Thanks to everyone who participated last week! Here's some of my favorite exchanges:
Photo of Judge Richard Posner in Second Life by Sam Sellers
Did you expect to be writing about Second Life and the Metaverse for 20 years? (bce13)
The first few years I thought Second Life was a very interesting niche MMO. Then when the hype wave started up and it got attention from like, everywhere -- like top US judge Richard Posner giving a talk in Second Life [above] -- I started thinking it really could become the Metaverse.
But then there was a lull between about 2010-2018, as people shifted to social media and mobile, and I started thinking it was going to remain a niche. But then other platforms like Fortnite, Roblox, and VRChat started picking up steam and then a 2nd hype wave started, but this time with a huge user base around it.
So it's been super cool to see renewed interest in the idea, and see that this time, it's going to last!
What, if any, role do you see all the current interest and advances in AI playing in the Metaverse? (franker)
In terms of generative AI, quite a bit -- we're already seeing early use of ChatGPT wired up to NPCs/bots and use of programs like Midjourney to advance virtual world visuals.
Another really interesting application of AI is using metaverse platforms to experiment with and test different applications. "Experts" keep warning us AI could endanger humanity. If they really believe that, they should test their hypotheses in metaverse worlds where millions of people can safely engage with it. On the other side, AIs could potentially be more rapidly (and again, safely) trained with virtual world content, such as categorizing images or navigating a 3D space.
After the break: Hilarious SL incidents, competing against the giants, and my fund encounter with a reporter who kept expecting Second Life to die:
What is the most hilariously fun thing you have ever done in Second Life? (cajsa)
That time a guy was flying around SL in a UFO he built, randomly transporting people into his ship with a tractor beam. So he did that to me, then abducted someone else (a monkey), and pulled out an anal probe. And then he rezzed a WWI biplane, and we jumped on that while the monkey sat on the wing, strafing people with a machine gun. I just laughed my ass off the whole time.
Very early memory but still one of the most funny!
Second Life has been pushing a lot of updates recently, do you think they have the chance to bring it back and win the race to running the Metaverse, especially when competing with companies like Epic? (metaversensei)
I certainly hope so, especially now that there's a mobile app (finally) coming soon
But would definitely take some drastic changes and a huge marketing/branding campaign to relaunch SL as a brand to a new generation that barely remembers Second Life. Linden Lab would have to raise a lot of money to do that.
But if the mobile version gains traction and grows the user base, Linden could build off that. IMVU is a much more limited competitor, but once it went to mobile, it grew like crazy, gaining over 7 million users
Haha yeah! I think the first "SL is dying!" prediction was in 2004 when Linden Lab started selling private islands.
I guess the funniest version is during the 2005-2007 hype wave's height, when the website Valleywag kept predicting Second Life was dying, and it kept not dying. The editor got so annoyed about it he emailed me saying it must be a cult or something!
The most worrying thing was Second Life's failure to grow past its 600-700K hardcore userbase. That one even freaked out Linden Lab. It's why my chapter on SL is the longest one in the book -- trying to solve the mystery of how something that got so much publicity just stubbornly refused to grow.
Fortunately Second Life also stubbornly refuses to die.
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