First off let me say that if you want to make a living off the game you need to be skilled at one or all of these 3 things: Scripting, Art/Design, or a very skilled business man.

It is possible to make a few hundred per week without these skills by selling products for other makers on commission but theres a limit to what you can make. Even then you still need some business skills. The reason why is even if you have tons of great stuff to sell you need to have customers. A business needs a good place to sell its products with a consitant amount of traffic, they also need to advertise. The reason to there being a limit to your profit with this type of business is for one you only get a percent of the profit from every sale usually 25 to 50% max. Second most people will visit the original makers store, and third is that hundreds of other people are also selling that makers stuff on commission like you so you have to compete with them too.

So if you want to make a lot of money playing this game you have to make and sell your own products. Since making a product involves an artisic design, scripting or both you need those skills. These skills can take years to develope. If your already a good artist or scripter then your good if not start practicing.

Since almost every person in SL tries to start a business and most will fail the best products to sell are products that people use in businesses. I will list some of the most profitable products sold in second life. The reason i know they are very profitable is because i sell them or someone i know does. Some of these products require you to invest in programs that can cost a lot of money.

artists/Designers:
-Animations
-Sculpted Prims (3D objects)
-Clothing
-Skins & shapes (Avatar upgrades)
-Textures
-Vehicles
-Houses

Scripters:
-Unique gadgets
-Games
-Vending machines
-vehicle scripts
-T.V./radio scripts
-Advertising systems
-Programs that help designers make there products.
anything usefull or cool people will buy.

Well thats all the info i have for any newbie thinking about starting a business in second life. Good luck

Let’s compare that to getting a job in RL at McDonalds at minimum wage in the US. Keep in mind that a job at McDonalds is not the kind of job that people think of as a good money making job. There is not much training, and at $5.25/hr you would be making more than $200 your first week before taxes. Even if you include taxes, you are still making about 3 or 4 times as much money working at McDonalds than you would be in SL.

This is where David is wrong when he says, “The overwhelming problem is the freedom that is unchecked by any simulation of real-world restraints.” The thing is, if you want results in the real world (such as making money) the best way to do that is to live in the real world. If you want to live a fantasy life where you can ask anonymous strangers for sex, teleport and fly, then SL is a better place to do that than real life.

I have built a few things, and played with SL myself. But it crashes a lot on my laptop and even when it didn’t crash on my older machine, I noticed it tended to have a lot of lag. I could buy a new computer so that SL is less likely to crash. But is it worth it? Just to have an online fantasy life?

I’ve been playing Second Life for about 7 months now and In that time I’ve managed to use my game-making scripting skills to make a wide verity of products in SL. The scripting system isn’t too hard once you learn the commands and the building aspect has been made pretty easy to learn (learned most of it within first week of playing). I also became a manager for a mall at once point which helped “bring in the dough”. I can honestly say i’ve been averaging cashing out for about $200 a month (give or take) for the last 3 months. And yes that is REAL cash. It more then pays for my internet bill so yeah, i’d say it’s worth it not only cause it helps pay the bills but I ENJOY PLAYING A GAME which is really what it’s about. Who in the world can honestly say they’d rather play a game with a totally fake money system compared to one that you can turn into real money to make it worth your time playing?

In the end it all comes down to, would you have fun while playing? If you answered yes, why not make some real cash while doing it?

Oh and did I mention I have yet to pay SL a cent out of my own pocket? I’m still on a totally free account. I am thinking of paying monthly so I can one day own and manage my own mall for 100% of the profit instead however.

As far as which virtual environment wins, they will all connect at some point in the future, as soon as the correct software is developed, and as technology can handle such bandwidth number crunching.

Quote: The overwhelming problem is the freedom that is unchecked by any simulation of real-world restraints. When I can buy a scarf for 60 (simulated) dollars and yet can fly and teleport for free (not to mention build a skyscraper, if I own a pittance of property) the lack of balance looms large.

A) The whole idea of the virtual reality is to leave behind things which DO constrain us in real life, I.E gravity

B) There have been more than 6,000,000 people sign up, with 1,500,000 logging in over the past month

C) People WILL and DO pay such an amount for a virtual and inconsequential items because not everyone possesses the skill required to create thier own accessories in-game, and seriously, for your $1US when you get back about $300 in game it really is peanuts to pay to have some fun

and D)

Quote: Not to sound overly prudish, but to be approached for simulated deviant sex within minutes of first logging on is a bit off-putting. Certainly people participate in these less-than-savory SL activities in real life, but those activities carry real responsibility, real consequence. Unfortunately, consequence is hardly ever modeled in SL.

You have enetered a “mature” area anyway – it clearly states that it is X-rated on the island introduction screen. Hence, it is your own fault for being approached in such a way.