Game or not?

Sure it does Lordfly.

Its a 'thingamabobbermajiggydot'

But I agree with your post

*shrug* Even dragons have to have names... And I think Jennifer would be a cool name for a dragon, actually.

At its inception, Second Life was not a game in any way. LL had a select few people on board, a few sims and absolutely no content. That content began to appear as those "First In Country" (aka FIC omg I crack myself up) built the first skins, the first prim hair, the first clubs. There was no "game" in SL, it was all about development, scripting, and building.

But as the population has increased, the ratio of gamers to content developers has changed. If you could graph it, it would be a gradual inclined plane to today's (alleged) 200,000 accounts -- roughly 1,000 times what it had at the beginning. Where once it may have been 100% platform and 0% game, today it is probably more 80% game and 20% platform just based on the uses citizens have. Today's new content developers are building on the work that was done before them -- the Photoshop skin texturing owes more to Chip Midnight than the designer realizes, for example.

But the culture has changed. I encounter new folks on a daily basis in SL, and a large number of them are ex-TSO players who see this and refer to it in concrete terms as a "game" -- I suspect none of them would have enjoyed it back when it was a blank piece of paper with no content. Another segment of new folks come here from the print publicity -- Business Week's article brought in a lot of aspiring virtual-entrepeneurs, which will assist on the content aspect given time.

SL's culture is never static. You cannot say that what was once NOT a game in any respect is still not a game. A community is defined by its members, and in Second Life, that membership is becoming swollen with people who have never seen it in its formative stage and have no reason to call it anything other than what it is to them, today -- a game.

To those who are handicapped, Second Life allows them the freedom of movement, to build and enjoy life as close to normal as possiable.


Second Life is not a Game, its reality to some of us.

Its a Virtual-3d-Multiuser-development-plataform.

Yea, i just made that up, it sounds cool tho.

Second Life is whatever I think it should be, and if you don't agree, you're just wrong and should go away and make socks or something.

Its a game. And really the people who are subjected to the greater verbal assault are the people who come to SL for entertainment, who have no desire to produce things, who accept teh stipend which they pay for, or is given them. They are labelled communists, tratitors, whiners, lazy, greedy, etc. Also there is an inherent bias against things like camping chairs, tringo, slingo, clubs etc. as being a less than valuable way to spend your time.

I'm not even going to bother to address the real barries to SL as a business utility. Put me on your ignore list. MY SL will be just a little better for it.

I want to see the links to the other 54,938,547 posts on this topic.



Thanks for noticing that there is a difference between BDSM and Gor.

SL is certainly a game to me but that is my opinion. Just happens to be a game where I get to meet some of the most extraordinary people in the world and the most annoying people in the world... sometimes it is the exact same person. I have made a lot of friends in this game and wish to make more. For me, the instant it becomes something other than a game, is the instant I uninstall it.

But I certainly respect those who find it to be more than a game.

Bump

You play W.O.W .. you play EQ... Those are games ....

Sl isnt not a game

It a Virtual universe where you make money you have rl relationships here there is there is Sex here ... that not a game there No other have this and sl should be taken with care there is Economy here where you you make money like in reals . there is buliding here like Consrtution like in reals ... There are Marriages here like in reals .. This ia a NOT A GAME !!!!
I have seen real relationships start here in sl and ppl get together in real life .. ect ..

It is Real ....

Real LIFE =SecondLIfe

I think if yeah wanna role play go some where else ... if yeah wanna get in to Star trek go find a game suited for this . if yeah in to starwars ... go play SWG.... play your silly games there .... if yeah wanna have sex for fun theres always 900 numbers ....

SL is both a platform and a game, but more like a game.

SL can be used for creating stuff, but the only reason anyone would be interested in that stuff is that they're enjoying being in SL.

Im so glad there another one out there kinda like sl ... same concept and every thing else .... and when you sign in to it ,,,, it says

The Next Generation of interactive Entertainment is here - "It's NOT a Game "

and they treat it as such

Same as Second life here

http://www.entropiauniverse.com/en/rich/5000.html


childish kid games in SL... your not in our group so we dont talk to you any more .. SL is not a game RL PPL ..Rl Money.. Every thing rl Stupid Adults acting like there in Jr High school .. lol what is that ... Shakes my head PPl and there stupid role playing in here why cant ppl be them selfs ? Men died in civil war to free us from slavery what do we do in here Gor/Master..Slave/sub/pets/collaring .. bet the men died in vain for this So sad indeed....

Project Entropia is just a standard MMORPG with strong ties to real money.. AFAIK you can't build things in it.

Socks for all of you!

What makes SL different then other games?

1. You can make money.
You can make money in other games as well. Currently for EQ money its 3,800 pp per dollar.
So, 200K = 52 dollars or there abouts. The economy is different in the cost of materials and merchandise, but its still buying and trading - many games offer a way for you to make money. I think that EQ even set up a buying / trading ability within the game so you could spend money directly from your account into EQ to buy virtual items.

2. You can build things.
You can build things by learning tradeskills in EQ, SWG, etc. Not an easy task, can take you months to develop a skill high enough to actually make any money from it.

3. You can form relationships and get married!
Sims2 has relationships and you can get married. There are skins you can apply for nudity if you are so inclinded. You could also go into a IRC chat and form a relationship with someone you have never meet simply by chatting with them.

I do enjoy the exercise I get from dancing hours on end. I can really feel those leg muscles getting in awesome shape! Oh and my butt, you could bounce a quarter off of it for sure.

umm.. its a game.

It is a game that people take too seriously to the point of leading themselves on to believe that it isn't a game.

With Zephria Zapata's interprettation of what is a game, people have met in other games in RL, fell in love you know the drill and it was other MMO's like WOW, Ultima so does that mean underneath it all, it isn't a game?

I also know of people who play games and get addicted to the point of no longer hanging out with friends or even their lovers to go be with their virtual friends because they get the sympathetic "Aww, well if you are here with us, then there must have been problems in the first place." When you get to that point to where you make yourself think like that and even though your real life does not suck but you'd rather blame all of your problems on people who are supposed to have your trust in RL, you are taking it way too serious and you need to unplug for a little while or be prepared to have your real life turn shitty.


SL is a business. Sl is a game. On Everquest, you can make RL money. WOW you can make real life money. Those are games too.

This game is a more mature game for adults and that is the difference, oh it's also a game for people who want to build, maybe make new friends, listen to music, roleplay so not everyone uses this game to meet someone in real life and unfortunatly, I know of some people that ignore their real life significant others and are two faced about it. The whole the grass is greener routine.

A lot of comments about why SL isn't a game but that fact remains it is a game to those who make it a game and it isn't to those who don't.

Certainly it is unlike any other "game" I have played (the ability to make real money is quite interesting and actually because of that, it pays for my gaming habit) but doesn't change the fact that it is still a game (once again, to me).

There are some who have made it their life and I say to them, "Good luck and enjoy your life." As I am sure they would say the same to me.

That is the problem with such a question; Is SL a game or not? It all boils down to how one perceives it and what one does with it. If it is all business to one person, then more power to him/her/it (acknowledging that in this virtual world I call play ground others call life there are non-humans). If it is just fun and games to the next then enjoy it.

I said all that to say this... what was I talking about? Oh yeah... attempts to argue the fine points of SL and its meaning to humanity is useless as it is up to the individual how they perceive it.

In some ways I can see how SL could be a game, but many come here who do not consider it a game