The race to get virtual representations of real life cities into Second Life amazes me. It amazes me that independent developers, such as Second Promotion would take on such monumental tasks as virtual Salzburg, and it amazes me that so far, we've not had a city council throw a royal fit over the representation of their town in the virtual world, where at least in theory, anything can happen. Second Life is known for it's adult content, and virtual Amsterdam, which was almost sold earlier this month is teeming with it, though in that particular case you can perhaps understand why this doesn't represent much of a problem.
Just this week, I've visited virtual Munich, and just moments ago, virtual Manchester. Munich-Secondlife, according to Brain Mills, a developer with In World Momentum, the company behind the build, is four weeks away from completion. IWM are using the new Second Life building tools known as Sculpties to complete the construction. On that basis, they can be forgiven the somewhat chaotic build, and in my opinion, applauded for not locking down the sim whilst building. It's interesting to many people to see these projects grow. Manchester on the other hand, the creation of Clicks and Links is somewhat of a poor show. It seems complete, though according to Aleister Kronos' full review, not "officially" open despite hosting a tech awards ceremony yesterday evening. I have to agree with Aleister, after having looked around for a while at virtual Manchester, I just came away feeling rather sad that it hadn't been a more fulfilling experience. I've never been to the real life city unfortunately, but it's Second Life cousin just didn't do much for me.
In his review, Aleister says "the site feels half-empty and disjointed, with the shells of a number of Manchester's iconic buildings dotted around the landscape. Few, if any, have anything inside."
Still, having had a little moan about uncompleted builds, and voiced some speculation on future legal issues, I have to report that I love the idea of virtual representations of cities in Second Life and that I always enjoy visitng new ones. Im looking forward to seeing more, but also interested to see when the inevitable problem of content and representation takes an ugly turn for the first time.
Thanks for linking...
I agree with you that it'd be great to see more towns and cities in Second Life. But the builders need to get the "branding" right. If you have iconic buildings and structures - do them proud.
I visited the virtual Munich and was (a) disappointed with the amount built (3pointD had suggested a higher degree of readiness) and (b) encouraged by the openness.
The Dutch have taken the virtual town very much to their collective bosom. Zoetermeer may have been the first, but Rotterdam is under construction (there's a small landing zone open to visitors), Koolhoven, Utrecht, Brabant and many more councils are active in SL.
In the States, Cleveland seems to be in mid-build and Pittsburg is quite nicely represented at UPMC (Univerty of Pittsburg Medical Center). As a Brit, I am also keeping an eye on Brighton UK - though right now I have no idea if it is a "town build" or something else.
Funny how we also tend to expect virtual cities to be inhabited on-the-fly. A city is a natural aggregation of people, businesses, living spaces... that has had time to grow and get organized.
The 'ghost town' feeling that prevails across the grid might be a sign that we are not necessarily ready, as residents, to build, work and live together instantaneously. Hopefully, some projects will emerge from people - or competitors, as it happens in RL - joining forces (locally or internationally) to impulse life in common environments.
Also, most virtual representations of existing cities have so far been heavy on clichés. The usual sight-seeing tour doesn't make a city. When I travel, I also (or mostly) expect to meet people. They are the ones who'll help me skip the tourist trap package.
It might be a long way before virtual cities stretch over 30 sims, each neighborhood standing out as a unique destination. But hey, who knows? (place your city here) wasn't built in a day, as they say.