"Playing" Second Life? What do you call it?

I know another parent who makes very good money in SL and stays at home with her two special needs kids. She is a hero in my book.

Wow. I asked what I thought was a pretty simple question about how you refer to your time spent in SL. Several hours later I return to find FOUR pages of responses, some which are very inconsiderate and/or inflammatory.

Please contain your responses to the question, and stop beating up on each other. It was never my intent that this become a flame war. I am very upset at the direction this thread has taken.

People, please remember that we all have different situations, and different reasons for being in SL. Just because your reason is different than mine does not mean that yours is any less valid. Please do not pass such harsh judgement on people you barely know, whose work and home life situations are not known by you. If it works for them, great. Lay off and let them be.

Peace.

Princess Ivory

Princess Ivory, you are my kind of people. May your tribe increase.

Just read the whole thread, and now all my popcorn is gone. As for the original question: I call it "going to work".

I call it "visiting", and yes I live here, have a claim on my own virt Monopoly sqaure.
And no I don't work inworld, while visiting or care to deal w/ the added stresses of the ups and downs of owning a biz here, from start ups to well established stores that I see.
Personally, I imagine a lot of fav Disneyland, mall/market, club type places are nice to visit w/o the compulsion to fire up a biz.
But! I do support the creators, appreciate their efforts, don't question their RL! motives & help fund them.
I reserve calling my second life, death.

In some local economies, working whatever job you can get in town is a more risky prospect even than earning from SL.

I don't play SL, it was never a game to me. Some people have snorted, and derided SL as "IRC with graphics". I think "IRC with graphics" is fantastic.

This certainly isn't a game and I definitly am not playing, not that that means I'm not having fun. I visit Second Life and sample that which it offers...

I cringe a bit when I hear someone use the phrase "play SL," but at the same time, people I know in-world who spend a lot of time and have a lot of money and sweat equity invested in SL use the phrase, so to an extent I think it must be something they say for lack of a better term.

I've heard Brenda say things like "I play an entertaining game" before, and I admit I do not understand what that means. A "game" to me has a structure, a goal, and a set of rules. Even role-playing games are structured in a way to provide narrative flow. SL just IS, and people do a million different things in it. You can play games within SL, but SL itself is not a game (as I see it.)

Now "play" in terms of recreation, sure, I can see that .. but under that definition, going to the movies, reading a novel or taking a vacation are also playing, and none of those are games.

So I use the word "in-world" rather than "in-game," and if I have to find a verb I would rather say I use SL -- use the technology and the platform for whatever my purpose is at the moment -- than "play" it.

I know calling SL a game is a bit of a non sequitur, but not knowing what it was when I signed up that term came to mind, so I stick with it, it works for me. In the end whatever you want to call it is what it is, Game is quicker to type than entertainment program for me so it stays. Some people get a little too apoplectic over what others call, as it it is some sort of insult not to call by some of the high church terms given to it. Lighten up, and just enjoy it.

I'm with Mickey on this. Sl is a massive sandbox which you can turn to almost any usage, good bad or ... tasteless ...