Just to give a sense of the waves aloft's Second Life virtual hotels are making, blogger and Second Life enthusiast rikomatic (a.k.a. "Rik Riel") has checked out aloft Island and posted his thoughts. Interestingly our boy Rik is not a game otaku or a travel/hospitality industry pro but a non-profit social researcher with a special interest in online environments as "political organizing and educational [tools]". He seems to think the hotels will be pretty cool; his one critique is that increasing the realism of the online environment (such as "no fly" and "no teleporting" controls and some defenses against griefers) will make a better simulation: "Nothing ruins a hotel stay like someone shooting your avatar." Actually, that sounds a lot like real life.
Related Article:
It's not exactly a game, it's not exactly reality. Learn more about Second Life at The Phoenix
[image via rikomatic]
