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The Virtual Whirl: Questions from the virtual mailbag
This week, in The Virtual Whirl, we're going to take a selection of reader questions that we've received in comments and in the virtual mailbag and do our best to offer up some useful answers. Join us as we whirl through the mail.
MMO Family: Virtual worlds for kids
MMO Family is your resource for leveling a gaming-specced family ... From tips on balancing gaming with family life to finding age-appropriate niches for every family member, MMO Family offers you advice on MMO gaming of the family, by the family and for the family. Nestling somewhere in between MMOs and social networking, virtual worlds are a virtual sandlot for millions of kids worldwide. Think avatar-based chat and mini-games alongside other kids of the same age range and interests, and you'll catch the appeal of these kid-friendly destinations. While a gaming parent might consider virtual worlds mere training wheels for games still to come, kid-friendly virtual worlds seem to fit the attention spans, chatty nature and niche-y interests of kids to a T. The sheer variety of worlds appealing to children makes it easy for kids to find a spot where they'll want to hang out. As of early 2009, kids could choose from 112 virtual worlds designed for children and teens, according to Engage Digital Media, with more than 80 new worlds under development. The numbers of kids who've found a virtual home in these worlds rivals even the fat figures of MMO big dog World of Warcraft. Research firm eMarketer estimates that in the United States alone, 8 million kids hung out in virtual worlds regularly during 2008; that number is projected to swell to more than 15 million by 2013.
Rosedale sparks speculations
Newly minted Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon has recently been talking about somehow incorporating Teen Second Life into the broader Second Life environment, though no details or plans have yet emerged on how that would happen. At a Metanomics session on Monday, Lab chairman and founder Philip Rosedale sparked considerably more speculation, though his comments on the matter didn't actually provide any new information. The last time we asked Linden Lab about plans to bring adult and teen users together (more than a year ago now), the Lab said that it had no plans or intentions of doing so in the foreseeable future. That appears to be changing, though it isn't clear if the Lab has any ideas of how to bring it about.
Where is Second Life going?
Where is it all going? With an MMOG you already know: Content updates, free and paid expansions, and so forth. A broadening and sometimes also a deepening of the game experience. Virtual environments tend to be a bit hazier, largely supported by microtransactions they may include game-elements (like Entropia Universe), sci-fantasy settings (like the upcoming Blue Mars), specific celebrity events (Habbo) or merchandise and marketing-focused experiences (Virtual MTV, Barbie Girls Online and more). In a very real sense the virtual environments industry is largely about focus. Targeting a market, wooing a demographic, and showing them where you are going to take them in the coming days. Interesting, then, that the world's best-known virtual environment, Linden Lab's Second Life lacks the answers to fundamental questions, the answers to which directly impact every user and organization who participates (or who might participate in future). In fact, hardly anyone is asking those questions. Now isn't that peculiar? Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.
Ghetto grid: Katharine Berry slams Lab's negligence
Famous Teen Second Life user Katharine Berry has spoken out on conditions in Linden Lab's Teen Grid. While, of course, there are rules about content and conduct, they're neither well-followed, says Berry, nor well-enforced. 'Of course, these rules are completely ignored ... Once upon a time, in 2005, Linden Lab would keep track of these things. Today, in 2008, they do not,' asserts Berry, citing an example in her experience where an unauthorized adult in Teen Second Life took more than a year to be removed.
Linden Lab whacks German teens?
According to Ziggy Moonflower (Michael Lange) from Metaversa, Linden Lab has killed nearly 70% of the Teen Second Life accounts belonging to German teens, for unspecified 'security issues'. Some of those teens will doubtless be making new accounts to protest and resume participation, while others will probably not return to the virtual world. The teens with new accounts will obviously have lost their inventory, any creations and all their in-world cash. Linden Lab does not discuss account sanctions as a matter of policy, so there is likely no way to find out what may have happened here.
Kirk says children at risk in Second Life
The Chicago Tribune is carrying a story about Congressional Representative Mark Kirk of the district of Illinois. Kirk alleges that Second Life "is a risk for children, who could be sexually exploited" and has written a letter to the US Federal Trade Commission, urging them to issue a consumer alert to warn of this danger. We're pretty sure that Kirk isn't going to get that consumer alert.
Cinemassively: Global Kids Kofi Annan Simulcast to four different virtual worlds
Global Kids has been quite busy with their activities this year! They recently streamed Kofi Annan receiving the MacArthur Foundation's first International Justice Award. Not only was this event special and meaningful in the first place, but it was also fairly unique in how far it reached. The award ceremony was broadcast to the web, Second Life on both the main grid and the teen grid, There, and Whyville! Could this be a glimpse of the future of event outreach? For more information, check out their site, Holy Meatballs!If you have machinima or movie suggestions from any MMO, please send them to machinima AT massively DOT com, along with any information you might have about them.
Reveal your virtual life - on MTV
MTV are looking for virtual worlders for their (perhaps not entirely appropriately named - but people still get the Web mixed up with the Internet) "I Live Another Life on the Web" part of MTV's True Life. Not just any virtual worlders, either. Ones who are willing to put their real selves on display. What they are after, particularly, is people aged between 16 and 28 (obviously 16-17 would be the province of Teen Second Life), and 18-28 is one of the smaller grid demographics (most Second Life users are older than that). This is MTV, though, and they're supposed to be hip and cool, I understand.
