Second Life, literally

• 28 February 2007 at 11:05
• Web Stuff

Do you know Second Life? It's some kind of 3D game you can play online. You can interact with loads of people coming from everywhere in the world, create your own customized appearance, visit several spaces... As the name hints, it's about creating your virtual second life.

The idea of creating your virtual life online may seem shocking, but I think this is more of a marketing idea than reality. Second Life looks more like a merging of online chat rooms, the SIMS game and some web functionalities. Where it is truly disturbing, it's when the game allows you to buy virtual spaces and virtual items with real money. Let me say it again: YOU BUY VIRTUAL ITEMS WITH YOUR REAL CREDIT CARD!!!

I understand the guys who created the game need money to balance with the costs of such a huge project. But it's the concept, the ideology that develop through it that give a quite sad and too close-to-reality vision of virtual life. For example, there are objects you can't interact with because they belong to other users. Then, that pushes players to buy virtual items to be able to play the game at its full potential, but also maybe in order to... show they've got money? Gosh, liberalism even gets into the virtual world.

Long life to free software!

Revolution!!!

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