“I don’t really think, I just walk.” ~ Paris Hilton
The twelfth episode of the eighth season of South Park (Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset) focused on the unfathomable phenomenon of Paris Hilton. Editorial on Paris aside, the scene of the episode that always resonates with me is near the beginning when “smart girl” staple character Wendy Testaburger, confronted with the reality of Paris Hilton fandom, asks simply. “What does she do?” The only response she gets focuses on what Paris Hilton *is* because the obvious reality is that Paris doesn’t really “do” anything of merit; she gets attention for the sake of getting attention.
Wendy: “I don’t get it, what’s she do?
Friend 1: “She’s super rich.”
Wendy: “But what does she do?”
Friend 2: “She’s totally spoiled and snobby.”
Wendy: (frustrated) “What does she DO?”
Nameless Passerby: “She’s a whore.”
Second Life, and those of us who try to support it are often left in much the same situation. Most people can get their heads around the concept of a virtual world thanks to video games, but there isn’t a lot of upsell in words like “platform.” Invariably, new potential residents will take on a Chris Pirillo voice and press the question harder and harder: “But what does it DO?”
This is only going to be a bigger challenge now that the more-accessible SL in a web browser reality is upon us.
In order for Second Life to survive, the reality is that there has to be something to appeal to mainstream consumers. Even shopaholic pixel vanity obsessives like me need something to do other than sit around and look at ourselves. Now that the platform market has developed to a professional level of 3D artist rendering, the notion of anyone being able to join, set up shop, and have their own business is far less likely. Playing lemonade stand with real money got SL a lot of attention, but that bird has flown.
Linden Lab appears to be *finally* trying to address this issue by going the Sims route. Which is a good start. But it’s a fraction of the potential for the platform. However, because Second Life is a product centered largely on user-created content, this comes up against the sticky ethics of promoting one user’s business over another. When I’ve rolled my eyes through the “newsletters” over the last few months, I keep hitting the sides of those concerns. I want Linden Lab to be able to market effectively to new residents (and existing residents) so that they know where to find engaging content. But, as a business owner and a consumer, I an wary of a system that develops around favoring one market or product over another. I’m also mildly concerned about Linden Lab painting themselves into a liability corner on the issue of non-competition or worse — ending up appearing to promote a product that is later revealed to be unethical. There is also the disappointing reality that despite recent improvements, Linden Lab’s in-house staff appears to suck at judging the value and quality of content.
It’s a treacherous tightrope walk.
Hey, Wait, Aren’t All Problems Just Opportunities In Disguise?
Then I thought about the Linden Endowment for the Arts concept. Now, please understand, the only thing that offends me more than the idea of Linden Lab trying to butt into “the arts” in Second Life are the individuals they selected to chair the “committee” to oversee the farce. It is my hope that the whole Endowment for the Arts project is dead, because other than revamping events listings and search to be, well, useful, I don’t want Linden Lab anywhere near “the arts.”
But, what if the idea were slightly altered on a business level? And what if the “endowments” were altered for that specific cause?
Linden Lab doesn’t need to waste their PR giving attention starved housewives a stage where they can read their mediocre poetry, nor do they need to flog the efforts of those who already self-promote to the Nth degree. What they need is to promote and develop STUFF TO DO while maintaining enough quality and ethical control to protect the integrity of their brand and the products offered within their platform.
What I’d prefer to see is a “Linden Lab Challenge” to creators, inspiring and aiding them in the development of products that are specifically aimed at providing the experience of resident activities. It might sound impossible, but it’s not. It just has to be organized well.
Just off the top of my head:
1. Announce the intention to help encourage this sort of product development, along with a “code of conduct” that will be required from all participants. Separate from the normal TOS, this would specifically addresses ethical terms and goals (most products will likely not be adult-oriented, for example and infringing upon existing copyrights will be expressly forbidden so that no one tries to use the system to rip off Cafe World, blah blah blah).
2. Announce the creation of an open database of skilled talent who are willing to be considered for projects so that people can form their own teams. For example, there might be a good coder or sculpt maker who is interested in getting involved with a project team, but doesn’t themselves have an idea. In order to be listed, people would be screened for previous experience, etc, or be required to make something — there are any number of ways to insure you’re getting someone with at least a minimum level of talent and skill.
3. Allow concept-oriented individuals to submit general open proposals for potential development. Keeping the process open will give the community confidence in it and avoid backroom deal conspiracies that will discourage otherwise eager participants. It could even be coded to allow residents to vote on their level of interest in the project (hey, the JIRA system has to be good for SOMETHING). Details can be withheld to protect the concept, with the initial proposal being a simple pitch:
General Idea: “This project is for a strategy based game for three or more players with a play system that is kind of Stratego meets Mahjong.”
Team Needs: “Scripting is covered, but I will need a sculpt artist and a technical writer.”
Resources Sought: Development Area (size requirement), upload fees.
4. Once team members have found one another and decided on compensation terms (which would have to be included in the final proposal), the full team submits a projected timeline to Linden Lab for approval of resources. Up until this point, Linden Lab has no ties or interest involved. They’ve merely allowed for content creators and idea folk to find each other.
5. Based on the quality of their previous work, the appeal of the concept, and/or other factors, Linden Lab can choose which project they’re willing to green light themselves. Linden Lab can require deadlines to check on progress and place restrictions to avoid exploiting the system (stop laughing, they really could). If a Homestead or SIM is provided, for example, it can be restricted to only team-members so that the college exploit doesn’t get re-established.
6. Once a project is complete, the final product can be evaluated. If Linden Lab rejects it, team members will be free to go out on their own and promote to the best of their individual ability. If, however, Lab wants to embrace the product, it can set it up in newbie welcome areas or other such places, at their discretion. Additionally, the only “sale” of the product would be limited to Marketplace and a Linden-designated shopping area for a limited time, like say, six months or a year. Linden Lab would get a small cut of the product sales for the agreed upon limited time, during which they will be providing shop location as well as the marketing benefits that come along with something like that. (A second database where team members can hire screened agents to handle customer service could also be developed, or handling customer concerns could be addressed in the terms for making a proposal).
7. It could be arranged that new sign-ups get a no-transfer limited demo version of random selections of these products in their inventories. So new members can try out some of the games and see what they enjoy. The games could deactivate 10 days after their first rez, encouraging users to go purchase their own. Likewise, it could be agreed that when a member upgrades to a paid account, they get to choose one of these types of products (fully functional) to be delivered into their inventories at no cost (or, in lieu of that month’s stipend, etc), with proper arrangements made with the development team for any compensation all of these are possible.
There would have to be real effort put into establishing the policies of this sort of a system, but the reward potential is much more favorable for both content creators and Linden Lab. People that don’t demonstrate skill can still have an idea and find people to develop it with. Being able to gather a team is, itself, a big weeding out process. If you can’t sell the idea to enough people to get them to want to work with you, your product concepts obviously need some work. On the other hand, if you’re a sculptor who wants to focus on artwork, being able to interface with idea people and spend a little time developing a product might provide you with income streams within the format to develop your own personal art and free you from the tedium of running a business.
Linden Lab wouldn’t be expending anything but qualified personnel for screening and checking in on deadlines, the limited areas and resources for development, and the marketing. The marketing they appear ready to do anyway, the resources are better spent on this than on “the arts.” and the personnel could, hopefully, be offset by the benefits of sale cuts, paid account upgrades, and/or customer retention.
I’ve used games as the focus of the example, but, obviously, any activity-centered project would be valid. Still, it’s hard to ignore the virtual world / gamer mindset when we talk about how to attract new users.
Transparency would be key to maintaining the integrity of the program in a way that would encourage qualified individuals to participate instead of the general flood of mediocrity that dominates the current market, as well as to fend off the fear of conceptual presenters that their ideas could be stolen. It would also protect Linden Lab from the foolishness of that sort of issue.
The right heads put together could hammer out a good system; it’s hardly a unique concept and if I can type this out in a half-hour, I’m sure spending a few weeks letting the lawyers sweat over it will improve it (or destroy it because, you know, lawyers).
It would engage creators and the community. It would create a central database for skilled users that could, over time, become like its own Second Life skilled labor employment listings. It would give Linden Lab some limited control over things to promote that encourage new sign-ups in a way that is fair to both their bottom line and that of the development team (not to mention consumers in general). It could also make the grid just more frakkin’ fun.
Most importantly, when the rest of us are asked what Second Life does, we’ll have something better than the Paris Hilton response. That alone would be an enormous relief.
