June 27th, 2008
I discovered this blog yesterday, and it has an interesting post with seven tips for real world business in Second Life.
Some excerpts, here and there, and my comments between ( and ):
Interestingly, despite last year’s rampant over-hyping of SL and the recent negative downturn, at least a few of the avatars that visit us for coffee With crayon say that there are still lots of marketers who are first discovering Second Life and other virtual worlds, and thinking about what opportunities and challenges they present
(In fact, it was an HYPE, and journalists and bloggers perfectly know what a HYPE is… they do it all the time!!)
Get to know the cultural landscape
“Educate yourself about community norms and important milestones in Second Life history… Design content around the needs of residents rather than focusing solely on the aspirations of your marketing department.”
(yes, but… it takes time. Why don’t you hire a social expert for a few hours, and skip the pain?)
Improve, don’t invade
“Second Life is a collaborative experience, and leaving residents out of decision making is a serious error… Be prepared to engage with residents, instead of creating a build, walking away and working why no one visits.”
(completely, totally agree)
Involve and engage
“People are more interesting than things and the social aspect of Second Life is more important in the long term stuff than ‘the stuff’.”
(exactly: Second Life is essentially a social web app. Objects are not important right now… yet)
Prioritize usability
“Make your virtual spaces easy to maneuver and remember that fancy stuff is a waste of time if it causes bad lag.”
(exactly. Try to make road for fast access, and dedicate time and effort to usability (Nielsen, where are you?))
Leave your parachute at home
“Abandoned building and poorly publicized events will not establish brand loyalty… Live representatives as a branded site are generally far more persuasive than any number of ads or freebies.”
(Hmm… the “cathedral in the desert” problem is still there… But it’s not your fault: problem is that Linden Lab continues to push numbers, while the real numbers about Second Life are much smaller… real and frequent users are below a million!)
Understand technical limitations
“Newcomers should be prepared for a buggy environment. Users will forgive organizations for technical problems byond their control, but they are less understanding if a technical mistake stems from a problem that has been well documented.”
(buggy? Naah… this is a downturn. Just don’t expect NORMAL people to stick with Second Life quite soon)
Work with in-world businesses
“As a way of demonstrating respect for Second Life’s cultures, real-world businesses are encouraged to work with in-world businesses, be a good member of the community, and most importantly, makes sure not to eliminate the little guy.”
(exactly: treat Second Life as another business, not as a virtual world)
I would add another tip: create communities, create experiences, create hype for your product or service.
You will stand up on the hill.
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By sbrunozzi -- 0 comments
June 25th, 2008
[source]
This sentence is worth reading:
“There are 20+ patent applications up for review by the USPTO right now “involving virtual worlds and different types of credit accounts, charge accounts, escrow transactions, risk mitigation (to name a few) used within these worlds,” explained Samuel Weis, who is in charge of reviewing the applications”.
Do you know what it means?
It means that in a few years, or even months, patents will start working and limiting virtual worlds or, if used correctly, will be their main economic engine, fostering innovation and research investments.
Problem is that virtual worlds seem too tightly connected to US legislations, which is NOT the best one in terms of patents and regulations. This may mean that europeans, and asians, will start asking for a more international version of virtual “laws” and patent rules.
I fear that this kind of dialogue will not arrive untile late, and therefore we will witness a short but intense period of patent fights. Those few capable of handling these complex issues will become rich lawyers, of course :-)
You see, every day something comes out and reminds me of the necessity of having world rules for technology, and virtual worlds. Standards foster innovation; local rules, don’t.
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June 24th, 2008
They just announced the tracks and sessions for the upcoming Virtual Worlds Expo in Los Angeles on September 3-4, 2008.
1) Hollywood
2) Enterprise
3) Kids
4) Future
The fifth is still missing.
Hmm, I guess that the fourth one (about the Future) should be the more interesting. What a pity I can’t attend!
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June 24th, 2008
SL5B stands for Second Life 5th Birthday, and we now have the text transcript of the opening keynote of the event. (here the full transcript).
Well, it is a nice keynote, whatever, but NO INTERESTING information comes out from that. In brief, if you didn’t attend… well, nothing to lose.
I guess that keynotes are intended this way, but… what about the Future of Second Life? Eh eh, that link is for fun… But, really: what about the Future of Second Life?
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June 24th, 2008
Claudio Ricci, Assisi’s Mayor in both First and Second Life, will be at unAcademy, tonight at 9pm italian time (12pm PST).
The topic will be: relationship between citizens, and their representatives, with a focus on new tools and media, such as Second Life.
I’m proud to see that Claudio Ricci is becoming a benchmark for these kind of topics: he is a bright innovator, and when I first described him my activity in Second Life, he immediately understood its importance.
This is his baptism with Second Life, and another article that gives more details.
Good luck Claudio!
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June 23rd, 2008
Check out this tutorial on how to record voice chat and sound!
This is the #39 of a big series of video tutorial, by Torley Linden. If you’re not familiar with Second Life, or if you want to improve some skills, those video tutorial are gorgeous, and very useful indeed!
In fact, I always said that those video tutorial have more impact than many other initiatives. Basically, Second Life is COMPLICATE for a lot of people. Making it easier means a lot!
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June 21st, 2008
Interesting post from Wagner James about a new land devoted to the ancient Roman Empire; this is their blog.
A great interview to Creig Sherman, CEO of Gaia Online.
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June 20th, 2008
Do you want a virtual corporation, perfectly valid as a legal and fiscal entity? In Vermont, YOU CAN!
On June 6th, Gov. Jim Douglas signed an inauspicious-sounding bill entitled “H.0888, Miscellaneous Tax Documents” that could revolutionize the way startup companies are formed and run. As New York Law School professor David Johnson explained to me, up until now, U.S. law required LLCs to have physical headquarters, in-person board meetings and other regulations that have little relevance in the digital age.
No longer. Under the new law, for example, a board meeting may be conducted “in person or through the use of [an] electronic or telecommunications medium.” A “‘virtual company’ will be, as a legal matter, a Vermont limited liability company,” said Johnson. And other states are required to recognize the corporation as a legitimate LLC. So while in the past many companies registered in Delaware to take advantage of that state’s business-friendly policies, with this law, Internet-driven startups may find Vermont even more ideal.
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June 19th, 2008
[news source]
In response to DMCA regulations, Linden Lab administrators deleted a lot of pirated content from Second Life, apparently taking down some things that weren’t pirate, after all.
“Frustrated Second Life business-owners have turned to lawsuits as an option. Last year Second Life users Robert Leatherwood (Second Life: Volkov Catteneo) and Thomas Simon (Second Life: Rase Kenzo) were sued for distributing copies of virtual objects. Both cases settled for nominal amounts.”
If you don’t the details, take a look at the Wikipedia page about DMCA. I don’t agree on its principles, and I don’t like when DMCA interferes with freedom and creativity. By the way, this is what you get when your servers live in the U.S. territory :-)
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June 18th, 2008
In a few days it will be Second Life’s fifth anniversary, and they will have a huge event!
Are you ready to roll?
They say that [bold is mine]:
“All exhibits are PG, because we want to make the SL5B as inclusive as possible. All Residents, from all communities, and all countries are welcome to attend, exhibit, volunteer and build. We’re thrilled that 60% of our Residents hail from outside the United States, reflected in roundtables from Japan’s Keio University to your fellow Resident musicians around the world. As a result, we are reviewing and approving content to make sure it matches our PG guidelines. This insures all exhibits are appropriate for a worldwide audience, and showcases your amazing talent, innovation and creativity. Please note that this in no way reflects a change in overall policy. Second Life will remain as open as it always has.”
Hmm… what do you think about it? Do you like this light “censorship”? I guess it’s quite fine.
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