Self-government NOW!

By the way, this is something I found in my email archives from a letter by Philip Linden on 9 Jun 03 (boldface mine):



From: "Philip Rosedale" <contact@secondlife.com>
Subject: Second Life membership plans for beta residents
Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2003 14:04:02 -0700 (PDT)


Dear Lifers,


The world you have created is about to be born! With great excitement
and our deepest thanks, I am pleased to announce our upcoming
commercial release, pricing for Beta Residents, and some future
product development plans.


Second Life will be released to the public in just a few weeks,

....snip.....


UPCOMING FEATURES


Finally, I'd like to announce some upcoming enhancements to Second
Life. Our residents have been instrumental in driving both our
short-term bug lists and our long-range strategic planning, and I
want to share our best estimates on what's to come.


Alongside frequent updates with small features and fixes, we will
target two major releases later this year, in late summer and before
Christmas. Soon, you'll be able to:


* Elect community leaders and help govern Second Life yourselves
* Find what you want even more easily - with improved mapping,
directory search, and shopping capabilities
* Hold bigger parties and get-togethers - with improved physical
dynamics and support
* Share Second Life with friends on Macintosh OS-X and Linux PC -
with ports for both platforms
* Enjoy an easier, more streamlined UI - with a redesigned User
Interface (incorporating many of your suggestions and features)


....snip....

I look forward to welcoming you all in-world as a permanent part of
Second Life society!


See you on the inside,


Philip Rosedale, CEO and Founder
AKA Hacker Philip Linden

Kathy I had always found that line to be suspicious too. However, I believe what they meant was that, with 1.1, we were able to actually elect and eject group officers. Philip just worded it uber-fancy is all.

There's one important point here that everyone seems to be missing.

While most SL residents see SL as a game, ie. a place to have fun, it doesn't actually fit the definition of a game. It doesn't have "game rules", there are no pre-defined objectives to achieve and no rewards for doing so. Yes there are games in SL that you can play or even create your own, but they are within SL, not a part of it.

SL is a virtual reality space along the lines of The Matrix. LL are not the govourners INSIDE this space, they are the GODS that created it. Anyone who steps inside SL is forced by definition to abide by the rules of SL just as we in RL are forced to abide by the physical laws of our universe.

We can fly in SL only because the LL Gods coded that capability into the system. For that matter we only have gravity in SL because the LL Gods write the lines of code to create it. Anything we do in SL we are only able to do because the Gods decreed that we can (by coding it..)

If you're asking for more say in the changes to the SL program itself and the features we have, then you're not creating a Government, but praying to the Gods that they'll make the changes you desire. A representative from each sim to liase with LL is a good idea, but bare in mind that these people would effectively be "High Priests" or "High Priestesses" passing on the prayers of the SL resident masses to the Gods. Maybe we should have a temple in each sim dedicated to a diferent Linden God or Goddess...

Government WITHIN SL is a different kettle of fish altogether. We already have five pre-defined area types, as decreed by the Gods. The Bad Lands, the general Mature areas, the general PG areas, the large open LL held areas and the newly added amusement area... The Bad Lands are a classic candidate for the first government in SL. A military dicatorship perhaps?

The important thing here is that any government within SL, and I'd envisage several, would not have the power to alter SL itself. Just as our RL governments can't change the laws of physics, (Though most wish they could and some think they can...). The role of a goverment within SL would be to bring some sort of order to the activities here, whether that be with building regulations or simply by providing events and other entertainment.

The Lindens have said for a long time that they envisage us residents being self governed but so far no-one has taken up the challenge. The role of police, for example, would need to be filled in order to enforce any decisions made by government, though as yet the Gods haven't provided the required powers for a police force to be effective...


Think carefully about just what it is you are asking for... you may just get it!

There are also the theme areas, three of which, Little Tokyo, Kazenojin and DarkWood/DarkLife are still around, more or less as they were originally planned, and two more, Venice and Americana seem very likely to rise once more from the ashes. I think Venice was always my very most favorite area to visit in SL so I am really hoping that's the case! Theme areas have always had a good bit of self-determination and they all seem to have done a pretty good job of it outside of any of the taxation issues which were beyond any local control and hit all of them pretty hard in membership and resources.

You got my point exactly David, except I restricted to the LL defined 'zones'.

The existing themed areas made by SL residents are a classic example of self government though at the size they are for now I'd call them Local Councils rather than government...

I don't know how intentional it has been on the part of the Lindens, but the way the sim growth is going we have a great oportunity to develop 3 distinct countries here, and hence 3 opposing governments... Using Wesh and Tan as devides You get the Bad Lands to the East, SL Central and the New Lands north of Tan.

Any voluntiers ??

I hereby declare that my land shall be called Piconia and is fully independant and self governed.

I hereby declare WAR on Pikonia...


**Giggles**

For a while Jack Orlowski seemed to be the defacto ruler/dictator of Jessie and I thought he did a pretty decent job of it - at least from my outside standpoint.

bad LAND, theres only one now!

OUT LANDS not BAD LANDS!

GRR!

Oh, and Jack wasnt really a ruler, or a dictator, or anything. He was a businessman

Being ruler of Jessie would be so fun


VOTE LANCE FOR ALMIGHTY CHANCILLOR!

That's Piconia!! Do your worst, we Piconians do not fear your unwashed barbarian hordes!

*stands around holding pitchfork and torch*

Rabble for hier!

My land shall henceforth be known far and wide as Fatopia. Um, Fatsylvania?

My last name sucks.

How about Juliania?

Fatelvania?

Land of Fate?

Fate Hood?

Just: Fate ?

I like it but I already meet enough people who take one look at my name and say, "Hello ladies" without thinking. If I named my land Juliania the national anthem would become "Dude Looks Like a Lady" by default.

Or "The Crying Game". No, wait, the national anthem would be "A Boy Named Sue". Yeah.

Not my fault my keyboard decided to miss spell your name, I can't think of a better reason to go to war though...

Death to the Pikonians..