Hi Stuart, thank you for the very in-depth look at the Second Life platform and it's ability to make money for its visitors. Great stuff, it's amazing just how many things you can accomplish in that virtual world over there. I like the idea of building something once and selling it forever. Would be interesting to find out just how much all of the created items are fetching in real un-virtual dollars.
Second Life looks like a good place to interact with others and perfect your skills at mingling. I would say overall it sounds like an excellent place for people with an interest in becoming artists, designers and coders to meet and collaborate.
I have to say that making money on Second Life has been debated and kicked around for some time. Now I've recently heard that the owner of Second Life has redefined what it means to have ownership of Second Life real estate. According to the creator of Second Life, Linden Labs you need to pay a monthly fee to be able to own land based on a tiered level. The more land you want to hold the higher the price. With individual islands going for in excess of $1500 plus a monthly fee. I've heard there is a dispute with the issue of land ownership which has resulted in the Bragg v. Linden lawsuit.
Second Life in itself is fun, even if you just want to fly or scoot around. I've played the game and have found it quite interesting. However the jury is still out whether or not the time and money invested in the site could actually produce a meaningful amount of profit. Except of course, for Linden himself.