I attended the best Robin Linden office hour for quite some time this week. The discussion largely centred around the trademark policy. However bigger issues were forthcoming such as the grid, be it the Second Life we know and love (no really we love it) or the bigger Second Life grid of which the Second Life world is just a part.
Personally I think Second Life should be the world, ran on Second Life technology but the grid, the bigger beast, the all encompassing umbrella, should be the Linden Lab grid. What’s in a name? Perception and perception is everything. Business whom have read horror stories of being griefed by flying penises in Second Life, can incorporate their own little universe under the umbrella name and avoid the dirt of being associated with Second Life.
Business is far from dead in Second Life and we’re entering a phase of maturity on how business should use Second Life technolgy. There’s a very good article in The Times that I am reluctantly linking to, reluctantly because The Sunday Times carried a story at the weekend about ebay which carried a quote that was so uncannily similar to one of mine on the ebay discussion boards that I’m having a hard time believing they didn’t just lift my quote and make up a name to go alongside it. However that’s a discussion for another time.
The article: McKinsey: ignore Second Life at your peril is with regards to the management consultancy firm McKinsey & Company saying that in the case of virtual worlds, companies are “ignroing them at their peril”
Cheap shot number 1: You’ll note that journalists don’t follow Linden Lab’s trademark guidelines, indeed you’ll notice that they still say “Linden Labs” when we’ve all had it beaten into us that it’s “Linden Lab”.
The article may make some uncomfortable reading for some of us, for example I’m apparently the wrong side of thirty for companies. The big push is for those under thirty and Second Life so far hasn’t captured that market, I’d say it’s miles from capturing that market at the moment. This may seem strange in a world where guns, gore and sex play a big part but it’s not exciting enough just yet, but give it time and you’ll see that one day it will be.
Part of the problem for business has been that they haven’t engaged with the community, they have an attitude that they are this brand, people know them, so people will come. However that’s not the way it works here. As the technology develops then I’m sure business will get it and with the development of applications they will launch techniques of engaging users. Selling your version of avatar created clothing has limited appeal.
One area where Second Life is strong is in education and indeed the article points out that it’s not just traditional education on a college system that is doing well, The Times article points out that Hilton Hotels are training receptionists in virtual lobbies, truck drivers are learning parallel parking techniques and energy companies are using virtual worlds to train their staff on how to deal with hostage situations! This doesn’t sound exciting, well the hostage situation maybe, but in terms of the growth and maturity of the platform it’s very important.
The article also points out that the changing shift from a 2D platform like we have with the internet to a 3D plaform means that skills that have been used for the internet don’t necessarily suit 3D worlds:
“Whereas the needs of the 2D web were well-served by graphic designers, what the 3D web demands is cinematographers, You need story-tellers – actors and directors who can get customers involved in plots and incentive-based structures that are familiar from movies and video games.”
Patience is of course a key element in all of this, whereas right now Linden Lab don’t have the staffing levels to support large organisations, in the future they almost certainly will have. This is an area where existing Second Life business who are already ahead of the game will have the opportunity to flourish and prosper.
Which brings me back to where I started. Second Life itself has been tarnished in some ways by failed business ventures and bad news stories about the behaviour of its residents. Therefore should Linden Lab take a step back from the Second Life name itself and appeal to business interests and those who need guidance on how to develop a virtual world presence as Linden Lab, or do you think there’s more marketing sense in the Second Life name itself?
Whilst you’re pondering that I’m going to go and drool and get all excited over the soon to be out of beta: Age of Conan: Hyborain Adventures now that looks sexy!!!!