I am not someone who can “create content.” But in SL I am in an environment with a very low bar to entry for creators. This results in a very wide selection that helps me be whatever I want to be. If, like Sony Home, creation is limited in Blue Mars to a few, why would I want to be a part of that?

As for Macs, I’m all for Mac clients. And Linux clients. My personal experience with SL on Macs is that I don’t see any difference that can’t be explained by hardware or drivers. I think one of several right moves that Linden Lab did was to make their client Open Source and ported it to Windows, Mac (Universal binaries!), and Linux.

BUT… google, them techoverlords somehow DID finally open their listening port..lol…

O3D… right now plays on all platforms i can see, and can import collada from even mac based 3d apps…

i believe alot of exit plans just got shuttered today…. the death of lively might be the birth of real web3d internetz…:)

cube3

I think the majority of Second Life users don’t really care too much about creating content. In the early days of Second Life most users were also creators but, after the massive growth of SL (yes — despite the bad press of 2008 which inevitably followed the good press of 2007, Second Life is very much alive and growing) most users are just users. But a subset of very creative and energetic users is and will continue to be attracted of the unlimited, informal and casual creativity permitted by SL. These users will stay in Second Life and continue to create compelling attractions, which will also keep casual users in. Also, the social community of frequent SL users is very strong, with personal and group bonds which are hard to break and will tend to keep everyone in. Blue Mars is one of the most exciting new developments in the metaverse, but it is not a Second Life killer. I expect both platforms will flourish.

At the same time Blue Mars can and probably will be more appealing to corporate and public sector operators. Dusan has concisely stated why: “For a consumer brand – a Red Bull or a Coke or whatever, the ability to tightly control the user experience will be a godsend after the flying phallus days of SL. The ability to track users, their time in a space, and to provide AI ’shop keepers’ – all big pluses.”. The flying phallus comment refers to the unrestricted user creativity in Second Life has resulted in some bad press: most articles about Second Life in the non specialized press are about virtual sex, scandals, financial scams and gambling — even though the last two things are history after Linden Lab has banned SL gambling and unregulated banking, and VR sex may soon follow. When I talk to new clients about Second Life, this is the kind of questions I get most. As a result of the bad press Second Life has been considered as an image problem by the most conservative operators, and I expect they will prefer the more controlled environment, and of course the superior performance, of Blue Mars.

I am especially interested in the the applications of online VR to education. The Cry Engine 2 platform upon which Blue Mars is based is more and more frequently used for education and professional training. Though there are no examples at this moment, I assume that the system components and educational material used for classes in Second Life, Power Point, video, voice, streaming video, Moodle integration etc., will be implemented by Blue Mars developers. But I expect the most popular edicational applications in Blue Mars will be those that require highly realistic VR environments with state-of-the-art visuals, illumination, physics and AI. Architecture of course, engineering, professional training for the industrial machinery, space, but also history and the visual arts. I expect historic events to be faithfully recreated in Blue Mars, and the platform to become a favorite of machinima producers.

that statement is very true from a creative service industries POV of the last 10 years….

but its also exactly WHY…windows only, or mac only web3d/ vr WORLDS online have failed for a decade.:)

in SL, both 2d and 3d combine, with some scripts, and hopefully some business accumen, to create a “new media” type.. REALTIME 3D.. rt3d. media.. which is what Im talking about, its what all these blue mars want to facilitate and transform into microcomerce trade profits…..

that IS the real world, one ive been in for a decade waiting for you all to show up at;) and since the 2006 SL/blog break through of hype:) many(millions of you..lol?) are now here:)

staying is the trick;)

I think youll find that the “amatuers” that fill up and “created” things Like Second LIFE, from the creative side hype, are mainly mac folks, clothing textures(2d) and all.

YOull also find that creative media agencies are all mac dominant still, and thus didnt “believe” in 3d on the web until SL was on a mac in 2006.

And believe it or not, 3d game pros, using max and maya STILL dont really care about virtual worlds like Blue Mars, unless they are paid to work on/for them.:) Just as 2d pros in animation cared nothing for flash on a mac in 1996:)

in 2009 i do believe that cross platform has finally made a dent in the creative cgi users market.

how large a dent again, will be seen by the adoption of any of the windows only “virtual service worlds platforms”

where I am in the world dosent matter hypatia, where the rest of the world IS, will to the many who are spending tons of time and money in web3d content plays again.

Bleh, fanbois.