The Start of Winter Quater, and my first experience with Second Life

Alright, so to inform those otherwise curious minds, this past week was the start of yet another quarter at RIT: Winter 2009-2010. In combination with an online class and an independent study, both of which are class types I've never tried before, I'm also taking a Business Strategy class and a Digital Business class entitled "Commercializing New Worlds." My professor Raj Murthy brought up the instructor Niel Hair and his courses before, which put the "bug in my ear" as my family is fond of saying about the class itself. I am a polymath of interests (technological developments included), and so another course dealing with the new advancements in the digital age was right up my alley. Dr. Neil Hair, or just "Neil" as he says we can call him seems to come across as highly-energized ball of charisma with a sly and painfully-honest dry sense of humor that loves to strike out whenever he feels the conversation is getting too settled. He seems to have high praise for his own talents but at the same time is free to recognize and acknowledge his faults, giving him a sense of credibility. Class lectures at least promise to be interesting, to say the least.

So far, it seems to me that the entire course is structured around a digital world called "Second Life," similar to an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game) such as World of Warcraft. Second Life however is meant to be more than simply a game, but literally a "second life" to engage in over the internet, complete with dating, conferences, and even making it possible to engage in actual business within the game to make money. Inside the game, it's possible to build primitive objects and set up "islands" encombasing an entire organization's digitally-brick-and-mortar facilities, meant to be explored using the customized "avatars" or digital "self" projections.

However as of now, I'm not impressed.

Second Life is far too advanced and complicated to be "enjoyed" as a typical game with a similar platform, or at least unsofar as the general public is concerned. As truthfully there is no real object or purpose to the game itself, the idea that you can "do anything" is more than a bit overwhelming and creates a sense of unease and uncertainty about how the user is supposed to find entertainment, becoming more of a bane than a boon. Even the avatar creation program, or the process by which a user is supposed to design their own digital representation for the game is tedious and one might even say painful. The fact that anyone can design multiple varieties of objects from cars to houses to furniture is a daunting process, needing the specific size and point-by-point parameters necessary for making three-dementional objects from scratch, even with a system built for such designs. Our class visited the "sand box" where item and object creation can be done without restriction, and the entire process had so many variables and options that it was impossible for anyone without a solid level of training in basic graphic design to take advantage of the system.

I myself barely managed to get my avatar to a form that I liked, and even then I was forced to settle on a lot of points due to system crashes and resolution issues. Though I did design my avatar with a musical instrument and casual clothing because that's how I feel most comfortable, and I enjoyed how I was granted the ability (however difficult it was to actually carry out) to make my character look however I wanted right from the beginning.

More often than not, it's been my experience that while users want a game system to meet their demands, they do not want to have the nuts-and-bolts of creating the basic system to be left to them. The initial limits, and then the gradual expansion of exactly where said boundaries lie as one progresses through the game are what makes for fun and entertainment. Being given a blank canvas is nice, but most people don't like to draw.

Of course having said that the potentials for the purposes of the course are pretty amazing, at least from a business perspective. Market Research capabilities are incredible, as one could use the item and environmental creation aspects of Second Life to develop new products and services and then test them in a limited digital environment with real "people" for hardly any cost at all. Because the game itself is so complicated (much like real life), those things that the majority of users cannot do or create for themselves such as avatar upgrades and item creation can be satisfied by those who can (for a small fee of course). So on par with the course expectations, Second Life is a good example of digital business in motion.

Even if it's not a great game.