Alphaville Herald

1.10 is Coming! 1.10 is Coming!

Well, probably. Pending "final verification of all issues," according to this forum announcement, it seems Second Life is getting its latest dot version upgrade, going from 1.9.whatever to a full 1.10.0 this coming Wednesday. Be ready for a half-day of downtime while the new version is put into place -- and then a fewl weeks of crashes and asset server problems after that -- but once things get rolling smoothly, it should mean a better Second Life for all. The main improvements coming with 1.10 include floppy prims that will immediately be made into flowing skirts, Elven robes and superhero capes; new lighting controls that someone else will have to snarkily explain; and the ability to make http calls from within a scripted object, which should significantly improve the kinds of things people can create in SL by cracking the world open that much wider in its interface with the rest of Teh IntarWeb. So strap on your new video card drivers and dive in.

Town Hall: Philip Getting Friendly With the Feds

by Dow Jonas

At a packed town hall meeting with live Skype call-in as well as typed text in-world, SL chief executive Philip Linden, in reply to a query from Second Life club owner Trader1 Whiplash, responded to residents' concerns about repeated grid-grashing by unnamed griefers by commending them to federal authorities:

"If you are a club owner in SL, that's exactly like being a Web site owner on the Web," Philip said. "Interrupting somebody's commerce on the Web is a serious crime. In cases where we are able to establish a reasonable equivalance between that kind of disruption, we have, and we will be, and we will get better at, turning those people in, in general to the FBI here in the US. We are serious about doing this and we have done it."

Anshe Ties Up in the Rivers Run Red

Two of the biggest names in Second Life corporate life announced a strategic alliance last week, according to this press release from AnsheChung.com. That's right, Anshe is steering her land baron's boat down Fizik Baskerville's Rivers Run Red virtual world branding and marketing concern. Is there a wave of VW consolidation on the way? Isn't it too early for that? No word on new deals yet, but keep your eye peeled for new competition in the space that the Electric Sheep have so far staked out for themselves. More at Clickable Culture and 3pointD.com.

2Cast 2 Go Live In 2Life 2Nite

That's right, Johnny Ming and the SecondCast crew will be coming to you live from Second Life this evening, taping an episode with our special guest, The Writer Formerly Known As Hamlet Linden. Now going by the name Wagner James Au (though still a Hamlet in-world), Au recently took his New World Notes independent, and also pens the occasional column for Kotaku.

Join us at 7:00pm SLT at Pooley Auditorium in Second Life.

SL Econ Data on it Way

The Herald had the chance to speak briefly with SL headmaster Philip Linden this morning, who tells us that Linden Lab will soon start regular releases of economic data. A first look at some select figures is due for today. (More information at Herald affiliate 3pointD.com.) This couldn't be better news for content creators, as it will give them more information on gauging prices and should help entrepreneurs make decisions about what project to attempt on the Grid. We look forward to feasting our somewhat econ-wonky eyes on the numbers. Stay tuned to the Herald and the SL forums for today's release.

Linden Lab Kills Dwell Payments

It wasn't much of a surprise, since the idea has been bandied about by the Lindens quite a bit in recent weeks, but Philip Linden, benevolent despot of Second Life, announced yesterday on the SL forums that LL will discontinue traffic payments to SL residents. Down wiht camping chairs! Full text of King Philip's announcement after the jump:

Calling All Fashionistas: SecondChic Now on the Air

The Herald is proud to report that one of its own has now gone audio. Herald Fashion Editor Matthias Zander is launching the SecondChic podcast on all things fashionable in Second Life. Rather than the reviews Matthias does so well for the Herald, however, SecondChic will feature information on new products and interviews with designers new and old. SecondChic's first introductory episode is now available at the SecondChic site, and while the interviews haven't started up yet, you can find out how to contact Matthias to submit your products or offer your thoughts for the show. The Herald looks forward to hearing what's to come.

Tringo Ships for GBA

Tringo, the game that captivated hundreds of Second Life residents (until the gripping excitement of camping chairs came along, that is), has now migrated into the real world and is available on the Game Boy Advance for a mere 15 bucks! Look for Tringo parties coming soon to a city near you. The only question is, how will this affect your real-world framerate. Oh nooooooooes!!!!!

Town Hall Audio File Now Available, Transcript TK

The audio file of last week's Town Hall meeting with Philip Linden is now available for listening at this link. The recording is also being transcribed into text format at the moment, and should be available within 48 hours, according to SecondCast's Johnny Ming. Enjoy! (Or be enraged, if you prefer to roll that way.)

Blogosphere Gets New Herald Affiliate

A new blog hits the blogosphere this month, run by the uber-reporter currently known as Mark Wallace (but also known as Herald editor Walker Spaight). Check out 3pointD.com for news of all things 3D Web-related, including stories from virtual worlds. The blog is kindly sponsored by the Electric Sheep virtual world services company, and will take in 3D Web technologies and related issues, as well as life in MMOs. Though the Herald will continue to run the same kinds of stories it always has, it is hoped that the affiliation between the most ass-kicking newspaper in cyberspace and the newest kid on the 3pointD block will only strengthen readership and give everyone more to ponder and troll about. So don't be surprised when I start cross-linking from one to the other. It's all part of our plan to...

take.

over.

Teh.

WORLD!!1!one!!!

Stay Tuned for Philipcast

Torrid Midnight, Lordfly Digeridoo, Maxx Monde, SNOOPYBrown Zamboni, Cristiano Midnight, Johnny Ming and I are, at this very moment, podcasting with the virtual hairlord himself, Philip Linden, for an upcoming SecondCast show. Ooooooh, exciting! The show should be up in a few days. (If you've missed any recent episodes, download them here.)

I just asked Philip the "vision" question. Based on his quote about creating a country, not a game, I wanted to know where he sees it going in the next ten years. Answer below:

Going Live With Sherry Turkle and Friends

SL resident Gwyneth Llewelyn sends word of a live radio broadcast from Second Life, to be held this afternoon at 4pm SLT. A forum announcement indicates the Radio Open Source episode will feature an "all-star roster," including MIT's Sherry Turkle, one of the most interesting commentators on online communities. And oh yeah, there might be a Linden or two as well. The cool thing is that the show will be streamed live to Second Life, and that SL residents will be able to toss questions to the panelists as well. Plus which, you'll be on the actual real-life radio! Hi, Mom! See that forum post for details.

SL Herald Get's Really Really Wired

It's been a good week for the the Attention Ho's at the Second Life Herald. Not only did the soiree in the Herald Suite at SXSW blast into the infosphere when Torrone and Fried hacked up their Roomba to play real frogger, but in the April issue of Wired Magazine (just now on the stands), there is a full page story about Second Life Herald's ace reporter and editor Walker Spaight, complete with a dandy picture of Walker in front of the Herald complex in Louise. It's the issue with the pic of Dedd Sexxy Will Wright on the cover.

Art in Areumdeuli

A new art gallery opens tomorrow night in Second Life's Areumdeuli sim. The Phoenicia Gallery and Studio, located in the heart of Areumdeuli, will be run by colleagues Viola Bentham and Victor Newchurch, and will feature "original works by talented artists from SL and RL." For its opening reception, kicking off on Friday at 6:00pm Linden time, the gallery will display "a selection of figure/nude and erotic photography by several New York-based photographers" (see sample at left). In-world copies will be available for purchase. A sneak peak by the Herald revealed a revealing but tasteful selection of images on the gallery's walls. Get 'em while they're hot.

The Federation of Hamlet Linden

Hamlet Linden wraps up his tenure tomorrow as Linden Lab's in-house blogger on all things Second Life, and has already found a new home. As Hamlet announced today, he'll be joining Federated Media Publishing Inc., home network of such touchstone blogs as BoingBoing and Metafilter, where he'll presumably keep on doing what he's been doing for the last three years, though under the lash of a different master. Still no word on Hamlet's new in-world name. We look forward to his continuing contributions to the conversation. Congratulations are in order.

There She Goes

It happens to the best of us: the lure of a steady paycheck overcomes the strong desire to sit at a desk in our apartments all day staring into a computer screen (not surprisingly). So it is that Terra Nova's Betsy Book has been snapped up by the virtual world of There.com, which bills itself as "the online virtual world that is your everyday hangout." Hopefully, Betsy, in her new role as Director of Product Management, can do something about that slogan. Although it may not be as hard as it might at first appear. There.com apparently has some 300,000 members, according to some reports. While that number may be just as meaningless as the 150,000 members Second Life records, it's still twice as many meaningless members. And that has to mean something.

Tonight: Machinimists Tinker in SL

Well, it won't be Cannes, but tonight will see BuhBuhCuh Fairchild hosting a Second Life machinima festival featuring five films created by residents within the world. The films are a mix of genres, from the narrative to educational travelogues/ (and hopefully at least one with guns). Admission's free, and the event starts at 7pm Linden time in the Lukanida sim.

Thanks to Pierce Portocarrero for flagging this to us. Also be on the lookout next year (if all goes well) for Pierce's own documentary following a year in the life of Second Life resident Nephilaine Protagonist as she builds her virtual fashion business into something very real. Or tries, anyway.

Real-World Music Festival to Fund SL Events

The Foundation For Rich Content -- which we covered when it started up last year -- is now inviting Second Life users to an Alabama of the mind. The FFRC, which provides private grants to SL residents to help fund "events and projects that enrich the cultural scene of Second Life," recently teamed up with a real-world arts organization that's interested in helping to encourage the same, and is now accepting applications for projects that will be funded with that organization's cash, administered via the FFRC.

Urizenus Announces Retirement

Famed cyberjournalist and virtual media mogul, Urizenus Sklar, announced his retirement today, shortly after a hunting trip with Dick Cheney and executives from Haliburton and IGE. In a statement released by the Herald Offices, Urizenus (Uri to his multitudinous friends) announced that he would be turning the Herald over to his trusted Editorial Director, Walker Spaight, and would be leaving Second Life as well, returning only for occasional hunting vacations in Jessie. According to Uri, he is hoping to spend more time sampling his collection of rare wines, playing Animal Crossing and Toontown with Pearl Fuzzyswirl, and working on topics in metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of language. He also complained about the sheer mind numbing boredom of life online. The Herald has announced that Uri’s retirement party will be held at the upcoming South by Southwest Conference in Austin Texas. Staffers promise it will be a “puke on your shoes” affair.

Kremlindens Plan Mass Weddings for St. Valentine's Day

by Pat the Rat

Following in the footsteps of many totalitarians and cult leaders throughout the ages like the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Kremlindenlab has announced that on Valentine's Day, it will hold a mass wedding. The bubbling, irrepressible Bub Linden will be on hand to perform the staggering, sim-lagging event.

In a Linden forums notice, Jeska announced that 30 lucky couples (15 in the morning and 15 in the afternoon) and 2 witnesses each are invited to apply with their partners in order to be allowed to participate in the group nuptials at the Opera House on the feted Varnish and Supernova Linden sims.

So far, the response of the forums appears to be...underwelming.

Sowing the Seed

Though its beta test has only just started, the new MMO Seed is already getting the usual breathless attention from virtual world fansites and other online communities. The latest Seed news comes from online gaming and music radio station Split Infinity Radio, which is advertising an upcoming interview with Runestone CEO Lars Kroll, the man ultimately responsible for nurturing Seed into full blossom.

BUY BUY BUY!!! Uber-Authors' Doomsday Book Debuts on Amazon.com

Woot! If you didn't believe it before, now you can actually feast your eyes: The Doomsday book recently penned by uber-authors Peter Ludlow and Mark Wallace in a flurry of champagne, clattering typewriter keys and cigar smoke is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com.

For those who aren't already aware, the book recounts the adventures of virtual journalist Urizenus Sklar, who founded this very newspaper in The Sims Online only to be bounced out of the game once Electronic Arts got wind of the revealing stories the Herald was publishing. Bringing the reader all the way up through the Herald's recent history, Ludlow and Wallace take a revealing look at what really goes on in the virtual world of massively multiplayer online games and environments like Second Life, and even dare to peek forward into the future.

News of the World News: Castronova Takes Virtual Commerce to the National Airwaves

Virtual Economist Edward Castronova -- author of Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games as well as many engaging Terra Nova blog posts -- hits the national airwaves this evening during a segment about virtual commerce to air on ABC World News Tonight. Check your local listings for time and channel, but don't miss it.

[UPDATE: Broadcast delayed until Thursday at the earliest by some genius at ABC.]

A Chat in the Desert

Cooperative gameplay, Egyptian-style

Andrew Tepper, pharaoh of Egypt (or at least of the massively multiplayer online world of A Tale in the Desert) has something say, and he wants you to listen. He also wants you to get in his game, and is re-opening free trial accounts to anyone who's interested, even if you've already run through a trial in the past.

Apparently concerned about the large number of citizens who leave his virtual Egypt once they get through the early stages of the game, Tepper is holding "a significant chat" tomorrow on possible upcoming changes in the society-building VW, and he wants you to listen in.

The Island of Dr. Zamboni

Okay, so they're not trying to push democratic governance in virtual worlds, but over at Democracy Island, which opens today in Second Life, the virtual world may may come in handy in settling governance issues in the real world. Under the tutelage of the New York Law School's Beth Noveck and the guiding hand of SL resident SNOOPYBrown Zamboni (aka Jerry Paffendorf of the Acceleration Studies Foundation), the NYLS is launching its virtual-world experiment in "online rulemaking." In other words, if you want to stand up and be heard the next time the Man is trying to keep you down, you may soon be doing it in an online world like Second Life, if the NYLS has anything to say about it.

2005 Avatar of the Year: Prokofy Neva

Avatar of the Year Prokofy Neva (left) with Pathfinder Linden

In December 2004, the Herald reported a story that raised few eyebrows at the time, but which would eventually become the single most controversial issue in Second Life during 2005, and would speak to many questions about how governance in cyberspace might shake out. The December story covered the arrival of yet another immigrant from TSO, the infamous avatar Dyerbrook, whose zealous campaign to protest the hegemonic Sim Shadow Government and the favors they were allegedly shown by Electronic Arts employees had earned him wide disfavor. When the Herald heralded Dyerbrook's arrival in the form of avatar Prokofy Neva, few Second Life citizens took notice. Little did they know that the arrival of Prok on SL's shores would turn out to be an epochal moment in the history of the virtual world. And little did the Herald's editors suspect that one year later they would name him their 2005 Avatar of the Year.

As part of the Herald's 2005 Avatar of the Year special, we are pleased to present the following excerpt from Only A Game: Online Worlds and the Virtual Journalist Who Knew Too Much, by Peter Ludlow (aka Herald Publisher and Editor in Chief Urizenus Sklar) and Mark Wallace (aka Herald Editorial Director Walker Spaight), profiling the Herald's 2005 Avatar of the Year, Prokofy Neva:

HTML a Few Weeks Away?

Props to Hiro Pendragon for bringing it to our attention that not only did Cory demonstrate his SL Client running on  Linux while in Berlin, but he also announced that HTML for SL was only a few weeks away.  Whatever "a few weeks" means.  Forums discussion here.

Avatar of the Year, Second Place: Anshe Chung

Second place in the Herald's coveted Avatar of the Year award traditionally goes to the avi who has had the most impact on the virtual world's economic scene. Last year's winner, Sir/Father Callahan, was a master of the simolean trade in TSO, as well as a collector of rare cannons and press secretary for the corrupt administration of Mr-President. This year, our second place award winner has made a similar transformation, from self-proclaimed "business girl" to budding political activist. You may admire her or you may just find her omnipresent signs annoying, but either way, there's no avoiding Anshe Chung.

Said to have earned the equivalent of $100,000 or more in Second Life's real estate business, Anshe has been featured in The New York Times, the L.A. Times, and Fortune magazine, among other dead-tree publications. (Of course, all of these stories cam after the Herald profile of Anshe earlier this year.) But since her rise to the top of her heap of Linden$, Anshe has taken it upon herself to make an impact on the political scene as well, speaking out against P2P teleporting and the Ginko investment bank, as well as getting involved in the budding lobbying efforts that residents have mounted in recent months.

In all, few avatars have had as big an impact on the Grid and the news over the last 12 months as Anshe has. Of course, one av has created bigger waves. To find out who (as if you don't already know), stay tuned for the Herald's first-place award, coming to you in a week or so.

MTV Hosts Nutty Wacky Avi Contest. Joy.

According to a post by Glitchy Gumshoe on the SL Future Salon site, MTV will be "filming' an in game fashion shoot, and they are soliciting pics of interesting -- nay "craziest looking" avatars. Well now. Zero Grace is decidedly unimpressed by this turn of events, but he is a crotchety old man. We, on the other hand, consider the exercise to be merely born of confusion. If we are to belive the call, this has nothing at all to do with the typical SL fashion shows, which are serious enterprises, and it sounds much more like the wacky avi contests that we see in game from time to time. Still, I guess this is positive. It is, right? A little?

Avatar of the Year, Third Place: Plastic Duck

The Herald Brain Trust was working overtime, struggling with the very difficult decision of who should be third place in the coveted SL Herald Avatar of the Year Award (the award given to those avatars who change the news the most, for better or for worse). Last year the third place winners were Mr. President and Ashley Richardson of TSO. Who was ready to take the mantle -- the responsibility -- the inevitable fame and the paparazzi? Would it be Squagmire Stravinsky for his brilliant work on Infonet? Or would it be an entire group of griefers -- the W-Hats? In the end it was the letter from Catherine Linden to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that clinched the award for Plastic Duck. According to her, he has...

- Stolen scripts and republished them on the web
- Hired residents to negative rate other residents
- Dropped the infamous Goatse image all over Second Life
- Harassed the furry community
- Sexually harassed female residents
- Spammed other with Penis images
- Was part of the group that recreated a flaming World Trade Center in Second Life with a smashed plane smashed and falling bodies.

With a resume like that, how could we deny him the award? Indeed it was Plastic Duck's alleged involvement in the script-spying hack that finally got those fattie huffing Lindens to stub out their roaches, take a bracing sip of peppermint tea and ask themselves: gee, should we be doing something about this? When waves of Something Awful droogs poured into the game chanting "Remember Plastic Duck" and crashed the grid with self-replicating scripts, the Lindens finally called in the Feds. I guess we like to think it was Mr. Duck that started it all. Indeed, after all that how could he only win third place? Well, stay tuned...

Are You Ready for the Avi of the Year Awards?

Herald Staffer with One of the Avatar of the Year Trophies!

Once again, boys and girls, it's time for the most eagerly awaited event of the virtual journalistic year: the Second Life Herald's Second Annual Avatar of the Year Awards. Each year, the Herald brings you the three avatars who have had the most impact on the news over the course of the preceding 12 months. The winners are picked by an anonymous research team at the Herald Brain Trust, and their decisions delivered to the Herald yacht in plain brown sealed envelopes. Winners receive a free subscription to the Herald's online edition and all the virtual-world notoriety they can stomach. Faithful readers will call that last years winner was One Song, with Ian/Father Callahan coming in second, and Mr-President and Ashley Richardson coming in a very respectable third.

The decision this year was not easy, and deliberations saw the Herald Brain Trust working overtime (much to the chagrin of our accountants). They've been chewing over the many fascinating stories that were produced in 2005, but have finally made their decisions, which have been placed in a vault, and guarded by former employees of Arthur Anderson and Co.. We will be announcing the winners over the next two weeks.

Wooot! 100K Dormant Alts

In another milestone in the history of meaningless statistics, Second Life has now passed 100,000 "residents" -- i.e. accounts (mostly free) that have been created and may or may not be in use. The last time we reported such a milestone -- 40K "residents" -- there were actually *more* people in the game. Obviously, the only meaningful statistic here is how much land is being rented (i.e., how much server space is being sold).

Zero Grace to take SXSW on Sex-in-Games Gutter Crawl: Panel of Degenerates to include Herald Editorial Director

In yet another sign of the end times and/or the ascendency of what those in the moment call The Herald Aesthetic, the Interactive Component of the world famous South by Southwest conference in Austin Texas will feature a panel on the secret sex lives of video games. According to Zero Grace, aka Tony Walsh, on his blog Clickable Culture, the panel will include a dude from slashdong.org, the Herald's own Walker Spaight, and two other panelists. Groupies and sycophants may rest assured that Uri will also be on the scene, participating in a panel on making money in games, or something like that. The Herald has reserved a palatial hotel suite for the obligatory brain-cell-killing soirees.

Announcement: Nightly Meditation for Troops

meditation for safety of soldiers in Iraq
Date: Every Night
Time: 8:00PM - 9:00PM Linden Time (60 minutes)
Location: Shivar (226,187)
Host: Montserrat Snakeankle
Category: Charity/Support Groups
Cover Charge? No

If you have a friend or loved one in Iraq, please come to Tenaya Cathedral at Shivar for a time of quietness and good intention towards all military and other people in Iraq. the Shivari will refuse to discuss politics at this event: our focus is to support the soldiers (and their loved ones) who are in Iraq. Stay as little or as long as you want. pick up a free Tibetan prayer flag while you're at Shivar to take home with you. THIS EVENT WILL BE HELD EVERY NIGHT UNTIL THE WAR IS OVER. IM montserrat snakeankle for TP.

Ho Hum... Grid Crashed Again...Yawn

For the second time in the ever shrinking envelope of my Cristal-addled long term memory, the grid went down thanks to apparent griefer action. Or, if not griefer action, the then functional equivalent of it. As the Linden's put it ...

... the grid was been taken down due to an IM object in the Welcome Area which spewed IMs at a victim and caused our IM subsystem to become overwhelmed. We are deploying an emergency fix to prevent this type of exploit in the future.

In other words, the grid was instant messaged to death. I know the feeling. Anyway, excuse our sense of urgency and outrage in reporting on this, but events like global attacks and grid and sim crashings are not like Post Six Grrrls -- after a while we get bored with the events. Never the grrrls though!

Doomsday Book is Finished!!!

As uber-journalist Mark Wallace has reported on his blog, the Doomsday Book (Otherwise known as “Only a Game: Online Worlds and the Virtual Journalist who Knew too Much”) is complete -- coming in at a hefty 118,819 words spread over 17 chapters, it is quite possibly the longest book on MMOs that ever has or ever will be written. Meanwhile, tensions are rising in the world of online gaming. What new scandals will be exposed? What drama will be relived? What careers and lives hang in the balance? Forget Plamegate. When the history of the early 21st century is written it will not be Mr. Fitzgerald's indictments that are studied, but rather this epic history which records the birth of a new civilization, introduces the world to new ways of living and thinking and making money -- and even new ways to get off.

Meanwhile, Walker Spaight and Urizenus Sklar plan on taking a couple days off for some deep sea fishing with lobbyists for Halliburton and IGE, and then getting back to the people's business: bringing readers their patented hard-hitting journalism while editing the most poignant, important, and yet charming virtual newspaper ever. Ever!

Book Review: Synthetic Worlds

Author Ted Castronova demonstrates approximate size of words used in his new book (photo by Cory Linden)

Run, don't walk, to Amazon.com (is that even possible?) and order your copy of Edward Castronova's Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games today. For anyone interested in deeper thinking about MMOs than just whether the latest patch nerfed your favorite class in your favorite game, it's a must-read.

While Castronova doesn't write with the same juicy style that we all know Herald readers prefer (he writes for a more sober blog, after all), he does deliver just as many thought-provoking ideas, and has a lot to say about one of our favorite subjects: where these things we call virtual worlds may be headed in the future.

Castronova's view of VWs is deeply influenced by his being an economist. But he is just as deeply an MMO player, and he draws freely on his experiences in EverQuest and World of Warcraft to illustrate his arguments.

His perspective is very much his own, though, and not one everyone will agree with. For instance, use of the word "nigger," in Castronova's view, should always be a bannable offense. While it's reprehensible in most cases, I'm not sure all VWs should be so constrained. Such speech is not always a crime in the real world, after all. But then, we're not talking about the real world, are we?

That's an interesting question. Castronova is one of the staunchest supporters of the preservation of play spaces as removed from the real world (thus he's more or less anti-RMT for most VWs). Yet he also posits a scenario in which MMOs can add to people's real-world income, as already happens in some cases. For that to be possible on any large scale, though, game worlds would have to become work worlds. When it becomes more or less easy for many people to earn a living in the world of swords and spells, won't that world become as drudge-like as the world of staplers and sales meetings? At that point we'll start looking elsewhere for our entertainment.

Synthetic Worlds also has a lot to say about the potential of game worlds to improve the lives of their residents. Castronova even envisions a mass exodus to game worlds, should many people start to prefer them to the real one. That's a pretty dark vision, if you ask me. If the only thing you're getting out of the real world is food and shelter, there's something deeply wrong. Game worlds certainly have huge potential to enhance one's physical existence, but I'd argue that they will never become a substitute in the way that Castronova's book seems to hold.

At one point, Castronova claims that NPCs with exceptional AI could provide emotional experiences that might be harder to get in the real world. But while they could certainly provide simulated experiences of whatever sort, the mere fact of interacting with an NPC changes the experience. No one mistakes an NPC for a real person. If the NPC has been programmed to admire or respect your formidable deeds, you still know it's an NPC; that takes away from the weight of that interaction. That's why fighting another player is a totally different experience from fighting a computer-controlled character. There just isn't another person on the other end, as good as the simulation may be. And it's the other people that make these places special.

There's a lot to debate in this book, but there's also a lot to think about. Significantly, Castronova tacitly challenges Richard Bartle's contention that virtual worlds are all about identity. To Castronova, they're about economics and the joy of acquisition; fun equals getting something you desire. But what if the thing you desire is a gripping narrative that unfolds over months or even years? I'm not sure the economic explanation of virtual worlds can contain that motive. The economic explanation of the real world has enough trouble with it.

The great thing about Synthetic Worlds is that it attempts, for pretty much the first time, to take a comprehensive look at these things we call virtual worlds. Hopefully it will be read by more than just the people who already know and love these places. So buy it now and start reading--especially since you'll have to finish it by the spring so you can start reading Only A Game.

Party On, Grid

In case you've nothing better to do today, just a quick reminder: The Herald turns two this weekend, and we're having a party! Click that link for details. The festivities begin at noon SST (that's Server Standard Time), and continue till whenever we all get bored and go home, so even if you can't make it before the Veuve runs out, feel free to drop in later, by which time we'll have moved on to that Moet crap, but will endeavor to keep things lively nonetheless. In Furness sim at the _blacklibrary.

Party On! The SLH is Turning Two!

Help celebrate at the second birthday party of that most august newspaper of cyberspace, the Second Life Herald! (And Jeff Brown thought we wouldn't see our second month, tsk tsk.)

Hosted by the illustrious _blacklibrary, located in Second Life's Furness sim, the Herald birthday party will commence on Saturday, October 22, at noon game-time (that's 3pm Eastern), and will feature--well, we're not quite sure what it will feature exactly, except we're hoping it will include some choice reading material from over the last year, assembled in that inimitable always_black style (with our undying gratitude, it must be said). Meet Herald Editorial Director Walker Spaight (that's me), Herald Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Urizenus Sklar and the rest of the Herald staff (are there any left?), as well as many of the people we've featured in our pages over the years (hopefully). We'll remind you as the big day nears, but for now, save the date. And expect the sparks to fly.

(Yes, Cory, there will be goldfish!)

Rich Content Foundation Finds Riches

A new public advocacy group, this one dedicated to "fostering richness and diversity in content and events," has hit the Grid, and with initial funding secured, the Foundation for Rich Content will soon seek to share the wealth with "events and projects that enrich the cultural scene of Second Life. "

Among the FFRC's patrons is designer Simone Stern, who has pledged L$5,000 per week, according to a Foundation press release. The FFRC is obviously pleased at this intial show of support, but is still seeking simoleans Lindens, so now is the time for eager patrons of the arts and culture to step up.

Founded by RyeDin Meiji, the FFRC group holds weekly meetings at 1pm SL time every Sunday. Attendance and membership is open to anyone. Parties interested in contributing funds to the foundation may contact the FFRC Treasurer, Gabe Lippmann.

While the group is still establishing guidelines for project applications, according to one member, the Foundation hopes to start accepting applications by late October, and funding projects soon after that. Contact a group officer for more information.

Going, Going, GOM: L$ Site to Close Doors

In news that is sure to shake up virtual commerce in Second Life for some time,GamingOpenMarket.com, probably the single most popular site for trading L$ and the benchmark by which most smaller traders do their business, this morning announced it would shut down its L$ trading service, effective 7pm game-time on Sunday, October 2. The move comes just a month after Linden Lab began taking steps to get into the L$ trading business -- something many predicted would indeed have the effect of shutting GOM down.

As we reported back in August, Linden Lab had contacted GOM about more fully integrating its service into Second Life sometime last winter. But after Jamie Hale and Tom Merrall, GOM's principals, visited LL to talk about a deal, negotiations broke down and LL decided it would be better off implementing the service itself.

According to posts by Hale in the GOM forums, he and Merrall felt LL's offer was unfairly low. He also felt the company had underhandedly mined the two developers' brains for information on how their service worked.

In the end, LL decided to implement its own service, one that would be "a direct duplication of GOM's functionality with the addition of credit card billing," according to Hale. "This is taken from communications with LL -- it is not speculation on our part."

GOM president Jamie Hale resigned his post a few days after news of GOM's meeting with LL became widely public, making his announcment in an open letter to SL residents in which Hale pointed out that soon after GOM had launched in 2003, Philip Linden had actually contacted the company asking it to list the L$.

LL's entering the L$ business makes it less likely that services like GOM would be able to survive. LL's position is that it will be able to provide better service to more SL residents than a third-party site would be capable of, and that they will implement an interface that will allow other residents to get into the same business.

But this may or may not be true. It remains to be seen what the cost of entry to the L$ trading business will be under LL's model. And more than one of LL's major projects are already showing the strain of over-reaching and poor implementation. And the real question here has more to do with whose world and whose imagination Second Life will represent.

The SL economy will survive. But as one SL forum poster put it: "Moral of the story? Long, complex projects are impossible to do in Second Life." Several other SL residents have come forth with similar sentiments, and some have said they will abandon plans to start ambitious undertakings. Their concerns appear to be well founded. GOM was an example of a popular resident-created service that worked well. As the administrators of Second Life, LL enters the L$ trading arena at a huge advantage; their move could only have spelled doom for GOM, and they must have known this.

The question is, what's the limit of innovation that LL will accept in their world? Will any truly useful project be co-opted by the company, on their terms and their terms only?As the undisputed rulers of their world, LL operates in an atmosphere in which they need not take into account the market value of resident-created goods and services. Their move into L$ trading at the expense of GOM raises concerns for future projects on a similar scale.

The Herald has contacted both Philip and Robin Linden for comment on the issue, but as it's only 7:00am game-time at the moment, we're having to run this story before we've heard back from them. We'll be sure to keep you posted as developments develop. [UPDATE: Read our exclusive interview with Philip Linden.]

Hammie Jumps on the Potboiler Bandwagon

Clickable Culture clues us in to the news that Hammie Linden is going to pull his articles together to craft a book on life in Second Life. Coming on the heels of the announcement of the bockbuster book deal inked by world renowned metaverse journalists Walker Spaight and Urizenus Sklar (and given the leaked portions we have seen of Walker and Uri's impending masterpiece), it certainly suggests a coming golden age forNew games journalism. The only thing we are wondering is ... Who will be invited to Oprah's book club first?!

Slash Dotted Yet Again

The leaked pages from the forthcoming Herald potboiler have yielded yet another Slash Dotting and discussion of the leading journalists of the metaverse: me and Walker. Some comments are not so kind: "typical ignorant stuckup journalist". Another suggests I should log into Second Life where I would learn that everyone is 25 or older. Riiiiiight. Oh well, just so they pronounce 'Urizenus' correctly.

Yellow Journalists Hard at Work on Potboiler

by Pat the Rat

Well kids, perhaps you often wonder, as I do, just how Herald editors Walker and Uri are able to support their habits. First, there is Walker, with his taste for pencil thin cuban cigars and first edition copies of subversive Estonian literature. Then there is Uri, burning gallons of diesel fuel as the Herald Yacht tours the Adriatic, breakfasting on iced turtle eggs and chugging mimosas made from Sicilian blood oranges and Cristal. So, how do they afford it? Answer: they can't. Hence the leading tabloid journalists of the metaverse have been working on a potboiler to keep their pots boiling. I'm happy to report that parts of the book have been leaked by people involved with the Second Life Community Convention. From what I have seen it looks to be just what we've come to expect from the two most informative, subversive, engaging, and yet endearing writers alive today.

Get Thee to the Library!

Second Life resident Wandering Yaffle's new library in the Furness sim truly deserves a better headline pun than that, but such are the deadline pressures of life at the Herald that it was all we could come up with on short notice. To really do the thing justice, you'll have to get your virtual asses over there yourselves and check out the unbelievable collection of writing on games and virtual worlds that Yaffers has assembled in Second Life, a kind of virtual-reality mirror of his typist's Always_Black Web site, which our RL journo friend Mark Wallace managed to sneak into The New York Times some months back.

Enjoy the party, and happy reading!

Costello Family Hosts Katrina Fundraiser

The Costello Family is hosting a Benefit Party all weekend this weekend to raise money for those devastated by Hurricane Katrina. the Party will last for 48 hours at Heavens Island starting at 6am game time Saturday September 3rd and will continue on throught til 6am Monday September 5th. There will be 2 parties, Hypnotic Radio will DJ and we have prizes to raffle off throughtout the weekend. There are a host of people that will set the donation box on their land to help us help those in need.

You can get more info about this weekend by contacting Kasie Costello or Diamonique Costello in game.

Conned!

In the good sense of "conned," as in there is going to be an SL Con (convention) in New York City this coming Oct. 8-9. Actually, the 8th is just a party, and the 9th will be a hangover filled meeting with all of your favorite Lindens, FICians, and best of all: a talk by the Herald's own Walker Spaight, who goes by the name Mark Wallace when he writes for cheap ass rags like the New York Times. OK, here is the link. I'll be there, and if you come you'll be able to recognize me because I'll be the steroid swollen adonis with my usual entourage of toadies and heavily perfumed Long Island girls fanning me with peacock feathers and marriage proposals. Well, ok, that could be Pathfinder, but he's the one with an earring.

Bringing the Fight Against Cancer to Second Life

The New York Times has an article today about the Second Life Relay for Life that's being put together by Jade Lily and SnoopyBROWN Zamboni to benefit the American Cancer Society. The benefit is a week away, August 27-28, so save the date.

The article marks the latest RL press appearance of that guy Mark Wallace (or here). It's also interesting to note that the arm of the ACS that's coordinating with Jade and Snoopy on the project is called the Futuring and Innovation Center. Acronym, anyone?

Seriously, though, we're looking forward to more good works like this coming to Second Life in future. The Relay isn't the first benefit to hit SL, and hopefully it won't be the last.

SL Overtakes TSO in "Subscribers"

As the Second Life homepage map reveals, the population of SL now exceeds 40K, which, according to the most recent figures, means it has probably passed the ever plunging TSO. Of course people don't actually *pay* for their monthly accounts on SL, so it is not clear what this statistic really means -- the only meaningful measure of success for SL is the amount of land being rented or owned by customers. Still, it is a psychologically important milestone, both for SL and for those of us who can't avert our eyes from the train wreck that is TSO.

Goodbye LSL, hello Mono

In case you weren't paying attention (like I wasn't), Linden poobah Jim Purdick Purbrick (aka Babage Babbage Linden) has announced (and it’s already in the Wikipedia so it must be true) that in version 2.0 of SL is going to move from the much malaigned Linden Scripting Language to the open source (yet a bit Microsofty) develpment platform Mono. But of course careful readers of the Herald will have seen this telegraphed in the comment section of the Herald.

While this change will lead to much gnashing of teeth and breaking of scripts in the short term in the long term it seems like an excellent, and perhaps necessary, move. See also Clickable Culture for reportage on this important development.