Your2ndPlace

Best wishes for the success of your new blog, Alan.

You wrote:
"Representative democracy is coming to EVE online ...

I have though been a member of the the Second Life® virtual world since late 2006 and thought a representative democracy in secondlife, should one ever be introduced, could be quite something. "

Wow, EVE Online is doing that? I played that mmorpg once for about a year, stopped playing because I became bored. Gallactic politics plus the already-existing company-style politic that have always been part of the corporations (player guilds) of Eve Online could transform that game into something interesting.

Same could happen in Second Life if politics were introduced. But, how to do it? Too much and SL might become even more unmageable than it already is some days, too little and no one will care about the faeture except for a few players with the dubious title of Senator.

Govenor Linden could spice up SL for players like me if he and his court granted a small but significant responsiblity to the players. That would be a first step. If things worked out well, greater powers could be added. But, too much at once, before the more active player base has a chance to get used to the idea that they can participate in a democracy, would probably fail quickly, and then sour people's taste for self-rule in Second Life.

A possible first step for Linden could be to organize an election process to create a committee to adjudicate copyright complaints, and maybe a bit more related to commerce.

Political scandals could be the best SL drama ever, their potential popularity could even elclipse the war of words we can find in many SL fashion blogs.

Democracy or a stable grid, hmm... if THAT was ever the choice we had to make I'd go for the democracy, it would be so much more interesting.