With the introduction last month of the depressingly dystopian Suffugium sim, residents have been asking what other unpleasant experiences can be rezzed into Second Life. Linden Lab CEO Philip Linden and US Department of Transportation secretary Norman Mineta issued a joint press release today announcing the launch of the first Second Life branch of the Department of Motor Vehicles.
The SL-DMV will feature the same long lines, confusing forms, and license fees as at your local DMV, but from the convenience of your home computer. "We are confident that you will find the same poor quality of service, incompetence and uncaring attitude that you have come to expect from the DMV," Mineta boasted.
When
asked about who will have to get an SL-DMV license, Philip Linden
commented that Linden Labs was taking a broad interpretation of what
constituted a "vehicle," including everything from scripted wings to
power armor to virtual planes, cars and motorcycles. License fees are
expected to start at $100 linden dollars and go as high as $1,000
lindens for a license to operate a giant mecha.
Resident Hiro Quasimodo was one of the first to try out the new
SL-DMV. "It was just like the real thing," Hiro gushed. "First I was in
what I thought was the line for wing attachments, but then an SL-DMV
employee told me that I was in the scooter line. Forty minutes later I
got to the front of the line for wings only to find out that I had to
have submitted a B45-L notecard the previous day. They even have a
scripted animation of your avatar pitching a fit and then getting
ejected by security. I’m going back tomorrow!"
If the SL-DMV is successful, Linden Labs plans on disabling the SL
instant messaging system and instituting a virtual Post Office on the
major islands. Regular hours of operation are 10am-2pm linden time,
M-F. Message delivery time will be approximately 2 to 7 days.
Ahaha, DMV is a gov’t word for LAG. Beautiful, man. Friggin’ beautiful.