Please Shut Up if you say SL is not a game.

Yay!

All due respect for your broken arm and all... but
are you posting under the influence of painkillers?

These mood swings are really spectacular.

Wouldn't be fun if I didn't. One of the side effects is something about mood/mental changes.

Just checkin.


--
It's been said... "there is an up side to being manic-depressive!"

I don't think many people took the time to read this so I'm gonna repost it so you can not read it again.

Main Entry: game
Pronunciation: 'gAm
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English gamen; akin to Old High German gaman amusement

1 a (1) : activity engaged in for diversion or amusement : PLAY (2) : the equipment for a game b : often derisive or mocking jesting : FUN, SPORT <make game of a nervous player>

2 a : a procedure or strategy for gaining an end : TACTIC b : an illegal or shady scheme or maneuver : RACKET

3 a (1) : a physical or mental competition conducted according to rules with the participants in direct opposition to each other (2) : a division of a larger contest (3) : the number of points necessary to win (4) : points scored in certain card games (as in all fours) by a player whose cards count up the highest (5) : the manner of playing in a contest (6) : the set of rules governing a game (7) : a particular aspect or phase of play in a game or sport <a football team's kicking game> b plural : organized athletics c (1) : a field of gainful activity : LINE <the newspaper game> (2) : any activity undertaken or regarded as a contest involving rivalry, strategy, or struggle <the dating game> <the game of politics>; also : the course or period of such an activity <got into aviation early in the game> (3) : area of expertise : SPECIALTY 3 <comedy is not my game>

4 a (1) : animals under pursuit or taken in hunting; especially : wild animals hunted for sport or food (2) : the flesh of game animals b archaic : PLUCK c : a target or object especially of ridicule or attack -- often used in the phrase fair game
synonym see FUN

game·like /-lIk/ adjective

Source: http://merriam-webster.com/


1 a (1) : activity engaged in for diversion or amusement

Now, this states that the activity engaged in is the game. Second Life is not an activity, it is a platform that allows for activities to take place. The activities you engage in inside Second Life are the activities that may fall under the definition of game. We come to the conclusion that Second Life is not a game but facilitates activities that may be considered gamelike. This allows for one person to view all activities in Second Life to be gamelike while others may view them other ways. The definition in now way transfers itself to the platform in which these activities take place.

I believe your definition of Second Life as a game relies on 1 a (2)

1 a (2) : the equipment for a game

Second Life is the platform or equipment required for your ad-hoc game. In that sense you could call Second Life a game, but that defniition just gives you free reign to define anything you want as a game.

With this loose definition of game one could co-opt anything one uses for gamelike activities and define it as a game. I believe this defeats the purpose of defining Second Life as a game, because the way in which you must twist the definition in order to define it as a game makes the word "GAME" meaningless.

In that way all you have said when you call Second Life a game is, "I use Second Life for gamelike activities." This confuses anyone who has not taken the time to dissect your meaning, and leads them to a false premise that Second Life itself is a game in which there are well defined rulesets and specified goals that define competition as defined under 3 a (1).

SL CAN be Shit

SL CAN be n00b

SL CAN be You dream

SL CAN be You Penis

SL CAN be You Food




ppls have own opions

No, it doesn't. But it has to have a goal!

And also wrong. SL can't be what everyone wants it to be, otherwise it would have to be partially a griefer's shooting ground and offer free lunches by the side of every Linden road.

But the designers don't have to be the ones to provide the goal. Open ended rpgs often have players set their own goals.

I'll believe philip when we have havoc2 - maybe,

I don't think a game has to have a goal anyway. To use a comparison from a certain person's blog, Dolls doesn't have a goal, nor does House.

No, all I have said when I call SL a game is 'Secondlife is a game.'

Its not a false premise and thar statement is LITERAL. I mean nothing else by it. Nop ad hoc statement, no underlying thought. Literally 'SL is a game.' Don't put words in my mouth.

Wow this thread is still on the on the first page.
(and I'm not helping any I know, sorry but I just had to say this)
I'd like to illustrate the OP's intent of this thread in a different way.

Scene #1, "The question". Mild mannered reporter, sitting in front of a computer at the office. A hefty mass of paperwork coats his desk. All you can hear is the systematic ticking of a $7 plastic clock blended with erratic typing.
(switch to forum view)
Curious Bob: Hey everyone, I can't log in right now cus I'm at work, but I was looking at the map and noticed a sim called "China". What is the price of tea there? I'll be ingame later.
(back at the office)
(Curious bob hits alt tab quickly as he he hears footsteps, Probably his boss. "Or maybe its that sexy secretary" he thinks to himself while a saucy grin ripens on his face.)
(switch to forum view)
Crazed Opinionated: When are you people gonna learn! SL IS NOT A GAME! Its a $*@$ng aardvark! It scares me that people like you are allowed to vote.
Right here Curious Bob should say something like:"Flaming (posting a message that is intended to incite anger or directly attack a person or persons) is wrong Crazed Opinionated.
And that has nothing to do with my question."
But instead..
Curious Bob: STFU! Its a game to me.
Mildly Opinionated: SL really isn't a game but unfortunately we have to respect other peoples ideas. Bob theres no reason to get so hostile. Crazed was just telling you his opinion. You dont need to be so rude just because you disagree with him. <- It's funny how people order these words sometimes.
Curious Bob: Wtf did I do? Crazed attacked me first.

And it goes on and on.
Meanwile...
Scene #2, The "Answer". Censorship controll room China. :description censored:
Censorship Guy: It's ok, our secret is still safe, I derailed that thread like those little kids toy trains we make.


Note: All stereotypes reference in this post are purley intentional.
Viewer is free to take offence.

Dolls are not games. Playing with dolls is only a game if you set a goal. You can play with a dolls' house, but a dolls' house isn't a game. You can play a game using the doll's house though.

Yes, you can. But if you set your own goal you are playing a game within the provided world. Unless that is, you choose between a limited number of goals set by the designer. In that case you are playing a game. You can play any number of games in Second Life, but that doesn't make Second Life itself a game.

Jeeze louise ppl...
a word is a word is a word, it makes no difference the game Second Life is a medium within which ppl come together and can communicate, build, pretend and what not, and establish relationships that can be long lasting. Whenever you deal with a human being on any mmo you do establish relationships with individuals it is perfectly normal, that does not mean that say wow is not a game or that it is any more than a game, but it does provide opportunites for social interaction among ppl hence relationships...

Gawd, you guys dicker over the most inane things and REFUSE to be the very thing you demand of others, what is that you ask? ACCEPTANCE AND UNDERSTANDING.

No, if I set my own goals, I'm playing an open ended RPG. Thats EXACTLY how White Wolf LARPs work, and they are games. So it doesn't make SL not a game either.

So, we should call city parks 'games' because people LARP in them?

Dolls and Doll Houses are not games...they are toys.

Bah! Someone beat me to it again!!

Yes we can see SL as whatever we want it to be, however we should not impose our beliefs on others. I could see SL as a hentai sex universe if i wanted to. That doesnt meeen thats what it is... >.> To others it's a important part of their business life and they do professional things using it's creative 3D tools.

SL can be a game to griefers. They see it as amusement to shoot people. :/

You call the books 'game books.'

They, like SL, are open ended rpgs. They, like SL, set no goals. They, like SL, are games.

Life itself is a game. Why have this debate when anything and everything can be lived and viewed as a "game"?