POLL: Second life sold in game stores?

I think that danger is already present, Alexa, but I think it's a point worth repeating. The counter-argument is that selling in the stores works for Sims Online, which may be SL's closest commercial cousin. One can put descriptions on the packaging to explain that SL is not a game, per se, but a virtual world.

My problem is less that than the potential flood of griefers and underage players which would result. Most (not all) of those coming to SL now are coming by word of mouth from existing SLers and already know what to expect. A print box designed by an ad salesman whose motive is merely to sell boxes is not going to convey the same message at all -- in the worst case, it could actually backfire by spreading negative word about SL.

So the answer to the poll question is another question: How effectively can the heart of SL, its true content and goals, be conveyed on a small colorful game box, sold in the game section of a gaming store?

I agree, but all the same this is slightly missing the point. The problem here is not "people who like playing videogames (especially MMOs)," but rather "people coming to Second Life thinking they can make level 10 and take the FIC class."

I think this bears repeating, because Second Life isn't a game, but all the same does attract some of the game crowd (for example, I'm an indie game creator in my free time).



Now. Would I sell Second Life CDs in a "game" store? One has to ask, "Why?" To me, that's not attracting the target market, just a small portion of it by association.

Bundle deals with creation products are another interesting thought, but I personally think it's too early in Second Life's development life cycle to have it massively appeal to professional artists.


Instead, I think the largest target audience Second Life caters to is the "virtual world" crowd. Basically, people already in an existing MMO(G), players of the popular "The Sims" series of games, and other virtual sandbox "games" like Black and White.

Because "virtual worlds" are not yet their own genre with many retailers (usually they end up in the "RPG" section), it would be difficult to throw Second Life out there in such a store.


So where would I like to see Second Life marketed? Video Card sales bundles. That would appeal to the widest target audience by hitting them at the one piece of hardware required to run Second Life and Second Life 2.0.

Yes, I was just about to say that myself! LL had a partnership with nVidia back in beta... that's how Evie got her sim - Cayman. She won some kind of contest. I forget the details, but it's probably in the NWN or something.

I have seen "There.com" putting advertisment in graphic cards.. with like "free trial"
I forgot which card it was.. but i believe it was an ATI card.

If SL gets Boxed, I want:

- A printed LSL function reference manual (LSL in a Nutshell!), current to 1.6.x. Bonus poionts if I can download PDFs in the same style to staple on to it as SL expands.
- Extra "Share SL with a friend!" CDs, with sleeves that have room to write my SL name so I can get referral bonuses.
- An FIC wall poster

I don't think that would be a very good idea for SL to be sold in gaming stores... because people in a gaming store are looking for a game.

Say Mr. Panda goes into a gaming store. Mr. Panda buys a game, and picks up his free SL disk on the way out. When Mr. Panda goes hom, he starts playing the game he got. After an hour or two, Mr. Panda is bored, and pops in the SL CD. He starts playnig, and very quickly realizes that the game is not what he's used to, and labels it with some sort of odd word like sux0rz, or bl0wez. Then Mr. Panda goes to a site like http://www.mmorpg.com/ and writes a terrible review of SL, turning off everyone who reads it.

(Really, go to that link and look up SL in the game list, and read some reviews. They're not good.)

Isn't panda already in SL ;0

Yeah... I wasn't about to say little billy, and coundn't think of a name cause I'm tired.