Is SL a "game" or another word?

LOL. I'm voting for Colette.

Like RL it is a canvas and each person will make it what they will.

It's a game! I come to play. RL is for work. I can't access SL from work as it's filtered as a game. I'm on the internet now. That's real life. "Ouch" Just pinched myself to check. This is real.

Not so much a game, it's more like a playing-field for residents to make their own games.

L$ was originally designed as a method for "keeping score". In fact as recently at Sep 2005, there was a high score table for L$ (!) (View > Leaderboards in the client. )

But nowadays, it's no longer so useful as that. The people who don't earn L$ need the people who do, and vice versa, so suggesting that one of these groups are the "low scorers" wouldn't go down well..

Everyone knows it's porn 4.0!

I also think the thankfully discontinued "Ratings" system went along those line as well.

SOS…Spouse Over Shoulder!
Uh hum….it’s just a game dear…

Not so much - the problem with the "ratings" system was that it came down to a popularity content. The classic example was an escort who had a higher building rating than one of the best builders on the grid, because she was meeting more people.

This thread reminds me of the old Hindu parable: Three blind men encounter an elephant. They touch it and try to describe to each other what they have learned.

One touches the trunk. "An elephant is like a snake," he says.

One touches an ear. "An elephant is like a palm leaf."

One touches a leg. "An elephant is like a leathery tree trunk."

And they fight each other to the death over who is right.



SL....IS!

It's an application. How you choose to use it determines what it is for you. I use it as a game but it could just as easily be used as a business tool or medical device.

Games usually have a set of objectives for winning as well as static content.

Awesome! Thank goodness for that! I've been wondering... could someone tell me what this rash is?

Just to throw another cupful of petrol on the hoary old game vs platform debate, I found this interview with Emperor Phil in today's Guardian. Nothing very new, just promoting the 'platform' & web 3.0 hype again as well as an admission that SL doesn't run on Vista... yet. Phil's angle is that Vista is broken.... well we all *know* that any MS O/S is broken from the get-go, so that's not exactly news.

Hmmm that medical device idea intrigues me..please elaborate.

Rash on posterior = sitting at your monitor for too long = SL addiction

Rash around eyes = staring at your screen for too long = SL addiction

Rash on paws = absorbing phthalates from the plastic in your mouse = gender-bending addiction to SL

Rash around mouth and/or throat = fear of impending voice in SL = SL addiction

Rash around groin = too much cyb0rs3cks = SL addiction

Rash under scalp = spending far too much time scripting or building in SL = SL addiction

That's an SL addiction rash.

We'll tell you...but not until you are Verified.

In my opinion those who see SL as a 'game' are missing part of what it's about, and part of what we all bring to it.

I bring myself to second life... and it (in the form of other people who come here) responds to me. I may roleplay from time to time, I may shut myself away from time to time to concentrate on making something or just exploring, but all around me are others like me... life forms (represented in pixels, just like me, but nonetheless life forms).

I watch my son playing his games with his friends, Grand Theft Auto, Half Life.. whatever. Do they respond to him? do they recognise him? Do they interact with him? no..

I have not visited Word of Warcraft or other such online 'games', but i am sure they too are full of life forms... perhaps they are like SL, i cant judge as i havent been there.

I just know that for me, SL isnt a game.

If i treated it like a game i would not be polite, i would think nothing of griefing, I woudnt care when an avatar says she is sick or grieve when another says he just lost his mother to cancer.

What makes a world? What makes a life? In my opinion... people... minds... hearts..

Involvement.

SL isnt a game.. I dont know what it *is*.. there is nothing like it, there has never been anything like it for me... but i know its *not* a game.

my tuppence... for all the people i ever interacted with... thank you
love imogen

Secondlife is a container.

It contains games, recreation, entertainment, business, ...

For people that can't understand the difference between container and content: it is a game.

For people that understand the difference, "game" is misleading and inaccurate.

*makes the obligatory Trash Can reference*

OOOH! OOOH! I know!

Second Life is...


A good way to crash my computer.

One man's trash is another man's treasure... so they say.

If you don't like dumpster diving... go hit a different kind of 'can'.

SL has been called many things by popular culture and critics, choose yours:

SL is:
-a porn simulator
-a bug/glitch/test program
-something that crashes alot
-a shooting simulator
-a way to make money
-a way to lose money
-for camping
-a place to dance all day
-a game
-a business
-an addiction

All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players
-Will Someone or other.


All of Second Life is a game, and all the Residents merely unique logons.

The Ann Myers Medical Center
Cousins Bode 143, 194, 22 (Mature)

SL first and foremost is a multiple-user virtual environment platform.

I wouldnt define it as a game, but a "virtual world". games usually have set goals, SL does not have this as such.

it's an extension of things like active worlds, and VRML, projected into a collaborative interactive space. That will, as previously mentioned, eventually give rise to the "3D web". Although I'll avoid all those buzzwords and things like web3.0. I hate tech buzzwords, they're rubbish

whether or not this evolution will be a child of second life, or something from another company, is another matter. (it definately wont be SL in it's current state though)

although it also depends how you use it. while I wouldnt call it a game, others will. I dont think it really matters