Why hasn't anyone tried to make a more modern successor to this?

Baseline

I'm surprised. Games like these have hardcore followings that actually spend real money.

It's a lot like the EVE situation, where people would rather spend their free time there than any other virtual world.

Yet both of these games (more importantly their engines) are dated. I'm surprised nobody has come along to steal those two markets. A lot of RL money goes through both of those games.

DAS1337

Why are you suprised?  

 

It's for the same reason Ultima Online hasn't been remade.  Games like Second Life, UO and EVE have radically different ideas that make them retain such a strong player base for so long.  Those ideas do not fall in line with the WoW cloning ideology that makes people believe that if it's not familiar to WoW, it can't succeed.  Investors do not want to fund a project that isn't part of the 'tried and true' way of a WoW clone.  They don't want to risk their capital with a small team of developers with out of the box ideas.  It's just the way of things.  It makes sense, unfortunately.

Tuchaka

     Considering the amount of negative press this game has gotten with age play, and all the lawsuits i know of a couple people that went to jail because of things they did in this game ( since the money in game has a real life exchange value).  The profits would not be worth the negative fall out. Ohh and the murders and suicides as well, yes several MMO's have had deaths associated with it even WoW but not as many as this game and again its not worth the negative reputation one gets from all of the above.  While there are some unique and creative things that took place in this game i realize its not all bad, i think that is the minority of the community the rest is basically the worst of what the internet has to offer.

Baseline

Originally posted by Dampyre
      i know of a couple people that went to jail because of things they did in this game ( since the money in game has a real life exchange value). 

Like what? Money laundering? That's a problem in any online game, or even any online app where money is exchanged. Look at the examples of guys randomly tipping girls 20-30 grand on webcam sites because they give them a cut of the profit for being involved.

I can't see second life having anything special that would enable people to do something that would land them jail time, but you're welcome to enlighten me

MaxJac

I only ever quit because Linden Labs kept adding features that made the game run worse. I made a good amount of money building houses for people, although that wasn't why I did it. I would have to say the most fun I had was building those homes followed by a business I ran with a scripter friend for about half a year where we designed convience tools.

If they ever get their act together, I would come back.

Headsup to anyone who tries it, the game is vastly different depending on where you are and who you are with. You can find a sex club, japanese language class, or a builders sandbox with people jetpacking around all within minutes of eachother. I suggest making some friends and trying to build, it got me started when I played.

Tuchaka

 Well i am not gonna drop a real persons name online i mean hello come on. But in short it was for fraud, someone was payed for job , and they just took the money thinking ohh this is just some online game what are they gonna do about it.....wrong.  I looked to see if the media even bothered to cover it and nope they didn't so sorry i got no proof , be skeptical if that seems reasonable.

 

but there was this lawsuit which is unrealted

 

http://gigaom.com/2007/07/04/second-life-avatar-sued-for-copyright-infringement/

 

and this lawsuit

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bragg_v._Linden_Lab

 

and this one

 

http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/news/2006/05/70909

 

and this one

 

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20004004-36.html

 

i don't have the figures in front of me but considering how many lawsuits this game has generated if i was interested in making money online i would not pick this type of game to back as a project which is what my original post was getting at.

Alterk

Three of your four lawsuit references were about the same 2007 suit.   Marc Bragg cheated, pure and simple.   Just as simple, the judge held that LL's TOS was restrictive so the case was allowed to settle.

Stroker Serpentine's problem wasn't with the open source pose system in the "knockoffs", it was with the people who called their open source pose system "SexGen" beds.   That was his name for his system.    I kept one of my good friends out of trouble in all this.   She literally didnt know about all this when she called her bed a SexGen.   She changed the store listing immediately and gave me a copy besides..  lol..

If you want to worry about something, go listen to Fox News..  they'll scare you with all kinds of things..

Just sayin.....

AB

 

KOOLLAYD

Technically wise the way this game is designed a new version would be pointless. It's 3d in a web browser basically so if anything all they need to do which they do every so often is update their graphics and design a better viewer. Morally wise people do some questionable shit there. Yes it will have a higher suicide rate because it's a social game and fucked up people play with others emotions I have seen it happen over and over when I played it. I have seen idiots loose their marriages over it. The creative aspect is good I'll give credit there. It's a social network though of horny idiots looking to get off cause they to cheap to pay for phone sex so on one end ya got fat chicks shoving dildos inside them and on the other ugly dudes wanking off. Dumb assess try to use it as a dating service for rl which is not what it is there for. I could go on and on, but I think you guys get the picture. I wouldn't even class it as a game. lol

goboygo

Because constantly spending varying sums of money in an online game in the hope for returns or rewards that are greater then your investment is akin to gambling?

 

So apparently most people (even the cash shop junkies) prefer more game in their game and less business.

nerovipus32

Originally posted by Baseline

I'm surprised. Games like these have hardcore followings that actually spend real money.

It's a lot like the EVE situation, where people would rather spend their free time there than any other virtual world.

Yet both of these games (more importantly their engines) are dated. I'm surprised nobody has come along to steal those two markets. A lot of RL money goes through both of those games.

Second life is not a game. People run their businesses through that world.

Foomerang

The tricky thing about sandboxes is that the level of player investment is much higher than a themepark. People don't want to leave WoW because they are attached to their character. Imagine if they had an entire city they created and made real money. Not many people would be willing to walk away from that.

So if you made a Second Life 2, who would play it? You target demographics isnt going to leave the first one.

Ender4

---

Originally posted by Baseline
I'm surprised. Games like these have hardcore followings that actually spend real money.

It's a lot like the EVE situation, where people would rather spend their free time there than any other virtual world.

Yet both of these games (more importantly their engines) are dated. I'm surprised nobody has come along to steal those two markets. A lot of RL money goes through both of those games.

---

EVE stays popular because it has absolutely no competition and it is built in such a way that it ages well and isn't as reliant on new content as most MMMORPG. I think Star Citizen is going to cause them a lot of problems since it will be the first real competition they have ever had.

KOOLLAYD

Like Nervo said people run their businesses there. Adding to what I already said you do have a legit business side of the game and then there is the sex sells side of the game. Honestly this is a social network simulating a form of virtual reality not a game. I don't see it being replaced unless someone invents a holodeck. As it was stated the current player base already invested to much RL cash into whatever they got up an going. To own anything in SL can be extremely expensive rl money wise. It's not like when I played SWG and ran an entire city and we had land there. All ya get is an island on this game with so many prims which is like virtual atoms in that game to create crap with.

They have some decent rp sims, but over all this is not the game that the average gamer would enjoy. If your married in rl or in a serious relationship I seriously recommend giving this game a serious miss. Very few couples can know how to actually play this game the right way for how it's actually meant to be played without allowing it to impact them on a rl serious level because it does have an addicting quality to it once ya get suckered into it.

There are people who will say anything and have you believe it and in truth could care less how your real life gets effected. Single people and business orientated people and strong minded people sure. People who are easily emotionally attached which are most of the world I say no give it a miss. I know ya say that's not me I don't get easily emotionally attached, but you'd be surprised when someone of the opposite sex whispers in your ear all the right shit ya wanna hear.

Other thing customer service sucks. They are not helpful at all. Perfect example. My wife had one account and someone logged it without her knowledge and got her banned when the situation was explained to them rather then them verifying who she was and unbanning her account they offered no help all, but basically said FU to her. Phone support couldn't or wouldn't do anything and neither did web site support when she sent in a ticket. Any other company this woulda been a 5 or 10 minute resolution. She spent months writing them back and forth before she decided screw them. So understand if your stuff get's hacked or someone jacks you in behind your back and get's you banned you will get no assistance what so ever. I give WoW and LORTO support credit on this atleast they will take care of you. Linden Labs will most defiantly not.

Oh ya one last thing. If your looking for a decent combat game mmo pass this by. Combat sucks major dog ass here. I have had people cry after I broke a foot in their ass like I did the real thing. Combat wise this game is full of pussies. lmao

Hulluck

Koollayd, I laughed a bit at your post. Just comes off as being way over the top. Then I recall all the stuff on Youtube that I've seen over the years. This game does seem to attract some really odd groups of people doing or participating in fairly weird stuff, which is mildly disturbing to even watch and/or listen to. I guess if people are happy and as long as they aren't hurting anyone, who am I to say anything.  Definitely not lacking as far as having an odd community goes, that's for sure.

KOOLLAYD

Hulluck I am glad I made ya laugh mate lol because to be honest I know I did when writing it, but trust me I know it seems over the top, but that's actually me doing my best to put things politely. All I can say is if you seen the things in that game that I did then you'd know everything I said is all true shit. Believe it or not that's not even me exaggerating it either. lol You hit the nail on the head though it does attract some weird folks which is probably one of the reasons I quit playing it.

And to be honest like totally completely honest if I named everything I seen some stuff comes across as unbelievable and one of them things you'd have to just see it for yourself type of deals. Anyone who's played it knows what I am talking about. SL falls into the category of one of those type games ya'd been better off not playing, but can be a positive learning experience if you make it one. If I knew then what I know now I'd passed it by, but I chalk it up as a learning experience and I am better educated in terms of what type of mmos I personally don't care to play. So something positive did come out of it for me.

It's not all bad, but ya gotta weed threw alot of bad to get to the good aspects and it's doesn't have a real learning curb for noobs. Your pretty much crashed coursed in the game and have to figure it out for yourself. My main thing is it's not a game. It's a social network for adults sorta like Red Light District and only thing that keeps it out of that type of category is the creative and business aspects of the game. If no one takes anything I say seriously atleast walk away with this. Approach it with caution and treat it for exactly what it is and make your own determinations. Just be cautious when dealing with people and you will be fine. If your looking for a mmo GAME then this really doesn't fit the bill IMO.

Whatever any of you decide or do. Please, PLEASE. DO NOT LET YOUR KIDS PLAY IT. It is not that kinda party. I don't care if they are teens this is not something you want to expose young minds to. They got plenty of time to see crazy, stupid, and weird shit when they grow up. Trust me on this one you will all thank me later for it.

anemo

Because SL exsists from it's community, which attracts the creators.

Without a doubt someone could make a new SL without some of it's really silly technical decisions, and make it better for creators.   But even then they're only going to go where there is community for the most part.

That and the massive advertising campaign sounds painful, and to make it worse you can't make it a release day advertising campaign since you'll literally have nothing for the players to do.   Which puts the developer in a chicken/egg situation where they don't have the players to support the builders and don't have the builders to support the players.

 

When it comes to making a new community you also have no way of knowing what you're going to get first.  You could very easily end up with a community that scares the crap out of people like Gor, ageplay, or similar.   Even getting something that is pretty tame like furries could end up hurting you in getting a wider audience(The furry community is very tame compared to other communities in SL).

jinxxed0

People have tried and they failed because they don't get what Second Life is. Second Life as it is was never an idea someone had. It came about over years of trial and error and a lot of mistakes. Second Life turned into what it is because of its very nature of being something that users created. It because a self contained free market economy.

Back SL was Linden World, they actually had stuff like weather and creatures running around. Now stuff like that is all player made. Linden world even had destroyable land and buildings and such. It took like 4 years for it to go from a weird thing to what SL is. What really made it click was the fact that people could build stuff ingame in real time over the internet. That's the only reason it exists today. Investors were super impressed by this.

No other virtual world managed to get this right. No other game understands the concept of player made content. Even the current Linden Labs doesn't understand this fully. They're making stupid looking games now. they're also making Project Sansar which will only have content being made by people who are professionals with 3D modeling software, leaving behind thousands of players who only know how to use SL's ingame tools to create stuff. High Fidelity is doing the same thing. The only people using that one are engineers and crazy programmers.

Second Life is what it is because anyone can play it for a few days and do something. Even then it's still something the average person can't play because they refuse or aren't smart enough figure it out. It takes most people 2 or 3 days to grasp the concept of Second Life. So these failed clones like Blue Mars jsut get everything wrong and still make things too complex for the average joe.