In the film industry sequels are generally found to be lacking in terms of the original film in the series. There are obvious exceptions, such as The Godfather II and The Empire Strikes Back, but generally the sequel doesn’t seem to quite reach the heights of the original film.
When it comes to remakes, it’s even worse. People cringe when they read about their favourite film receiving a reboot and with good reason. A remake often lacks the edge and ingenuity of the original, again not always, but all too often that’s the case.
So news that Linden Lab are talking of their new world should be treated with caution until more details emerge. So far Linden Lab have said things like :
If we had one message to share with Second Life users about this new project at this point, it would be: don’t panic, get excited! Again, Second Life isn’t going away, nor are we ceasing our work to improve it. But, we’re also working on something that we think will truly fulfill the promise of virtual worlds that few people understand as well as Second Life users.
They’ve also said things like :
I can’t tell you much more at this point. Very general stuff. It’s too early. So for now it’s just the fact that we’re investing a lot in a next generation platform, in the spirit of SL, that will be better…better quality, better performance, more devices, enable incredible experiences…with time we’ll talk about it more and more and you will all have a chance to provide a ton of input before it’s anywhere close to complete…
They’ve also said things like :
I believe the virtual worlds market is ripe for their own ‘World of Warcraft’ to come along and show us just how much bigger this market could be. And I don’t think you need to leave behind anything (concept wise) that made Second Life successful in order to see that growth. But you do need to raise the bar, and that is exactly what we intend to do.
The thing is that a lot of people seem to think we’re heading for Second Life 2.0, that there will be links between the old world and the new frontier. However there is no indication that this will be the case. The new world looks like just that, a brand new world. A place that may well be very different to Second Life, one that may well attract a very different audience and one where expectations and economic models are likely to be very different. They will certainly be looking to attract a larger audience to their new world.
Now some people think this spells the end of Second Life as we know it. However people thought that the Gillette Fusion would spell the end of the Gillette Mach III, there were even adverts urging people to move on to the new blade and yet, the Mach III is still absurdly popular.
There have been rumours for years that Blizzard are working on a MMO called “Titan” that will spell the end of the road for World Of Warcraft, yet World Of Warcraft is still absurdly popular and won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
The thing here is that people need to wait and see what Linden Lab have up their sleeve before adopting or rejecting the brave new world and the creaky old world. Whereas I can understand why people who invest heavily in Second Life in terms of tier payments are having pause for thought, it should also be pointed out that the new world is not just around the corner and even if it arrives, Second Life will carry on whilst it’s still Linden Lab’s premier product.
The new world may well have Linden Lab’s seal on it, but it will still need to gain traction before knocking Second Life from its perch. Anyone who has visited SL11B will see people, performers, artists and communities aplenty taking part. They aren’t all going to up sticks because a new world appears, things don’t work that way. The new world will have to make its own mark.
I welcome more virtual worlds and I don’t believe that Second Life will be around forever, it’s mightily impressive that it’s still thriving on its eleventh birthday to be honest. However by the same token I don’t think Second Life will be mortally wounded in the next couple of years by the new world. The new world faces many challenges, one being whether it can ride above the curse of the sequel, only time will tell.
More virtual worlds are good for those of us who like our virtual world spaces and I do believe there’s room in the market for far more virtual worlds, but adoption is likely to be slow, the panic button should not be hit just yet.