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Games Like Second Life

Second Life Viewer
Developer(s)Linden Lab
Initial releaseJune 23, 2003; 16 years ago
Stable release
Preview release
6.0.0.518949 / August 24, 2018; 10 months ago
Engine
Platform
  • Linux (Development paused)
LicenseOpen-source
Websitewww.secondlife.com
Second Life Server
Developer(s)Linden Lab
Initial releaseJune 23, 2003; 16 years ago
Stable release
Engine
  • proprietary software
PlatformLinux
LicenseProprietary
Websitewww.secondlife.com

Jul 9, 2016 - There are plenty of games like Second Life available if you are looking to start exploring another world filled with delights, activities and other.

Second Life is an online virtual world, developed and owned by the San Francisco-based firm Linden Lab and launched on June 23, 2003. By 2013, Second Life had approximately one million regular users[1]; at the end of 2017 active user count totals 'between 800,000 and 900,000'.[2] In many ways, Second Life is similar to massively multiplayer online role-playing games; however, Linden Lab is emphatic that their creation is not a game: 'There is no manufactured conflict, no set objective'.[3]

The virtual world can be accessed freely via Linden Lab's own client programs or via alternative third-party viewers.[4][5]Second Life users, also called residents, create virtual representations of themselves, called avatars, and are able to interact with places, objects and other avatars. They can explore the world (known as the grid), meet other residents, socialize, participate in both individual and group activities, build, create, shop, and trade virtual property and services with one another.

  1. Fashion Games Like Second Life - Second Life is one of the world's largest 3D social virtual world game that brings players together and immerses them in a brilliant metaverse filled with thousands of virtual worlds created, mostly, by its users.
  2. Second Life is home to many virtual world games that you can play solo or with friends. Login Destination Guide Games. More like General Games.

The platform principally features 3D-based user-generated content. Second Life also has its own virtual currency, the Linden Dollar, which is exchangeable with real world currency.[6]

Second Life is intended for people aged 16 and over, with the exception of 13–15-year-old users, who are restricted to the Second Life region of a sponsoring institution (e.g., a school).[7][8]

Built into the software is a 3D modeling tool based on simple geometric shapes that allows residents to build virtual objects. There is also a procedural scripting language, Linden Scripting Language, which can be used to add interactivity to objects. Sculpted prims (sculpties), mesh, textures for clothing or other objects, animations, and gestures can be created using external software and imported. The Second Life terms of service provide that users retain copyright for any content they create, and the server and client provide simple digital rights management (DRM) functions.[7][9][10] However, Linden Lab changed their terms of service in August 2013 to be able to use user-generated content for any purpose.[11] The new terms of service prevent users from using textures from third-party texture services, as some of them pointed out explicitly.[12]

  • 5Technology
  • 6Applications
  • 7Criticism and controversy
  • 8In popular culture

History[edit]

Philip Rosedale, founder of Second Life.

In 1999, Philip Rosedale formed Linden Lab with the intention of developing computer hardware to allow people to become immersed in a virtual world. In its earliest form, the company struggled to produce a commercial version of the hardware, known as 'The Rig', which in prototype form was seen as a clunky steel contraption with computer monitors worn on shoulders.[13] That vision changed into the software application Linden World, in which people participated in task-based games and socializing in a three-dimensional online environment.[14] That effort eventually transformed into the better known, user-centered Second Life.[15] Although he was familiar with the metaverse of Neal Stephenson's novel Snow Crash, Rosedale has said that his vision of virtual worlds predates that book, and that he conducted early virtual world experiments during his college years at the University of California, San Diego, where he studied physics.[16]

In 2005 and 2006, Second Life began to receive significant media attention, including a cover story in BusinessWeek magazine featuring the virtual world and Second Life avatar Anshe Chung.[17] By that time, Anshe Chung had become Second Life's poster child and symbol for the economic opportunities that the virtual world offers to its residents. At the same time, the service saw a period of exponential growth of its user base.

On December 11, 2007, Cory Ondrejka, who helped program Second Life, was forced to resign as chief technology officer.[18]

In January 2008, residents spent a total of 28,274,505 hours 'inworld' and on average 38,000 residents were logged in at any moment. The maximum concurrency (number of avatars inworld) recorded is 88,200 in the first quarter of 2009[19]

On March 14, 2008, Rosedale announced plans to step down from his position as Linden Lab CEO and to become chairman of Linden Lab's board of directors.[20] Rosedale announced Mark Kingdon as the new CEO effective May 15, 2008.[21]In 2010, Kingdon was replaced by Rosedale, who took over as Interim CEO. After four months, Rosedale abruptly stepped down from the Interim CEO position. It was announced in October 2010 that Bob Komin, Linden Lab's chief financial officer and chief operating officer, would take over the CEO job for the immediate future.[22]

In 2008, Second Life was honored at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for advancing the development of online sites with user-generated content. Rosedale accepted the award.[23]

In May 2009, concurrent users averaged about 62,000.[24] As of May 2010, concurrent users averaged about 54,000.[citation needed] According to Tateru Nino of Engadget, the decline was due to new policies implemented by Linden Lab reducing the number of bots and campers.[25]

In June 2010, Linden Lab announced layoffs of 30% of its workforce.[26]

In November 2010, 21.3 million accounts were registered, although the company has not made public any statistics regarding actual long-term consistent usage.[27] However, Wagner James Au, who blogs and writes about Second Life, said in April 2013 that he had it on 'good authority' that 'Second Life's actual active userbase is about 600,000'.[28]

In 2015 alone, Second Life users had cashed out approximately $60,000,000 (60 million US dollar) and Second Life had an estimated GDP of $500,000,000 (500 million US dollar), higher than some small countries.[29]

Classification[edit]

During a 2001 meeting with investors, Rosedale noticed that the participants were particularly responsive to the collaborative, creative potential of Second Life. As a result, the initial objective-driven, gaming focus of Second Life was shifted to a more user-created, community-driven experience.[30]

Second Life's status as a virtual world, a computer game, or a talker, is frequently debated.[who?] Unlike a traditional computer game, Second Life does not have a designated objective, nor traditional game play mechanics or rules. It can also be argued that Second Life is a multi-user virtual world, because its virtual world facilitates interaction between multiple users. As it does not have any stipulated goals, it is irrelevant to talk about winning or losing in relation to Second Life. Likewise, unlike a traditional talker[vague], Second Life contains an extensive world that can be explored and interacted with, and it can be used purely as a creative tool set if the user so chooses. In March 2006, while speaking at Google TechTalks,[31] Rosedale said: 'So, we don't see this as a game. We see it as a platform.'

Second Life used to offer two main grids: one for adults (18+) and one for teens. In August 2010, Linden Lab closed the teen grid due to operating costs. Since then, users aged 16 and over can sign up for a free account.[32] Other limited accounts are available for educators who use Second Life with younger students.

There are three activity-based classifications, called 'Ratings', for sims in Second Life:

  1. General (formerly 'PG'—no extreme violence or nudity)
  2. Moderate (formerly 'Mature'—some violence, swearing, adult situations, some nudity)
  3. Adult (may contain overt sexual activity, nudity, and violence)

Residents and avatars[edit]

A human female avatar
Several avatars together

There is no charge for creating a Second Life account or for making use of the world for any period of time. Linden Lab reserves the right to charge for the creation of large numbers of multiple accounts for a single person (5 per household, 2 per 24 hours)[33] but at present does not do so. A Premium membership (US$9.95 monthly, US$22.50 quarterly, or US$72 annually) extends access to an increased level of technical support, and also pays an automatic stipend of L$300/week into the member's avatar account, and after 45 days that resident will receive a L$700 bonus, making it L$1,000 for that week. This amount has decreased since the original stipend of L$500, which is still paid to older accounts. Certain accounts created during an earlier period may receive L$400. This stipend, if changed into USD, means that the actual cost for the benefit of extended tech support for an annual payment of US$72 is only about US$14, depending on the currency exchange rates. However, the vast majority of casual users of Second Life do not upgrade beyond the free 'basic' account.

Avatars may take any form users choose (human, animal, vegetable, mineral, or a combination thereof) or residents may choose to resemble themselves as they are in real life.[34] They may choose even more abstract forms, given that almost every aspect of an avatar is fully customizable. Second Life Culture consists of many activities and behaviors that are also present in real life. A single resident account may have only one avatar at a time, although the appearance of this avatar can change between as many different forms as the Resident wishes. Avatar forms, like almost everything else in Second Life, can be either created by the user, or bought pre-made. A single person may also have multiple accounts, and thus appear to be multiple Residents (a person's multiple accounts are referred to as alts).

Avatars can travel via walking, running, vehicular access, flying, or teleportation. Because Second Life is such a vast virtual world, teleportation is used when avatars wish to travel instantly and efficiently. Once they reach their destination, they may travel in more conventional means at various speeds.

Avatars can communicate via local chat, group chat, global instant messaging (known as IM), and voice (public, private and group). Chatting is used for localized public conversations between two or more avatars, and is visible to any avatar within a given distance. IMs are used for private conversations, either between two avatars, or among the members of a group, or even between objects and avatars. Unlike chatting, IM communication does not depend on the participants being within a certain distance of each other. As of version 1.18.1.2, voice chat, both local and IM, was also available.Instant messages may optionally be sent to a Resident's email when the Resident is logged off, although message length is limited to 4096 bytes.[35]

Identities in Second Life can relate to the users' personality or creating their own character. It is based on their decisions on how to express themselves. Most avatars are human, but they can choose to be vampires or animals. Sometimes, what they choose does not relate to their offline selves.[36]

Economy[edit]

An avatar in the virtual world Second Life

Games Like Second Life Free

User-generated content in the virtual world Second Life

Second Life has an internal economy and closed-loop virtual token called the 'Linden dollar (L$)'. L$ can be used to buy, sell, rent or trade land or goods and services with other users. The 'Linden Dollar' is a closed-loop virtual token for use only within the Second Life platform. Linden Dollars have no monetary value and are not redeemable for monetary value from Linden Lab. A resident with a surplus of Linden Dollars earned via a Second Life business or experiential play can request to refund their Linden Dollar surplus to PayPal. Linden Lab reports that the Second Life economy generated US$3,596,674 in economic activity during the month of September 2005,[37] and in September 2006 Second Life was reported to have a GDP of $64 million.[38] In 2009, the total size of the Second Life economy grew 65% to US$567 million, about 25% of the entire U.S. virtual goods market. Gross resident earnings are US$55 million in 2009 – 11% growth over 2008.[39] In 2013, Linden Labs released an info graphic that showed that over 10 years $3.2 billion in transactions for virtual goods had exchanged between Second Life residents, with an average of 1.2 million daily transactions.[40]

There is a high level of entrepreneurial activity in Second Life. Residents of Second Life are able to create virtual objects and other content. Second Life is unique in that users retain all the rights to their content which means they can use Second Life to distribute and sell their creations, with 2.1 million items listed on its online marketplace.[40] At its height circa 2006, hundreds of thousands of dollars were changing hands daily as residents created and sold a wide variety of virtual commodities. Second Life also quickly became profitable due to the selling and renting virtual real estate. 2006 also saw Second Life's first real-world millionaire; Ailin Graef, better known as Anshe Chung (her avatar), converted an initial investment of US$9.95 into over one million dollars over the course of two and a half years. She built her fortune primarily by buying, selling, and renting virtual real estate.[41]

Major tech corporations have tried to use Second Life to market products or services to Second Life's tech-savvy audience. IBM, for example, purchased 12 islands within Second Life for virtual training and simulations of key businesses processes, but has since moved on to other platforms due to maintaining costs.[42][43] Others, like musicians, podcasters, and news organizations (including CNET, Reuters, NPR's The Infinite Mind, and the BBC) have all had a presence within Second Life.[44]

Virtual goods include buildings, vehicles, devices of all kinds, animations, clothing, skin, hair, jewelry, flora and fauna, and works of art. Services include business management, entertainment, and custom content creation (which can be broken up into the following six categories: building, texturing, scripting, animating, art direction, and the position of producer/project funder). L$ can be purchased using US dollars and other local currencies on the LindeX exchange provided by Linden Lab. Customer USD wallets obtained from Linden Dollar sales on the Lindex are most commonly used to pay Second Life's own subscription and tier fees; only a relatively small number of users earn enough profit to request a refund to PayPal. According to figures published by Linden Lab, about 64,000 users made a profit in Second Life in February 2009, of whom 38,524 made less than US$10, while 233 made more than US$5000.[45] Profits are derived from selling virtual goods, renting land, and a broad range of services.

Technology[edit]

Second Life comprises the viewer (also known as the client) executing on the user's personal computer, and several thousand servers operated by Linden Lab.

Client[edit]

Linden Lab provides official viewers for Windows, macOS, and most distributions of Linux. The viewer renders 3D graphics using OpenGL technology. The viewer source code was released under the GPL in 2007[46][47] and moved to the LGPL in 2010.[48]

There are now several mature third party viewer projects that contain features not available in the Linden Lab 'Official' client, target other platforms or cater to specialist & accessibility needs.[49] The main focus of third party development is exploring new ideas and working with Linden Lab to deliver new functionality.[50]

An independent project, libopenmetaverse,[51] offers a function library for interacting with Second Life servers. libopenmetaverse has been used to create non-graphic third party viewers.

There are several Alternate Viewers published by Linden Lab used for software testing by volunteers for early access to upcoming projects.[52] Some of these clients only function on the 'beta grid' consisting of a limited number of regions running various releases of unstable test server code.

Server[edit]

Each full region (an area of 256×256 meters) in the Second Life 'grid' runs on a single dedicated core of a multi-core server. Homestead regions share 3 regions per core and Openspace Regions share 4 regions per core, running proprietary software on DebianLinux. These servers run scripts in the region, as well as providing communication between avatars and objects present in the region.

Every item in the Second Life universe is referred to as an asset. This includes the shapes of basic 3D polygon objects formally known as Primitive Mesh (commonly known as primatives or prims for short), the digital images referred to as textures that decorate primitives, digitized audio clips, avatar shape and appearance, avatar skin textures, LSL scripts, information written on notecards, and so on. Each asset is referenced with a universally unique identifier or UUID.[53]

Assets are stored on Isilon Systems storage clusters,[54] comprising all data that has ever been created by anyone who has been in the Second Life world. Infrequently used assets are offloaded to S3 bulk storage.[55] As of December 2007, the total storage was estimated to consume 100 terabytes of server capacity.[56] The asset servers function independently of the region simulators, though the region simulators request object data from the asset servers when a new object loads into the simulator.[citation needed] Region simulators areas are commonly known as sims by residents.

Each server instance runs a physics simulation to manage the collisions and interactions of all objects in that region. Objects can be nonphysical and non-moving, or actively physical and movable. Complex shapes may be linked together in groups of up to 256 separate primitives. Additionally, each player's avatar is treated as a physical object so that it may interact with physical objects in the world. As of 9 July 2014, Second Life simulators use the Havok 2011.2 physics engine for all in-world dynamics.[57] This engine is capable of simulating thousands of physical objects at once.[58]

Linden Lab pursues the use of open standards technologies, and uses free and open source software such as Apache, MySQL, Squid and Linux.[59] The plan is to move everything to open standards by standardizing the Second Life protocol. Cory Ondrejka, former CTO[60] of Second Life, stated in 2006 that a while after everything has been standardized, both the client and the server will be released as free and open source software.[61]

OpenSimulator[edit]

In January 2007, OpenSimulator was founded as an open-source simulator project. The aim of this project is to develop a full open-source server software for Second Life clients. OpenSIM is BSD Licensed and it is written in C# and can run under Mono environment. In 2008, there were some alternative grids[62] using OpenSimulator.

Applications[edit]

Arts[edit]

Second Life residents express themselves creatively through virtual world adaptations of art exhibits, live music,[63] live theater[64] and machinima,[65] as well as other art forms.

Competitive entertainment[edit]

A wide variety of recreational activities, both competitive and non-competitive, take place on the Second Life Grid, including both traditional sports and video game-like scenarios.

Education[edit]

Second Life is used as a platform for education by many institutions, such as colleges, universities, libraries and government entities. Since 2008, the University of San Martin de Porres of Peru[66] has been developing Second Life prototypes of Peruvian archeological buildings, and training teachers for this new paradigm of education. The West Virginia University (WVU) Department of Special Education has used Second Life widely in education, and it provided teaching certification and certificates of degree in seven different distance education programs.[67] WVU started a pilot program in the college's computer lab in spring 2011.

Embassies[edit]

The Maldives was the first country to open an embassy in Second Life.[68][69] The Maldives' embassy is located on Second Life's 'Diplomacy Island', where visitors will be able to talk face-to-face with a computer-generated ambassador about visas, trade and other issues. 'Diplomacy Island' also hosts Diplomatic Museum and Diplomatic Academy. The Island is established by DiploFoundation as part of the Virtual Diplomacy Project.[70]

In May 2007,[71]Sweden became the second country to open an embassy in Second Life. Run by the Swedish Institute, the embassy serves to promote Sweden's image and culture, rather than providing any real or virtual services.[72] The Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Carl Bildt, stated on his blog that he hoped he would get an invitation to the grand opening.[73]

In September 2007, Publicis Group announced the project of creating a Serbia island as a part of a project Serbia Under Construction. The project is officially supported by Ministry of Diaspora of Serbian Government. It was stated that the island will feature the Nikola Tesla Museum, the Guča Trumpet Festival and the Exit Festival.[74] It was also planned on opening a virtual info terminals of Ministry of Diaspora.[75]

On Tuesday December 4, 2007, Estonia became the third country to open an embassy in Second Life.[76][77] In September 2007, Colombia and Serbia opened embassies.[78] As of 2008, Macedonia and the Philippines have opened embassies in the 'Diplomatic Island' of Second Life.[79] In 2008, Albania opened an embassy in the Nova Bay location. SL Israel was inaugurated in January 2008 in an effort to showcase Israel to a global audience, though without any connection to official Israeli diplomatic channels.[80]

Malta and Djibouti are also planning to open virtual missions in Second Life.[81]

Religion[edit]

Religious organizations have also begun to open virtual meeting places within Second Life. In early 2007, LifeChurch.tv, a Christian church headquartered in Edmond, Oklahoma, and with eleven campuses in the US, created 'Experience Island' and opened its twelfth campus in Second Life.[82] The church reported 'We find that this creates a less-threatening environment where people are much more willing to explore and discuss spiritual things'.[citation needed] In July 2007, an Anglican cathedral[83] was established in Second Life; Mark Brown, the head of the group that built the cathedral, noted that there is 'an interest in what I call depth, and a moving away from light, fluffy Christianity'.[84]

The First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Second Life was established in 2006. Services have been held regularly, making the FUUCSL Congregation one of the longest-running active congregations in Second Life.[85]

The Egyptian-owned news website Islam Online has purchased land in Second Life to allow Muslims and non-Muslims alike to perform the ritual of Hajj in virtual reality form, obtaining experience before actually making the pilgrimage to Mecca in person.[86]

Second Life also offers several groups that cater to the needs and interests of humanists, atheists, agnostics, and freethinkers. One of the most active groups is SL Humanism which has been holding weekly discussion meetings inside Second Life every Sunday since 2006.[87]

Relationships[edit]

Relationships are common in Second Life, including some couples who have married online.[88] The social engagement offered by the online environment helps those who might be socially isolated. In addition, sex is often encountered.[89] However, to access the adult sections requires age verification.[90] There is also a large BDSM community.[91]

Second Life relationships have been taken from virtual online relationships into personal, real-world relationships. Booperkit Moseley and Shukran Fahid were possibly the first couple to meet in Second Life and then marry in real life. Booperkit travelled to the United States to meet Shukran and he returned to England with her after one week. They married in 2006, had twin boys in 2009, and are still married. Some couples meet online, form friendships, and eventually move to finding one another in the real world.[citation needed] Some even have their weddings on Second Life, as well as in a real-world setting.[92]

Relationships in virtual worlds have an added dimension compared to other social media, because avatars give a feeling of proximity making the voyeur experience more intense than simply a textual encounter. The complexities of those encounters depend on the engagement levels of the people behind the avatars, whether they are engaging Disassociatively (entertainment only), Immersively (as if the avatar was them), or Augmentatively (meaning they engage for a real-life purpose).[93]

Science[edit]

Second Life is used for scientific research, collaboration, and data visualization.[94] Examples include SciLands, American Chemical Society's ACS Island, Genome, Virginia Tech's SLATE, and Nature Publishing Group's Elucian Islands Village.

Social network[edit]

Second Life can be a real-time, immersive social space for people including those with physical or mental disabilities that impair their first lives, who often find comfort and security interacting through anonymous avatars. (Indeed, some academics believe using Second Life might even help improve motor ability for people with Parkinson’s disease.).[95] An example of how Second Life has been used by disabled people is Wheelies, the widely publicised disability themed nightclub founded by Simon Stevens.

Music streams[edit]

ShoutCast and Icecast Internet radio stations can be streamed into a land parcel in Second Life. Streaming codecs are currently MP3 as AAC and OGG are not currently supported. There are internet radio providers that offer these services or select from a list compiled by Lindal Kidd and is updated whenever by whoever as there's no officiant for it. At the time of this writing, media on a prim(MOAP) is not a reliable enough way of displaying media and such, sites listed work best with Parcel Media or Parcel Audio.

Work solutions[edit]

Second Life gives companies the option to create virtual workplaces to allow employees to virtually meet, hold events, practice any kind of corporate communications, conduct training sessions in 3D immersive virtual learning environment, simulate business processes, and prototype new products.

Criticism and controversy[edit]

Second Life has seen a number of controversies, as well. Issues range from the technical (budgeting of server resources), to moral (pornography), to legal (legal position of the Linden Dollar, Bragg v. Linden Lab). Security issues have also been a concern.

Regulation[edit]

In the past, large portions of the Second Life economy consisted of businesses that are regulated or banned. Changes to Second Life's Terms of Service in this regard have largely had the purpose of bringing activity within Second Life into compliance with various international laws, even though the person running the business may be in full compliance with the law in their own country.

On July 26, 2007, Linden Lab announced a ban on in-world gambling due to federal and state regulations on Internet gambling that could affect Linden Lab if it was permitted to continue. The ban was immediately met with in-world protests.[96]

In August 2007, a $750,000 in-world Linden Dollar bank called Ginko Financial collapsed due to a bank run triggered by Linden Lab's ban on gambling,[citation needed] which halved the size of the Second Life economy.[citation needed] The aftershocks of this collapse caused severe liquidity problems for other virtual 'Linden Dollar banks', which critics had long asserted were scams. On Tuesday, January 8, 2008 Linden Lab announced the upcoming prohibition of payment of fixed interest on cash deposits in unregulated banking activities in-world.[97] All banks without real-world charters closed or converted to virtual joint stock companies by January 22, 2008.[98] After the ban, a few companies continue to offer non-interest bearing deposit accounts to residents, such as the e-commerce site XStreet, which had already adopted a zero-interest policy 3 months before the Linden Lab interest ban.

Technical issues[edit]

Second Life has suffered from difficulties related to system instability. These include increased system latency, and intermittent client crashes. However, some faults are caused by the system's use of an 'asset server' cluster, on which the actual data governing objects is stored separately from the areas of the world and the avatars that use those objects. The communication between the main servers and the asset cluster appears to constitute a bottleneck which frequently causes problems.[99][100][101] Typically, when asset server downtime is announced, users are advised not to build, manipulate objects, or engage in business, leaving them with little to do but chat and generally reducing confidence in all businesses on the grid.

Another problem is inventory loss,[102][103][104] in which items in a user's inventory, including those which have been paid for, can disappear without warning or permanently enter a state where they will fail to appear in-world when requested (giving an 'object missing from database' error). Linden Lab offers no compensation for items that are lost in this way, although a policy change instituted in 2008 allows accounts to file support tickets when inventory loss occurs. Many in-world businesses will attempt to compensate for this or restore items, although they are under no obligation to do so and not all are able to do so. A recent change in how the company handles items which have 'lost their parent directory' means that inventory loss is much less of a problem and resolves faster than in recent years. 'Loss to recovery times' have gone from months (or never) to hours or a day or two for the majority of users, but inventory loss does still exist.

Second Life functions by streaming all data to the user live over the Internet with minimal local caching of frequently used data. The user is expected to have a minimum of 300kbit/s of Internet bandwidth for basic functionality. Due to the proprietary communications protocols, it is not possible to use a network proxy service to reduce network load when many people are all using the same location, such as when used for group activities in a school or business.

Fraud and intellectual property protection[edit]

Although Second Life's client and server incorporate digital rights management technology, the visual data of an object must ultimately be sent to the client in order for it to be drawn; thus unofficial third-party clients can bypass them. One such program, CopyBot, was developed in 2006 as a debugging tool to enable objects to be backed up, but was immediately hijacked for use in copying objects; additionally, programs that generally attack client-side processing of data, such as GLIntercept, can copy certain pieces of data. Such use is prohibited under the Second Life TOS[105] and could be prosecuted under the DMCA.

Linden Lab may ban a user who is observed using CopyBot or a similar client, but it will not ban a user simply for uploading or even selling copied content; in this case, Linden Lab's enforcement of intellectual property law is limited to that required by the 'safe harbor' provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which requires filing a real-life lawsuit. Although a few high-profile businesses in Second Life have filed such lawsuits,[106][107][108][109][110] none of the cases filed to date have gone to trial, and most have been dismissed pursuant to a settlement agreement reached between the parties.[111][112][113] Overall, the majority of businesses in Second Life do not make enough money for a lawsuit to be worthwhile, or due to real-life work commitments, they cannot devote enough time to complete one. As a result, many Second Life businesses and their intellectual property remains effectively unprotected. Another case where settlement and dismissal was gained may be found in the matter of Eros, LLC v. Linden Research, Inc. As of October 7, 2010, the case was transferred to private mediation and the plaintiffs filed for dismissal of charges on March 15, 2011.[114]

There have also been issues with the use of false DMCA takedown notices.[115] Once a DMCA takedown notice is served, reversing it requires an individual to expose his personal information to the filer (filing a notice does not require this); for the penalty of perjury to be enacted, a lawsuit is required (anything less, the false DMCA claimer can just claim it from a different account every week causing legitimate business unlimited losses). In addition, the technical process of removal and re-instatement of content on Second Life is subject to failure which can result in content becoming unusable to its owner. This does not effectively prevent content theft; a thief who is subject to a DMCA takedown notice will not challenge it, but will simply create a new account and re-upload the content, often releasing it with all permissions available to maximize propagation out of spite.

Most users in the world as paying, private individuals are, likewise, effectively unprotected. Common forms of fraud taking place in-world include bogus investment and pyramid schemes, fake or hacked vendors, and failure to honor land rental agreements.A group of virtual landowners online have filed a class action lawsuit against the company, claiming the company broke the law when it rescinded their ownership rights. The plaintiffs say a change in the terms of service forced them to either accept new terms that rescinded their virtual property ownership rights, or else be locked out of the site.[116]

The Emerald client and in-world logging scripts[edit]

The Emerald client was developed by a group of users based on an open-source branch of the Snowglobe viewer. Several groups alleged that the Emerald viewer contained Trojan code which tracked user details and demographics in a way that the developers could later recover (via in-world logging scripts), one of these groups was banned from Second Life by Linden Lab after publishing their discovery.[117] Shortly afterward, it was discovered that one of the members of the Emerald team had attempted to use the viewer to (allegedly) DDOS another website. In response, Linden Lab revoked Emerald's third-party viewer approval and permanently banned several of Emerald's developers. Due to what happened with Emerald, Linden Lab instituted a new third-party viewer policy [118]The support staff and a developer (the main developers left Second Life development/were barred from further development) of the Emerald project left to work on a new viewer project, Phoenix (simply a rebranded Emerald), that did not contain any malicious code. The Phoenix team are now the developers behind Firestorm Viewer and work closely alongside Linden Lab, holding bi-weekly joint meetings with all third party viewers.[119]

Ban of Woodbury University[edit]

Second
The controversial campus of Woodbury University's School of Media, Culture and Design, which was deleted in 2010 by Linden Lab

Linden Lab has twice, in 2007 and 2010, banned a California educational institution, Woodbury University, from having a representation within Second Life. On April 20, 2010, four simulators belonging to the university were deleted and the accounts of several students and professors terminated, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. Professor Edward Clift, Dean of the School of Media, Culture and Design at Woodbury University, told The Chronicle of Higher Education that their campus 'was a living, breathing campus in Second Life', including educational spaces designed mostly by students, such as a mock representation of the former Soviet Union and a replica of the Berlin Wall. According to Professor Clift, the virtual campus did not 'conform to what Linden Lab wanted a campus to be.'[120][121][122]

The article in The Chronicle of Higher Education concluded with: 'Meanwhile, many people in Second Life expressed on blogs that they were glad to see the virtual campus go, arguing that it had been a haven for troublemakers in the virtual world.'[121]

The Alphaville Herald[edit]

In 2004, the newspaper The Alphaville Herald, founded and edited by the philosopher Peter Ludlow, migrated to Second Life, and in the following years the newspaper played a prominent role in reporting on Second Life and in the public discussion of the game.[123] The newspaper, which was known as The Second Life Herald from 2004 to 2009, was later edited by the Internet pioneer Mark P. McCahill. According to scholars Constantinescu and Decu, The Alphaville Herald was the first 'virtual free press,' pioneering mass communication in virtual worlds.[124]

In popular culture[edit]

Since its debut in 2003, Second Life has been referred to by various popular culture mediums, including literature, television, film and music. In addition, various personalities in such mediums have themselves used or employed Second Life for both their own works and for private purposes.

In September 2006, former Governor of VirginiaMark Warner became the first politician to appear in a MMO when he gave a speech in Second Life.[125] Musicians followed suit, with Redzone being credited by Wired and Reuters as the first band to tour in Second Life in February 2007. Then, in June 2008, author Charles Stross held a conference in Second Life to promote an upcoming novel.[126]Second Life was also featured prominently, and used as a tool to locate a suspect, in the television show CSI: NY in 2007.[127] In the American sitcom The Office, Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) is known to play the game, most notably in the episode ”Local Ad“.

Research[edit]

Much of the published research conducted in Second Life is associated with education and learning. Unlike computer games, Second Life does not have a pre-defined purpose and allows for highly realistic enactment of real life activities online.[128] One such study tested the usefuleness of SL as an action learning environment in a senior course for management information systems students.[128] Another presented a case study in which university students were tasked with building an interactive learning experience using SL as a platform. Both problem-based learning and constructionism acted as framing pedagogies for the task, with students working in teams to design and build a learning experience which could be possible in real life.[129]

Situated learning has also been examined in SL, in order to determine how the design and social dynamics of the virtual world support as well as constrain various types of learning.[130] The paper, 'The future for (second) life and learning', published in the British Journal of Educational Technology, examines the potential of Second Life to further innovative learning techniques.[131] It notes trends within the SL innovation to date, including the provision of realistic settings, the exploitation of pleasant simulated environments for groups, and the links with other learning technologies. It also considers the creativity sparked by SL's potential to offer the illusion of 3-D ‘spaces’ and buildings, and points to infinite imaginative educational possibilities.[131]

HealthInfo Island provides tips on staying healthy to Second Life residents.

Healthinfo Island offers Second Life residents tips on how to stay healthy.

Like

Second Life has also offered educational research potential within the medical and healthcare fields. Examples include in-world research facilities such as the Second Life Medical and Consumer Health Libraries (Healthinfo Island—funded by a grant from the US National Library of Medicine), and VNEC (Virtual Neurological Education Centre—developed at the University of Plymouth, UK).[132]

There have also been healthcare related studies done of SL residents.[133] Studies show that behaviors from virtual worlds can translate to the real world. One survey suggests that users are engaged in a range of health-related activities in SL which are potentially impacting real-life behaviors.[133]

Another focus of SL research has included the relationship of avatars or virtual personas to the 'real' or actual person. These studies have included research into social behavior and reported two main implications.[134] The first is that SL virtual selves shape users' offline attitudes and behavior. The research indicated that virtual lives and physical lives are not independent, and our appearances and actions have both online and offline consequences.[134] The second deals with experimental research and supports the idea that virtual environments, such as SL, can enable research programs in that people behave in a relatively natural spread of behavioral patterns.[134]

The SL avatar-self relationship was also studied via resident interviews, and various enactments of the avatar-self relationship were identified. The study concluded that SL residents enacted multiple avatar-self relationships and cycled through them in quick succession, suggesting that these avatar-self relationships might be shaped and activated strategically in order to achieve the desired educational, commercial, or therapeutic outcomes.[135]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

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Further reading[edit]

  • Hillis, Ken. (2009) Online A Lot of the Time. Durham: Duke University Press (see Chapter 4).0
  • Kaplan Andreas M., Haenlein M. (2009) Consumer use and business potential of virtual worlds: The case of Second Life, International Journal on Media Management, 11(3).
  • Kaplan Andreas M., Haenlein M. (2009) The fairyland of Second Life: About virtual social worlds and how to use them, Business Horizons, 52(6).
  • Olsen, Per; Li Gang, Qin (2011). Second Life Love. A dialog between two partners in Second Life. New York: Lulu Press.
  • Martin, Neo; Second Life Fraud. Fraud and intellectual property protection in Second Life. New York: Public Journal
  • Robbins, Sarah, and Mark R. Bell. Second Life for Dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Pub., 2008. Print.
  • Rymaszewski, Michael. Second Life The Official Guide. Sybex Inc, 2008. Print.
  • Zerzan, John. Telos 141, Second-Best Life: Real Virtuality. New York: Telos Press Ltd., Winter 2007.
  • SK Alamgir Hossain, Abu Saleh Md Mahfujur Rahman, and Abdulmotaleb El Saddik, 'Interpersonal haptic communication in second life', in Haptic Audio-Visual Environments and Games (HAVE), 2010 IEEE International Symposium on, October 16–17, 2010, Phoenix, Arizona, USA, pp. 1 –4.
  • Taşçı, D., Dinçer, D. 'The Creation Of Academic Consulting Environment in Virtual Worlds And An Assessment Of Challenges Faced By Learners in This Environment', Conference proceedings of 'eLearning and Software for Education', 01, 2011, p. 290–296.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Second_Life&oldid=903637728'

This collection of the 17 best games like second life which are offered in 3D inspired virtual world at its best would, enable you to be social on the platform, create content and play games to your heart’s content.

Once you start on it, the interaction that you would build could be quite addictive. It would be quite difficult to let it go easily as it would keep you engrossed and interested all the way through.

Games similar to secondlife offer an economic and social flavor which is presented in a virtual world, they are specifically client focused and developed to ensure originality.

Some of the games that are listed would not require to be downloaded and are available and accessible exclusively online. This would be for those users who would prefer an online option rather than to engage on a download alternative.

Related: Games Like Age Of Empires, Games Like Skyrim, Games Like The Sims

Our List Of Best Games Like Second Life

These Games are creating waves of unprecedented interest around the world. They are the best social interaction platforms around that is gaining in popularity and would engulf the virtual world in the near future.

#1. Mabinogi

This game like second life would enable you to create your preferred anime life. An anime is the Japanese term for all forms of animation and found on all media.

Creating the anime that you like would allow you the use of content, its features and also provided with many options.

Features:

  • The anime created by you would grow in stature as the game progresses through different quests, umpteen opportunities and engagement with the social community.
  • It would also enable you to all these, by exploring the world of Erinn and keep you enthusiasm at peak levels. The uniqueness of the Mabinogi, which was initially launched in 2008, is the flexibility that is permitted where you could revive your character whilst preserving the skills acquires.
  • The limitations that you would be dictated to would be the race you would select which would be either, human, elf or giant and your role in the Mabinogi.
  • The skilled archers and the formidable users of magic are the elves whilst the giants are weak and would prefer to use brute strength in combat rather than guile and tactics.
  • The intended eligible age for the race players would be between 10 and 17 years which would need to be selected by them. This would have a direct and subtle impact on their character growth.
  • The rebirth or the reviving would be available after continuous endeavors increasing every week, culminating when the optimum age of 20 years is attained.

The Mabinogi would be different to other games like second life and is unique in many ways. It is more interesting, challenging and exciting too.

#2. GoJiyo

You could create your preferred personalized avatar which would blend with the virtual world and the social networking platform. It is a great game like second life and is facilitated by a large and dedicated community.

Features:

  • GoJiyo has some very unique environments to explore, new people to meet and explore very strange terrains. The game is browser based which ensures that moving around would very much easier and could take in every challenge that is made available.
  • The different settings would include cities, towns in as medieval setting, cities underwater and night clubs, with superlative ambience, moons, and a variety of urban settings.
  • Players are permitted to move from one to another within these environments. There are an abundance of adventures all of which enable you to blend into the game providing the right impetus to test your skills.
  • Socializing is countless with many waiting to chat and discuss different topics of mutual interest. Additionally this game would permit you to earn real rewards which would add spice to the experience.
  • It is a game like second life which you are bound to have all the excitement you need and an online experience like none other.

#3. There

This game which is aptly named There, was initially launched in 2003 but had a shutdown between March 2010 and May 2012. After it was reintroduced most of what was originally embedded into the game was retained with even the previous players able to revive their former anime avatars.

Features:

Hence the break did not do much harm nor did it drastically change anything. A US $ 10/= per month membership fee is payable to access the game which is limited to those above 18 years of age which was introduced after the reintroduction.

  • You are able to create your avatar and add hair, eyes, skin and clothes plus any other option that you would prefer to make it stand out among the rest.
  • There are no limitations on what you could add to your creation, with a house, car and furniture also possible to ensure you have a very special avatar from what others would have created for their game.
  • There, offers some of the most unlimited possibilities, compared to other enables to keep your enthusiasm at optimum level.

#4. Club Cooee

This game would have thousands of online users at any given time and is a great game which is just what you would want to engage with others in a social virtual world for chatting. Creating personalized chat rooms and specialized avatars and customizing it would be just some of the options that would be available to you.

Features:

  • You could have the 3D avatars virtually walking around when you are on the platform which brings that added sprinkle of excitement.
  • The chats would not be limited to text only but could be spiced with images, videos, and a range of other options are also available to you.
  • You are also able to create in the music room by pushing the DJ to dish out some quality sounds and keep the tempo at optimum levels.

Users could raise the levels by accessing Cooee points and buy them, to acquire more for use in various endeavors which would let them have great experiences in the virtual world.

#5. Twinity

Create and explore 3D virtual worlds which were the impetus to create Twinitywhich focused originally when introduced in 2009. Cities like Berlin, New York, Singapore and London were recreated on a virtual platform and were the game plans when started on open beta.

Features:

  • You are able to create your own personalize Twinizens and interact with others whilst building new friendships. Today the game like second life has taken a step forward and instead of known cities, creating fantasy environments have been initiated to add a twist to the game.
  • The interesting aspect of Twinity is the photofit option which enables players to upload a photo of them and then create an avatar that would look similar.
  • This endeavor is quite impressive as you could get a very similar image to yourself making the exercise a very personalized. The possibility of creating a range of clothing, new products to earn the Twinity currency called Globals and many more options are also available.

#6. InWorldz

This gamelikesecondlife has built itself a reputation as one of the best in its class with many avatars and is a very attractive game to explore and the opportunity to build anything around you.

Meeting and interacting with new people and the way you would engage on the platform would be entirely your prerogative. The possibility to purchase lands which are virtual, no doubt has two options.

Features:

  • These lands are either private isles or mainland properties with the former providing different options and advantages to owners who would acquire them.
  • Join, create and explore which are all very convenient to explore and would take a very short time span over a few minutes only.
  • You would have some mentors when you would start on the game like second life providing the right opportunities to integrate with the community and build on it.

#7. Velvet Sundown

Set in the Caribbean in a virtual location with 11 characters with their personal agenda, all happening in a luxury yacht is a free social game. This is role playing game which would keep you engrossed and excited and there is no dull moment her.

Features:

  • Each character would play an intriguing game with the others and for you this is advantages due to the many life skills and numerous talents that would have been acquired.
  • It would be intact without being exhausted. This would also permit you to rejuvenate your character without much ado and ensure that all play the game to an exciting finale.
  • VelvetSundown is a game of intrigue and it would keep each of the players who would be assigned one character to twist and turn the tables on each other.
  • It is this unpredictable happening which would keep the game exciting all through and ensure all players match their wits and skills against each other.

#8. Avakin Life

This is a game like second life which offers a unique opportunity to create a large social community to begin your own new life on an iOS or Android device. Create and add whatever you would prefer to get the ideal avatar that would have in mind and also have your own apartment.

Features:

  • There are many people in a varied selection of locations to ensure that you would be able to keep in contact and socialize when you are on the platform.
  • Once the required avatar is created you have the option of personalizing it with all the trappings that you could think of to give a complete make up by adding hair, facial paint, skin tone, eye, ears, mouth and many more.
  • Adding other things like clothing, shoes and all other possible accessories would ensure you have just what you would need as long you could have it work. Avakin Life has three different sections which come together to ensure the game is exciting for all.

#9. Onverse

This game requires to be downloaded and is compatible on either Mac or Windows. It consists of a massive 3D virtual world which is there to explore to your heart’s content.

It would enable you to play for many hours continuously and it is interesting and exciting all rolled into one. The options to customize are numerous and the possibilities to chat, create and explore is as gigantic as the options built into it.

You could also have the option of creating some exciting adventures in many other locations that are massive in area and providing the right environment but which are fictional.

There are also fun activities lined up on the Onverse platform which brings a range of opportunities. These would be to decorate your home, play games and indulge in social interaction.

#10. Smeet

This is a browser based game which was initially launched in 2007 in Germany, and is an extremely exciting social interaction game. Its popularity then subsequently took it to other countries and was made available in different languages too. The 3D graphic that Smeet delivers are superlative and out of the ordinary.

Features:

  • It has most of the features that are instituted in other similar games and is generally easy to play and is enjoyable too. A feature that would be unique in Smeet is that once you register it would classify you into a specific age group which would split players form younger to older.
  • Registration would be free and this age breakup is to ensure a safety net for younger players so that they would not be exploited in any way by older players.

#11. SocioTown

This is a game which is free to play on your own browser and has a multiplayer option which provides an exhilarating experience. It is easy to setup and would take just a few minutes to get going.

Features:

  • SocioTown is designed to bring younger players into it and hence is just inviting for ages 13 years and above. A host of activities of different nature is built into it and every mission would be just as exciting as the one before.
  • SocioTown grows when it progresses and the activities that would be at hand would be boxing, fishing, riding a scooter, bug catching, sailing and many more.
  • It would keep you on pins and is just the game for those who would like to start early on any online gamelikesecondlife.

#12. Active Worlds

This game has been in the public domain since 1997 and is one of the oldest around. ActiveWorld which is popularly abbreviated as AW has brought many, young and old into the virtual world.

Features:

  • It has been moved around with many companies having ownership until it has now established itself. It has retained its original concept and AW claims most of what other more modern games offer in the 3D format.
  • It has been popularized due to its long standing on this platform. Users could build with already made objects and create new 3D content and explore a massive 3D universe.

#13. Winning Putt

Just the game for those golf enthusiasts out there who could experience an 18 hole course with all the trappings that would come with it.

There is an element of social interaction also mixed up into WinningPutt to create the right ambiance of the environment for a great game of golf.

Features:

  • It is when you get into the real crux of the game that you would realize that it is more than a game of golf. It has much more to offer and would keep the enthusiasm and the adrenaline at optimum.
  • The great simulation of ecstatic golf courses is the center of attraction in the game and would keep you in high spirits all through the game.
  • The game is simple to master and with many golf courses to select from your enthusiasm would not wane away as the choice for something different would always be there.

#14. Garry’s Mod

Launched in 2006 it has made an indelible mark on the virtual world for it as an amazing game by creating the ultimate sandbox which would take you on an exciting journey.

Features:

  • You can create your own experience and this has brought Garry’sMod (GMod) into a steady success over the years that it has been around.
  • The battle royale, sandbox and the popular modes that play a supporting role playing endeavor has made this one of the best gameslikesecondlife a very popular one.
  • You would need to own a game that uses the source engine and added to that you would also need to purchase Garry’sMod.
  • You would be having a list of many things that would allow you to monitor and manipulate the world which would be at your disposal to do as you please.

#15. IMVU

This game is available online for free, and could be accessed through your browser with mobile apps on iOS and also on Android. Launched in 2004 it has caught the imagination of the players who have been on this platform and is as popular when it was first introduced.

Features:

There are millions of users registered worldwide and it has lived up to its expectations. It also has over the years accumulated millions of virtual catalogues all or most of it designed by the users who have cultivated an affiliation to it.

Your own superlative 3D avatars could be created and IMVU would let you meet people, take part in different games and also indulge in productive and safe environment.

It is made available to those as young as 13 years old and has kept the interest of those between 18 and 25 year olds.

#16. Planet Calypso

The Entropia Universe if you have heard of it, which is virtual and imaginative, is where this game takes its existence from. The game money and the real currency are tied together and the players would have an opportunity to profit from it.

Features:

  • Launched in 2003 it has grown in leaps and bounds making its presence known by its immense popularity. This is science fiction at its best with your own customized avatar in a virtual but impressive world out in an imaginative world out there.
  • It would be better and more interesting to invest some real money which could be recovered when playing the game. The game PlanetCalypso is literally out of this world and would keep you spellbound.

#17. Oz World

You could get your own character created and dress it up in the clothing that you would like. Explore wherever you would want to and interact with others as you would wish.

Interaction and communication would be the hallmarks of this game. You could also engage in many different social interactions by indulging in fishing, home decoration, get married and do other exciting things.

Once you are in this gameslikesecondlife, things would get very exciting and it is building relationships and other social interactions that are offered by OzWorld.

Final Words

Launched about a decade and a half ago in the year 2003 these softwares brought a new dimension to the business marketing and social interaction platforms like none other developed before. Gta san andreas tidak bisa menggunakan stick streaming.

It has propelled the imaginations of those who are 16 years in age and above bringing in millions of registered users worldwide.

These registered users could add scripts that they like to the virtual objects that they would create and possess them to enable interaction with other players.

They would retain the rights to the content that they would have created and would be at liberty to sell these developed content for Linden Dollars (L$) a currency that has values comparable to real greenbacks.

The superlative and wide variety of experiences offered in the games that are offered, primarily focus intently on content creation and social interaction.

The advantage that the users registered worldwide on the gameslikesecondlife will get is of a very unique marketplace, quite contrasting to other experiences on any other virtual world platform.

Related: Games Like Age Of Empires, Games Like Skyrim, Games Like The Sims

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