The long lazy summer is here ...

... and just like last year everywhere has started to go very quiet! I am hearing reports from friends about clubs shutting down, I have seen notices from people who are actually selling their sims due to lack of business. One of the less dramatic but nonetheless still important trends that is occurring is that businesses are making large cuts in prices on everything from home rentals to combat weapons.

In a lot of ways this is interesting for those residents who are principally consumers stretching their Lindens out nicely. For those of us providing the goods and services it is of course rather lean times. I am yet to be convinced that more than a handful of people make any serious money running businesses in Second Life and from that point of view I always counsel new people looking to 'Make a successful business!!' that they need to be realistic about their economic expectations. On a personal level both Babette and I are content that what we do is satisfying in itself and any income is a pleasant thing ... but not to be either expected or relied on.

There are other ways to view the business model in Second Life and I suspect it may help some who are new to Second Life to appreciate that the economics are rather less like a bustling modern metropolis and much more like an ancient southern European holiday resort that is essentially a ghost town out of season. In this case summer is out of season in Second Life; people seem to spend the long summer evenings catching the breeze outside with friends and a long cold alcoholic beverage rather than sweltering in front of a PC!!

Babette and I view the summer as a quiet opportunity to catch up with some of the development ideas that we have gathered over the busier, cooler quarters of the year. This is our chance to build the things that we simply haven't the time for when we are in full swing and personally it is a time to either rewrite scripts that need bug fixes or as now develop a brand new Remote Colour control system for the furniture we are using with some of our 'Rez on Demand' entertainment and wedding themes.

Scripting in Second Life is much the same as any software development environment where you are writing control and interactive systems which are heavily reliant on environmental factors ... in other words it is frustrating and time consuming!! The issues are even sometimes not about what should be happening but about the fact that Linden Labs have yet again 'Tweaked!!!' something without proper testing.

With all of the frustrations though I have to say I find the scripting projects I take on in Second Life to be most rewarding ... they are usually a complex octopus of a problem that takes a considerable amount of determination, perspiration, inspiration and of course a fair helping of 'Cussing!!' to make it work.

Over all I think the summer in Second Life is a fine time but I do empathise with the business owners who sit staring at their empty shops and apartments wondering who is going to pay the next months tier to Linden Labs!! In short beware the business model in Second Life it is not entirely what it appears to be from the beginnings in mid winter when Second Life is crammed with people avoiding the cold dark nights by sitting in front of a PC in a nice cosy room!!

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