What defines a Virtual World for you and differentiates it from a Virtual Space?

Q. What defines a Virtual World for you and differentiates it from a Virtual Space?

There are a couple of threads at the moment that are discussing aspects of "SL Killers" and the Blue Mars system.
In both those threads there have been some debate on what constitutes a virtual world instead of just a virtual space or even game. I would like to break that part of the discussion out here and find out what people consider to be the important elements or components that define what a virtual world is.

I don't want this to be a discussion specifically about SL or Blue Mars, lets leave that to those other threads. I would like this discussion to be about virtual worlds and spaces in general.

Plus it's Friday for me and its boring at work

for me, what makes it a "world" is the content continuing to exist even while i am not participating, and that others can interact with same content.

chat rooms and such are virtual space. they poof when you poof.

a game is obviously anything that you deem to be a game in YOUR mind, so that one's a little harder to define.

My experience is limited, SL is all I know, I've never played any other game, or used any of the SL predecessors. But to me a virtual space would have limits and restrictions. Like a single room, or a single building, or a single sim even. If all you could see or do is bound by the limits of that space, be they physical, contextual, activity or whatever, than it isn't a "world" to me. A world is made up of many spaces, with different possibilities. There is no single theme, or uniformity of structure, activity, or concept .

hmmm I put the game bit in to get people thinking about virtual spaces such as WoW which are marketed as games and may or may not be a virtual world depending on your point of view.

To me...
A game is defined by the presence of objectives.
A virtual space is defined by it's lack of objectives and it's purpose is narrow in scope.
A virtual world is defined by it's lack of objectives and it's purpose is only limited by the underlying technology.

Persistence, sense of space, and other common paradigms, all created digitally. If you want to press me further, I might break down and admit that a sense of identity and participation by others is important.

Pretty simple, really. Some of the definitions I've heard recently sound overly pedantic.

.

Virtual Reality' is a name being slapped on almost anything these days, especially if it's lame. (Mark Hamilton)


For me:

Virtual worlds and games have been there to entertain me - they don't have to be real but should give a real inspiration and communication.

@Ava, this conversation is not about whether a particular virtual world is run well or badly, whether content is protected or not. It is about what defines a virtual world in general terms, can we keep to that topic here please?

How does that differ from just being virtual space for you? Would a sandbox (such as a single OpenSim sim) be a virtual world?, if not would it become one if suddenly others could enter it as well as just you?

No, its off-topic, please reread the topic title.
I didn't declare BM to be an SL Killer at all, you must have misread.
My OP was referring to two other threads in this forum. One of which is called "SL Killers".

In Virtual Space, noone can hear you scream.

In Virtual World, noone can hear your group IMs.

(Nor the RL screaming behind the keyboard.)

Not given as a reason, given as a reference to where the discussion about what is a virtual world started. I don't want this thread to become another BM or SL specific thread. I want it to be about what a virtual world is. You seem to be misunderstanding a lot here.

Hmmm...

Well.....I would tend to take the terms literally.

A space is a limited, confined area....there are restrictions, boundaries that define how far one can travel with-in that 'space'. Virtual, is of course, 'almost'....virtual reality as we seem to want to define it is just 'another reality' seperate from the one we perceive fully in the flesh....touch, taste, sight & sound. 'reality is 100% tactile to the limits of our physicality. Each of us experiences reality similarly......in some cases without all the given senses....but with-in the context of the physical reality we're all born into.

So...virtual.....is.....otherness. In the age of rapidly forward progressing technology...virtaul is a catch-all for the digital representation.

A game...as I have always understood it, has objectives.....rules...... a beginning and an end .... an outcome....prize or winner.

A 'world' is without boundaries.....without limitations......it is in constant evolution.....there is culture, society....possibly government or some sort of over-all structure......but no particular goal other than to exist, survive and flourish with-in it.

So.....let's see.....I would consider something like Myspace or facebook or even a blog as a virtual 'space'. I see something like WoW as a game.....or Eve...... because there are certain plausibale objectives.....and one is also engaged in a RP type experience. If one must take on a 'character' other then one's self in order to become involved.....it seems more 'gamish' to me.

SL, to me.....is a virtual world for the reasons stated above. I think in time (and it will happen) when we can fully immerse to the point of involving all our senses.....we might indeed have more of a problem defining.....space from game from world. Actually....there are a few people running around out there already who have that dilemma....most are heavily medicated.

OK Ava, go and delete all the places you quote me after that and thne I will clean up. Thanks

I have never considered a virtual space, so these are just first thoughts: A virtual space need not have a sense of identity or of participation by others. To me, a virtual space can include a "memory palace" or "method of loci" because they contain recognizable landmarks and a sense of persistence, yet are not tangible.

A single OpenSim installation can also fit that definition (and in fact I do use one in an organizational fashion), yet if asked if it was a virtual world I would probably reply that it is a "single-person virtual world". I know that's highly subjective, but perhaps for me the distinguishing feature is the sense of self, or the avatar. If used for the participation of multiple people, I would definitely call OpenSim a virtual world.

Like I said, that's just the first thing that I thought of when I saw your question.

.

Thanks

Thanks You make some good points and I think those definitions are good ones.

I would agree with this, thanks

Thanks also to all those who have responded so far.

Thanks to all those who have responded so far.

I guess the words have slightly different meanings for me. When I hear "world" I think of a created world or universe as in a series of books. Sl could be considered a world in itself since it does have its own physical laws and consistency, or we could consider one person's vision a world -- such as Svarga for instance.

Using this mind set, the word "space" then becomes for me a blank slate, a place to create a world in. A friend of mine who aspired to be a writer used to say" happiness is a fresh legal pad and a sharp pencil." Now I would say "happiness is a big parcel with nothing on it."

Yes.

For me, a virtual world has just two Lowest Common Denominators:

1. A virtual world is a virtual (2D or 3D) place that has persistence,
2. A virtual world is a place where two or more people can interact.

I do not subscribe to the notion that if those two or more people are just talking then it is a glorified 3D chatroom. What you do inside a virtual world is entirely up to you, and if it is to just hang out with your friends and chat, then that is fine.

As soon as there are more than one persons in that persistent virtual space, a community is born, and that for me turns it into a virtual world.

The ability to modify your environment, through changing terrain, building, etc is a 'nice to have', but not essential to qualify as a prerequisite of a virtual world.

Rock

A game is something you play against someone else. Life is a game you play against everyone else. Second Life is part of life. Second Life is a Virtual World. A Virtual World is a Virtual Space filled with avatars representing people that mostly don't realise or don't want to admit that it's part of life, and who utilise the Virtual Space to try to create a Virtual World in which their social and intellectual inadequacies can be excused or covered up. Most fail.

Pep (It's the interaction with other non-RPC avatars that turns a Virtual Space into a Virtual World.)