Does anybody think that learning Linden Scripting Language is worth it?

Question

I'm just looking for people's opinions on this...

I really got worried when Second Life came out; I thought it was going to be a game changer for the Internet; Until I realized that outside of programmers and college students there really aren't that many people with the sort of hardware and Internet connection requirements needed to have a decent user experience with Second Life.

That compounded with the fact that a Linden Labs server can really only handle about 70 people visiting a land at one time. Thus whatever interactive 3D content you create on Second Life cannot possibly generate the number of hits that you might get with a traditional web app.

But even so, for the future...when maybe they find a solution to this problem, is it worth learning LSL?

Answer 1

LSL is nice little event-oriented language with great time/satisfaction ratio. It's a really good way to get into something totally different than usual oh-so-boring webapps stuff. You know the drill:

• server (Java)
• desktop (.NET)
• web (Javascript / PHP / etc.)
• low level stuff (C/C++)

They all look alike compared to LSL/Second Life platform.

Plus, it's great to earn a few bucks on a side. There's a big, healthy and vibrant Second Life community, LSL programmers are in demand, and micropayments in Second Life are alive and well.

How big is Second Life?

First and foremost, it doesn't really matter how big it is. The real question most people want to know is, "is it the next big thing?" It might be, or it might fail miserably. Maybe it already failed as mainstream product and defined itself as niche forever. But whatever it is, technologically it's bleeding edge, just like Amazon web services or iPhone. It is also only 3D MMO world which is not a game and more resembles Facebook (which is a 2D web phenomenon) than, say, World of Warcraft. Linden Labs (creators of Second Life) are also leading the only existing initiative which tries to connect 3D worlds and standardize protocols, which is pretty smart compared to other web platforms like Facebook, Amazon and Google stuff, who are still trying to lock developers into their platforms.

But for the sake of argument...

Comparing maximum of 70 people in one Second Life simulator doesn't tell much. Simulator is equivalent of physical space (256 m²) in Second Life, and is something like web server in 2D web. How much users can concurrently access one web server doesn't tell much about a website it hosts, and you can always add more web servers. Big Second Life events usually span multiple simulators anyway, and there are thousands of simulators.

Here's a link that compares the landmass of Second Life to several other references (like WoW). Also, some of the more useful current statistics are:

• 86000 maximum concurrent users
• 40000 minimum concurrent users at any time
• 1444530 users logged in last 60 days

This is way lesser than WoW which hit 1 million concurrent users in China alone in April 2008, but then again, all content in WoW is pretty much developed by Blizzard, so you don't really have an option to create content in WoW.

Is it worth it?

It depends. If you're looking to get into LSL just because it might be mainstream some day, no, it's probably not worth it.

On the other hand, it's still a new area, and it's still relatively easy to create something original in LSL. In a year or two, it won't be as easy. In comparison, competition in fashion market in SL is much more fierce and it's really hard to top available products; great time to get into fashion in Second Life was about two years ago (it's not too late now, but you have to be really good).

There are roughly four kinds of good reasons to learn LSL (which can overlap):

• you're a Second Life user who wants to be able to create things you can't do without LSL (and don't have somebody else who can do it for you or don't want to pay somebody)
• you're a programmer interested in 3D virtual worlds
• you want to earn some extra money in a fun way (yes, it's possible, and though there are people to whom Second Life pays bills it's more exception than a rule)
• you're a programmer and want to work with professional escorts and compensate, and don't really want to know how old or good looking the chick is in real life ;) - seriously, Second Life is great for stumbling into different people, and LSL skills will take you to some places where Java simply can't

Be aware that creating 3D content in Second Life usually involves more than programming. It's easy to cross into Photoshop/design, video, 3D architecture (Autocad), animation, marketing, etc. It's also likely that you'll work with fashion designers, real architects who're trying to prototype buildings in LSL, educators, and all kinds of different professions.

Answer 2

As usual with such questions, it depends on your goals.

Reasons to learn LSL:

• You just want to understand how such distributed/parallel/interactive systems work.
• You're already involved with SecondLife and want to stretch yourself.
• You have a contract with a company that wants to establish a SecondLife presence.

Reasons not to learn LSL:

• There aren't enough hours in a week to dabble with everything.
• There are plenty of languages that have something to teach you that you'll more likely use.
• Low probability that a job opportunity to use it will fall out of the sky.

I have nothing against LL or SL, and might dabble with LSL for fun if I had nothing else to do. But I already have lots of other things to do.