I think there are two big factors at work here, both inherent in SL as presently designed.
One is the ration of 4.37 sq. m. required to allow 1 prim (I'm going by 117 prims per 512 sq. m. standard lot). That means a lot of space has to exist to support any build of any complexity and the furniture or landscaping that comes with it. And people do like to build and furnish.
The other is the popularity of having land. There are over 8,000 sims, and probably over 10,000. There are, roughly speaking, around 40,000 avatars on-line at any given time, more or less depending on time of day. So that is a density of 4 to 5 avatars per sim. Pack 20 people in a club (not unusual for a popular place - or a zombie farm), and that means it would take three or four completely empty sims out there somewhere to compensate.
I'm guessing there are several hundred thousand "regulars" in SL. If they all logged on at once, you'd get a "normal" density of probably around 40 avs per sim and it would look pretty busy in SL - in the nanosecond before the grid crashed into a smoking, sparking mass of fused molten metal and silicon.
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A wasteland ... |
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Har Fairweather
Registered User
Join date: 24 Jan 2007
Posts: 2,320
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07-31-2007 08:41
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Sonia Nagy
Registered User
Join date: 25 Mar 2007
Posts: 364
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07-31-2007 08:45
I tried to go out tonight in SL. I went to 3, no 4 seperate events that were so full of live people (no campers) I could barely find a place on the dance floor. I had a good time for a bit at each and then headed home to a peacful sim thankful to have a little breathing room to finish out the night in lag free peace. Last time I wondered the streets of a residential area in RL I didn't see clusters of revellers and shoppers on every street corner, and I hardly assumed my society had collapsed. That seems to be a common theme in my attempts to find good places. Either an overwhelming number of people or empty places. _____________________
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Aki Shichiroji
pixel pusher
Join date: 22 Jul 2006
Posts: 246
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07-31-2007 08:58
Come see The Wastelands
 No, seriously. It's a collection of sims that are populated by residents who have a like mind in creating a themed environment such that, while it's not completely integrated, the general idea is to create an atmosphere condusive to living in a specific circumstance (in this case, post-apocalyptic). This is a land where people have been encouraged to create and contribute something to the whole in order to create a truly interactive and fulfilling experience. I think part of the problem that you bring up has to do with the tendency for people to purchase land and to develop the typical club, casino or mall. (I myself am guilty of that!) Many people do not realise the potential of the building, scripting, texturing and animation possibilities provided them by the SL environment. Cory Edo's recent blog posting on the topic of companies in SL addresses this extremely well: http://blogs.electricsheepcompany.com/cory/?p=37 Bored with what you see? Think about what you can bring to the table. Everyone has a certain sense of creativity that may or may not have been tapped yet. And you are all given the tools to channel that creativity in to the virtual plane. As for complaints of places being empty - if you are a RL store or club owner... do you expect those places to be visited by scads of people 24 hrs a day, 7 hrs a week? I don't think any RL establishments can claim that... and even so - can one really claim that the heavily trafficked areas are 100% great content/atmosphere? Of course, 'good' in this context is subjective... but I really think people need to look beyond the contest, raffle balls, sploders and camping chairs to get to the heart of what SL is (or could be). _____________________
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SqueezeOne Pow
World Changer
Join date: 21 Dec 2005
Posts: 1,437
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07-31-2007 09:04
I guess i have noticed the same thing from time to time. Massive structures that have certainly taken alot of imagination and time to create left bare and desolate looking due to the lack of visitors. It's all about advertising. It's the owner's own fault if no one goes there...unless they're not looking for traffic. Go to one of the Brasil sims and then come back and talk to us about desolation!  _____________________
Semper Fly
-S1. Pow "Violence is Art by another means" Visit Squeeze One Plaza in Osteria. Come for the robots, stay for the view!http://slurl.com/secondlife/Osteria/160.331/203.881 |
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Elinah Iredell
Registered User
Join date: 14 Aug 2006
Posts: 269
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07-31-2007 09:12
Zipping around SL is a depressing experience, now, that it is so huge that there will be few concentration of residents to animate a venue. I've seen so much creativity and effort in the deserted malls and clubs ... it's really very sad. I think SL has become a lesson in economics and the notion of elasticity of markets and growth that outruns the infrastructure. If the high fees corporations are willing to spend are distracting LL from the small businesspeople and the experience of SL, it's even sadder. A lesson can be found in the 15th century when the Reconquista drove the merchant class (Muslims,Jews) from Spain, leaving nobody to animate the economy, develop capital, and create a vibrant country. Instead, Spain had to rely on shipments of precious goods from the New World to sustain its ambitions and, when it lost the mastery of the seas, the country sunk into an economic chasm from which it has only recently recovered. The riches of the Americas didn't stop in Spain but passed through very quickly into the hands of foreign merchants willing to provide the necessities of life. SL is probably a good example of what happens when technocrats plan and develop a socio-economic entity, with no appreciation or awareness of the fundamentals of growth, be it real or virtual. Another notion would be what will happen when planet earth can no longer sustain healthy existence - or when banks call in credit card debt and nobody can pay - or when the dollar is finally revealed to be fully dependent on the good will of other countries willing to buy US treasury bonds and notes. Curiously, I wonder if SL is really a strategy to prepare us for the Apocalypse of total system collapse - when we check out bank accounts and find them "Loading ..." or our possessions suddenly not available. But, really, though, it's just a game ... Very interesting thoughts... but one thing I have noted is that when an area gets full of avatars it ceases to function... they all look blurry , grayed out, or newbie aved, and the lag is awful... most sims stay empty most of the time its just the way sl is that doesnt mean its not being seen and enjoyed... I like sl but sometimes it does seem boring to me , like something is missing. Elinah |
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Pazzo Pestana
Registered User
Join date: 17 Sep 2006
Posts: 39
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Great comments! thanks!
07-31-2007 10:00
FYI, I've been in SL for a year and have loved every minute of it ... building is my passion and it's what has kept me in SL. As for exploring, I've found places that I've returned to frequently ... the Bliss Basin, surfing and sailing venues, etc. I don't hang out in malls and clubs but when I go shopping or just looking for action I just zip around to new places and usually find them deserted. I"m online both during the SL day and night and, I must say, I find the European developments imaginative enough to draw me back ... Parioli, the various French sims, Amsterdam .... My sadness, I guess, and I tried to express it, was seeing all the constructions, the results of much effort and creativity, standing vacant at all hours of the day and night.
My engagement in SL is intellectual as much as artistic and social - it's fascinating to watch the dynamics of growth as SL gets bigger and bigger, and I wonder if SL is subject to the same interactive forces of growth and infrastructure. And, I wonder where it all will lead and what the next level of SL existence will look like ... it's worth staying for. |
