Posts Tagged: Second Life

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.

1. Will virtual worlds become even more advanced in the future? Will they incorporate social networking and will we be able to create our own avatars that look like us and have all of our information?

2. Could virtual worlds be a new way of advertising for companies with product placement? (i.e. Second Life)

3. Could there be privacy concerns, along with ethical concerns, with virtual worlds?

Week 12: Virtual Societies

Why Virtual Worlds Can Matter
– Thomas and Brown

1.  Thomas and Brown explain while all games provide players with a context for experiential learning, only a few create a context for learning that is primarily social in nature.  Of those that do create this social context, only a handful have the special property to allowing the players who engage in the space to actually create and change and evolve the world they inhabit.  Therefore, since higher learning is a result of the games that allow for player impact on the world, shouldn’t more games of this nature be encouraged rather than deemed as a time-waster?

2.  The article states the visual component of virtual worlds has redefined the landscape of online interaction away from text and toward a more complex visual medium that provides a sense of place.  Should the internet as a whole take on more of this “virtual place” component through avatars to promote social interaction as though in the real world?  In other words, should all sites (search engines, news pages, e-commerce) require a users presence through an avatar.

3.  The function of games has always been to separate play from “ordinary life.”  However, in recent years we have seen many people feel more comfortable in virtual “game” worlds than our real world.  Games today have many qualities of the physical world such as economies, social institutions, reputation, governance, etc.  Should the notion of “separate play from ordinary life” be scrapped as our digital world evolves into a blend of reality and virtual?  Is it possible that our way of life may not support separate platforms in the future?

Ethical Issues in Second Life
– Botterbusch and Talab

1.  There is been endless debate concerning copyright in relation to our digital world.  Have we reached a point in human existence that requires a change in laws thanks to the digital technology now surrounding our lives?  The past 100 years has seen more growth than any other time in history and our way of life today is vastly different than centuries before.  Therefore, a change in traditional laws may be in order to fit our time.

2.  As stated by Botterbusch and Talab, more than one author has noted that ethical issues in Second Life seem to be detached from the fear of consequences in the “real world” (such as illegal file sharing, spamming, multiple identities, illicit materials, etc).  Is this behavior being carried over to the real world by younger generations that seem to carry a disregard for online regulations?  Are games such as Second Life a bad influence and teaching disregard for regulations?

3.  Are the actions of avatars an indication of how that person will react in reality?  Or have people learned to distinguish between real world and virtual world behaviors or personalities?

Staging the new retail drama: At a metaverse near you!
– Papagiannidis and Bourlakis

1.  We all find advertising distracting and annoying, unless it happens to be one of the few ads relating to our likes.  Is it ethically wrong for advertisers to have information about your personal shopping habits in order to better filter ads that are more suited to your likes?  Would the more focused ads be positive (showing the consumer all the choices they have for products they would truly consider) or would it become negative (by overwhelming the consumer and not providing variety to items they may have never considered before)?

2.  There are many cases where avatars do not represent the actual person in real life.  Therefore, would the shopping habits of consumers in virtual worlds be a reflection of what those same consumers would purchase in the actual world?  Can marketers enter virtual worlds with the same focus as real life?

3.  Would shopping in virtual shopping world deem more profitable than simple e-commerce sites we see today?  Virtual worlds bring forth the social elements that people people enjoy about a shopping experience.