Mike Sellers, CEO and Chief Alchemist of artificial intelligence development company Online Alchemy has a few thoughts on how user created content can and does pose a problem in online worlds like Second Life. In a blog post titled “The Dark Side of User-Created Content” on the blog Terra Nova, Mike explains how user created lands, homes, objects and just about everything else play into the whole feeling of empty space in the online world. The discussion is a bit more technical in nature but with figures and facts to back them he demonstrates pretty easily how someone might get the feeling that playing in a world populated by millions of other players can feel empty.

Its easy to feel alone in Second Life I admit. Especially if you’re not in the “game’s” virtual communities, but I don’t think thats a factor of custom content so much as just having a huge sandbox to play in. Sellers compares World of Warcraft to Second Life in his post and but I think he misses the key point that SL is not a game per se as much as a graphical chat room.

Do you agree with his assessment?

Atari announced today that New York Times Best-Selling Author Lorenzo Carcaterra (Sleepers) would be the scriptwriter for the game Alone In the Dark. Once again you will reprise the role of Edward Carnby and investigate Central Park, in apocalyptic NYC. One thing you can bet on is that this game (unlike the movie) will be Tara Reed free. Thank the Atari gods for that!

Taking a cue from such gripping TV shows as “24”, Alone In the Dark will be presented in episodes with real-world interaction, advanced AI, an open environment and a fast-paced storyline full of intense action and cliff-hangers. Eden Games promises that this game will break any horror-genre clichés that have been birthed in the past. Read the full article

The fine folks over at Stratics sent me an email the other day to let me know about their upcoming “Star Wars Galaxies House of Commons Dev Chat.” This was quite the surprise to me because I didn’t know SWG even had Devs, much the same way I didn’t know that the Bloodrayne, Alone in the Dark, or House of the Dead movies had a director. Adding fuel to my fire, Stratics later informed that the SWG chat had been postponed. I guess finding actors that are knowledgeable on all things Star Wars and at the same time willing to stand behind SWG is a little tougher than you thought. The LotR Online chat however went of without a hitch and can be found here.