All it took was Google entering the virtual worlds space with Lively to get Linden Lab to defend its turf and promise more improvements to Second Life's infrastructure and user interface.

Just one day after Google released its new 3D world Lively, Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon (otherwise known as M Linden) responded on the Second Life blog with a letter to residents. In the post, Kingdon alluded to the new players in the virtual world scene, but suggested that they are essentially 3-D chat without the additional features like user-created content and an in-world economy. However, he acknowledged that Second Life still has to do a lot to improve stability, performance, and the overall user experience.

To that end, Kingdon said that some of these issues will be addressed in the next release. He admitted that the registration process and UI is confusing and overwhelming, and promised that new residents will see a streamlined interface and 150 tutorials to help them get up to speed on the Second Life experience.

Many of these things have been promised to Second Life residents before, but with the release of Lively and Vivaty, Second Life may finally have the well-publicized competition it needs to force it to improve enough to stay relevant. Success isn't guaranteed by being first on the scene, and now that there are alterantives, Linden Lab may work harder to retain the residents they do have as well as encourage others to join.

More news, commentary, and predictions from The Industry Standard:

• Prediction: Second Life usage will not break 40 million user hours per month by the end of 2008
• Analysis: How to get started in virtual-world operations
• News: 3DV fleshes out gesture-based gaming plans, hires North American chief