Virtual Worlds #9: Build a Better Mousetrap

"Build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door."

More than any other genre, massively multiplayer games encourage player feedback. Thanks to dedicated development teams, constant rebalancing, and a regular patch schedule, MMOs are in a constant state of flux, and we've all got our list of pet changes we'd like to see.

So what would it be like if we could actually make these changes ourselves? Independent massively multiplayer online world Second Life, and its San Francisco-based developer Linden Labs, gives its players the chance to put their money where their mouths are -- in a very literal sense. Not only does it enable its players to design and build a staggering variety of new content for the game, it lets them trade their creations for real money.

OK, so it's really not a game in the conventional sense of the word. There's no combat, no levels to speak of, and no real progression other than what you make for yourself. But it's very much a virtual world, and in all honesty has a much greater claim on that term than the jumped-up Diablo clones this column usually covers. It's part chatroom, part 3D object designer, part programming language, part economic simulation, and part fashion parade. If that sounds like a recipe for obscurity, think again: Second Life's resident count passed 100,000 late last year.

In what's one of its most unusual facets, Second Life currency -- Linden dollars -- can be bought and sold on the Second Life website, or from the usual MMO real-money-trading suspects. They have an exchange rate that fluctuates with economic conditions; at the time of writing, one US dollar buys about 275 Linden dollars. The game's not unique in this -- Project Entropia does it too, although with a fixed exchange rate -- but it's a business model that's drastically different to the norm.

In the words of NCSoft's Janna Burenson, "we own the content" is the normal position of most MMO publishers. Real money trading is inevitably a violation of the user agreements of all the big online RPGs. But then, Second Life isn't exactly a normal MMO, where you're free to buy and sell virtual goods as you please. "You create it, you own it, and it's yours to do with as you please," the website proclaims.

Second Life is also free to play. Kind of. You can download the client, create a character, and get to exploring and building without any fees. If you want to own land, though, you'll need to take out a subscription plan. Think of the free option as a guest pass or a tourist visa; if you want to create a lasting impression on Second Life's world, you're going to need to open your wallet to the tune of a not unreasonable $9.95 per month.

Building objects is easier to describe than to do. You start by creating primitive objects (or "prims"), which are familiar solids like cuboids, spheres, prisms and cylinders. Then you stretch, rotate, and move them until you have the shape of your object. Next, you can paint the prims with either built-in textures and surfaces or upload your own.

Once that's done, the fun starts. With Second Life's fully featured scripting language and physics engine you can make your object behave however you like. Pianos play music at the touch of a button. Cars drive, boats float, and airplanes fly. Avatars dance. Slot machines... work. You can make your object stream live music or videos, if the player on the other end has the bandwidth.

A number of astonishingly talented and imaginative modelers and artists are cutting their teeth in Second Life, and earning real money for their work to boot. It's really a unique situation, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if there are recruiters for full-size development studios keeping an eye on the game's talent. It'd be a perfect way for a teenager with an interest in 3D modeling, art, or scripting to cut their teeth without the need to shell out for a copy of Maya or to learn C. Building your own airplane -- complete with sound effects, working landing gear, ejector seat, and instrumentation -- is just a matter of learning the ropes.