Second Life essentially had a monopoly over Virtual Worlds for several years, with little or no direct competition. Nobody did it quite like SL did it.
But then along came Blue Mars, promising stunning graphics to outshine SL, and with all the main problems plaguing SL solved (lag, stability, border-crossing probs, etc) and with a serious and proactive approach to content theft.
Then came Unity, also free, and as all content is streamed directly into a browser (via a small plug-in), no need for a dedicated viewer, and thus the ability to play both at home and on the move via your mobile phone.
And the latest announcement (5th Nov), the Unreal Engine 3 SDK is now also available for free, to build Virtual Worlds and Games, with free hosting, and a percentage cut of revenue (above US$5,000).
More news on all these three new entrants here: http://rock-vacirca.blogspot.com/
Are these extra players good news for SL, or bad? Will they be fighting for a share of the market that is left over by SL, or taking SL market share?
Rock
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Is this good or bad news for SL? |
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Rock Vacirca
riches to rags
Join date: 18 Oct 2006
Posts: 1,093
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11-07-2009 05:39
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Brenda Connolly
Un United Avatar
Join date: 10 Jan 2007
Posts: 25,000
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11-07-2009 05:59
Competition is never a bad thing. If SL can't survive it, that's the way the prim rezzes. LL still has big head start. If they lose it, it's their fault, nobody else's.
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Don't you ever try to look behind my eyes. You don't want to know what they have seen.
http://brenda-connolly.blogspot.com |
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3Ring Binder
always smile
Join date: 8 Mar 2007
Posts: 15,028
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11-07-2009 06:12
i am anxious to try Blue Mars. i will abandon SL if something more stable both viewer-wise and content creation-wise comes along.
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Kira Zobel
Registered User
Join date: 6 Jan 2006
Posts: 345
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11-07-2009 06:16
I hope there's no huge impact such as SL going down.
However the fact many people may be moving might equal less lag and stability in the long run. Frankly I'm staying with SL as long as it lives. |
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Brenda Connolly
Un United Avatar
Join date: 10 Jan 2007
Posts: 25,000
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11-07-2009 06:18
I hope there's no huge impact such as SL going down. However the fact many people may be moving might equal less lag and stability in the long run. Frankly I'm staying with SL as long as it lives. Same here. When it goes, so do I. I'm not interested in starting over somewhere else. _____________________
Don't you ever try to look behind my eyes. You don't want to know what they have seen.
http://brenda-connolly.blogspot.com |
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Conifer Dada
Hiya m'dooks!
Join date: 6 Oct 2006
Posts: 3,716
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11-07-2009 06:20
Blue Mars looked interesting, but when I watched the videos the overall impression was of graphics on a par with SL - certain things like trees and water are better. Avatar deitail close-up is better, but strangely that doesn't make avatars look better from a distance.
Also, when I tried to download the Blue Mars client on a good computer, I think the download time was something like 8 hours!! I thought the greatest compettion to SL would come from SL clones that look and function like SL, spun off from OpenSim, but that doesn't seem to have happened yet. They just offer a slightly different experience in terms of land ownership, social structure and terms of service, not much else. |
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Brann Georgia
Spits infinitives
Join date: 12 Dec 2007
Posts: 1,441
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11-07-2009 06:40
I went to Blue Mars
Fantastic graphics. I walked around endlessly and smoothly. Then I stood around and wondered what I'm supposed to do there. Eventually there were a bunch of us standing around, wondering the same thing. Everyone looks like a 15 year old, with limited ability to customize their avatar. People could not be identified by sight or found in a crowd, if you happened to look for an individual. No IMs. No neon-pink balloon shooters. We all chatted for a while, agreed that some of the gestures were amusing the first ten times you tried them, and marvelled at the graphics. There was a general suspicion that this will be a place where people will be exposed to much corporate marketing while standing around chatting. Then I went back to SL to build stuff and rez stuff and make my avatar look the way I want it. I haven't had the urge to go back although I will to see if they're working on the things that annoyed me over there. So far, I don't see the competition for SL from Blue Mars (although I'm sure they're working on getting more avatar features and abilities happening before they're out of Beta). I don't know about the others. _____________________
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Novis Dyrssen
Girl Geek
Join date: 6 May 2007
Posts: 1,452
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11-07-2009 06:46
Then I stood around and wondered what I'm supposed to do there. Eventually there were a bunch of us standing around, wondering the same thing. Everyone looks like a 15 year old, with limited ability to customize their avatar. Brann, I couldn't have summarized it better myself. Thank you. _____________________
~~ immortal words of Rob Thomas ~~
Hey-yeah, welcome to the Real World Nobody told you it was gonna be hard |
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Brenda Connolly
Un United Avatar
Join date: 10 Jan 2007
Posts: 25,000
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11-07-2009 06:51
.....although I'm sure they're working on getting more avatar features and abilities happening before they're out of Beta. Hopefully, LL is doing the same thing.  _____________________
Don't you ever try to look behind my eyes. You don't want to know what they have seen.
http://brenda-connolly.blogspot.com |
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Cerise Sorbet
Registered User
Join date: 8 Jun 2008
Posts: 254
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11-07-2009 06:54
Blue Mars is a good experiment. It is a genie that granted developers every thing they asked. Now developers can learn if they asked for the right things.
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Qie Niangao
Coin-operated
Join date: 24 May 2006
Posts: 7,138
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11-07-2009 07:03
Depending on lots of technical details, Unity may encroach on market space that LL would like to inhabit, once they get past this SL 2.0 distraction.
I'm having more and more doubts about SL 2.0 as a strategic management decision. Unless there's a lot more under the covers than meets the eye at the UI, it's going to be much too little, much too late, for the markets LL needs to be addressing. The days are fast passing of game consoles and desktops being anything but niches. Fighting over that market will be competition among buggywhip manufacturers soon enough. Retaining more new users through the first hour or six won't much matter if nobody's downloading the viewer in the first place _____________________
Archived for Your Protection
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Sling Trebuchet
Deleted User
Join date: 20 Jan 2007
Posts: 4,548
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11-07-2009 07:06
I went to Blue Mars Fantastic graphics. I walked around endlessly and smoothly. Then I stood around and wondered what I'm supposed to do there. .... You're not supposed to do anything in Blue Mars - unless you're interested in developing your own 'city' or offering your services to someone who will develop a 'city'. (Think of a 'city' as a very large sim, and not as an urban build.) Blue Mars at the moment is of interest to developers and only of passing interest to consumers. No doubt Blue Mars got a enough of that question that they had spell it out in their forum Here’s something to help you understand more about Avatar Reality and Blue Mars. Blue Mars is a platform technology. We are not really content creators or a content company. As a platform technology development company, everything we have built is simply to: + Technically demonstrate what the technology can do, and + Provide examples for 3rd-party developers who will use our platform to create a wide variety of worlds, environments, businesses, games, entertainment venues, artwork, and more. Therefore our buildings, content, animations, A.I., clothing, avatars, etc. are all designed to test the capabilities of the technology, and as examples to show developers how to create them. None of this content is intended to make any kind of statement, nor should they be interpreted as making any kind of social, sexual, architectural, animation, or any other statement. These are simply technical examples created by nerdy engineers (the vast majority of them are guys). Avatar Reality will not be making much more in the way of content because we need to focus on finishing the platform and development tools. Also, we will not compete with our 3rd-party devs by creating content. _____________________
Maggie: We give our residents a lot of tools, to build, create, and manage their lands and objects. That flexibility also requires people to exercise judgment about when things should be used.
http://www.ace-exchange.com/home/story/BDVR/589 |
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Ceka Cianci
SuperPremiumExcaliburAcc#
Join date: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 4,489
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11-07-2009 07:07
i am curious about this one made with the Unreal engine..they were already doing some pretty amazing stuff with that engine when i left UT.
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Brenda Connolly
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Join date: 10 Jan 2007
Posts: 25,000
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11-07-2009 07:15
You're not supposed to do anything in Blue Mars - unless you're interested in developing your own 'city' or offering your services to someone who will develop a 'city'. (Think of a 'city' as a very large sim, and not as an urban build.) Blue Mars at the moment is of interest to developers and only of passing interest to consumers. No doubt Blue Mars got a enough of that question that they had spell it out in their forum It looks like Blue Mars is really going for the people that LL is pimping Nebraska to. _____________________
Don't you ever try to look behind my eyes. You don't want to know what they have seen.
http://brenda-connolly.blogspot.com |
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Novis Dyrssen
Girl Geek
Join date: 6 May 2007
Posts: 1,452
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11-07-2009 07:54
It looks like Blue Mars is really going for the people that LL is pimping Nebraska to. Cool. Let them have BM and we get a resident-friendly SL back? *crosses fingers* The internal code name thing made me laugh very hard, btw. I think I would have gone for "Tunguska". _____________________
~~ immortal words of Rob Thomas ~~
Hey-yeah, welcome to the Real World Nobody told you it was gonna be hard |
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Mickey Vandeverre
See you Inworld
Join date: 7 Dec 2006
Posts: 2,542
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11-07-2009 08:14
I downloaded "There", the other night, just for a peek.
It was very easy to walk around! But that's probably because the graphics are not as complex. A very friendly and perky gal met me at the welcome area, immediately! And got me all fixed up, with a free outfit. What a novel approach! I toured a model home, and it seemed that to develop your own home, you must upgrade to an account, and purchase some currency. The model home was very well supplied, with a link to the shopping site, with every click. Good marketing. From the conversations, that I listened in on....it seemed that most were probably teenagers. And there were quite a few milling about.....maybe 50, in that one spot. No lag. At the moment, I can't visit a spot in SL that has 50 people. I was in Newb clothing.....and most were quite decked out! So I assumed that all those teenagers got a paid account, and started spending. Now, if only we could get adults to do that! It certainly wasn't as impressive as SL, and probably not intriguing to adults.....but it seemed to be intriguing to the kids....they were having a blast. |
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Brenda Connolly
Un United Avatar
Join date: 10 Jan 2007
Posts: 25,000
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11-07-2009 08:28
Cool. Let them have BM and we get a resident-friendly SL back? *crosses fingers* And if so, I think it should be code named "Brendonia". _____________________
Don't you ever try to look behind my eyes. You don't want to know what they have seen.
http://brenda-connolly.blogspot.com |
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Milla Janick
Empress Of The Universe
Join date: 2 Jan 2008
Posts: 3,075
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11-07-2009 09:22
If they present real competition to SL, it would be good.
Blue Mars promised a lot, but has delivered very little. Glorified chatrooms aren't really direct competition. They might be bad news if they're exceptionally successful and Linden Lab decides to take SL in that direction. Otherwise, they aren't really all that relevant. _____________________
 http://www.avatarsunited.com/avatars/milla-janick All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain... |
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Brenda Connolly
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Join date: 10 Jan 2007
Posts: 25,000
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11-07-2009 09:41
If they present real competition to SL, it would be good. Blue Mars promised a lot, but has delivered very little. Glorified chatrooms aren't really direct competition. They might be bad news if they're exceptionally successful and Linden Lab decides to take SL in that direction. Otherwise, they aren't really all that relevant. I think this sis true. The people who might use those in big numbers probably wouldn't stay in SL as it is now if they tried it anyway. _____________________
Don't you ever try to look behind my eyes. You don't want to know what they have seen.
http://brenda-connolly.blogspot.com |
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Ceka Cianci
SuperPremiumExcaliburAcc#
Join date: 31 Jul 2006
Posts: 4,489
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11-07-2009 09:58
I just want something that when i get bored there is something to do..It would be nice to have another place where you can bounce from one to the other..like when SL gets boring you can go here for a bit then when you need a break bounce back to SL..
I don't think i would leave SL..I just want to see some other cool worlds pop up to explore that are a bit different.. _____________________
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Ciaran Laval
Mostly Harmless
Join date: 11 Mar 2007
Posts: 7,951
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11-07-2009 10:58
Why do people only talk in terms of Second Life or Blue Mars when talking virtual worlds, World of Warcraft and Eve Online are virtual worlds too.
Star Trek Online is set for a February 2010 release, that will be a virtual world too. |
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Brenda Connolly
Un United Avatar
Join date: 10 Jan 2007
Posts: 25,000
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11-07-2009 11:18
Why do people only talk in terms of Second Life or Blue Mars when talking virtual worlds, World of Warcraft and Eve Online are virtual worlds too. Star Trek Online is set for a February 2010 release, that will be a virtual world too. I've been looking at ST Online. If I have a decent computer by then I just may give it a try. Those others may be Virtual World, but they aren't as open ended as SL, are they? They are limited in their setting to a certain concept and storyline. That' why I never tried Wow, for instance. That whole fantasy/LOTR genre was never of interest to me. _____________________
Don't you ever try to look behind my eyes. You don't want to know what they have seen.
http://brenda-connolly.blogspot.com |
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Novis Dyrssen
Girl Geek
Join date: 6 May 2007
Posts: 1,452
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11-07-2009 11:20
And if so, I think it should be code named "Brendonia". Deal.  _____________________
~~ immortal words of Rob Thomas ~~
Hey-yeah, welcome to the Real World Nobody told you it was gonna be hard |
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Dog Galicia
Registered User
Join date: 24 Jun 2008
Posts: 177
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11-07-2009 11:22
yeah much the same thoughts really..I've ponced around in BM for a while, uploaded the 2hr. delivery client and stood in mindless fashion on the main platform surrounded by 10 bots all wishing me to do this and that. I tried pushing a few of them off the platform, but to no avail. The females looked pretty and shyly waved and their faces and eyes followed my camera, which is quite neat and they had a severe lack of underpants. I mastered the camera movements pdq....lol. However BM has a long way to go to ensnare the masses methinks. The January 2010 start may be a tad optimistic, but I'll probably have a go at it when it improves. Doubt whether I'll leave SL....my alt is having way way too much fun
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LittleMe Jewell
...........
Join date: 8 Oct 2007
Posts: 11,319
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11-07-2009 12:03
Why do people only talk in terms of Second Life or Blue Mars when talking virtual worlds, World of Warcraft and Eve Online are virtual worlds too. Star Trek Online is set for a February 2010 release, that will be a virtual world too. I am not in to any of those types of RP. _____________________
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-Lil Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it? ~Mark Twain~ Optimism is denial, so face the facts and move on. ♥♥♥ Lil's Yard Sale / Inventory Cleanout: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Triggerfish/52/27/22 . http://www.flickr.com/photos/littleme_jewell |
