When reading articles about MMOGs and online games, the most noticeable facet is that people are very divided on the topic of the value of MMOGs–specifically Second Life. People are either fiercely loyal to second life, or they are critical of it. Compare the article “Debunking 5 Business Myths About Second Life” to “One Year in SL–Why the Wild West is Failing.” In the first example, the author goes to great lengths to defend SL against an article by Forbes. In the second article, the author describes his experiences after spending a year in SL, and describes what he finds to be the shortcomings of SL. Sample quote: “I have utterly failed to interest anyone else in SL this past year, because they are immediately frustrated that their character controls like Parkinson’s disease on a champagne/benzo cocktail.” The article itself is nothing spectacular, but take a look at the comments to see just how loyal most SLers can be if they feel SL is being attacked.

Over and over, whether in blogs or mainstream media, people go back and forth on the subject of Second Life. I recall reading an article in Wired last year that basically asked where everybody is in Second Life. I wouldn’t say the article was tolling the death nell of Second Life, but it certainly didn’t paint SL in a rosy light. (Unfortunately I can’t find my paper copy of the magazine to cite, and the search results are far too numerous to sift through.) And this seems to be the point of stories about SL. For every story that says that SL’s prime has come and gone, 15 more pop up telling how viable SL remains.

I for one have no hard opinion yet on the issue of Second Life. I haven’t experienced it on my own. I can only interpret what I see. Considering the huge amount of MMOGs online, I believe that more will be available in the future and there will be bigger and better applications. I’ll see how my opinion differs once I try Second Life for myself.