Is this a game?

It's Jumpman's game. The rest of us are just the PLAYAS!!!!

I've always thought of it as a game in the sense that you are 'using tools provided to you to learn and advance'

New things have been added to the game so that advancement can continue.

Part of the game is socializing and networking..for whatever reasons you do it...it helps you advance and further yourself.

There are no "levels" per say but there are certainly higher and lower levels of convenience and comfort within the game that aren't made available to all( i.e. Lindens in varying amounts.)

So in that sense its a game to me.I guess just like life or buisness.

~Lana Tomba

People seem to think that:

If SL is a game then somehow magically its okay to treat other players like they aren't people and thus not important

And if its not a game then somehow magically everyone will somehow treat other players like they are people and important

But this is a bunch of nonsense.

Whether SL is a game or not, and whether a person thinks SL is a game or not does not somehow change how you should treat the other people who use SL.

This pretty much sums it all up. Well said.

If you go over to the Sims 2 forums you'll see the exact same question raised time and time again and your words are repeated time and time again. I'm sure many in SL would argue that Sims 2 is much more of a game than SL is. But is it?

And if this guy is right -

Does that make SL a great big laggy imitation joke?

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,
In fair round belly with good capon lined,
With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws and modern instances;
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,
His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wide
For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,
Turning again toward childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything

sadly there ARE set goals even if they're not made easily apparent ..but they're there. And there are various strategies for attempting to achieve those goals.

Become a noob for a day...noob skin..noob hair...no cash...no landmarks..nothing.. and see how far you can get..how many friends can you make.

Why don't we always look like noobs?...why aren't we always friendless?...because we have used a strategy to advance and achieve goals.

~Lana Tomba

That sounds a lot like RL. Sad but true.

At least there, you can screw something up and kill your character. I tried Sims 2 and within minutes my little guy tried to make himself a snack then set himself on fire when he tried to use the stove. They don't teach "Stop, Drop and Roll" in Sims 2 kindegarten like they do in EVERY SINGLE OTHER SCHOOL ON FRIGGIN EARTH!!! So he panicked and ran around in circles until he burned up. Then they buried him in the danged yard. THE YARD!! How creepy is that? His wife went out to visit him and sob on his grave every night.

I decided I didn't want any more horrible deaths on my conscience, so I never played again.

At any rate, keeping your Sims out of the kitchen is apparently the goal of the game. Either that or acquiring a fire extinguisher early on. In any event, there's a goal. God knows what would have happened if I had bought them a set of steak knives or a swimming pool or a backhoe or a sausage grinder. *shudders*

many games within a game..?

I guess it depends on your definition of 'game'



.d

Sl is a world. Less melodramatically, it is a platform. It is what you make it to be for yourself. You want a game? It's a game. You want a social venue? It's a social venue. You want sex? It's sex - virtual, at least for now (it is said there are sex toys like vibrators that can be remotely operated via the Internet by your partner, so in principle it could get pretty real, too).

As for the poll, I have a dilemma. I'd choose the pie option but A - it's not available, and B- if it was, it would be fattening.

It's what I always wanted Simcity to be: you can walk around inside the buildings and drive the cars around. Oh, and the people talk to you.

Oh that is funny.

I never tried the Sims. I played Sim City, but never Sims.



You can drive around in Sim City. It is mildly interesting to see from that perspective, but also very boring.

It was apalling. I just sat there with my mouth hanging open listening to him scream as he ran around waving his arms, completely engulfed in flames. I couldn't figure out how to put him out. They should put some sort of parental warning on that game. I'm still mentally scarred.

Where do I sign up for quests?

Mu.

"Is Second Life a game?" is not a question that can be answered with yes or no, because the word 'game' has several vague inclusive definitions.

YES: it is a game, like real estate, the stock market, popularity and even life itself are 'games'.

NO: it is a place, like an arena or a casino, in which games exist and other things that are less 'game' like. Having a pie in your stomach doesn't mean you are a pie.

In the classic sense of a game, as a 're-playable closed system or simulation with defined rules for success or failure and a finite set of outcomes', Second Life has: 1) no repeatable 'starting state' for all players, 2) too many outside factors, like money and law 3) no final victory or failure conditions.

So, is SecondLife a game?
A) YES,
B) NO,
C) MAYBE
D) all of the above.

If you did not pick (D), you're not understanding the question.

Wow. This actually made me think. Good point and like Bradley said, quite like RL.

I don't know Darien.

I brought a RL friend into SL a year ago. She went newb-crazy like a lot of us did and started spending mega time in-world, much to the chagrin of her partner of almost 20 years.

We tried to bring her partner in and eventually did, but they didn't "play" together: my friend had already developed her "character" and had a set of friends and activities of her own by then.

Meanwhile, I innocently introduced my friend to my first landlord who had helped to make my first months in SL very rewarding and fun. I wanted this for my friend; as well as a lovely, low cost place to live.

They hit it off - too well.

They embarked on an intense SL affair which will lead to a SL marriage in March I've just been informed.

She did this despite the loud protestations of her partner who I spoke to a couple of times about it. She (the partner) is very upset and hurt as my friend decided to go ahead with this whole thing from the beginning in spite of how her partner felt.

When I questioned my friend about all this her reply was, "Well, it's just a game - she's being too sensitive". This is her honest feeling and assessment of SL relationships.

Needless to say, I am appalled and upset by this and if I'd know this was going to happen, I may have kept SL to myself. My point is I used to kind of view it as a game somewhat, except for the Human component. I don't think I do anymore.

(venting again, sorry but this has really been getting to me)

So Trout did you get to have an affair with that little tramp Bella before you caught yourself on fire?

You can wash my car.

I can't imagine leaving a rl partner who is playing in SL for another..without intensive investigation.

I'm tempted to say that your friend would've found another venue anyway regardless of the fact you introduced her to SL or not.

I mean this new partner had to fit the bill on alot of levels that her RL partner didn't...but then to turn around and say "it's just a game"?

Thats throwing away something RL for a 'game"...not very prudent IMHO.

I have met friends here who had rl partners at home..sitting..watching them play..I would NEVER even entertain the idea or presume that what I have to offer virtually could somehow fill RL needs.

Two different things totally....then again I've brought friends to this game who i wanted to get to know at my own speed...and once that SL can of worms was opened..there's no reclosing it..they ended up meeting someone else willing to move from canada and marry them for a visa.

~Lana Tomba

Real people are still real people, regardless of whether you talk to them in person, over the phone, through email or via secondlife.

If this person has so little regard for their partner that they'd persist in something clearly causing this degree of friction... they obviously weren't that committed to the relationship in the first place.

My little Sims guy didn't make it ten minutes. He wandered around his house for a little while, went to make himself a grilled cheese sandwich or something and the next thing I know he's the human torch.

/me nods head and agrees.