4 changes I’d make to Second Life October 14, 2007
Posted by mwj as environment, games, media, second life, technology, virtual worlds, web2.0, web3.0, world of warcraft. 5 comments.I’ve been out of the blogosphere for far too long, so I’m just going to jump into it and not make any apologies. I’ve been spending more and more of my time on Second Life lately, at the University Project that Sun has set up for the Masters of Digital Media.
Second Life is a great big open playground, where you can build a lot of different things and add scripts that make them do a lot of different things. Anything that citizens make in Second Life belongs to them, and they can resell their items at any price using Linden dollars which can be exchanged for real money. But you know all that already.
What I’m interested is where Second Life falls short in its claim to be heralding in a new paradigm for cyberspace. In particular, there are at least four areas that need significant work before virtual worlds like Second Life can be part of Web 3.0.
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Mastering digital media March 16, 2007
Posted by mwj as education, games, journalism, media, second life, technology, web2.0, world of warcraft. 2 comments.My Dad told me that a recent article I wrote for the TWU school paper, Mars’ Hill, went a long way in explaining why I’m pursuing the career path that I am. For those who want to know, I’ve republished the article below.
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The kingdom of Norrath has a GDP roughly equivalent to Namibia. In 2002 the average citizen made about $3.42 an hour. This is an impressive figure, considering Norrath has been in a constant state of civil war since its genesis in 1999. What makes this figure even more impressive is the fact that Norrath is a virtual kingdom, inhabited by players of the online game EverQuest.
These days, inhabitants of online worlds can earn much more. Second Life, which is more of a virtual world than a game, encourages players to buy and sell virtual goods for real money. Some citizens rake in over $50 000 a year. Of course, some are logging 70+ hours a week, as in the case of Veronica Browne of Simone! Design, a virtual fashion company. Despite the long hours, she makes over $17 an hour, well above the retail average. Even the more fantastical games like World of Warcraft, with over seven million players, have well-established economies where it is possible to make a significant income over and above the monthly cost of play.
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warcraft, death and fictive kinship groups December 12, 2006
Posted by mwj as art, death, games, religion, technology, world of warcraft. 2 comments.
Assuming that what Stan says is true, there is a place for bonding in World of Warcraft (WoW). A very real place, since the average amount of time spent in the game by each of its >7 million subscribers is around 2 hours a day.
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Video games lead to domestic shooting April 27, 2006
Posted by mwj as crime, games, journalism, news, world of warcraft. add a comment.Ok, so the headline is a little sensational, but apparently a dispute between a father and his 24 year old son led to the father shooting a wall three feet away from his son’s head. He had threatened to shoot the monitor after the son refused to do laundry and continued playing games (I’d bet on World of Warcraft).