtual worlds in the news

1. The Denver Post (USA) - Club Penguin gets it right. “The newspaper industry is constantly bewailing its need for a new economic model, as the Internet upends the old one. Maybe it could take a page from the Club Penguin Times.
The Club Penguin Times, after all, is more widely read than New York’s Daily News, the Chicago Tribune, or The Dallas Morning News.”

2. Techdirt (USA) - Maximizing Profits Doesn’t Mean Screwing Your Customers. “A few years back, we wrote a post debunking the ridiculous notion spread by some that Craigslist was somehow “anti-capitalist” or not “maximizing profits” because it actually offered most of its services for free. As we noted, much of Craigslist’s long-term success was because of these decisions — which in all likelihood did increase overall profits for the company in the long run by building up further trust in the company.”

3. The Daily Egyptian (USA) - Second Life used to teach foreign languages. “Alicia Guebert struggled with boredom in her French class last semester. But this semester, characters in a virtual world hold her attention while she learns German. Guebert, a junior from Modock studying art history, said the new experiment to help students learn a foreign language as characters in the simulation game Second Life has her staying awake and learning in German class.”

4. Finding Dulcinea (USA) - The Ethics of a Sex Life in Your Second Life. “Like a growing number of Internet users, Kevin Alderman was eager to jump on the Second Life bandwagon. Second Life is a computer game that allows users to design avatars and operate in a fully elaborated virtual world. It enabled users to do most real-life activities, but Alderman noticed that it prevented users from touching. He founded the company Eros LLC and developed the SexGen software for Second Life. Now, avatars can engage in a variety of sexual positions and activities with other avatars.”

5. Pocket Gamer (UK) - Vollee reveals Second Life mobile beta stats. “We’ve written about Vollee before and its innovative mobile application that lets you access the Second Life virtual world. Now the company has revealed some data about that app’s beta trial. Specifically, Vollee says that it’s been downloaded by users in more than 98 countries, on more than 253 mobile operators, for 70 different handsets.”

6. The News Journal (USA) - Virtual worlds inventing legal codes. “Virtual worlds have often been called the digital equivalent of the Wild West, where animated alter egos can live in a fantasy frontier. But in some of these universes, a sheriff has come to town. Slipping a four-letter word into an instant message now could land a user in a virtual timeout. Repeated attempts to make friends with an uninterested character could result in a loss of blogging privileges. And if convicted of starting a “flame war,” or an exchange of hostile messages, a user may endure the ultimate punishment — permanent exile.”

7. The Washington Post (USA) - In the Beginning, Finally. “After years of delays, the universe is set to begin this weekend — and it’s about time.
Tomorrow marks the U.S. launch date of Spore, an ambitious and long-awaited computer game that takes on the broad topics of life, the universe and everything. For publisher Electronic Arts, the unusual game is one of the biggest debuts of the year.”

8. The Tampa Tribune (USA) - Off The Screen: ‘Second Life’ Players Meet. “Distinct personalities in real and imagined worlds collided Friday at the fourth annual “Second Life” convention. That was only the beginning of the confusion for those outside Second Life, the virtual online community that is anything but confusing to those immersed in the virtual world.”

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Twinity moves to public beta

Metaversum have moved Twinity to the next stage of it’s development, announcing its public beta phase. A media event was held in Germany with Berlin’s Mayor Klaus Wowereit, to formally open virtual Berlin. Wowereit was even presented with a key to the virtual city.

Jochen Hummel, CEO of Metaversum remains upbeat on Twinity’s development: “With the launch of our public beta phase, we have laid the foundation for Twinity’s international rollout.”

You can sign for the beta program here.

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Linden Lab put the bullet in ad farms

In what’s likely to be a pretty popular move, Linden Lab have formalised their stance further on ‘ad farms’ by essentially banning them on Mainland sims - unless an advertising license is sought.

The deadline for removal of ad farms is October 1 - I can already hear the cheers from mainland SL residents. What are your thoughts - is this an outright godsend or are there downsides?

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