Play Money: Or, How I Quit My Day Job and Made Millions Trading Virtual Loot by Julian Dibbell documents a fantasy built on a fantasy: one man’s quest to earn more money in the online MMORPG Ultima Online in a year than he does as a writer for Wired magazine. Along the way we gain insight into the nature of addiction and the increasingly blurry line between work and play.

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I gave up on Second Life a while back. I haven’t logged in since, and even stopped writing about it on this blog. But two recent developments spur me to mention it again.

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I’m thankful that today, when I don’t really feel like writing, Valleywag is kind enough to send another link my way concerning my bow-out from Second Life. Read the original post here.

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No, the headline isn’t what you think. I decided to shut the virtual door on Second Life, and therefore end the “game” (well, maybe it’s not) in a suitable manner. Through my travels I built up $200 of Linden dollars, and my last quest was to blow it all. That sounded more appealing than putting it in a virtual bank account or cashing it out, since it seems that amount of Linden dollars is worth less than $1 US.

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I decided about a week ago I’m through with Second Life. At least until the promise lives up to the hype, which I figure will take several years. My final intention is to get in there and blow what few Linden Dollars I have ($200), or give it to some cute red haired furry avatar who could make far better use of it than I.

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

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I just got through the head rush from Shoutwire (which my Sesame Street post is still hanging out there, feeding me traffic), and now I get a link from Valleywag regarding my Second Life gripes.

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Not even a week into 2007 and people are now harshing on Second Life. Valleywag takes some stabs, and Ari Paparo swings with a virtual ten-foot furry dildo:

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Pretty cutting yet largely logical article about Second Life at Valleywag. It basically points out the hype around this virtual world and questions its seeming ubiquity. Here’s another one at Techdirt, and some great analysis at reBang.

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Last week, I took a walk downtown for lunch, and decided to go to L&L Drive In over a similar restaurant - despite the fact the line was out the door at L&L, and my wait was therefore twice as long.

I thought a bit about why I chose to go there, sacrificing convenience over a place that was totally empty, just out of “brand loyalty” (L&L Drive In is a plate lunch place I’ve gone to since childhood in Hawaii) and of course started wondering how this experience applies to websites I frequent (yeah, I’m a geek).

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