Yup that’s right, we’re talking about the Metaverse again. But today we’re not going to discuss any obscure concepts or industry analysis, but rather we are going to take a look at the game that’s seen as the closest thing to the Metaverse in Snow Crash — Second Life.
The game, born in 2003, was a phenomenon, attracting press coverage and everyone on the Internet crowding in to see what it was all about. It symbolized mankind’s attempt to create a virtual world, and its brilliance has always been repeated in discussions about it as “past tense”. But the fact is that Second Life is still operating steadily, and people are still living in it as time passes.
So, after 18 years, what kind of world has Second Life become?
Before introducing the recent history of Second Life, let’s review how different this game was back in the day for those who are new and unfamiliar with it. Unlike similar MMO online games, Second Life has almost no native game content, no quests, storylines, NPCs, only some simple and empty maps; players’ characters also have no stamina, level, skills, which are common attributes in games, and their behavior in the game is almost free from ethical and moral restrictions, so they can do whatever they want.
But absolute freedom equals absolute boredom, and Second Life’s fame is certainly not limited to that. The point is that this game provides a near open source editing function, players can import a variety of custom models and action material, like a creator to change the virtual space.
That’s why Second Life didn’t come to the attention of the public until after three years of operation: by this time, players had imported all kinds of model materials into the game, from small objects like jewelry and clothing to tall buildings, both natural scenery like flowers and trees, as well as animals and pedestrians that bring the world to life.
It was at this point that Second Life began to take on the appearance of a virtual world in people’s minds, and the player population skyrocketed, with the one million users that had taken three years to build up breaking through five million in five months.
This also attracted some celebrities who started to try to broaden their influence with Second Life.
George RR Martin had a fan meeting in Second Life, and it was at this virtual reception that HBO announced the news that will make countless fans of the book excited: the news that a Game of Thrones TV series will be produced.
Pianist Lang Lang has also given recitals here in an avatar of his own design, broadcasting his voice and the music he plays in real time.
In 2007, the U.S. presidential candidate John Edwards even built his own campaign center in the game, in order to pull in those who are optimistic about the development of the virtual world.
Companies and organizations of all kinds are also afraid of not being able to catch up and are moving in. Media companies opened branches in Second Life to cover events in the virtual world; Toyota and other car companies brought their products and concept cars into the game to gather feedback from consumers; Warner Brothers, Coca-Cola, Microsoft and Adidas …… are almost every well-known company you can think of in Second Life” has set up its own piece of real estate, racking its brains to increase its presence, just as it is common today to open accounts on platforms such as Twitter and Instagram.
As Second Life reaches the general public, real-life ethics and morality are finally being brought into Second Life.
The Belgian police have investigated players for committing indecent acts against others in the game, and the German police have also opened a case against the dissemination of pornographic videos of minors in Second Life.
The virtual sex trade, gambling, and fraud that were commonplace in the game began to be exposed and criticized, and the developers, overwhelmed by public pressure, eventually regulated these practices, which in turn naturally caused a great deal of dissatisfaction among native players. The two sides tugging at each other caused Second Life to lose its way, and users’ social and gaming needs were then replaced by other products.
The Internet world did not give Second Life a chance to think things through. In almost no time at all, Second Life lost its popularity, the virtual offices of corporate organizations were empty, and the people who were there left in droves, leaving behind a bustling and empty island.
Booms like the one above have actually happened many times over the course of almost two decades.
The rise of online courses (MOOC) in 2010, when many educational institutions tried to use Second Life as their virtual classroom, but ended up with only empty and dusty classrooms.
Affected by the epidemic last year, some people also returned to it, trying to resume a normal social life in the virtual world.
But it turns out that most people can hardly stay in such games for long.
So what are the “indigenous” players doing? The answer is character customization.
Many games today have a delicate character customization system, but whether it’s the level of detail or player enthusiasm, few are comparable to “Second Life”.
This relies on the game’s open source system, from the skull skeleton to the skin texture can be a certain system; but also can not be separated from the accumulation of players over the years, both technical and aesthetic have a very deep accumulation.
This has even spawned a number of specialized material studios, who not only sell custom head material, but also continue to launch their own model retouching supplement packages.
In fact, these studios do not only sell material, but also their brands, and communicate their own aesthetic logic to their consumers. Many face painting tutorials elaborate on theories from model structure to color application, even more detailed than the real-life makeup tutorials.
This is also just a microcosm of the whole game system. In addition to looks, body shape, clothing, transportation, home décor …… every aspect of clothing, food, housing and transportation in Second Life can be derived from related industries, most of which have distinctive styles and personalities.
And naturally, such an ethos has developed because Second Life players do care about this. Some of them spend more time and effort on creating their ideal virtual image than they do on themselves in reality.
It is for this reason that the niche Second Life now has a surprisingly sticky user base, and it is with the support of these core players that the game is able to operate today.
Most people prefer to escape the “material” parts of life in games and focus on experiencing spiritual adventures. But among Second Life players, digitally reconstructing these material foundations has become one of the most important aspects of the game. This is the reason why Second Life has survived to this day.
In Second Life, which offers “absolute freedom”, players who are keen to destroy and enjoy “doing whatever they want” rarely survive for long; it is the players who create that have their own little world.
Many players don’t want others to think of Second Life as a game or a social platform, because for them, it is, as the name suggests, their “second life”.
After the initial commercial boom subsided, speculators who had lost their dreams of gold left the game, but there is still no shortage of players who have staked their lives and careers on it. In addition to the aforementioned material studios, which are the equivalent of beauticians and tailors in this virtual world, there are also guides, gardeners, radio anchors, agents, and a variety of other professions.
As for marriage and dating, that is naturally an important part of community communication.
There are marriage clubs in the game, there are wedding companies, there are mediators …… almost anything related you can think of in reality can be found here.
And previewing married life is also a common part of the process.
Players can go through the complete pregnancy process in Second Life: adding the action of pregnancy vomiting to suggest to their partner that they are pregnant, periodically modifying the model to allow the baby to grow in the womb, and having their partner take care of them when they are in labor, until they finally complete a delivery to allow the newborn to be born.
Naturally, there is no shortage of people who think that these are ridiculous and scoff at it.
When the game was at its peak, someone established the spoof organization “Get a First Life”, which preached slogans such as “Put more effort into your first life” and “Reality doesn’t charge membership fees” in the game, and carried out actions in various places to ruin the atmosphere and thus mock those players who are passionate about “Second Life”.
But that didn’t affect those passionate about Second Life. Both the operators of Second Life and the many players did not care much about First Life, and many of them seemed to be thinking ahead to accept this still crude looking virtual world as part of the world.
If there is one thing that Second Life players are experiencing today, it is perhaps “life” itself. For them, the Metaverse is already here.
Whether Second Life is a success or a failure remains to be determined.
But the existence and development of it has more or less shown us the form of the Metaverse: the “Real World” in which the physical body is located brings the knowledge of the material; the “Digital World” will provide the spiritual experience at will; and the “Social World” is the gap between online and offline, a space where each person can display multiple self-images at will.
Translated from: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/X6buPuTOOc9LpzPErLyEIg
