I played the Second Life beta, back in the DAAAAAAY, man. I had this vision for opening a ramen noodle cart in it and selling noodles. But I never dove into the coding piece.
I do sort of which I had...
The Documentary Channel just put up a documentary about Second Life. I just started watching, so whether or not it answers the ultimate Second Life question of, "WTH????" remains to be seen. I'll let you know...