

The relevance of Second Life and open-ended 3D environments - rbanffy

Hi folks. In the wake of Google's announcement, I just posted the same question on a Brazilian list for workers in "all things web" and it turned out SL is pretty much dead and buried here. I would like to know how alive it is in other places. Any comments?
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mechanical_fish
<http://www.useit.com/alertbox/981115.html>

Ten years old, but apparently still relevant.

Best part, the part I always remember:

 _Note that 3D works for games because the user does not want to accomplish
any goals beyond being entertained. It would be trivial to design a better
interface than DOOM if the goal was to kill the bad guys as quickly as
possible: give me a 2D map of the area with icons for enemy troops and let me
drop bombs on them by clicking the icons. Presto: game over in a few seconds
and the good guys win every time. That's the design you want if you are the
Pentagon, but it makes for a boring game._

~~~
blader
Reminds me of the old game designer joke:

Q: 'What would a game look like if a UI designer designed it?'

A: 'A big button that says: "Click here to Win."

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utnick
I don't know anybody that uses SL. Maybe I'm just having a 'nobody I know
voted for Reagan moment'. but I think that SL has the best PR/marketing dept
in the world and every 'story' on SL is a press release.

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noodle
i tried SL for a few hours and didn't like it. i don't know anyone that uses
it.

its dead and buried, at least for me, here in the southeast US.

