Just to prove it is not just a Game

<http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7686595.stm>
The above link just goes to prove there is more to SL than some people may think.

That was posted the other day. Too bad LL doesn't realize that it's not "just a game".

So this means I didn't win? Dang!


But it *would* be nice for LL to recognize their role is more of a service provider.

No, you didn't win, but you *can* claim the prize

Nor me . . .

Pep (Damn tsetse flies)

Yay me!

*runs around proudly displaying his Jack Linden bobblehead*

What...? This isn't the prize?

*koff*

No.

Has LL been promoting SL as a game then?

Well, it certainly isn't *our world, our imagination* anymore

Well...we're working with resident perceptions, and how LL positions SL.

Many residents use SL as a form of entertainment. So in that respect, it is a "game".

LL markets that viewpoint in an attempt to capture mainstream internet users.

But LL also tries to position themselves as a useful tool for business, educational, and non-profit use. And tries to market their grid technology as a viable option for business use as well.

But...outside of those "in the know", SL gets lumped in with the growing gaggle of MMO's. So there is a general perception that SL is a game.

'Course...as always, I could be way off base here.

I thought it was a marriage bureau

Pep (and an annulment service too, apparently)

LOL never a truer word said Honey.

LL have been actively trying to become a service provider for years. Wake up, kiddies! Coffee is brewing finally!

Edit: A game requires that there is some gameplay element defined. I always thought of SL as a magical sandbox, full of joy and wonder. Turns out we really are on a ricketty bridge and we might as well be flipping unicorns for all the good it does us.

That sounds about right.In any case it's only really important what you think SL is and how you use.

Sorry, I wasn't disputing the fact that it is a game, merely wondering if LL has started marketing and promoting it specifically as a game.

I think its a matter of perspective. To me it is a virtual world, a platform to conduct business. However I am selling the content i create to people who are playing for fun and who look at SL as a game. I think it is good that SL is different things to different people. It's how a 'world' should be. Some people see RL as a game and don't work, take copious amounts of drugs and their only mission is to have fun (bloody students), others see RL as one endless slog of work and pain and misery and the majority of the rest of us see RL as being somewhere in between these too extremes. So I think SL is the same, and your SL experience is whatever you want it to be, be it a game, communication tool, porn shop, 3d design platform, whatever... as long as you comply with the TOS of course.

I think it still is 'our world' i think 'our imagination' has just been censored a bit to make the game more appealing globally.

I keep paraphrasing Dan Connor from Roseanne:

Second Life is not a game. A game is something fun that you can win. Second Life is a bloodsport.

...maybe one day we'll realize this was just a "ground zero", and we were the willing guinea pigs?

Come on. Look at the amount of press LL gets. Look at the partnerships. Look at the sea of quality programmers like "The Mad Patcher" Nicholaz out there.

LL "CAN'T" get it together?? Use your brains. They don't need to.

This isn't a finished product, and it's not intended to be. This is some kinda indefinite "Beta test" to base other metaverse models on.

There's a lot of money to be made from seeing the "do's & don'ts" in one place, the SL Grid testing ground. ...before a huge slew of interconnected Grids start sharing money and inventory, this is the place to watch the "ant farm" and see how not to collapse/implode the market on a grand scale.


...I ain't a genius, hope that made sense, lol

I'm thinking they just saw the "implode" portion of the program...

As a civilization we barely seem to be able to manage this in the real world. Doesn't fill you with confidence that SL can do any better. Although at least they had the sense to get rid of the banks. Maybe we should have done that in RL then they wouldn't have cost the planet trillions of dollars in bail out schemes.

ROFL...I don't know how much "good" this approach is doing, one way or the other...it just seems obvious to me that's what we have on our hands is all I'm saying.

I mean in the last 15 years we've seen a LOT of technological leaps, especially in multimedia, communication & entertainment...they say this one is more unique, and we've seen companies come & go from the grid because they couldn't figure out how to make money in SL, like they do in RL.

My guess is they are getting money from more sources than just in-world transactions...this..."metaverse", after they get a few more kinks out of it, is a potential goldmine money-wise, and also has the potential to change:

1. the way the internet is accessed

2. how much time people spend on the internet

3. how many people buy computers & internet access that never had it before, just to be part of the "metaverse".

4. an increase in impulse buying world-wide, with lower ad costs to companies

People could consolidate thier entertainment, business, communication with friends, porno crap...and almost every thing else that people with access to technology do, that isn't a biological need. lol.

We always go for more speed & conveniece now as it is.



*pfft* ...nope, the way I see it, I'm "along for the ride", enjoying what there is to enjoy in this stage.

I'm not sure how far this approach is gonna actually take the "metaverse", but I'm pretty damn sure that this will be remembered as the "larval stage" in 20 years, when we can barely remember what it was like to move the cursor with a hand-held device.

That's an interesting idea, people tend to learn faster if they find that subject fun.