Rezable!

Nearly all MMOs hook players by making them invest in their character’s reputation, and SL is no exception. (Pearce, “Emergent Authorship” p.23) However, where other MMOs define reputation by an achieved experience level- a number- SL has redirected the fervor of leveling-up into the creation of impressive content that attracts attention and reputation. The detail of an SL player’s virtual home and avatar are status symbols that are physical evidence of that player’s technical skill and creativity. This is a much different reward system as it allows the player to be judged by the community and be rewarded with respect and sales of their created content. This system allows players with talent to eclipse the status of full-time players who have hegemony of status due to an unhealthy number of hours spent online leveling up their numbers. This redirection of effort to user content vastly accelerates to generation of unexpected content and use of that content. The complex object creation tool and content-based reputation are the primordial soup from which the next generation of virtual lives will emerge.

Mike Shannahan
http://interactive.usc.edu/members/students/2006/05/post_2.php

Second Life is "rezable". Everything you see in Second Life has been created by the residents of Second Life. In other words, life in Second Life is defined by what you rez, i.e., how creative you are within the life engendered there through the usage of the objects that you are surrounded by/which you possess. Now, this does not neccesarily have to be personal building, although, being an artist and designer, that is of course, my primary concern. But even if you do no building whatsoever, still all your purchase activity in the metaverse goes towards rezability, and is a form of creative expression. You recreate your appearance thorugh the usage of skins, apparel and hair that you either purchase or find. You make not only gender choices but species choices. Will you be male or female, furry or Neko, human or robot? Are you going to be a solo avatar or will you also have alts? All these go towards not only role-play but self-expression. So, a huge part of your creative activity is very much centered around self-realization, the definiiton of new selves within the self, the development of new personas that may or may not be accurate replications of your real life persona.

Alpha organizing her considerable inventory

But your persona, important as it is, is by no means everything. For residents who are really serious about their Second Lives, establishing an identity which involves possessions as well as activity is paramount. The building and/or aquisition of homes and work spaces, the renting and/or purchasing of land, the presence of vehicles and pets is almost as important as the kitting out of the avatar. And then, of course, comes the building of an identity through activity: Groups which hold meetings of both recreational and professional nature as well as entertainment venues are eagerly sought out and often indeed are initiated. In short a life, an identity; complete with posessions, schedules, appointments and commitments; one as complex as any real life could ever be is built and then propagated.

Environment
"How horrifyingly ugly!" was my first thought when I landed on the grid. And, yes, without putting too fine a point on it, for the largest part, Second Life is ugly indeed. The absence of zoning and building permits as well as a total lack of city planning have created "a mess of urban sprawl that makes LA look like a utopia. Virtual homes are on the same lots as content shops, and one can’t help but feel lost... ...SL has proven itself as evidence that city planning is a necessity because neighbors will build a floating castle next to your gorgeous view of the virtual ocean, without a permit!" >>>.

Whitenoise Church by Mosmax Hax

However this overall ugliness has not prevented many artists and designers of caliber, some of whom have even fully moved their highly successful Real Life creative practices into Second Life, from generating some remarkable output, both in terms of fashion and object/gadget design as well as artistic installations and architecture. But even when these skilled artists and designers are at work Second Life presents huge challenges: An absence of shadows and of reflectivity make for an environment that poses obstacles that need to be taken into account. The best creative output in Second Life is the one that has made a virtue of neccesity and has somehow incorporated these shortcomings into the visual language itself. Being closely associated with computer scientists that specialize in computer graphics in my RL research I am aware that current bandwidth and rendering capabilities would make the incorportation of ray tracing impossible. Future generations of metaverse will undoubtedly be endowed with shadows and reflectivity and even further attributes such as photorealistic as well as non-photorealistic rendering. But the fact of the matter today is that Second Life, despite being 3D gives a curios impression of flatness, of an almost cartoonish effect, due to the absence of shadows and reflective surfaces. It has to be added that the introduction of Windlight is a huge step in the provision of atmospheric rendering, which is currently going a long way in the alleviation of this cartoonlike flatness of the environment.

Klein, Poorhouse Beach. The creative domain of Hardwarehacker Hoch, viewed with Windlight