Boycott of Multiverse and the Shameless Plug

Philip Rosedale’s move to find someone to fill his shoes as CEO is proof that Multiverse is the “real deal” says its CEO, in yet another shameless attempt to send arrows Second Life’s way. According to a Worlds in Motion interview with Corey Bridges:

” Bridges sees the Rosedale departure somewhat differently. “Certainly Second Life has, in many ways, plateaued in some of their more important metrics and they’re still not revealing a lot of the really key data on user behavior,” he told us.”

While the Multiverse gang perfects thier pipeline for taking content FROM Second Life in order to propagate it on the Multiverse platform (I guess they don’t have enough user-generated content of their own), Bridges is trying to position Philip’s move to the Chair’s office over at Linden Labs as signs that it’s time for SL to step aside so Multiverse can step up (emphasis added in following):

Bridges says Second Life was never built to be a virtual worlds platform — notably, Multiverse provides one such platform in The Multiverse Network for online worlds. He says that what he sees as a new understanding on the part of companies working in virtual spaces benefits companies like his who now realize that “the industry is bigger than a single destination.”

“I do honestly sincerely think we all owe Philip a thank you for bringing attention to the industry. Now it’s just time for the real technology to step in,” Bridges says.

All of this on the heels of Corey taking “My Turn” on Virtual World News where he made the following claim:

But it’s undeniable that dark clouds have gathered over Second Life and some of the companies that have relied on it. I don’t think I need to recount all the ominous stories from the last few months, but the bottom line is that many companies and consumers are now avoiding that world. Linden Lab is going through some internal turmoil and may be on the verge of lean times itself. Even staunch Second Life cheerleader IBM has people wondering if it’s hedging its bets by mocking virtual worlds (the second article).

Personally, I may have even been interested in Multiverse as a viable platform for corporate-type gigs. But there are others. And there is Second Life. And, regardless, I’d rather be involved in platforms with visionary, loopy, but ultimately polite founders like Rosedale than to have anything to do with a platform run by someone who comes across as an egocentric, mud-slinging, well…frankly he reminds me way too much of Mitt Romney, someone who can speak only very thinly about their own virtues while casting dark shadows on those of others.

I’ll take a pass on Multiverse until Mr. Bridges has vacated HIS chair for the exits.