Jump to content

Second Life *IS* a Game


LepreKhaun
 Share

You are about to reply to a thread that has been inactive for 3790 days.

Please take a moment to consider if this thread is worth bumping.

Recommended Posts


Freya Mokusei wrote:


Studio09 wrote:

"1.
An activity providing entertainment or amusement; a pastime: ...

Sneaky, but you omitted a couple words there. The line ends with two examples: "party games; word games."

 

The one that comes to mind for me is "mind games", ever since I read "Games People Play".

This definition doesn't apply since it's talking about a sub-set of activities ...

I'm not applying it to a subset of activities but to SL itself. Is SL a pastime? Yes, so meets the definition. Is it an activity that provides entertainment and amusement? Yes, so meets the definition.

Don't let that stop anyone though. Everyone knows where this thread is headed already.

Actually until this thread I probably would not have classified SL as a game but didn't really care one way or the other.  Still don't care that much but the OP had some interesting ideas that made me examine my ideas about it.  And even if we know the outcome it is kind of fun to play around.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 80
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

You will probably have been disappointed that no-one has leapt at your throat for daring to mention the 'g' word.

Hard luck, this topic has - as has been suggested - been done to death many times.  Those who wish to see SL as a game are free to do so and are best avoided by everyone else.  I feel sorry for them, as their view is so limited, but I can't be bothered to explain to them yet again.

If you are just "telling" us that SL is a game then there is no discussion.  If you would like a discussion please explain why Facebook is not a game, by your definition?  Why reading a book isn't a game?  Why visiting an art gallery or creating a work of art are not games?

Meanwhile I'm going to play "watching a film".

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites


PeterCanessa Oh wrote:

You will probably have been disappointed that no-one has leapt at your throat for daring to mention the 'g' word.

Hard luck, this topic has - as has been suggested - been done to death many times.  Those who wish to see SL as a game are free to do so and are best avoided by everyone else.  I feel sorry for them, as their view is so limited, but I can't be bothered to explain to them yet again.

If you are just "telling" us that SL is a game then there is no discussion.  If you would like a discussion please explain why Facebook is not a game, by your definition?  Why reading a book isn't a game?  Why visiting an art gallery or creating a work of art are not games?

Meanwhile I'm going to play "watching a film".

 

Agreed, especially on the first line.  I *do* remember back around 2007-2009 if anyone used the "g-word" in reference to SL on the forums they would be duly tarred and feathered. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Pussycat Catnap wrote:

...People who think SL isn't a game need to stop thinking with the male anatomy, and look at a wider reference for what has historical been game play among human cultures - including the 'weird half' that isn't so male...
:P

And if you think that be-littles SL, you might want to then also look at some internalized gender presumptions.

 

Do you think that something that can be used for play is, therefore, necessarily, a game?  Yes, "dressing up" can be a game.  That doesn't mean every time we wear clothes we are playing.

Postulate a very feminine women-only discussion group.  Are they playing when they chat?  They are certainly building social ties and probably entertaining each other.  You seem to be saying that they can't possibly be doing anything serious because it must be a game.  So, as in my post to LepreKhaun above, you think Facebook is a game?

Of course, if those women are investing in their discussion group, running it as a business, providing a service to the community, etc. it is still a game.  Hmm, communicating is a game, community is a game, money is a game, people are toys?

Is there ANYTHING that you wouldn't define as 'playing' a 'game'?

What, apart from anything else, have all those women who don't think SL is a game done that you think they are "thinking with the male anatomy"?  If any man had written something similar about women I'm sure the post would be RIC'd in a moment.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Perrie Juran wrote:


Studio09 wrote:

How about a dictionary as an authority?  It boils down to the definition of "game".  Now different dictionaries will have different interpretations but here is one:

 
"1.
An activity providing entertainment or amusement; a pastime: ...

2.
a.
A competitive activity or sport in which players contend with each other according to a set of rules:"

 

You seem to be using the second definition.  The OP seems to be using the first one.  I agree with that because the origin of the word is:  "Middle English, from Old English
gamen;
akin to Old High German
gaman
amusement"

 

 

 

First off, this need citation. 
;)

Primarily yes, I am thinking in terms of the second definition, but not totally.

However, you make a mistake in your application or interpretation of the first definition.

While all games are ACTIVITIES, not all ACTIVITIES are games. 
:)

For instance, in RL there were many times I found my work (employment) entertaining or amusing.  I did work in the entertainment field.  That however did not make it a game. 

 

OK.  The definition came from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/gamehttp://

The origin of the word came from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gamehttp://  (I didn't use their definition cause it agreed with yours :matte-motes-smile: )

I agree that all entertaining and amusing activities are not necessarily games but I don't think that games are limited to competitions.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is it a game? It just doesn't matter..

Is it not a game? It just doesn't matter..

Is it both? It just doesn't matter..

At allllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll

Dee doooo doo dooodoo deee doooo dooo...Dee dee dee doo doo doo...o0 (i have no idea if this really even sounds like  it is sposed to)

It just doesn't matter at awwww aww aww         allllllllllllll!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all,

If I may add my 10 cents worth...

Who Cares? Why does it matter?

Life itself is a game! You enter it by birth and exit it by death. The goal is [Yes there is a Goal] to have, from your own point of view, the best life you can experience. You don't always get what you want but you do get to deal with all you experience as you are able to do. From bad to good. If you join up with others during your life who enrich you in someway then you experience the ultimate MMO, Real Life.

You can even experience Real Life here in your Second Life. You can use Second Life to expand the world around you. You can use Second Life to hide from the world around you. That choice is up to you. Some waste this opportunity because their view of meaningful existence is so narrow. Other rise up and become more than they could ever have imagined. Most fall somewhere in-between.

Choose wisely and enjoy the awe that is life.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just because something isn't "real" doesn't mean it's a game. It amazes me that so many people over analyze on wether or not SL is a game or not that it kills their enjoyment and then may even try to kill the enjoyment of thers. If it is, so what? If it isn't, so what? True, many do take SL a bit too seriously but if not and the person is doing no harm, why does it matter? Like real life, you have the opprotunity to make the most of your time here. To me, asking wether or not SL is a game or not is like asking what's the meaning of life. Each person has their own personal answer to that question. In my opinion, all of us just want to have fun and feel fufilled. I see no difference in SL other than that SL may also be a part of their RL fufillment.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Saying sl is "just a game" is a non-sense statement. There's a huge difference between a "game" like pac man and a virtual user created world like sl. Here's one simple example why second life is not simply "a game." Everyone knows the reason some people enjoy horror movies is they get scared. What they may not know is scientists have proven the human brain does not know the difference between an imagined threat and a real one. At least when it relates to releasing chemicals in the brain. The brain releases the exact same chemicals that trigger emotions and feelings and experiences from imagined fear and real fear. That's the whole reason some people like horror movies because of the rush of adrenalin and other mood changing chemicals that happens when a person watches them. 

Well scientists also studied virtual worlds. They found out the brain also does not know the difference between a virtual kiss and a real one. The exact same endorphins and bonding chemicals are released in a online romantic kiss as in a real one. In other words, you will be as emotionally chemically bonded to a person by virtually kissing them as you would be by kissing them in RL. Actually this should be as obvious as the horror movie example. If the brain did not release such chemicals, there would not be the huge sexual and romantic industry that exists in sl. There would be no point. Nobody would feel anything from it. The fact it is such a large part of the sl world proves something more is going on than just a "game."

Obviously some people feel nothing from horror movies. Also, some people will kiss in sl and feel nothing. This has to do with how much imagination they are putting into it. The more one gets into the fantasy, the more real it will be to the brain and the more real life chemicals will be released. So not all people will have the same immersive experience from a virtual experience like sl provides. 

 

If somebody goes into a horror movie and continually laughs and says its not real it's stupid obviously they will feel nothing. That's the position of the original poster. He doesn't feel anything in sl because he continually tells himself its not real. Others that view horror moves or play sl will feel a lot. Everything they would feel in real life. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Life itself is a game! You enter it by birth and exit it by death. The goal is [Yes there is a Goal] to have, from your own point of view, the best life you can experience. You don't always get what you want but you do get to deal with all you experience as you are able to do.

 

Can you please discuss that point with starving children in Africa, with crime victims, with laid off workers who can't pay their bills anymore, with flood and earthquake victims or civilians caught up in a war. Tell them they are losers and ask if they felt sufficiently entertained and if they care for another round.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The OP just wanted to burst some bubbles is all with something that really isn't a big deal..

On the other hand..I guess it was to someone..They made a thread about it..

 

With the way the world is..

It's a nice place to get my mind away from every day things..

The news is always bad

The economey sucks

and  there is war in the streets and all over the planet..

Corporations are  breaking records in profits while citizens are heading to the welfare line to adjust their income..

They could call it a sport for all i care..

I've always called it an escape..

 

When my mind is full of things like this..

 

It's really nice to have a place to go that makes me feel like this

 

That's all that matters too me..

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just don't hit the 'Stop Flying' button ;-).

I don't care if someone wants to tell me SL is a game, either. That horse has been beaten so many times (as has been pointed out already in this thread) I've lost interest. The only current information I gather when that happens is the name of a person I probably won't enjoy knowing (and no doubt vice versa) because our assumptions and expectations would be such a mismatch.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You are welcome to your own opinion.   But as with my RL, my SL is defined by me.   What some else's definitions are, of either, are immaterial to me.   Define it any way you want for yourself.  But as with RL, trying to force people to see things according to the way you see them is a very egotistical approach.   It shows not only your self centered attitudes and opinions, it shows your ignorance and smacks of fascism.  Sieg Heil SL Nazi, have a nice day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


Lynda Baran wrote:

You are welcome to your own opinion.   But as with my RL, my SL is defined by me.   What some else's definitions are, of either, are immaterial to me.   Define it any way you want for yourself.  But as with RL, trying to force people to see things according to the way you see them is a very egotistical approach.   It shows not only your self centered attitudes and opinions, it shows your ignorance and smacks of fascism.  Sieg Heil SL Nazi, have a nice day.

So, basically you're saying anyone is welcome to have their own opinion but if they express it that makes them a self-centered, egotistical,. ignorant nazi.

 

Is that your opinion?

Link to comment
Share on other sites


LepreKhaun wrote:

 

 Trust me on this: Try to approach it as anything else but a
game
and you will be hurt because: You are not only playing a
game
but the
game
is by someone else's rules. You may attempt to argue away the fact of the matter, it won't change it.

 

Only you can walk away from a
game
to stop playing it. Anything less is simply continuing to play a
game
.

The Wiki is a source of information compiled from many people. Hardley something to go by as being reliable.  Why do you have to be hurt by SL? Who says you have to spend your time in SL by anyone else's rules (whatever you mean by that, not sure you weren't specific) I go into SL the way I feel comfortable and enjoy it. I would say if you are hurt by being in SL because of others *Making* you do something you don't enjoy, it's an easy fix. Distance yourself from that person. Do they have that much power over you? I would hope not. I realize there are many people that do take advantage of others and lie and scam, but block them out and continue to do here what you like. Really, no one can make you do something here. It's your choice, even when you feel fooled by someone, you made the final decision.

It sounds like you were hurt by someone or a situation. You can walk away from any situation in SL or RL if you really want to. I don't care if people think SL is a game or not, I only care how I view SL because when it comes down to it, that's what really matters. I am the one logging in and I know the reasons I continue to do so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites


LepreKhaun wrote:


Sephina Frostbite wrote:

Your point? Really not everyone is in secondlife every second of the day. I live an active life and I play sl late at night to relax. It doesn't take up my whole life. So really Game or not.. Who made you the boss of everyone. There are people who play games such as world of warcraft and sl with out being addicting. Most aren't as a matter of fact. Media likes to make you think we are. If everyone was so addicted there would be a lot less jobs. So once again I ask, you point is?

Not sure about the game addiction reference. Certainly had nothing to do with anything I said, which was merely pointing out SL is a just game.

 

And that was the only point.

So what if its a game? Does that change anything?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You are about to reply to a thread that has been inactive for 3790 days.

Please take a moment to consider if this thread is worth bumping.

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share


×
×
  • Create New...