Some individuals within the gaming industry have found a new way to make money. Offer your games for free.

The concept of Free to Play, or FTP, games on the internet is gaining momentum. The idea is simple and has been around for a long time in various formats. Open up a version of your game to the casual and more serous gamming public for free. Let them experience the fantastic world of gameplay you spent months to years creating. Then, once they have seen how enjoyable the game is, let them know that they can get an even better experience by paying a few dollars. There are just some items that are too hard to come by or some areas that are off limits that can be accessed via a simple payment of real money.

Finally, once you have gotten your customer base used to the idea of paying real money, something like $2.00 dollars for a thousand Mana, increase the offer. Make harder to find items and charge more. It does not matter that only a few will take the plunge and splurge for that uniquely colored party hat -some will. And, when your user base is in the millions, the ability to generate thousands a month is easily within your grasp. It is no wonder there has been a large shift to catering to the casual gamier.

Every game is an escape from reality in some fashion or another. Games take some element of reality and simulate it to varying degrees. Battleship, for example, simulates a naval battle by allowing opposing players to select where on a board to place their ships and where to fire their missiles. Fog of war is simulated to increase the challenge. Second life’s goal, as its title suggests, is to simulate life itself. A digital world with digital assets is nothing new. Pixels have long been used to display uber cool gear. Bits have long been used to store phat lewt. However, never before have digital goods been transferable to tangible goods. (Selling characters and gear on EBay doesn’t really count…)

The conversion of in-game money to real life money has created a completely new ethical dilemma. It means that any asset a person has in game can be sold in game and converted into dollars. In fact, these are generally fairly liquid funds that can be used in a pinch if needed. Some may question whether bits should be bought and sold, but that doesn’t concern me. We buy TVs, which merely display bits. We buy internet access, which merely transfers bits. In short, we’re already paying for bits for the sole purpose of entertainment. Why should it matter if people start paying more for entertainment through bits?

The real question is this: if imaginary assets can be quickly and easily transferable to real goods, should they be included as part of a person’s net worth? Should Second Life assets be taxable? These exact questions are being investigated at the moment. It’s actually rather easy to imagine a money-laundering scheme that goes through Second Life in order to avoid government “interference.” Additionally, some people make their living on Second Life. Should they be taxed on their assets in game? Should casual players who merely play the game for some cheap enjoyment also be forced to pay taxes on the bits that they own, even if they never plan to convert them to cash?

We have all heard of different companies using Second life for Marketing and even small time people doing business in Second Life. Some people are doing so much business they don’t have to have a real life job and devote their whole time to running their business in the game. Organizations and governments are also getting into the fray having Second Life Capital Hill and Reuters Island for constant Second Life news. Now there are also world wide conferences being held on Second Life and Law Associations are debating over the “law-less” Society.

According to an article on foxnews.com by Andrew Miga, Representative Edward Markey attended a conference on climate change from his office in DC over Second Life. Markey who could not leave DC for the conference attended as his virtual self and interacted with other participants in a virtual setting of the Bali conference. Markey was quoted as saying, “This is my first foray into Second Life, but it won’t be my last.”

At the same time that our leaders and we ourselves are able to attain and go places we never thought possible, there is still some caution needed. There are few rules in Second Life if any. Many small business owners in second life are concerned about intellectual property rights. Even the American Bar Association is getting into the fray contemplating not just Second life but also other online games (their site). The issue with Second Life is that their is no protection for business owners looking for recourse as explained in an article on Reuters Second Life news site. Business owners are taking a huge hit and I don’t see more people investing in the online economy to make money for the real world until the law-lessness is cleared up.

Real life and Second life are colliding. They are providing new ways for us to interact and new opportunities people never dreamed of. There are even new ways to interact with the computer and the game itself. Second Life is changing real life.

Second life.  What is this?  The first time I heard of this Second Life, that was my initial reaction.  Actually, the first time I heard of it was on a television show in which the shows sort of nerdy and quirky character was talking about his second life character.  I didnt believe it at first, but after checking out the site myself and doing a little research, I realized it really was a legitimate site in which users were actively participating on a daily basis.  My first reaction after reviewing what second life was all about, was that it was the most ridiculous and crazy idea I had ever seen online and to be honest, I felt pity for the people that used it and put money into.  But now after looking into it further talking to some other people, I realized it is still the craziest most ridiculous site I have ever heard, and I still pity the people who use it. 

But despite what I think, Second Life has been a successful model and has drawn in millions of users.  To be honest, I kinda wish I had come up with the idea.  Despite the sort of obvious doubts that many might have with the idea, Second Life has been responsible for fostering a lot of creativity in art, music, architecture, business.  After all, the Second Life characters themselves are creatively generated.  Sure there are going to be some controversial issues the will inevitably arise, but as for now, and as crazy as it may seem, Second Life appears to be staying around for awhile.  After all, who am I to judge though.  I have spent more hours than I care to remember playing Madden football on Playstation 2.  So while I think second life users may be somewhat crazy, Im sure there are people that think I am just as crazy.  People will always find ways to fill their time, and I see Second Life as another example of that.  First was their was Sim City and then Grand Theft Auto, and now Second Life, so the natural question is, what’s next?

Second life has been getting a lot of attention as far its bizarreness. But honestly, I don’t think it’s that bizarre of an idea. It’s not too far outside of the boundaries of many forms of entertainment that are already extraordinarily popular. I think it’s exactly the same thing as indulging in video or computer games, just more up front about its purpose & not masked by its name. Second life is obvious about what it is: it’s a second life. For most, it’s probably all done in fun. For some, it’s an escape from their first life. You can achieve the status you never actually could in reality; you can obtain the possessions that you can’t afford in reality; you can be exactly who you want to be. You can do the things that reality just won’t let you do.

But how is that any different than other electronic games? I don’t think it is. Whether you’re an all-star soccer player or some secret agent trying to kill everyone else, it’s all pretend. It’s all about doing things that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to. The people doing it are looking for the same things as those involved in Second Life — it’s just achieved by taking a more subtle avenue.

I think that the creators of Second Life found something that people were looking for: a way to live in an alternate reality. But it’s not the first time the idea has been thought of; so let’s not give it that much credit. They realized that people have been trying to do this in so many different ways for years — and they just made it a lot easier.

Don’t we have enough problems in our real life? Don’t we have enough joys in our real life? Don’t we have enough avenues to spend our money in our real life? Don’t we have enough entertainment in our real life? It is obvious that many individuals seek online extra excitement and alter lifestyles by creating Avatars on Second Life. It amazes me that so much time, thought, effort and money are invested in this site! After searching Google for Second Life, blogs were displayed. In fact, about 45,100,000 sites were displayed for Second Life including newspapers, journals along with official Linden dollar exchange sites and live feeds. In fact, I even learned that last week, the official Second Life Herald proved through the use of charts and graphs that, “Second Life Economy is in a Recession”. Should I be worried that 3D, virtual community has entered into a recession? Not so much. I hardly have enough time to closely monitor the real U.S. economy. It seems to me that this site is a bazaar idea that merely provides another time-consuming means of entertainment for people desiring to waste time. But hey, the Second Life creators are the successful, rich entrepreneurs so maybe they just beat me to the “great” business model creating a fantastic fad of avatars living a fake Second Life.