Darren Barefoot gives us a cute reminder over at Get A First Life that maybe we shouldn't take Second Life quite so seriously. Featuring 6.5 billion residents and absolutely no lag, Darren suggests we should all give First Life a try.
I took First Life for a test drive earlier today and liked what I saw. The graphics were breathtaking and vehicles experienced no problems crossing sim borders. Primitive buildings blocks, called atoms in First Life, are plentiful and offer extreme levels of detail for any build. The First Life physics engine is highly optimized and extremely fast, using quantum wave functions to simulate most of the operations of the estimated 1.7 x 10^77 atoms in the universe. These wave functions cleverly collapse into individual atoms only when observed by a resident.
But things are far from perfect in First Life. Flying and teleportation were completely borked, and residents were very limited in their avatar options. Changes in weight require regular exercise and diet while changes in facial features or gender require painful and expensive surgical procedures. Constructing objects in First Life requires time consuming, labor intensive manipulation of natural resources, some of which are rare and difficult to obtain.
While many people complain that Second Life has become too commercialized, First Life is extremely commercial. The need for food and shelter force all residents to engage in sometimes boring or meaningless employment. Sadly, there is no sandbox in First Life where people can live out their lives tinkering, experimenting, and socializing at no charge.
The social scene in First Life is by far more immersive and satisfying than in Second Life, but at a cost. One's immutable physical traits often take a higher priority than personal charm or talent when it comes to social success. In Second Life the reverse is true. And when it comes to sex, very few things can compare to the joys of First Life lovemaking. However in Second Life there are no worries about Sexually Transmitted Infections. Also, in First Life males come pre-equipped at no extra charge.
Freedom of speech and expression in First Life is no where near as well developed as in Second Life. First Life property owners can freely remove individuals from their own private property simply because of differences in opinion (an action considered highly taboo in SL.)
Not everything in First Life has a parallel to Second Life. In Second Life there is the FIC, a highly persecuted exclusive minority group rumored to secretly control all the world's money and politics in a conspiracy going back years. I looked for a history of similar accusations against a visible group in First Life, but couldn't come up with anything. However, while there is little or no vocal condemnation of furries in First Life, attacks against racial minorities is an ongoing problem.
Finally, all parcels in First Life have damage turned on, and when your health is reduced to zero, your account is permanently terminated. Widespread disagreements over land, natural resources, political ideaology, and religion have caused First Life residents to use this feature to quell opposition, sometimes in mass numbers. Much of First Life's economic and technological resources are devoted entirely towards terminating the accounts of others. Some believe this trend makes First Life unscalable and likely to result in an irreversable grid-wide crash in the near future.
So to sum up this side-by-side review of Second Life and First Life, I would recommend users drink in and enjoy all the benefits of both. At least while we still can.
1. finallty something funny on the insider
Posted at 7:54PM on Jan 20th 2007 by Mathieu Basiat