The phony economics of Second Life
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What the business press didn't tell you Analysis Two weeks ago, business leaders at Davos gave their blessing to Linden Lab's Second Life. They hailed the spectacular growth of its virtual economy while politicians spoke of democracy itself moving into its online world.â¦
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Al-Qaeda may horn in on horny teens US intelligence officials are growing increasingly wary of Second Life and other virtual worlds, which they say could soon become havens for terrorists, money-launderers and criminals engaged in corporate espionage.â¦
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Careful, we're armed with doughnuts Letters An anti-poverty campaign has set up its stall in Second Life, the online virtual world game that is so popular with so many. Our short, and somewhat cheeky, story on this collision of the most and least real of places to live (poverty vs. Second Life, for those only on coffee no. 1) has provoked quite a storm:â¦
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Tycho:  Positive Sony news here, at Penny Arcade?  I know, right?  We shall redouble our efforts.  The story all this was based on has been changed to say that none of it is true, or that very little of it is true (depending on who you ask), but if you're asking me I think the original story hit pretty close to the mark.  The alternative - which is to say, that xFire technology would be used for a single game and no others - suggests that their service will be another briar patch of vendor "interpretations" of an online community, which can't possibly be true.  I refuse to believe that, in this generation, they would leave something like this to chance.
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You'd think that lower-income users would be the ones stretching their dollars online, but that's not the case
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The virtual headquarters of Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has been defaced by a "feces spewing obscenity" created by Second Life political rivals. Welcome to the internet, John. At Table of Malcontents.
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When virtual crime finds its way into online role-playing games, should real-world authorities step in?
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Tycho:  The news that Mass Effect would feature an uncompromising, high-res simulation of alien lesbian sex was sweet, and hot, like spun sugar.  For Gabriel, at any rate.  Some of the community reaction is dedicated to demanding gay parity for the male persuasion of this sexual equation, lengthy treatises by oiled men who crave starborne sodomy.  The rest of the dialogue is just boring.  Boring, terrestrial, and (quite frankly) myopic.         Where are the bipedal crustaceans in this calculation?  The swirling, aroused gasses?  The lonely, sentient space station whose hermetic bulkheads hold secret clusters of erotic delights, provided your character has both the skills and equipment?  Carpe astrum, you Goddamned backwater clowns.  There must be an entire universe of thrilling, dangerous, sometimes razor sharp genitalia that slavers beyond the Horsehead Nebula.      You might have noticed that we're advertising an Everquest game, an act that I'm aware places us in significant rhetorical peril.  If I had not found the game completely electrifying, I would have turned down the buy.  Of course, what I find electrifying has somewhat strange parameters.    I used to enjoy a deeply indie online CCG called Star Chamber, which was eventually purchased by an online CCG company called Worlds Apart (which did, among other things, the Lord of the Rings online CCG).  As does happen from time to time, World Apart was eventually purchased by Sony Online Entertainment, becoming SOE Denver.  Since then, they also delivered a Stargate CCG that we liked enough to advertise.  Legends of Norrath: Oathbound is a game within a game, similar to Final Fantasy's Triple Triad, that you can play against other players directly in the client.  It's tied into the loot systems for both EQ games, so that cards you get in packs are actually equipment and so forth - I find that interesting, but as a person with no investment in those systems it doesn't motivate me.  What motivates me is a rock solid, deeply tactical card game, which Oathbound absolutely is.  It plays in a stand-alone client which you can download, and comes with a fairly elaborate tutorial that is worth playing all the way through.  I had no interest in it, I felt confident dismissing it out of hand, and it won me over.  You may find yourself similarly surprised.    I have a very high opinion of Eurogamer, but I don't know how a person could possibly have reviewed Team Fortress 2 already.  We put time in both at work and at night, and I don't feel like I'm any smarter about the sometimes extraordinary interplay between the game's nine Goddamned classes, which mesh in real time to create some kind of shuddering Chaos Engine.  I have a lot of fun playing it, though the Medic brings me the most joy, so I've focused on it almost to the exclusion of all others.  A healing "gun" - like the repair module present in Tribes, almost a decade ago - is an immensely satisfying way to model that relationship.  Anytime your medical gun is attached to a player, your "Overcharge" ability is building up.  When unleashed, both you and your target become invulnerable to enemy attacks.  It's an incredible siege breaking technique, and it's earned simply by embodying the virtues of your class.  But where to use it, when to use it, I'm still learning this - and what's more, other players are still learning that I can do it.  I always love the early period in these multiplayer offerings, before the hard limits are known, when players seem to be magicians and anything is possible.
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Newbie finds the world of "Second Life" to be fantastical, brimming with possibility, and surprisingly like the real world. Images: Scoping out 'Second Life'
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Virtual communities threatened with real laws A UK government minister made a virtual pledge to police virtual worlds this week, as the problems of the real world are increasingly reflected in the likes of Second Life.â¦
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One of the great joys of a virtual world like Second Life is the ability to indulge in fantasy limited only by your own patience and skill with the tools. But there's nothing virtual about the anxiety felt by Second Life residents after Linden Labs "clarifies" its policies on Mature content.
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Dating, negotiating, fragging and making money.  Play and its consequences.
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Internet and mail-order sellers offer a misleading benefit.
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Rogue copying software lets users clone anything or anyone they want in the virtual world. By letting its community respond, Linden Labs sets the stage for a bold experiment in alternatives to U.S.-style copyright. Commentary by Jennifer Granick.
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Titled 'The Entrepreneurs Guide to Second Life,' the book is a how-to guide to building a profitable business in the popular virtual world.
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Blog: A recap of what went on at the 'Second Life' convention this weekend in Chicago.
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A gamer spends $26,500 on a virtual island that exists only in a PC role-playing game.