Bonus Mission #2 : Second Life - A game or so much more?

Why is Second Life not a game?

Most of us have gone through the Second Life experience, and we can attest to the fact that Second Life is not a game. "It does not have points, scores, winners or losers, levels, an end-strategy, or most of the other characteristics of games." (Wikipedia, "Second Life", 2007). To me, a game just provides a temporary distraction from real life stress. From this, it can be seen that SL is not a game - it is much more. It is a world in itself, albeit virtual, and anything that can done in real life, can also be done in Second Life.

Virtual worlds like Second Life mimic the real world as much as they can. Second Life has its own Linden Dollar (L$) that can be bought with real world money. You can sightsee and visit places in the world and have a fantastically fun time. Whilst doing so, you can also interact with other users and make friends from all around the world.

But since this is a virtual world, you can also do things beyond your physical limitations. Yes, you can visit other places but you can teleport to places like Italy and Rome (In SL only of course) in a split second. You can customize your appearance and make yourself look whatever way you like in this virtual world. And yes, it encourages user-generated content, so you can build things, even make your own chair! (something I've never tried, well, at least not yet) :D


We have already gone through why virtual worlds like Second Life is not a game, but it also proves that it can facilitate first world activities. Take World of Warcraft for instance. In WOW player, Mayfield was quoted as saying, "Warcraft is the new golf ... I actually closed a deal with a company I met through WOW." (Levy, 2006). However, online video game "America's Army" serves to push the boundaries of games by desensitizing people from virtual world violence. Everytime a soldier is shot down, "the name of a real American soldier, his age and the date he was killed in Iraq." (Clarren, 2006). With this, it can be seen that this "game" is doing much more than a game is supposed to do. We know the general consensus toward the Iraq War. By flashing the name of a real American soldier who died in that war, the game is not just being played here - it is making the bloodshed that happened more realistic. By doing so, it is setting and reinforcing the agenda, and framing people's thoughts towards this issue.

So are games like Second Life, WOW and America's Army really just games? Japanese venture capitalist Joi Ito summarizes it rather succinctly, "Yes, it's just a game.. The way that the real world is a game."


References

Clarren, Rebecca. (2006). "Virtually dead in Iraq". Retrieved April 6, 2007 from http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2006/09/16/americasarmy/

Levy, Steven. (2006). "World of Warcraft: Is it a Game?" Retrieved April 6, 2007 from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14757769/site/newsweek/page/3/print/1/displaymode/1098/

Wikipedia. "Second Life". (2007). Retrieved April 6, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life

QotW10: The diary of a game noob - A day in Second Life

Meet my alter ego in Second Life, Mellie Laval! This is her/me sitting on the chair in Orientation Island. Hmm. Seems like I forgot to change the size of my hands at that time. They look a tad too gigantic. Tsk tsk. I gotta say, I did not complete Orientation Island. When I was stuck at the board that prompted me to download QuickTime, I stupidly flew around (at that time, it was like WOW i fly!) and teleported elsewhere. I couldn't go back to Orientation Island to complete the rest of the walk thru. End of story -_-.


Oh kay, so why did I choose this SL name? I wanted my SL name to correspond with the initials of my real name, M.L. My avatar, well.. Looks nice! I was having fun altering the appearance of my alter ego, heh. I made her eyes a little bigger, nose a little sharper, body a little taller... It was like plastic surgery! I think the only real likeness to me is... I have those bangs! I also enjoyed altering her outfit, the one that was originally provided was uggly. I picked the nicest out of the freebies I got (everyone say YAY for freebies). I like the skirt she's wearing, but the top isn't something I'd wear in my first life. Heh.


I fly! After I stupidly teleported out of Orientation Island to explore and realised that I couldn't go back, I went to Help Island to raise my white flag. Had some interesting conversations with people there. Forgot to screencap them..


Still hanging around Help Island at this time. Yes, my alter ego does look pretty helpless.


Went on a lame attempt of a sight-seeing tour. I'm in Lion City! Not a soul in sight here!


Found Yepp Yoshikawa at Paolo Rome, Italy. By this time, SL was lagging on me and had crashed so many times that I was on the verge of pulling my hair out.


At the Jade's Jazz Lounge, sitting back whilst watching people dance. Sad to say, I only visited these 3 venues, so I do not even have a favourite place! I would have loved to explore SL even more. But as aforementioned, SL was lagging and crashing like mad on me. Ugh. I wanted to visit some gardens, museums, watch some movies, and attend some concerts and performances! Sigh, maybe another time.