@Blogland: Wow bold formatting! As someone who enjoys vicarious sci-fi romps through spacetime, alternate realities (and virtual realities) appeal to me, but this is sorta like one of the "sadder, defective counterfeit" worlds from Sliders. It blots out the appeal of what *is* unique. Everyone has a right, a choice to forge their own path. Please don't impersonate me though, I'm not Elvis. Flattered tho!

@Ann: Hm, if I want fantasy I'd be more compelled to do WoW, Guild Wars, Everquest II, etc. I like Chinese mythology being explored but it isn't clear whether HPH is just using that sketchily, or intend to have more of a narrative storyline.

@Juliet: There's no need for you to be repeatedly rude here, doesn't help anyone. I'd rather you keep making video tutorials. Thank-you in advance!

@Nina: I'm all for innovation, but as I've mentioned earlier, HPH's own strengths are blanketed in a sea of copycattery a la http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/04/26/aol-one-step-behind-again-new-home-page-identical-to-yahoo/ . Not admirable.

@Ante: I cringe being associated by knockoff; one good thing of course is they mention "Second Life" so much on their website. Free publicity works that way too.

@Elvis: Ha, good point! Hey, I wonder if casinos are in HPH? o.O

@Al: Thanks, I find "Zedong" in itself isn't really an accurate phonetic spelling. I usually go with "Tse Tung" myself but what the heck do I know.

So, some Lindens discussed this very topic this week, and I'm also aware of some of the lateral advantages: e.g., as pointed out, if people become familiar with the imitation they may want a taste of the "real deal". Or, it'll lead to common metaverse conventions better understood across various softwares (not just SL and HPH but beyond —) and that's also good for sharing knowledge and learning curves, because I agree that all this online world stuff has a LONG way to go in terms of usability.

Every point here has a counterpoint, but again, the above evidence I presented stands. I hold to my original point that you can be inspired and create something superior without being a tawdry knock-off. Take the musician Brian Transeau (BT) for example, he's a marvellous example of someone who's assimilated styles and made them his own. Listen to "Lullaby for Gaia" for an amped-up homage to New Order, or the Braindance-tipped stutter edits (6,000+ of them) peppered through the otherwise radio-friendly "Somnambulist". Now *that's* taking existing sources and being not just creatively expressive, but substantially successful!