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Reuters pulls out of Second Life, reporter calls the game boring photo

Over a month ago, mega news service Reuters silently left the virtual world of Second Life. A Reuters spokeswoman confirmed the terrible news to The Register, and added that Reuters will continue to report on Second Life, but “only as part of [their] usual tech and media coverage.”

Is this a sign that the game has lost its steam? In an interview with Silicon Alley Insider (via Game Politics) Eric Krangel, Reuters' initial embedded reporter in the virtual world, said that his experience in the game was nothing more than boring. Krangel cited having to spend “hundreds of hours of effort to make insignificant amounts of money selling virtual clothes, experimenting with changing your gender or species ... or having pseudo-nonymous sex...” was about as “fun as watching paint dry.”

I admit, I never messed around in Second Life longer than a few hours but I have always been perplexed that it has kept going for so long. I understand that Second Life has become a haven for the crazier denizens of our concrete environment, but after a few years even they must get tired of having to pool virtual resources and running around sponsored landscapes.

[via 1UP]


Continue: More Second Life stories





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22 comments | showing # 1 to 22

Scrixx's Avatar
Scrixx at 11/30/2008 12:02
Has the game ever had steam?
MrSadistic's Avatar
MrSadistic at 11/30/2008 12:06
Needs more furry sex.
covah's Avatar
covah at 11/30/2008 12:08
Every few months or so I download Secondlife, make a new character who is hideously deformed then just follow some other new player around for as long as I could not saying anything.

that's my extent of fooling around with Secondlife... woo
Sam Spectre's Avatar
Sam Spectre at 11/30/2008 12:13
I've always thought this game was stupid.
Tascar's Avatar
Tascar at 11/30/2008 12:13
Second Life has always struck me someone that academia latched onto based solely on the concept of the game and its social implications for their research papers and as a resulted ended up hyping it up a hundred fold. For those people who are still wondering why there are so many people willing to pay subscription money to World of Warcraft, all you need to do is to look at Second Life, a "free" game to understand the benefit/cost equation.
OtherSideOfMidnight's Avatar
OtherSideOfMidnight at 11/30/2008 12:22
I'm still wondering why people insist on calling Second Life a 'game'. Seriously, it's an interactive 3D chat.
brainderailment's Avatar
brainderailment at 11/30/2008 12:25
It is only a chat client, not a game.

If they want to give it steam, give it a game. Like WoW, make quests to complete and have NPCs to kill and what-not. Loot = Fun.
Superfluous Moniker's Avatar
Superfluous Moniker at 11/30/2008 13:19
The last two comments are right on. Second Life is basically a GUI for IRC. Only there's money involved and you can't transfer files.
Vaij's Avatar
Vaij at 11/30/2008 13:24
I was kinda amazed that they put a reporter in an MMO in the first place.
Paul Soth's Avatar
Paul Soth at 11/30/2008 13:31
Canceled my account, glad I did.

The worst part is that by socializing and screwing around in SL with the various social mutants that make up the hardcore section of players, you end up losing any time to go out as socialize with real people doing real things and perhaps even having real sex.

Fuck SL, going out to a real club is much better.
Xhumation's Avatar
Xhumation at 11/30/2008 13:41
I wonder if this is gonna affect the amount of news we get from crazies in Second Life?

I've never gotten into the thing, but the news articles you read about it are hilarious.
lucashoal's Avatar
lucashoal at 11/30/2008 14:03
MrSadistic, right as usual.
Mxyzptlk's Avatar
Mxyzptlk at 11/30/2008 15:17
I'm amazed they found it worthwhile to cover in the first place.
Niero's Avatar
Niero at 11/30/2008 15:51
I feel like this game's biggest asset has always been its name and liberal terms of service. The actual product is shit.
Solgrim's Avatar
Solgrim at 11/30/2008 16:32
One life is enough for me. That name alone scares me, so I never tried it.
-PL-'s Avatar
-PL- at 11/30/2008 16:47
I tried playing Second Life, and I just couldn't get into it. But, I can understand some of the allure-- it allows a person to create pretty much anything they want, given they have the knowledge to create it. Kind of reminds me of LBP, except there's actually a point to playing LBP outside of just creating stuff.
mateo's Avatar
mateo at 11/30/2008 18:20
Second Life had steam until corporations started slapping logos on the landscape. Reuters pulling out is just another nail in the coffin. The "game" has no point! It's a glorified chat room with no purpose save for attacking news conferences with flying dicks!
Cube's Avatar
Cube at 11/30/2008 21:39
You do not want to know what really goes on in secound life and that is why it keeps going.

And if you never seen it you are not looking hard enough.
lucashoal's Avatar
lucashoal at 12/01/2008 02:16
@Cube - It's kinda obvious. Porn of all varieties. Furry, loli, rape, snuff, and more.
TimDJ84's Avatar
TimDJ84 at 12/01/2008 02:22
Another chat client like this yet even worse is the Red Light Center one.Damn and the website is like an adult myspace.The 3d chat is crazy avatar sex but at least your virtual character can do shrooms,ge drunk,get high and then you can walk around all jacked up.
TheToiletDuck's Avatar
TheToiletDuck at 12/01/2008 04:57
Reuters just lost all credibility. How are they ever going to relate to the net generation if they can't experience virtual minotaur cock.
TrailerParkJesus's Avatar
TrailerParkJesus at 12/01/2008 08:45
a lot of people don't like their first life
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