Perhaps my disappointment with Second Life is due to the reality (or virtual reality) not living up to hype.

I can certainly relate to Gartner analyst Steve Prentice’s statement, that there is a coming “level of disillusionment, caused partially by difficult of scaling the infrastructure to cope with new people, partially by a sense of dissatisfaction as the perceived level of reality falls behind that which is becoming the norm in the home entertainment environment.”

Dive bar, me, dragon, in the trough.

My dissatisfaction may be because Second Life is difficult to categorize. As a video game, it falls short in comparison with both console games and PC-based MMOGs like World of Warcraft. The graphics aren’t as good, there’s a confusing UI, and lack of a compelling mission for people to unite behind.

Is Second Life a social gathering place? The number of people actually there when you login is nowhere near a bustling city. I’d sooner hang out at a Web 2.0 social site.

What about a business opportunity? I guess I’m a terrible customer. I find the scads of advertising and the competitive power of money offensive. My lack of Linden cash has pretty much delegated me to a broke, homeless person. I guess I just haven’t gotten my head around spending real money for virtual things in this particular world. So for a virtual cheapskate, Second Life feels like Pursuit of Happyness: The Video Game.

All that’s left is a rubber-necking sort of “Wow, did you see what just walked by? Was that a ten foot furry dildo?”

Still, this car-crash element can be entertaining in small doses, and makes colorful copy, such as this this outstanding piece by comic writer Warren Ellis (Transmetropolitain). It documents the aforementioned confusion of worlds - great promise, possible implosion, and general chaos - crashing into each other.

Ellis documents a scene where the virtual millionaire Anshe Chung and her virtual real estate empire, developing the virtual image of Second Life as a business opportunity (Casey Serin, meet your avatar)… was interviewed while seedy, freak-flag giant penises floated across her stage (I didn’t make the ten foot furry dildo stuff up) in an online performance-art protest of sorts. It’s creepy, funny, and stupid all at the same time.

This is the kind of publicity Second Life is dealing with right now. Can you understand my disillusionment?

For Second Life to grow up and move on, I’m thinking Linden Labs needs to demonstrate some practical purpose to Second Life and get beyond the hype.

Here’s one way out of the digital doldrums: Go “adults only.” Embrace its growing reputation as a digital Las Vegas, overrun by avarice, greed, lust, furry Paris Hiltons, gambling, and robber barons. There will be tons of opportunity for money. The adult entertainment route would certainly mean climbing out of the disillusionment trough - albeit wearing a panda suit - but escaping nonetheless.

And I’ll politely stay far, far away from that life, if you don’t mind.

[tags]Second Life, Technology, Web 2.0[/tags]

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