As We See It

Education is an essential part of the Second Life experience. Considering how new virtual worlds are for most of us, being able to find classes and learn new skills is critical. Whether you are brand new to the technology or an experienced MMORPG user, chances are you have something to gain from attending classes. Given that Second Life is a place where perpetual change is perhaps the only constant, there is a never a lack of opportunity to learn something new. Change is a fact of virtual life and with our tremendous rate of growth, providing access to in-world educational resources is critical for the success of our many communities.

To this end, we have added upcoming class listings to our official Blog, a 'Learn more...' link to classes in the login screen, and we now have an RSS feed available for syndication via Eventful.com. In addition, you can always check out class events in Second Life by clicking on the Search button, the Events tab, and select 'Education' from the category drop down menu.

Education in Second Life represents an exciting intersection of the virtual and the real. On the one hand, there is 'traditional' education represented in Second Life by the tremendous work done by real life Universities. For an overview of what they've been up to, please visit the SimTeach wiki or our education site.

On the other hand, Second Life is full of homegrown instructional talent. There are a number of great Resident-run Universities who specialize in virtual world skills training of all kinds. There are currently classes being held in Second Life 24 hours a day with several full time educational institutions in Second Life offering services to real life companies as well as other Residents.

Over the past three years, these schools have become increasingly sophisticated and contain more depth and variety of classes than ever before. If you want to see what they're up to, simply visit our class listings at Eventful.com. At Linden Lab, we feel that the work these in-world educators are doing is tremendously important and we will continue to do our best to support their efforts.

Now, imagine in the not-too-distant future when these two worlds combine and the distinction between real life and second life education becomes increasingly blurry. Imagine developing Second Life skills that will help you in your real life career. Imagine taking a class in second life and discovering hidden talents you didn't know you had? The mind boggles at the possibilities. The future of virtual world education is extremely bright - it's exciting for us to see Second Life lead the way!

Role Playing Games

Vampire or Panther? Tribal Elder or Elf? There are many options at Second Life for role-playing games. Some emphasize combat, others are driven by stories. All characters play a part in the drama, and often a friendly Resident can show you the ropes. A lot of thought goes into creating games of complexity and nuance, and Residents work hard to keep it fun, so make sure to read the rules carefully. You don't want to wind up on the cranky side of a gun.

  1. City of Unity: Medieval Fantasy

  2. Avilon Grove: Medieval Community

  3. City of Lost Angels: Dark RP and Combat

  4. Tarnburg Woods: Gorean Role Playing

  5. Tombstone: 1870's Western town

Voice in Second Life: Beta Test Opens!

A private beta program on a test-grid for 1,000 users will be launched early in March before a Grid-wide beta trial. This will give current Second Life Residents the opportunity to explore the benefits of voice-enabled communication. A formal launch is scheduled for Q2, 2007.

During the beta program Residents will be able to test the use of voice under three scenarios:

Scenario 1 - Residents can teleport to voice-enabled land and automatically start speaking. The volume of speech is then modified according to their spatial relationship with others. Up to 100 users can be present in the same audio channel at once.

Scenario 2 - Group conference calls for two or more Residents, enabling large groups to communicate across geographical boundaries (e.g. concert setting, or between pockets of land etc).

Scenario 3 - Two Residents can privately share a conversation, initiated by an Instant Message. Residents don't have to be on voice-enabled land to do this.

Get the Second Opinion!

Visit this in-world kiosk to grab it and sign up for automatic in-world delivery of upcoming issues!