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SecondLife in BusinessWeek on Slashdot

Zonax Delorean
Registered User
Join date: 5 Jun 2004
Posts: 767
04-24-2006 12:35
It should appear on Slashdot in a couple of minutes (Slashdot subscribers get to see the next news items early :-)

http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/24/187259
From: someone
BusinessWeek's cover story for May 1st has to do with a little place called Second Life. BusinessWeek Online has several stories related to their exploration on online living. My Virtual Life is a first-time exploration of Second Life, with some examination of the property and financial aspects of the gameworld. It's Not All Fun and Games explores the serious side of virtual businesses, as they interview Ashne Chung (notable real estate baron) in a piece called Virtual Land, Real Money. Ed Castronova has his say in a more general article on virtual economies. Finally, for an outside perspective, the obligatory Terra Nova discussion is always useful.


Prepare for the Slashdot effect! :-)
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Aleister DaSilva
insert witty phrase here
Join date: 19 May 2005
Posts: 168
04-24-2006 17:03
/me really hates it when My favorite forums converge
SteveR Whiplash
teh Monkeh
Join date: 24 Sep 2004
Posts: 173
04-24-2006 17:18
From: Lordfly
What's so wrong about wanting to live/play/pretend that you're somebody else? Don't you daydream?


From: slashdot poster "pla
Nothing... I enjoy a little escapist fantasy myself, whether watching Star Trek or role-playing a dwarf with a big axe and a bigger beard. Nothing wrong there... Not productive, but at least entertaining.

But 2L satisfies neither the "escape" nor "fantasy" part of that. Just trading one mundane dog-eat-dog existance for another, without even the perk of entertainment. And you can't even call it an even trade, because while trudging along in "real life" might get you fed, sheltered, and offspring, no amount of success in Second Life will keep you alive and viable.

So yeah, I'd certainly call it scarily unhealthy that people will trade an unsatisfying life for an unsatisfying non-life...


WRONG! Building in 3D, making textures in photoshop, and programming with LSL...

All MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH more productive and healthy than watching an hour of Star Trek.

Even just standing around chatting with other people in SL is more productive, as you're putting social skills, and your own brain, to use instead of just consuming what Star Trek feeds you.

And also, who are you to say what I find entertaining?
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Rose Mandelbrot
Registered User
Join date: 16 Apr 2006
Posts: 4
04-24-2006 23:30
The poster "pla" is probably in the majority of gamers at the moment though.

I'm someone who finds the arbitrary "level climbing" of traditional games really boring, it doesn't entertain me at all. That's why I'm drawn to games like the Sims 2 and platforms like SL. However after unsuccessfully trying to persuade my gaming friends to give these titles a shot, I accept now that most traditional gamers want action and structure. They want to be able to kill things and move up a level. This is what they're used to and this is what they've come to expect.

You hear similar things said about the the Sims series as this poster on slashdot is saying about SL. The funny thing is, for the all negative griping about how boring it is to simulate RL, the Sims series is one of the most successful titles ever. I forsee a similar thing happening with SL.

I think these new styles of games (and platforms :) ) will breed a new type of player. Its just gonna take time for the traditional gamers to grasp that you can indeed be entertained by a game that doesnt have a linear storyline, levels, and combat as a focus.
Jesrad Seraph
Nonsense
Join date: 11 Dec 2004
Posts: 1,463
04-25-2006 00:15
From: Rose Mandelbrot
I'm someone who finds the arbitrary "level climbing" of traditional games really boring, it doesn't entertain me at all.

Same here. The only type of leveling I like is having my character evolve or obtain new capabilities (higher jump, flight, passing through certain obstacles) after completeing special quests or solving puzzles or reaching the end of a labyrinth. But treadmilling for hours just to get the priviledge of higher meaningless numbers on your character description ? No thanks.

If the objective of a video game is entertainment through the telling of stories via a specific kind of narration (which I find more immersive than cinema in some occurences), then anything that diverge from the telling (= anything that doesn't advance the story, enlight the player on the game's world or provoke thought) is BORING.
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Either Man can enjoy universal freedom, or Man cannot. If it is possible then everyone can act freely if they don't stop anyone else from doing same. If it is not possible, then conflict will arise anyway so punch those that try to stop you. In conclusion the only strategy that wins in all cases is that of doing what you want against all adversity, as long as you respect that right in others.