With the forum doomsday upon us, it's time to check the score for Second Life's resident forum wars! Now, at this stage of the game it's far too early to tell which forum will come out as the leader of the pack. However, we can have a bit of fun looking at the opening moves and taking some guesses as to who is going to be the victor.
In this article I have comitted a Second Life cardinal sin ... I judged.
Based on what appeared to be general resident interest, enthusiam, quality design, and features, I boiled the selection down to six forums that seem to be in the strongest position to take a lead. I reviewed them, then I gave them each an Aimee score. In my experience this kind of bahavior in SL will certainly be punished with tar, feathers, burning oil, beatings with sticks, and accusations about my questionable parentage, gender, sexual orientation and mental condition.
So I should note that this article is my opinion and should not be regarded as an official endorsement by Linden Lab, AOL, Weblogs, Inc. or any of the other fine fine fine fine bloggers here at Second Life Inisder. Ok, brace yourself ... We're going in!
SL-FORUMS
URL: http://sl-forums.com/index.php
Registered Users: 240
Total Posts: 2022
Why join: Cool "Shoutbox" feature, and sidebar product reviews.
Aimee Score:
SL-Forums has a gorgeous layout and design similar to SL Universe with a few Javascript extras that make the presentation feel sharp and professional. One such feature is the ShoutBox, which allows any user to make a public announcement, even if it's as simple as "HI AIMEE!." The top ten active threads of this forum scroll through a box at the bottom of the page a like a stock-ticker. You can always see at a glance where all the action is. Finally, a sidebar features moderator-highlited products as well as the top five newest products available in the product section.
Moderators like forum notable Sensual Casanova help set the tone for this budding SL forum.
SL DRAMA
URL: http://www.sldrama.com/
Registered Users: 58
Total Posts: 75
Why join: In-World Registration (prevents name theft) and web-based role playing game.
Aimee Score:
Unofficial SL guide author, Foolish Frost treats us all with a slick forum design of light blue and grey. The titlebar for SL Drama features a logo with an image of Foolish Himself. Gah! Imagine the vanity of having one's own image overlooking a forum. *ahem* .... uh ... ok let's not imagine that. *whistles* Let's move on!.
SL Drama sports some nice features including a web-based role playing game called Legend of the Green Dragon! In this text based role playing game I am a Felyne named Farmgirl Aimee Weber. FARMGIRL!?! This game is sure to be a great distraction for those bored at work.
To register for SL Drama you need to locate an in-world kiosk. You can find a list of SLURS to these kiosks on the lower right sidebar of the main SL Drama page. In-world registration can sometimes be a annoying and is subject to the stability of Second Life's scripting engine. But the system makes it virtually impossible for unsavory characters to steal your user name (which they will use to publicly profess your love for sheep-sex.)
At 58 registered users, SL Drama has a lot of catching up to do. But the look, feel, and features of this forum is a good sign for the future.
SL HOMEPAGE
URL: http://forums.slhomepage.com/index.php
Registered Users: 53
Total Posts: 198
Why join: Familiar vBulletin style
Aimee Score:
A new forum, fresh out of the wrapper and still with the "vBulletin" logo at the top, SL Homepage will feel like home with a layout similar to the doomed official SL Forums. The forum traffic and activity at SL Homepage is off to a light, but quality start.
YET ANOTHER SL FORUM
URL: http://yaslf.com
Registered Users: 28
Total Posts: 95
Why join: In-World Registration, Text-Only mode.
Aimee Score:
Kristian Ming's aptly named Yet Another Second Life Forum (YASLF) sports a simplistic and friendly design. While YASLF is a bit light when it comes to typical forum features, it does sport a PDA-friendly text-only mode and in-world registration like SL Drama. To register, go to the kiosk in Farlight Gallery and pass it your e-mail address on a private channel.
On the social side of things, Kristian Ming has set the tone of this forum with no uncertain terms. "Trolls not welcome." Good news for SLers tired of Second Life's high school style drama.
At 28 users, this forum seems to be off to a slow but promising start.
SECOND CITIZEN
URL: http://forums.secondcitizen.com/
Registered Users: 850
Total Posts: 31,057
Why join: "Badboy" reputation and "anything goes" moderation policy.
Aimee Score:
Pretty much the "biker bar" of Second Life forums, Second Citizen has earned a reputation for rough play. The creator himself kicked off his forum with a semi regular "roast" where he used humor to give some of Second Life's highest profile celebs an emotional smack-down. Visitors should be cautioned that having a forum avatar is an absolute MUST (despite the ironic lack of logo where the default "iSkin" currently resides.) Those who fail to comply will be assigned an avatar, and let me tell you ... it won't be pretty.
Second Citizen has racked up a respectable post count of 31,000 posts in its short history which isn't surprising given the addictive nature of forums brawls. But despite all the biting, bitch-slapping and hair pulling that goes on over there, this blogger feels a very real sense of community with fellow Second Citizens.
Now, Second Citizen is not my top rated forum, but I will say that it's my favorite forum. This may seem like a conflict but it really isn't. Sometimes all the five star restaurants in the world can't compare to that little corner pizza place you know and love.
SL UNIVERSE
URL: http://forums.sluniverse.com
Registered Users: 2,792
Total Posts: 5,677
Why join: Packed with features such as Snapzilla, and Chat.
Aimee Score:
Venerable and respected SL Universe needs no introduction. Creator Cristiano Midnight was running this forum long before it became the fashionable thing to do, and around his brand he has built an information empire. Visitors will be pleased by SL Universe's graphical layout and design which is attractive and easy to use. Cristiano's moderation techniques are, well, moderate. You can be sure that you wont be banned for warning residents of a catastrophic bug, THAT'S for sure!.
But wait, there's more! SL Universe is wrapped up with the famous virtual scrapbook, Snapzilla. Still not enough? Why not check out SL Universe's Java-based IRC chat program. Gadzooks you still want more? Then try out SL Universe's online knowledge base with instruction on everything from scripting to clothes making.
SL Universe continues to grow and is rapidly becoming the one-stop shop for all your third party forum needs.
Read More
1 comment:
Post a Comment