MUVE Platform - Second Life
Who it is developed by
Liden labs, the San Francisco based company (founded by Phillip Rosedale) are responsible for developing one of the largest virtual platforms available today, Second Life.
What functionality it provides
Second Life as described by its creators is not a game, even though it looks like many of the current games on the market today Second Life has differentiated itself by having "no manufactured conflict [and] no set objective". [1] The goal in this world is to basically live a "Second Life", one that provides more opportunities and creativity.
Second Life is a free online experience available to all. Users create 3D visualizations of themselves (Called an avatar) and explore an expansive universe of virtual worlds. Signing up literally takes seconds as you choose a name an an avatar that best represents you.
Second Life encourages its growing community to create and share their own creations by any means, this includes creating unique islands (otherwise known as sims) items and cosmetics. The platform even features a market place and its own form of currency called Lindens (And yes its possible to make real money from your content)
Second life offers its users the flexibility of doing whatever they want to do, from role-playing, to attending events to socializing to owning your own virtual business. Users are unlimited in what they can accomplish.
image taken from secondlife.com on 10/03/17
How well it runs
Considering the amount of logic that happens behind the scenes I feel that Second Life handles itself quite well. Upon first launching the application there was no installation to be found, this could only mean that the game was basically being streamed, sending and receiving data constantly, keeping me up to date.
My first attempt exploring Second Life's virtual was alright, I was using my laptop and was able to run, fly and access many of the different menu items like the inventory and map, however I would frequently lose connection and my avatar wouldn't respond to my input (I was connected by Ethernet so I thought this was quite strange). Eventually I was disconnected from the server which happened around 3 times before I decided to jump onto my desktop where it ran flawlessly.
How it is used
Second life is used for the enjoyment of creating and sharing experiences. Second life arms its users with large virtual toolbox to do what ever they want. Such tools include its very own programming language called the Liden Scripiting Language (LSL) and a built in 3D modelling tool, all it takes is the know how, and can do attitude!
How it compares to others
I've yet to try out any other platform but when I do I will be sure to make a link to a comparison here!
What your impressions of it are
I'm excited to see the extent to which we can modify the game to our liking. Building and creating is what i'm all about. I've had fun exploring a small amount of community content and I've barely left koru the virtual class room. My hopes are high and I cant wait to get started with LSL and import my own 3D models aswell!
Bibliography:
[1] taken from http://www.nbcnews.com/id/17538999/ns/technology_and_science-games/t/if-second-life-isnt-game-what-it/#.U9uyeEi49yw on 10/3/17