Terra Nova

Second Life's infrastructure issues prompt an open letter to Linden Lab

A sizable group of Second Life residents (more than 1300 as of this writing, although there is some doubt as to the authenticity of the signatures) has signed an open letter to Linden Lab, to highlight five concerns related to the infrastructure of the virtual world:

May Guest Michelle Hinn

We're pleased to welcome Michelle Hinn, who will be guestblogging at Terra Nova throughout May.  Here's her impressive bio: 

Michelle Hinn is an instructor in the department of Library and Information Sciences at the University of Illinois, where she teaches game design courses, and is the academic advisor for the Women in Math, Science, and Engineering living/learning community at the university. She was recently named one of Next Generation Magazine's 100 Most Influential Women in Gaming based on her work as chair of the  IGDA Game Accessibility Special Interest Group. She is also the head of the game division of a shareware/donationware company, DonationCoder.com.

The State of Play Academy

Rachel and I will be appearing at SOPA today at noon pst to discuss the Fizzy experiment at there.com (http://stateofplayacademy.com/).  Everyone and anyone is welcome  Thanks again for a great month.

May Guest Ian Lamont

We're happy to have Ian Lamont joining us as a guest author on Terra Nova for the month of May.  Ian's self-introduction follows:

I'm the senior online projects editor at Computerworld, a trade publication covering the IT industry, and a graduate student at the Harvard Extension School, studying modern Chinese history and mass media. My thesis is based on a computer content analysis I performed on traditional media content (news articles published by the New China News Agency) but my research interests extend to Chinese Internet usage and regulations. Thanks to my studies, my job, and my blogging efforts, I have many opportunities to write about these and other technology-related topics that interest me, most notably 3D software tools, virtual worlds, and emerging media technologies. 

A whole lot of PlayStations

In our corner of the universe, considerable coverage has been given this past week of IBM's announced new mainframe platform based on the Cell processor (PlayStation 3) that is designed to support virtual worlds (and related) applications.  Beneath the fold I'll provide a sampling of links. 

Liquid metal

Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2 confronted a T-1000 - a liquid metal villian capable of shape changing.  Second Life, in a way, strives to touch a similar star with its "sculptured prim" feature, a new user tool for generating shapes from textures ("images").  At least this is a direction they claim to be heading.

Harry Potter saves computer science?

Buzzword Compliant is calling it the "Harry Potter programming language."  Hackety Hack  was created as manifesto by the author of The Little Coder's Predicament  (also here).  Early shades of David Brin's "Why Johnny Can't Code" (below). This week sees a new beta release of Hackety Hack - ready to engage the 13+ (at heart) everywhere.  Who would have thunk it.  A Gecko and Ruby mashup as fun:  "Code yourself a blog in 6 lines" (fn1).  Along with the other options we have discussed in the past (below), could "a blog in 6 lines" save computer science education?

Final Post on The Fizzy Experiment

A few comments.  First, I am delighted that so many of the students posted comments. Second, the lack of uniformity in the screencasts has been because of technical difficulties, and so we are still attempting to get all of them up, which should happen by next week. 

And then, on a different note.  I thank you again for allowing us the space this month to share our project.  We are novices at the beginning of a journey, and you have allowed us to post and get feedback from experts.  We are very appreciative.  I think what was interesting about this project was the beginning-ness of it--the first steps of law students applying their most basic knowledge of law into a virtual world that they were unfamiliar. 

And so where does this project go next?  I think I will be writing a law review article on the experiment, but I am not sure.  Do we look more seriously into the property questions?  I'm not sure.  I know Rachel will continue to work in this field (she has a job at Linden Lab for the summer), which is good enough for me.  And other students are inspired to do more work, which is good as well.  And I saw students take inititive (one became the oganizer of new groups each week, another arranged the in class video conference call with Jason Archinaco, which became the finale for the course).   

But for the project itself?  I'm just not sure at this point.  I am in a space of just enjoying what we have accomplished at the moment.  We did it.  We took 100 students into Second Life and survived.  That is something.  We were able to apply and analyze basic concepts of property law to what we saw in Second Life.  That is something as well.  We created 13 screencasts.  We worked well in small groups ( law students are notoriously known for not playing well with others).  We had a representative from Linden Lab that began the class and the attorney for the Bragg case that ended it.  We blogged at Terra Nova.  We will appear on Monday at the State of Play Academy.  We felt part of the world, which is not usually the case for a First Year Property class.

Any suggestions or comments on what would be useful as the next step would be greatly appreciated. 

Thank you again for allowing us the space to be part of Terra Nova for the month.  It was great and thrilling and wonderful...

The Magic Circle

I have been thinking about the relationship of law to virtual worlds for a long time -- and here's one result. 

The art of winning

In her first book, "Chess Bitch: Women in the Ultimate Intellectual Sport" [1],  Jennifer Shahade delightfully contrasts her early chess play ("violent", "reckless", "aggressive") with her ("iron-man physique") father's "sedate style" (fn1).    He was by her words a "calculator", prefering solid positional set-ups.  She had the taste for slash and burn in those early days, he built walls.

The Screencasts from Fizzy's Second Life Property Law Project

We have officially completed all of the screencasts for the Second Life project at Seattle University School of Law.  We have created screencasts, many of which are now available for viewing.

We now have a good portion of the screencasts available in two forms-- the original versions (which run 18-30 minutes) and the brief versions, which concentrate only on the property question at hand.  They are available for viewing at http://fizzy.blip.tv/. 

One caveat -- these were created by the students, and they are responsible for the content and comments. 

Law Students in Second Life

I have asked my students to respond to the project.  Today we completed the 13th and final episode of "Fizzy's Second Life."  Some of the episodes are up at http://fizzysecondlife.blogspot.com.  I will, in the next few days, post excerpts on the property questions to give a sense of what we did with the project.   

A few more comments about the project.  Many were skeptical about the project, and some continued to be.  Others were enthusiastic.   I have tried to encourage a wide variety of students to contribute as comments to this post.  We will see what happens.

Ludium II Registration Opens

Those attending Ludium II can now register at https://www.indiana.edu/~swi/reg/ . Information about the conference is here. Space is limited.

Fizzy's Second Life Project at Seatle U. -- A guest coming to class tomorrow

The lawyer for the plaintiff in the Braggs case will be visiting our clase via video conference call (and not through Second Life) tomorrow.  I will report more after class. 

Tomania, Tomania

In 1940 Charlie Chaplin directed and starred in The Great Dictator, a satire of Hitler and Nazi Germany (fn1) situated in the fictional country of Tomania.  In the real world,  there followed a great war and the good guys won. I commented in passing on an important moment - Brass Buttons.    Soon democracy flourished, sort of, after a hiccup called the Cold War and a somewhat invisible under-developed world.  But no matter.  There came this idea known as the "internets" and all sorts of folks invented it.  Soon others were envisoning virtual kingdoms and questions of how to govern these places arose.   Some were saying it is just a game, others wished another whack at a new, digital, democracy.  Yet, surprise, as Cory Doctorow revealed recently (fn2): online games are dictatorships.   

State of Play Academy

More on the law and virtual worlds front... The State of Play Academy, the first law and technology academy built in a virtual world, is gearing up for some very interesting and free sessions in the next couple months.  Lauren Gelman writes:

Eco-friendly

Ed:  6/16/2007:  Ziggurat Con update - gratz!

Gamegrene is reporting of Ziggurat Con and what could be the first D&D convention/game day ever held in a war zone ("to be held June 9 from 1200 to 2100 hours at Camp Adder/Tallil Airbase" [fn1]).  Tony Walsh again asks if Second Life is environmentally sustainable ("avatar in Second Life consumes about as much power as the average Brazilian" [fn2]).  Meanwhile, the Washington Post reports that US military thinkers are worried about climate change (global instability, terrorism).  In 2004 Ted asked whether we should all run away into virtual worlds.

Coming of Age in World of WarCraft

You know, I wouldn'€™t call myself one of those evil academics^TM who €˜studies€™ World of WarCraft (WoW). Far from it, I play WoW, and the anthropologist in me can't help but analyze what makes that play culture tick. And that would include a little more than a passing academic interest in WoW. So, maybe I am evil after all and I suppose that's why I typically play Horde. kek.

The feeling of space

I jumped from Second Life to There the other day and got thinking about the way that space /feels/ in virtual worlds. 

Live (virtually) free or die?

For some of us this coming Monday is Patriots' Day.  I also live a skip and a stone's throw from "Live Free or Die."   Don't fool with freedom.  So China's announced constraint on virtual worlds might seem like a wet-fish-slap-in-the-face for the likes of me. Yet as this story dogs my recent concerns on the trendline of mass market virtual worlds (fn1.), I find myself willing to listen.

Law & VWs Update

WoWGlider litigation and more...

Rat atat tat (or why rat food and vodka don't mix)

Jeff Atwood forwards a thoughtful piece considering online extrinsic versus intrinsic reward systems, read it on his site.   He contrasts Amazon's Mechanical Turk with its book review system.  With one you are paid to contribute, with the other you volunteer.  By Jeff's reckoning one is more successful than the other.

Nerf, Nerf, Nerf

I play a lot of pvp, most of it on WoW, some of it in FPS format.  The concept of "balancing," and its attendant justification of "nerfing" has seen a lot of discussion now that arenas are out in WW.  Balance is bunk.  The reason designers don't achieve it is because they don't want it.

PS3 Home Not Second Life

Is PS3 Home just a next gen console port of Second Life?  On Three Speech, Sony's Phil Harrison, interviewed at GDC, says absolutely not.

What's with your pixel?

I thought about the internet stunt known as 'Where the Hell is Matt?', then wandered into nostalgia about Battlezone (the original), proceeded to dance with a few drones in Eve-Online, and ended up perched on a pixel.

Calling in the FBI

From Reuters and CNN comes this small item about Linden Lab asking the FBI to take a look at the casinos in Second Life, which the FBI apparently has done, although the legal status remains up in the air for now. Former Linden Lab General Counsel -- now Vice President for Business Affairs -- Ginsu Yoon has an interesting quote in the piece:

"It's not always clear to us whether a 3-D simulation of a casino is the same thing as a casino, legally speaking, and it's not clear to the law enforcement authorities we have asked," Yoon said.

I am not a lawyer, but about a year ago I did ask whether we needed a virtual gaming commission. (Gambling, as I pointed out then, is often seen from a policy perspective as requiring special oversight.) Apparently, Linden wonders where to go from here about gambling in virtual worlds as well (or maybe they'd just rather the speculation were confined to buying real estate ;-) ).

Local contexts of 'addiction' to online games

I’ve been a reader and friend of those on TerraNova since its beginning in 2003. Being a person who loves games, gaming, and games research, it is an absolute pleasure to be an invited guest blogger for TN this month.

I thought this would be a great time to share my plans for (dramatic epic music //) the dissertation (// dramatic epic music) so that TN readers may get a cursory idea of what I'm 'about.' My research involves taking a critical look at dominant discourses surrounding the phenomenon of “online games addiction” as it is understood in a colloquial sense, primarily the concept is presented in the mass media.  More specifically, I’m questioning the meanings of definition, regulation, and cultural value of excessive game playing in the context of Korean online game culture. My goal is to build an increased understanding of cultural factors in the evaluation and implementation of technology and the social fallouts that may coincide with that.

The Future Lawyers' Expedition Meets Second Life: Struggles, Discoveries, Fascinations, and Concerns

A Project by Elizabeth Townsend Gard and Rachel Goda

After obtaining five arcane rings, Anya rushed back to the Lord Nagafen in the Solesek Eye to deliver the mystical rings and received a final mission from him to defeat Darather, the dragon residing in the Isle of Refuge.  By dawn, Darather was defeated by the hands of her allies, twenty-four of the best fighters and healers in the land of Norrath.

Meeting in the Ether (last installment)

Meeting in Alphaworld .30, Summer 1995 - Avatars98 cyberconference, November 1998

In my last guest column (about some of the language that emerged in early social virtual worlds) there was pictured an early meeting in Alphaworld alpha .30 in the summer of 1995 (see above). This final column (and then I will get out of the way for three fine April columnists) is about how early groups, notably the Contact Consortium, established early designs of how people could create meaningful meetings and large scale events inworld. I will be missing out a lot of other fine work and happenings in other platforms from this period so please forgive me. I am offering the Virtual Worlds Timeline project to this community to capture a more complete recounting of innovations in early Internet worlds and invite contributions to that effort.

So this last column is about how the Consortium members first worked out basic methods to carry out projects and meetings in the nascent medium of user-built virtual worlds in 1996 and then stretched its efforts and moved its annual conference inworld and hosted thousands of attendees across multiple platforms by the end of 1998. What emerged was the series of Avatars cyberconferences which can serve as models for what is possible in today's second generation platforms.

And now on to the show...

Beast of an idea

Like many current virtual world creators, friend of the show Matt Mihaly is lazy. OK, they call it user created content or inclusive design or something, but it’s just laziness. His latest work shirking strategy is to get you, the public, to invent a race for Iron Realms’ new MMO. So if you have Beast of an idea - see the entry criteria here. And of course you can’t call your self a TN reader unless you satisfy yourself of the IP rights involved.

Using Second Life and the Concept of Virtual Property in a First Year Property Law Course

Exploring the Past and Present of Property in Our Current Future...

A Project by Elizabeth Townsend Gard and Rachel Goda

I (Elizabeth) am delighted to be guest blogging at Terra Nova for the month of April. I want to discuss a current project that I am working on, and in the process I hope to gain suggestions on the direction it should take in the future. Beginning in January 2007, I decided to take 100 first year property students into Second Life as part of their graded work. (I am currently a visiting professor of law at Seattle University School of Law, teaching property, intellectual property, and copyright). The idea of taking 100 students into Second Life was a gamble indeed…for so many reasons. I was not alone in my endeavor, however. I have had the most amazing 2L research assistant, Rachel Goda, who early in the fall, agreed to be part of this crazy adventure, and lend her enormous gaming expertise, both to the design and execution of the project. Our posts will be about our journey—from my perspective, from hers, and even from the students. 

Worldstruck and other In-world terms

Digigardener (that be me, Bruce Damer) shooting the breeze with the gang in Alphaworld version .30, summer 1995. See more early images here.

I was reminded that while standing around in the .30 version of Alphaworld in summer 1995 (see image above) a group of us were moved to come up with some new words to describe the experience of being inside a  new medium. I distinctly recall commenting to the group "guys, what do we call the experience of being here, I mean, we aren't merely online, hmm... I guess we are simply inside a world or  'in-world'". In the grand tradition of other new terms being hyphenated when they are in training-wheels, in-world has now become inworld and is being used pretty widely. See Google search item #4 for "in-world" which encapsulates this shift:

Second Life Inworld Help
Activities and having fun in-world... Groups Starting, joining and managing...

Of course if you Google the term "inworld" in its unhyphenated form you get:
Did you mean: in world

...but the search does give some positive hits including the homepage of a virtual worlds design company called InWorld Studios. So... I guess the term is slowly wending its way "OutWorld" toward the Websters.

Continue on for more juicy terms and a whole goshdarned glossary...