http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2016/04/vice-why-is-second-life-still-a-thing-wagner-au.html#more

Hamlet noticed himself that the author of the Vice/Motherboard article already answered his own question in the article. Case closed one should think. But now I have a question myself: How and why was Second Life ever not a thing? Because it’s old? Because the graphics are crap? Because it’s boring?

Fuck that! As far as virtual worlds go, SL is still the best of the bunch, has the biggest and most active user base and generates much more profit than all the other worlds combined. Graphics are great if your hardware is good and you’re not one of those smartphone- and tablet-using idiots. And if you think SL is boring than you are boring. SL is what you make it, as exciting as you make it or as boring as you make it. SL’s concept and philosophy is still fresh and far ahead of its time.

So of course is SL a thing! It always was a thing and it’s not only still a thing but it will be a thing in the future too. Once the technocrats notice that Project Sansar and the whole VR hype is nothing but a shortlived fad they will realise that an Octopus Riff can’t replace a community and good gameplay. SL ain’t a thing because of its technical merits, it’s a thing despite its technical shortcomings and flaws. Or maybe, yes, why not … because of its flaws.

Remember back in 07, when the whole grid went down as soon as the critical mass of 17,000 avies inworld was reached? When it went down as well in regularly scheduled events? Remember when we met and huddled together in huge hug circles and everyone had “kumbaya” on their minds as we waited for the Big Poof! As we said our goodbyes and hoped to see everybody back alive once the grid hopefully came back online. That was community. That was people from all walks of life, from all over the globe, having one goal and one hope. And it was great! It was what made SL a thing! Because of SL’s technical flaws, not despite them.