Bumped up for weekend watching and discussions. Originally published on my Patreon
SL YouTuber Prisqua Newall and Hari Sutherland (author of Second Life's first coffee table book) recently invited me to have this fun debate (watch above!) about ideas for growing the user base of our favorite virtual world. We touch on a number of strategies, variations of which have been tried before (including themed welcome areas).
Somewhat hilariously, we end up agreeing on one that hasn't yet been tried: Pay people to join Second Life. Or more specifically, give YouTube/Twitch/TikTok etc. influencers an affiliate cash reward for getting their followers to become SLers over a certain period of time. There's already a number of influencers who stream SL along with other virtual worlds. (One, Carmen King, has over 1 million followers.) Their fan bases already have an incentive to join them in-world for fun events, and because their stock in trade is live video, they can help these new users get over the various tech/UX hurdles they'll inevitably come across. So it's definitely worth trying!
My own focus is on presenting/marketing Second Life as a sandbox sim game, to go after the people who already play similar virtual worlds/sandbox games. As you can see by the adamant viewer comments in the YouTube video, the term "game" rubs many the wrong way.
"[We’re] still debating what Second Life actually is," as Prisqua puts it. "And judging by the comments on my channel, people are really offended by it being called a game … like, passionately so."
It's totally fine that many (if not most) users refuse to call Second Life a game. I suspect we're dealing with an unbridgeable generation gap, not of age, but experience -- those who grew up with online games already know they're also a special kind of social/community space where real relationships are fostered and formed. Those who did not tend to see games as being trivial or kids stuff and definitely not worth their time, so take personal umbrage when Second Life is branded as one.
All that to one side, the fact remains: By refusing to market/present Second Life as a kind of sandbox simulation game, Linden Lab is giving up on the easy opportunity to grow the user base by many millions of users who are already intimately familiar with similar products, i.e. gamers. (Second Life still not being on Steam being the most obvious example of that sin of omission.)
Anyway, here's Prisqua and Hari's takeaways from this chat:
Prisqua: "I think we’re wasting too much energy trying to label Second Life. Platform, game, simulation… whatever. It doesn’t change what we do with it, and it doesn’t move the conversation forward. We all want the same thing. Better performance, new users, and for Second Life to finally lose the baggage of being misunderstood. Maybe it’s time we stop fighting over definitions and start focusing on how to actually make the damn thing thrive."
Hari's own takeaway:
I do think SL is not a game but a true metaverse, but the issue of why people join in the first place — whether to build stuff, become a competitive wrestler, join in surfing competitions, or roleplay — is irrelevant. Anyone who stays will eventually integrate into the community and discover the value of it.
That said, I’m not convinced trying to attract young gamers is the way to go, but believe Linden Lab should focus tightly on advertising to the targeted demographic we discussed, including but not limited to socially isolated and disadvantaged or marginalized communities, as well as incentivizing current residents and even influencers to bring in new users.
Start people with four free hours on Project Zero (the browser streaming option), then give them the choice of a subscription with unlimited streaming time, or direct them to download a viewer. It would be smart to offer new users a lightweight, simple user interface which they can gradually upgrade to the full-featured UI.
And for god’s sake, give them a decent-looking mesh avatar of their choice which moves gracefully, even if it upsets some vendors. All a beginner needs is a movement control, a camera control, and a chat window. Once they want to start changing clothes, then they can activate and learn the outfit windows, and so on.
Which suggestion do you agree with most?
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