The last ten days have been something of a blur.  We launched Microsoft Visual Studio Island last week, not knowing how the Mystery of the Blimp would be received.  Since then, thousands of avatars wearing armbands have quested through Second Life hunting tiny eggs and solving logic puzzles.  The average player is spending dozens of hours and the truly hardcore substantially more.

Those detemined few have won access to the Blimp and¬† been given land in the adjacent island, aptly named “Coder’s Cove”.¬† Watching this society take shape is wonderful, mysterious and invigorating.¬† On the one hand, you might wonder what these people actually have in common aside from lots of patience and determination.¬† The truth is, they seem to share a lot.¬† First, they’ve shared a particularly intense experience.¬† Secondly, many of them actually coped with the difficulty by forming teams and solving the problems collaboratively.¬† We’ve had winners from the U.S.,the Netherlands, Japan, the United Kingdom and Russia to name a few.¬† And in true Second Life fashion, they’ve begun building some amazing things, ranging from mathematically inspired homes to tiki bars.¬† So swing by Coder’s Cove and say hi.¬† And stay tuned for more.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 22nd, 2007 at 4:26 am and is filed under Microsoft, Reuben's Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.