Second Life: Because your 1 st
life….isn’t all what its cracked
up to be.
Henry Vo
Inf327e
What is Second Life?
RealNetworks CTO Philip Rosedale
Linden Lab
inspired by the science fiction novel Snow
Crash by Neal Stephenson, and the
Cyberpunk literary movement.
metaverse
Active Worlds & Entropia Universe
Pricing
Second Life has three membership plans. [2]
Basic — Free
Additional Basic — one time fee of US$9.95
Premium — There are three billing options for
Premium accounts:
Monthly — US$9.95
Quarterly — US$22.50 (US$7.50/month)
Annually — US$72.00 (US$6.00/month)
lifetime subscription for a one-time payment of
US$225.00. Now, 4096m2 of land.
Stipends
Those registered before May 29, 2006
receive L$50/week
Those registered after May 29, 2006
receive no stipend
Premium accounts :July 21, 2006 receive
L$500/week . November 1, 2006 receive
L$400/week . November 1, 2006 receive
L$300/week
Land Ownership
own land (up to 512m2 without additional
fees).
US$5 a month up to US$195 a month for
an entire 65,536m2 of land or individual
island
avatar
Residents are the users of Second Life
multiple accounts = multiple Residents
single Resident = multiple avatars
Client based Scripts and 3D content.
animations, textures and sounds have to
be created outside the client
but every experience in Second Life is
entirely user-created.
Open standards
publicly available and implementable
standards = increase compatibility
between various hardware and software
components (open software)
Operated by anyone. no licenses to patent
rights
both the client and the server will be
released as open source [9].
Open standards
instant messaging system will be replaced
with Jabber
virtual machine will be replaced with Mono
uBrowser - display the Help
documentation
Economy
Linden Dollars (L$ \
generated US$3,596,674
GDP of $64 Million
may purchase L$ directly through the
client or LindeX Currency Exchange,
exchange rate L$243/USD
Land sales and Regions
First Land program - 512m2 blocks (16 by
32 meters)
16 acre (65536m2) regions
Region auctioned - accessible from the
main continent
Purchased regions - not allowed to be
accessible
high land tier fees (US$195 a month)
hold up to 100 users
Businesses and Organizations
Aimee Weber Studio
[edit] Anshe Chung Studios
[edit] The Electric Sheep Company
[edit] SL Business Magazine
Businesses and Organizations
20th Century Fox held a premiere for X-Men: The Last Stand in Second Life. [37]
[edit] A-F
Adidas Reebok will be creating a permanent presence in Second Life with assistance from
Rivers Run Red [38] [39]
American Apparel opened a branch inside the game selling digital renderings of clothings
modeled after real-life merchandise. [40].
American Cancer Society has held a version of its Relay For Life national fundraising event
inside the game. [41]
BBC Radio recreated the 2006 One Big Weekend event on a 64 acre virtual island in Second
Life [42]
Bite Communications
Bite hosted the first-ever virtual press conference held by a Fortune 500 company in Second Life in
October 2006. The press conference represented the first client work done by a PR agency in Second
Life.
Bite facilitated the first "in-world" press briefing for Sun at the CNET headquarters in Second Life in
October 2006. [43]
Creative Commons is building a community in Second Life around Creative Commons
licenses and standards through events and projects in the virtual world [44]
Disney employed Second Life Resident Fizik Baskerville (and others in his team) to create
content based on production designer's specs for the films The Hitchhiker's Guide to the
Galaxy, Pirates of the Caribbean 2 & 3 and The Chronicles of Narnia [45]
Forward Together, the PAC headed by former Virginia Governor Mark Warner, is integrating
Second Life into its campaign strategy [46]
Residents Virtual
achieved fame or notoriety through
Second Life
Alex Harbinger
Shoshana Epsilon
Johnny Ming
Residents Reality
Duran Duran
Jeff Howe- editor for Wired Magazine
SLname: Bingham Roundfield
Tod Maffin - broadcaster (CBC Radio /
CBC Television) and podcaster
SL:Second Life name: Davo Nabob
Mark Warner, former governor of Virginia.
Texas Mekong
Subcultures and countercultures
fee of L$100
3 days to recruit an additional member
centered on a particular interest
ownership of land and resources
subcultures revolve around events
Moskau Dance, Ulae, and Captain Jean-
Luc Picard