I've been a skeptic of second life all along, not because I think the premise is wrong, but because the hype was out of control compared to the experience (Hello, media? World of Warcraft? More users? More community engagement?). One of the best lines though was someone who said: "Second Life? I don't even have time for a first life."
Well, today, that's a blessing on its own. The WSJ reports that while the real world economy is reeling, mostly because of the problems many banks are facing, life in Linden is just a bit worse. As the article notes:
The shutdown has caused a real-life bank run by Second Life depositors. Though some players managed to get their Linden dollars out, others are finding that they can no longer make withdrawals from the make-believe ATMs. As a result, they can't exchange their Linden-dollar deposits back into real dollars. Linden officials won't say how much money has been lost, but a run on another virtual bank in August may have cost Second Life depositors an estimated $750,000 in actual money.
And then a quote from someone who could be working as a spokesperson for either the banking or real estate industry in the US:
Steve Smith, who runs BCX bank under the avatar name Travis Ristow, yesterday said depositors -- who are owed a total of $20,000 -- will be able to get their money back next week. The bank, which had promised to pay depositors more than 200% in annual interest, is now allowing only small withdrawals.
"This won't affect us long term. It's just a short-term difficulty," said Mr. Smith, 40 years old, who also has significant land and real-estate interests in Second Life. He said he retired from the real-life mortgage business to devote his time exclusively to his Second Life enterprises.
Is it progress when the virtual world so closely mimics the real world? Hmm....