Index

Second Life gives subscribers 300L$ minimum per month to spend in the game. The content that will be bought with this is predominantly from other members. This stimulates the production of content within the community (Castronova, 2002), which also increases the motivation to engage with the community. This gives people a further reason to interact with other members. Trading and business between different community members can thus be seen as providing a forum for social interaction and community development within Second Life. This has also not been witnessed in previous online communities, nor in The Sims or Habbo, who also compete in the MMOSG market.

Initial growth of MMOSGs

To conclude, the level and variety of social interaction that can be seen in MMOSGs and particularly in Second Life, suggests that these represent the greatest competition for online communities in general and to Habbo. As Jurgen rightfully says it is still early in SL’s development, but current growth suggests SL will become an increasingly dominant player in the MMOSG market. The customisation and community control, over their own social expression and environment, has arguably provided the greatest potential for community building that has been seen to date.

There are still potential problems however. Current technical ability is limiting the size of the world and how well members can perceive it (sometimes takes up to a minute for the view to render). Some 3D communities like SL and Project Entropia have high technical demands, in terms of both computer power and internet speed. This slows the world down and takes longer for things to appear. As a result this reduces the usability and experience of the world. This current potential limitation will reduce with technological advances. Therefore this kind of MMOSG will become even more competitive in the market and in relation to Habbo.