Last Thursday, LnL gathered to discuss the future of Second Life (SL). In the opinion of those present, SL will continue to exist as long as there are paying members and Linden Lab (LL) servers working. This seems simple to state, yet the group was also aware that there are several issues like lack of support by LL or little improvement in SL, causing discontent and an apparent drop in activity and number of residents. Some of the discussers tried alternative Virtual Worlds (VWs) but none resembled SL both in technical and in content creation terms. Mesh, the latest SL craze, seemed to be quite a controversial topic. Some thought the existance of mesh in SL was long overdue while others defended that while other more urgent problems are not solved, mesh shouldn't have been added. Age validation, a rather complex process especially for those living outside of the United States, and no gaming allowed could be perceived as factors contributing to residents losing interest in SL. SL is the biggest metaverse around due to momentum, free membership, being more developed technically, content development being easily available, among other factors. The group suggested a few improvements for the future, such as hipergridding between SL and other worlds or simply fixing what is wrong now! To conclude this discussion, London stated that nothing "lasts forever, Linden Lab created Second Life and a lot of companies have seen the advantages of such a creation, some have opened and closed overnight, some are still struggling to copy the model, but what is undoubtful is that LL's "baby" is and has been setting strong blocks for future virtual worlds. We are witnessing the future by participating in it, and what ever comes ahead, we can say Second Life Is, has been and will be a wonderful adventure. That already has its own place in books as one of the best engines created for human communication!". Hope to see you next week, Thursday at 2pm SLT at LnL's Lounge! New topic!
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