Since I expect Nussbaum to once again censor a comment of mine on his most recent blog post (Link) discussing Second Life and managing brands in virtual worlds, I’m just going to post it here:

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Although you’ll probably censor this, it’s worth pointing out to you that you’re inappropriately skewing Verdino’s comments. He doesn’t say “build community”. He says “build relationships”. Not the same thing.
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Just read a mind-boggling entry on the Core77 blog. Designers: read this post, “Design changes in real hotels modeled after virtual ones” (Link), and feel free to explain this class of inbred thinking:

If you want to spruce up your hotel chain, you could hire a team of designers…or you could sign on to Second Life.

Aloft Hotels, a subsidiary of Starwood (and sibling to the swanky W Hotels) has been implementing feedback from Second Life users on how to revamp their virtual hotel. For several months they’ve been redesigning everything from color palettes to actual space layouts based on what SL users have been telling them, and today, May 8th, is launch day.

Why is this notable? Because Aloft is planning on implementing the design changes in their real hotels, too. Fate is a cruel mistress, friends; four years of design school, and we designers may be put out of work by a bunch of transgender teenagers with batwings for ears.

I can’t express how embarrassed I am for the entire design community. Words fail me.

I’m a firm believer that spatial immersion can occur in even primitive virtual worlds. And I’ve argued (reLink) that what’s available now – technologically speaking – is more than adequate. That said, I find it somewhat odd that people map real world limitations so completely on virtual worlds. Such was my bewilderment while reading some of the recent crop of blog entries on branding inside virtual worlds, that on the Business and Games Blog, which posted an entry called “Brand Traffic in Second Life” (Link), I’ve struck up a conversation with Alain Thys regarding a key aspect of this transference.
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Links of interest that are not posted here by a del.icio.us auto-blogging widget:

– When I read this commentary on Wired (Link) discussing virtually-connected “garage bands”, a number of thoughts went through my mind; thoughts such as “How does this idea apply to fabbing?” What initially seem to me to be relatively easy-to-answer questions seem less straight forward the more I consider them.
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For the most part, last week felt… wrong. Not sure why. Maybe it was word that Microsoft is courting Yahoo, or that Murdoch wants to ownz the Dow Jones. Or maybe it was the idiotic Digg revolt. Or maybe it was all of those and more plus a helping of school board over-reactionary stupidity.

Whatever the reason, pretty much the only good thing I got out of last week was the above image of a bee-fab’d vase (courtesy of inhabitat – Link). Doesn’t it just figure that bees are mysteriously dying off in the U.S.?

{Image source: inhabitat}