Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge

I applied for a job there once. To give it a whirl, I tried out Second Life. I wanted to like it. But in truth, I can’t stand it. I just don’t see the point of it. I like hanging out in one specific online game and it has avatars and stuff, but really, I only log into it daily because I have a store I have to manage. I don’t even manage it profitably really, I just do it for some time wasters. My online life is only a means for enhancing my real life, i.e. I use it to communicate with people I’d communicate with anyway. (Well, except for you people reading this blog that I don’t already know in person.)

To me, Second Life will never replace real life and this article at Wired Magazine about the failure of a SL virtual bank illustrates some of why it’s not ready yet to takeover. There isn’t enough trust to operate with transparency and regulation and your money could evaporate overnight with the yank of the power supply. (That’s an exaggeration, but read the article on why solvency isn’t really going to happen in a virtual world without reality stepping in.) The whole affair sounds like a Ponzi scheme, though they insist it was a run on the bank after gambling was banned.

After reading The Tipping Point, by Malcolm Gladwell, I understand that I’m not a Maven. I’m actually a middle- to late-adopter of trends. I am a skeptic at heart when it comes a great many things, and if I am quick to embrace anything, it’s a free donut. Oops, I meant to say technology, but lately, the shine of new geek stuff has worn off and I wait for a better price point to jump it. I seek out value, so no iPhone yet for me.

When it comes to jumping on the bandwagon of Second Life, I just couldn’t do it. I don’t get that much of a thrill from a virtual community. I like real people interaction if it means irritation with traffic or the idiots at Starbucks who don’t understand that double cupping my tea means I can’t yank out the tea bags in time to avoid overbrewing. (It is the weekly bane of my existence, drinking overbrewed, astringent tea.)

Like real life, watch your virtual gold, pieces of eight, credits, doubloons, macaroons, etc. There is less regulatory oversight in virtual worlds than one would like to think. System admins and moderators are only people and stuff will fall between the cracks. Like real life, not every transgression is enforceable, so be wary of how you may be cheated out of your hard won virtual currency.

Caveat emptor. Know what you are doing and why. Online games are very real business as I am beginning to find out. (A family member works for a WOW gold trading site. Oh look at that. You can buy Evercrack gold there now too.)