Second Life Again

I just returned to Second Life after a few years away. I've always been fascinated by Virtual Reality and Online Communities. I had high hopes for Second Life.

After a couple of years the interface is the same impenetrable mess. The movement is clunky and difficult to control. The graphics are slow rendering and patchy.

There are endless shopping malls with bad fashion. There are bars with people dancing listlessly and no conversation. There are people exploiting other people for sex that isn't really sex, and people littering the landscape with eyesores, and people standing around with no clear idea. Reminds me of something.

I toyed briefly with exchanging my leopard skin knee pants and shocking pink sleeveless texture top for something a little more daring, but on the whole I prefer the simple trailer trash look to, say, a Morticia Adams outfit with diamante bat wings.

The incentive to invest time and effort in learning the intricacies of Second Life is minimal. Facebook, say goodbye to that hard won "Dullest Online Experience" crown.

Virtual 3D Worlds are plentiful, but the trick is to figure out which are of any interest:
http://arianeb.com/more3Dworlds.htm
RealXtend / Open Sim Project sounds interesting.
http://opensimulator.org
http://www.realxtend.org/

I checked out OSGrid. There's some activity there but the place is mostly empty. No critical mass as yet. They use the same system as Second Life, and the Hippo client and Second Life clients are supposedly compatible, so the problems with the avatar movement and graphics in general occur in both systems. The OSGrid is just free, and not so openly dedicated to selling imaginary products and real estate.

But the general feeling of wandering around the abandoned remains of a trade fair is the same.

I checked out IMVU. It's only somewhat 3D. It just chat rooms, that provide a graphical backdrop for text chat with avatars. Your avatar can pop from one seat to another or to the dance floor. The chat is at the expected level. Wassup? Nuthin. Can u spel? Noap!!! According to the site it's 3D Chat and Dress Up. This is a straightforward way of describing the experience Second Life offers.

I'm looking for the cyberpunk matrix William Gibson hipster cool smart online community virtual world. I have a feeling it's still waiting to happen.