I'm obviously biased in my assessment of Tateru Nino: she is a contributing writer for this publication and I'm already convinced she's one of the world's best virtual worlds observers. Articles like this one are why I believe that. It's a superb piece on immersion and how that can be hard to achieve until those first few frustrating hours of getting to know a virtual … [Read more...] about Immersion and the Conceptual Hump
Op-ed
Alice has a dollar. A virtual economic failure
Alice and Bob are participants in an economy. Alice has a dollar. Alice gives the dollar to Bob. In Second Life terms, that’s a user-to-user transaction. Bob gives the dollar back to Alice. That’s another user-to-user transaction. Repeat this sequence four more times. Is Alice and Bob’s economy now worth ten dollars? Or is it still worth one dollar? Well, that … [Read more...] about Alice has a dollar. A virtual economic failure
An endless map
It's safe to say that one of the most discussed areas of virtual environments is the link between the 'real' and the 'virtual'. Like any philosophical debate, there's a minefield of perspectives, preconceptions, research and outright conflict. So to attempt an objective discussion on 'mapping' the parallels between the two spheres is quite an undertaking, and that's what Dmitri … [Read more...] about An endless map
Viewer 2.0: after the afterglow
It's been a couple of weeks since Second Life's Viewer 2.0 launched, and as always there's been no shortage of comment. Gauging the balance is always a challenge, but I think it's fair to say that overall the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. The fly in the ointment has been the new search functionality, particularly its impact on live music events, with some musicians … [Read more...] about Viewer 2.0: after the afterglow
Avatars United: desire or forced marriage?
Linden Lab, whether by design or by accident, appears to have pulled their usual stunt: Wallace Linden's post caused panic and disarray, focussed in a misleading direction, and barely hinted at the truth of the matter. Once again, decisions had been finalised even before the post went live. This sort of behaviour does nothing to inspire confidence in the user population, but I … [Read more...] about Avatars United: desire or forced marriage?