If you use the search button at the bottom of the SL screen and select the places tab, you can put “lifechurch” in the search box and it should give you the option to teleport there. Your actual mileage may vary, since I’m going off memory.

Everyone else - I totally agree that the 3D world is much more immersive and potentially a lot more effective of an “experience” than any broadcast through a 2D page could ever be. I think the real advantage of this medium is the feeling that you’re physically gathering for worship with others, which you can’t really “get” through a list of text screennames like you can in a crowd of avatars.

-Chris
aka MBDil Dollinger

Agape,
steve

Not necessarily replace it…there are still many things that I think are better represented (easier/faster to navigate) in 2-D. I think metaverses will become significant and mainstream though and in some applications replace the 2-D web.

Thanks Bobby for the quick response.

I’ve got your back if anyone jumps you :)

I’ll try to expand and still be brief.

Today our Internet experience is flat and two dimensional. When we visit a company to shop online or look at their products…we see whatever photos or text they can provide to describe each product. Imagine being able to virtually walk through a store like Ikea that might be hundreds of miles away in real life. You can see all of the furniture and lamps, etc in 3-D. You can interact with a salesperson or even other customers while you are there.

Another example might be walking though a virtual replica of an art gallery or visiting a historic monument.

The quality of the current experience will need to improve significantly, but it will. Major companies are already seeing the value of these immersive experiences…more and more people will view the environment as one that is a better web experience for many things and not simply a game.

Does that help?

You said, “While I think many of the early adopters of ’second life’ see it as a way to live a fantasy life…I believe the future will look a lot different and the time that people spend interacting in the metaverse will be less fantasy focused and more practical.”

Would you mind expanding on that? I am having trouble understanding the “purpose” of being in metaverse. (before everyone jumps me i’m definitely not ‘anti’ anything, matter of fact I applaud LC for going there; i’ve been to the campus and it looks great!) I just don’t understand how SC will ever be “practical”. Help me to “see”?

I think we need to use whatever means possible. Remember the words of Paul as he said he became all things to all men to reach some. There are many people in Second Life, who will ask questions that they would not feel comfortable asking in a normal environment.

Go guys, and by the way I cant find you guys yet in Second life… Help me get there!

It will be interesting to see.

I do agree that the two forms (2-D 3-D) will co-exist for a long time and that there are different advantages between them.

However, I think some of your assumptions about the time/navigation issues are quickly dissapearing.

I do think that webpages will go away…just that metaverses will be a substantial mainstream platform.

Gena,

Thanks for the compliments.

While I think many of the early adopters of “second life” see it as a way to live a fantasy life…I believe the future will look a lot different and the time that people spend interacting in the metaverse will be less fantasy focused and more practical.

I’m sure you know all this already — all I’m saying is that Web sites and 3D environments serve very different purposes. I think it’ll be quite a while before most churches need to investigate their 3D representation, whereas every church needs a good Web site even if it’s a group of ten people meeting at a gym. :)

Anyway, I applaud you for your amazing forward thinking. It’s so rare for a church to be really ahead of the curve, and I think you guys are onto something.

I have consulted with hundreds of churches in the OKC metro area and have found many don’t even have an answering machine or a website. Not even a basic one for free and won’t take the time and $5 bucks to go to Big Lots and get a cheap answering machine. No wonder why the “Church” in general is on the decline in America. We aren’t playing on the same ball field as the ones we want to reach. We have to constantly be challenging ourselves just like the business world even in the cyber world, without conpromising the Gospel however. Anyhow, Perhaps I’ll catch one of you on SL from time to time, my sn is Nicoli Slade.

It can vary greatly…just like a website and hosting can vary.

You can get started by owning a small piece of land or renting space for as low as around $10 per month. On the high side…to purchase an island like we did the cost is approximate $1000 for a setup fee and $150 per month. These are equivalent to a hosting fee in web development.

In terms of the cost to develop the buildings, etc…that can vary greatly as well. If you have some graphic design skills, you can develop the buildings yourself using the Second Life software. It is actually fairly simple once you become familiar with the tools. You can also hire outside developers which are in high demand right now. Many of these developers are charging over $20,000 to develop and island. We spent significantly less by using a combination of internal designers/developers and an outside firm. So…it can range from “free” to several thousand $$

More and more people are doing things on the web. They buy or research cars, they do their shopping, etc. Most people do all their research online. They will check out our churches on the web before ever physically entering them. It’s safer that way in their minds.

I do have a question though…what are the financial costs associated with Second Life?