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Second Life Game Developer's Competition
Linden Labs, the makers of the virtual world Second Life, is sponsoring a new 2L Game Developer's Competition. The contest invites users to create quests, races, brain teasers, combat games, or anything designed to get Second Life citizens together. First prize is $500 per team member, a year's subscription to 2L, and 8 acres of Second Life land to do with as you please. From the contest page: "Linden Lab will select up to eight teams of 2 to 4 members each to participate in the competition. Each selected team will receive, for a period of up to three months, free temporary accounts for team members, free use of the Second Life development tools, and free use of approximately 3 acres of land in Second Life for the purpose of creating its proposed game and offering it for play by Second Life residents."
The idea that a $500 prize "is not worth it" for the time and effort put into the creation of a game just made me cackle.
As a Second Life resident since August, I can easily say it's the most fun online experience I've ever had. But, I'm a creative guy. Only creative and imaginative people will really get the most from their Second Life -- others would prefer to let other people create their worlds for them.
The point of this developer competition is to take some of the already talented and creative folk in-game and give them an opportunity to make a career-changing contribution. Second Life is a hobby for folks who love to make their dreams a reality and those folks have gotten pretty darned good at it. It's not "work" it's play. Many people are creating games in SL for fun anyway. Linden Lab contributing a nice fat pot is just a bonus.
Also, some correction to other ill-informed remarks:
Second Life is not a subscription service. Using SL costs just a one time fee of ten bucks for life. If you'd like to own land in the game, you pay a maintenance fee monthly, but it isn't required for maximum enjoyment of the game and not everyone is a landholder.