1. So exactly what is the shocker here? That a COMMERCIAL enterprise, Linden Lab, is pursuing commercial relationships? You are ABSOLUTELY right that the non-commercial uses/places/events of SL are the most interesting and the great thing about a virtual world is that unlike the physical world, SL won't run out of real estate - there will always be room for the non-commercial (just add another server); but if people were operating under the assumption that SL was some sort of altruistic enterprise or that Linden Lab and Philip Rosedale were not actually obligated to their investors to pursue these kinds of deals or that thes ekinds of deals would actually produce the revenue that would sustain the other non-commercial parts of SL - then people were sorely mistaken.

You can't run away from Wal-Mart if it move to your RL neighborhood - you can in SL.

Mark "ChuckNorris Mission" Oehlert

Posted at 10:36AM on Mar 29th 2006 by mark oehlert

2. Fair enough, Mr. Oehlert. There was nothing shocking about this announcement, only rhetoric and strategic emphasis that were dissapointing to me. In the purest sense of things, in this world and apparently in the next, the business of business is business. I just hoped that inspiration would be found by Linden to do emphasize a different type of development with all parties in mind. I know Walmart always has low prices, though, don't they?

We'll see if there are developments in world that indicate that this corporate venture has to be structured any differently than others. Though real life corporations must maximize monetization or face executive firings, the one advantage the virtual reality dwellers have for leverage is that they can leave all together. I have a hard time believing that there are too many people able to go online who fantasize about shopping at Walmart.

Posted at 10:49AM on Mar 29th 2006 by Marshall Kirkpatrick

3. Point taken Marshall. I think that Wal-Mart, if they are expecting to find the same crowd in virtual worlds that pack their stores in RL - they may be in for a rude surprise. At the recent GDC someone made the interesting point that retail really is so much more personal in virtual worlds because there really is no concept of fabric or tailoring that could impact price/buy decisions. Your clothes in SL may actually reveal more about you as a person that your RL clothing since you aren't bound (in SL) by weather, or really economics to a large degree....

Posted at 1:35PM on Mar 29th 2006 by mark oehlert

4. For me, it's simply that the commercial use of every human space by giant corporations is just sometimes, well, a little depressing - where's the heart? I'd rather have a local hardware store than WalMart, in virtual or real space. I don't care about the price - there's not always a big difference - and how can you build relationships with people who are told what to say to customers? Keeping corporate happy-speak away from virtual space may be impossible, but I don't want to have to encounter it there. Ever.

Posted at 1:33PM on Mar 30th 2006 by cubex

5. And you'd better believe the avatars who work at SL Walmarts are going to be bots! Right? Now if you could make a factory full of little dark-skinned kid avatar bots making things for pennies on the Linden or whatever - then you'd really be onto something!

Posted at 1:36PM on Mar 30th 2006 by Marshall Kirkpatrick