Response (Virtual Worlds)

I enjoyed our discussion this week about the continually evolving area of online virtual worlds. I think that it is amazing that we have come from the simple text-based virtual world games where the user types in commands like “k rover” to the sprawling fantasy worlds of World of Warcraft and Lineage. I think that these virual environments are currently only used by a particular albeit large demographic of users. I think that we still have a way to go before we have a Second Life-like virtual world that is as widely used as a social network like Facebook. In response to the questions I posted earlier this week, I came up with the following.

1. The free virtual world program, Second Life, was supposed to be the next big thing for advertisers desperate to break out of the mold. However, the buzz has died down as it has become apparent that the Second Life user base was not growing the way it was first projected too. What is the future of advertising in virtual worlds? Have advertisers found more success in non-MMORPG games such as Madden or Nascar console games?

Second Life was not exactly the behemoth that many advertisers thought it was going to be. However, it would be foolish to rule out virtual world advertising this early in the game. We have seen the massive numbers of users on games like World of Warcraft and additionally there are many other gamers utilizing other console games online. I feel that many advertisers have found effective ways to place ads in games such as promoting new music in Madden or putting a Coke ad on the side of a Nascar race track. There are also businesses who take it a step further and create virtual stores in games like Second Life where users can buy both virtual and real products. I commend the businesses who take the risk and try these new techniques. I think that this area will only continue to grow as more and more people get into gaming. We now see people of more diverse backgrounds (more female and older gamers) and this creates more opportunities for advertising in-game. I also believe that Second Life may evolve into something new or perhaps there will be a rival upstart that takes it place and becomes the Facebook of virtual worlds. If this happens, the advertising potential is limitless.

2. Will we ever see a virtual world game (like Second Life) that appeals to a much wider and diverse audience than these programs have in the past? What changes will have to be made and what benefits will have to be added to a virtual world program to make more people want to utilize it?

I do think that there will eventually be a virtual world program that appeals to a much wider audience. Although it hosts millions of users, World of Warcraft has a very specific audience of hardcore gamers. Second Life seems to appeal to a wider audience but it still has a long way to go in terms of users. I think that to gain more users, Second Life (or an upstart rival) would have to create a very easy to use interface and a much more social network-like experience. They need to make it simple for users to whip out a virtual photo album and show off Facebook photos in game. Or perhaps they can make it easy to swap contact information with digital business cards and create more virtual networking events. The creators need to think about what makes social networks so appealing and take those things to the next level in a virtual environment.

Tags: Second Life, virtual worlds