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Second Life Native Linux client Released
strredwolf writes "Linden Labs has opened up the native Linux client to all users. This is an alpha version, though -- it has a lot of bugs and many hard edges. Prelim reports on the Linux client forums include: NVidia cards are better supported over ATI; get the latest drivers working in 24/32 bit color; some file editing to tweak settings is worth it; no sound; no file uploading; no texture downloading."
Since people need to have an idea of what Second Life as a MMOG is, in a nutshell, it's a sandbox game. And not like early-SWG or UO where there's content and game mechanics and whatnot- there's what content other players have modeled, textured, and scripted in-game. You'll spend a lot of your time flying around a world filled with player-created sculptures and buildings, and you might even run into other players. But you'll be hard-pressed to find a 'game' to play while you're there. It's like Myst, without the puzzles or story.
That's the objective, non-negative stuff I could say about the game. Anything else would be modded troll or flamebait.
Yes, we understand these tags always apply: fud, dupe, typo, slashdotted, topic name
Yes, it's exactly like WoW except that there are no monsters to kill and no crafting and no levels or xp and no storyline and no quests but with virtually limitless ability to build anything your heart desires from the ground up, including programming it and texturing it however you like. In WoW you can kill monsters to get different wearable items (armor, weapons, etc...), in Second Life you can build your own clothes (in any shape you want) from scratch. I was at a party once and the Kool-Aid man showed up. It wasn't like most games (medium sized fat avatar painted red), but was an actual pitcher with ice cubes and everything.
In other words, it's almost nothing like WoW, except that both games are online. It's not even really a game per say, more like a toy. One of the biggest differences is that Linden Labs (who makes Second Life) actually encourages people to try to make real US dollars from stuff they do in SL. There is a built-in system for converting in-game currency into US$ and everything.
On the other hand, if you want to see numbers fly over the heads of bad guys, then SL is definatly not the game for you. There is a little bit of PvP combat, but given the nature of the game (anybody can build anything) it's horribly unbalanced and basically nobody does it outside of limited events where the rules can be locked down some more. Actually, that is the biggest strength and biggest weakness of SL: It has almost no rules. This makes for a prolifiration of sex clubs and whatnot, but it also means peopel are free to build whatever they feel like.
I read the internet for the articles.
I generally think of SL as basically two things. First off, it's a graphical chat room. The majority of my time there is spent talking with other people. As far as that goes, it's as good as the people you hang around with in game. There's a lot of weirdos and dumbasses in SL, so it can be difficult at times.
The second thing is as a sandbox. The closest other thing I can think of would be Gerry's Mod for HalfLife, although there are some significant differences. Most of my time online there that isn't spent chatting is spent building whatever random thing comes to mind. While they're far from perfect, the creation tools are very flexible, and I'm often pleasantly surprised by what some of the players manage to come up with.
And now that I think about it, there's a third thing that SL is good for, getting weirded the hell out. Some of the people online are just really damn strange, and despite over 10 years of seeing all sorts of strange crap on the internet, SL impresses me with the depravity and general bizarreness of some of the builds and characters.
Some people have attempted to create games within the SL world, but the game has some pretty endemic lag and frame rate issues, which greatly limits the effectiveness of many game types. But if you want to play chess on a giant board like in the harry potter movie or something, that sort of thing would certainly be possible to create.
One time I threw a brick at a duck.