Reuters opens in-game news bureau in Second Life

Second life is overrated.

Let me know when the tech has advanced far enough for me to call this game "The Matrix". And then I might start caring.

Only $13 million? That means the entire player base averages $14 per person a year. Using those numbers, a major business trying to get a foothold won't do very well. How much money is Reuters going to have to spend to keep this thing running?

900,000 registered users? Bupkiss. From the Linden Labs Blog: "The number that is currently on our home page is a time-weighted average between “total number of signups ever” and “total number of logged in users over the last 60 days”. As of right now, those numbers are 493,563 and 225,028."

From the Second Life website: "Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by 386,280 people from around the globe."

Of those 386,280, only about 70,000 are subscribers. The rest are people who logged-in for free, and may or may not spend money for stuff in-game.

$13 million a year is not insignificant, but compared to what other services earn each year, that's still chickenfeed. WoW makes that in two months. Hell, even ToonTown Online makes about that in subscriptions annually.

Why are people so worked up over Second Life?

Will Reuters be photochopping pictures for Second Life as well?

"Will Reuters be photochopping pictures for Second Life as well?"

ROFL

"Why are people so worked up over Second Life?"

Because it's not a game, but rather a virtual world, and the users are given incredible flexability to mold the world as they see fit.

That being said, personally I find it horribly boring, but I can see what the attraction is for players. As for the press, it should be obvious; it's a virtual world with a thriving economy based around original content created by the players.