MikesDesk

Linden Lab is a company which has created a three dimensional virtual world that may accessed through the net appropriately named Second Life. The Second Life world is a platform from which a user may build their own objects and interact with other users. The user is represented by a character, which may have any personality that a user desires. Thus your second chance at life begins with Second Life.

Linden Lab have developed a platform where users may create their own objects in the world, ranging from furniture to vehicles to impressive mansions. This platform of objects is upheld by a free market system with a currency that is freely traded. Users may trade their creations to other users for the currency Linden Dollars. The Linden Dollars may then be transferred to US Dollar based on a floating exchange rate. Remarkably, a USD 100 000 is being traded daily in the world for new objects and for the ownership of land. Second Life is a world that resembles a perfect market and will most likely form the basis of an economic thesis.

Inside Second Life, the user may create objects using an in-world editor and a scripting language that is familiar to C++. My first interaction with such an object was a simple bike. This bike, which is freely available for any user to ride, has been scripted with additional bike tricks. The user (by pressing “C”) can jump a 360 degree flip, which raised a frenzy of conversation among the other users.

The articles floating on the web about the Second Life economy ignited my interest in the world, but it is the fun that I experienced that will draw me back.