Second Life

Second Life is one of the most interested things that I ever came across. Although the assignment is to find two businesses with a real-life counterpart, I hardly was able to find anyone to talk to at all. Nonetheless, this virtual world is very interesting. After awhile, I started to search for stuff that I like instead of following the assignment. Being an anime fan, I searched one of the title "Naruto". There actually is a virtual world based on that anime series. It is a role-playing world where, I assume, each avatars takes part in the lives of this ninja village. In order to join this village, there is a 50$L and an entry exam. $L is the currency used in Second Life. At first, I thought I would have to somehow pay and then convert into $L, similar to a foreign market, but only to a virtual money instead of foreign currency. Then, I found out that there is something call "camping" which the avatar can sit still for a fixed period of time (let's see 20 minutes) and the reward is $L (let's say 5$L). According to the official website, USD$1 can usually buy about 250$L, so, by earning $L, in some way, it is possible to convert back to something useful in real life, presumably.



(An image from the anime, "Naruto")



(Compare to the virtual world in Second Life)

Even though I was not able to find any representatives from any business to interact with, I did came across 2 avatars who were very generous to share and try to help me with this project.


(The two avatars that I chatted with and both tried to help me finish the project)

The only thing close to a success is that Dell has a world that has the logo of "Dell" in it. On the other hand, I came across with a really weird McDonald's that I do not think is official.



After using Second Life for many many hours, I am amazed by the detail of how much I can adjust to try to make my avatar looks like me. Even with so many features, it is so hard to make the virtual me looks remotely like me. The biggest surprise is a fan-based virtual world exists for everyone to enjoy without too much cost. Then, the biggest disappointment is that many virtual worlds are abandoned and many are no longer active. I came across a listing of business with virtual presentations. By clicking on those links, which suppose to teleport my avatar to that world, but many were no longer available. There are many ways to make money off of Second Life. The most common one that I have seen is to sell the outfits for the avatars. In the end, I think Second Life is amazing and, hopefully, I will not become addicted to it.


(An image of myself that does not really look alike)

These pictures are taken from IBM, Dell, and the Hidden Leaf (the town where the animed series "Naruto" take place), and also the two avatars that I chatted with and my avatar.