No financial chaos in virtual world of Second Life

Technology / Internet

In contrast with the turmoil rattling gobal financial markets, it's all smooth sailing in the virtual economy of Second Life, the California-based creators of the Internet-based universe said Wednesday.

"Despite the chaos in the world's economies, lead indicators for the Second Life economy remain strong" said John Zdanowski, financial director of Linden Lab, which set up Second Life in 2003.

"Second Life as a whole has been so far unaffected by the recent turmoil in real world markets," he added in a written response to AFP.

The exchange rate of the Linden dollar to the US dollar had remained stable, he said, as had trading on the LindeX exchange.

The commercial online world, in which people are represented by animated avatars and can do everything from social activities to shopping, has attracted more than 10 million subscribers, though only five percent are considered active users.

Š 2008 AFP

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Posted by matelot 10/15/08 14:57

Rank: 5/5 after 2 votes

The economics of Second Life is also not distorted by any form of taxation.

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Posted by Arikin 10/15/08 23:02

Rank: 5/5 after 1 vote

And why should SL be related to RL stock markets? It is still a game where you escape from reality.

Lost a bundle on the housing market? Well sit down and play a game where houses and land get cycled through ownership faster than money changes hands in RL.