Massively^™

Current TV viewer and contributor, Vasilis Siskos, created this look into the virtual economy of Second Life. Curious as to whether the real life recession trickled down into the virtual world, he asked some experts, including Robert Bloomfield, of Metanomics, John Zdanowski, or Zee Linden, the CFO of Linden Lab, and Alliez Mysterio, of d'Alliez Estates. They had some interesting insight on the situation, but ultimately felt that it wouldn't be a problem, as crafty residents would find what worked better next and adapt.

[Thanks, Kai!]

If you have machinima or movie suggestions from any MMO, please send them to machinima AT massively DOT com, along with any information you might have about them.

On April 1st, Philip Rosedale appeared before the Congressional Subcommittee to discuss virtual worlds. Among those testifying was Susan Tenby, whose in-world name is Glitteractica Cookie. Once the Daily Show found out, it was open season for Second Life.

After John Stewart mocked poor Glitteractica, Robert Bloomfield, aka Beyers Sellers, had her on his show, Metanomics, on the SL Cable Network. While there, he issued a challenge to the man whom he felt was John's little brother, Stephen Colbert. You'll just have to watch to see the amusing incentives that he offers!

[Thanks, Beyers!]

If you have machinima or movie suggestions from any MMO, please send them to machinima AT massively DOT com, along with any information you might have about them.

On April 21st, Robert Bloomfield, better known as Beyers Sellers in Second Life, held his weekly show, Metanomics. His guests, Mitch Wagner, of Information Week, and Steve Prentice, of Gartner, called the future of SL dire. John Zdanowski, also known as Zee Linden, then came on to address the points that Mitch and Steve made.

In his two part response, he talks about premium accounts, the Lindex, and the recent lowering of land prices. Only time will tell if the situation is truly severe, but at least you can buy cheap* islands now!

* Excluding VAT and $295/mo USD tier fee.

If you have machinima or movie suggestions from any MMO, please send them to machinima AT massively DOT com, along with any information you might have about them.

Mitch Kapor speaking a few minutes ago with Cornell University's Professor Robert Bloomfield at the special Metanomics session today, straight up nixes plans for an IPO.

Kapor says that he feels his earlier statements in other media were 'misconstrued', and that there are definitely no plans for an IPO. Kapor sounded rather baffled as to how his comments suggested to people that an IPO was in the wind. "My recollection is not saying that an IPO was under consideration... being able to take a company public is started 12 to 18 months in advance... it's very complex..."

The audio was a bit spotty, so we will need to wait for the transcript, but the magic IPO phrase seems to be, "Gosh, I hope not."

In the wake of the announcement that Philip Rosedale would be moving up to chairman of the Linden Lab board of directors, and that present chairman Mitch Kapor would be moving to a key (but as-yet-unnamed) role, Cornell University Professor Robert Bloomfield (Beyers Sellers in Second Life) will be hosting a special Metanomics session this Friday at 10:30AM SLT (US Pacific time). The session will feature a one-on-one discussion with Kapor, himself.

The topic? Bloomfield offers, "We will talk about his vision for virtual worlds technology and business strategy and, of course, the future of Linden Lab and Second Life."

Live coverage of this special edition of Metanomics on Friday, March 28, 2008 from the CMP sim, owned by United Business Media's Think Services division, will be broadcast exclusively on slcn.tv for those who cannot attend in person, or are unable to attend the sim in person.

Richard Bartle dips in and out of Second Life. He likens it as going to London. He might not be there for months, and then multiple times in a week. To him, Second Life is a place, much like many others.

Bartle was in that place on 11 March, as a part of the Metanomics series, hosted by professor Robert J Bloomfield. Bartle often regarded as the father of the first MUD. In a sense he's the progenitor of all existing virtual worlds, both those based on games and those that are game-free.

I've covered the Second Life Cable Network before, but there's so much programming that I wanted to highlight one specific segment. Every week, residents join Paisley Beebe to watch her talk show, Tonight Live. Her previous guests have included sean Voss, Celebrity Trollop, Cylindrian Rutabaga, Filthy Fluno, TheDiva Rockin, and Torley Linden!

Last week, Paisley interviewed Beyers Sellers, otherwise known as Robert Bloomfield, who also has a weekly show on SLCN called Metanomics. They discuss why some have called his program "Pretend TV" and also why he started out in SL as a woman. For more information about Tonight Live or to attend in person, you can check out their blog.

On Monday, 12 November at 11AM SLT (US Pacific), Professor Robert J Bloomfield, JGSM, director of the Business Simulation Lab at Cornell's prestigious Johnson Business School will be speaking with David Karsbol macroeconomics expert, and Market Strategist for Saxo Bank, as part of a post-analysis of the session with Linden Lab's Gene Yoon, earlier this week.

Saxo Bank are a progressive investment bank, specializing in online trading, founded in Denmark in 1992 and have an evolving presence in Second Life. With his strong background in macroeconomics and metals pricing you can expect Karsbol to have quite the contrasting opinion of the metaverse economy from Yoon.

On Monday, 5 November at 11AM SLT (US Pacific), Professor Robert J Bloomfield, JGSM, director of the Business Simulation Lab at Cornell's prestigious Johnson Business School will be discussing Linden Lab's economic policies with Gene Yoon (much better known as Ginsu Linden) in Second Life. Yoon is the Vice President of Business Affairs at Linden Lab and was formerly General Counsel.

The talk is part of the Metanomics series of discussions and talks, focusing on business and policy in the "metaverse" of virtual worlds. The Metanomics audience includes game developers; executives managing real-world and virtual-world businesses; and scholars of business, economics, law and sociology. Residents of Second Life follow the Metanomics series particularly closely, as many events focus on issues arising in Second Life's vibrant business community.