Is there any merit to calling Second Life a "game"?

[Gopi Passiflora]

I know most of you guys don't like it when Second Life is called a "game", but do you think there is any merit for this virtual world to be called such?

[Ceka Cianci]

People can call it whatever they want for all I care really..

The thing that I think a lot of this stems from is not so much really calling it a game, as much as it is people coming in thinking it's a game like something you would play on a console..

You go messing around in here with someones world  in the wrong way and you can end up with real world problems.. I don't know too many console games where the other players can have your rear end in court or the police at your door for breaking real world laws because you took their stuff.. Those games they call it loot where this game they call it property.

pvp in here can be the real deal sometimes.. hehehehe

 

 

 

[Gopi Passiflora]

Yeah, I agree @Ceka Cianci. Quite the experience, Second Life is.

[Ceka Cianci]

11 minutes ago, Gopi Passiflora said:

Yeah, I agree @Ceka Cianci. Quite the experience, Second Life is.

When I finally had a good idea of what Second life was..It kind of reminded me of when the internet really started to become popular..

A lot of people that didn't know any better thought it was this  safe and sound thing that had no consequences from their actions..kind of like watching their tv in their living room and yelling at the screen..

A lot still think the internet is that kind of safe place,until they learn the hard way that it can bite you really hard back..

 

Edited March 17, 2019 by Ceka Cianci

[ItHadToComeToThis]

I guess it is a matter of perception. A game usually has set objectives and goals. I guess you could argue that SL has questing....this seems to be the standard daily quest undertaken by those who end up on SL secrets

 

-Requirements-

*Meet your special someone and get married inside of a day and tell everyone the three hours you have been together feel like years

*Two hours later adopt some broken adults from the child adoption agency

*An hour after that get a divorce and spend two further hours ranting on Facebook about how they cheated on you with your best friend whom you met only that morning

*Buy a prim baby and spend all your time boring the b*****ks off your friends talking about its development and how big it's getting

*Appear on SL secrets

 

-Reward-

XP : 360,000

Gold : 22,000

Bougie Rating : +4500

Social Standing : -5600

Edited March 17, 2019 by ItHadToComeToThis

[Shudo]

5 hours ago, ItHadToComeToThis said:

I guess it is a matter of perception. A game usually has set objectives and goals.

Barbie, tonka trucks, sand castles.

[Selene Gregoire]

18 minutes ago, Shudo said:

Barbie, tonka trucks, sand castles.

Barbie is a doll, not a game. Granted there are Barbie "games" but the doll itself is not.

Tonka trucks are toys, not games. Granted, in the decades since Tonkas were introduced, games came into being but the Tonkas themselves are not games.

Same applies to sand castles, although I am not aware of any sand castle building games.

[Fionalein]

20 hours ago, Gopi Passiflora said:

I know most of you guys don't like it when Second Life is called a "game", but do you think there is any merit for this virtual world to be called such?

Yes, of course there is as merit. Dictionairies do not have to be rewritten because some diehard fans of a virtual world most of the world already have forgotten about again don't agree with a definition...

Counterquestion: Is there any merit in asking this question?

Edited March 17, 2019 by Fionalein

[Theresa Tennyson]

14 minutes ago, Selene Gregoire said:

Barbie is a doll, not a game. Granted there are Barbie "games" but the doll itself is not.

Tonka trucks are toys, not games. Granted, in the decades since Tonkas were introduced, games came into being but the Tonkas themselves are not games.

Same applies to sand castles, although I am not aware of any sand castle building games.

Part of this whole "debate" is the word "game" has a broader scope in the computer world than it does with more traditional pastime systems that include "games."

Will Wright of Maxis often described the Sims/SimCity/Sim* "games" as "software toys" because they lacked the typical "game" rules and objectives,  but if you were looking for them in a store, looking for a review of them or looking at sales figures they'd show up as "computer games." Second Life blends right into the Sim* application category in how it works and what it offers.

In short, if you're looking for a physical copy of the Monopoly board game you'd find them in a toy store along with Barbie and Tonka trucks, and if you're looking for a computer software toy like The Sims (or, dare I say, Second Life) you'd look for it in a game store.

Edited March 17, 2019 by Theresa Tennyson

[Shudo]

4 hours ago, Selene Gregoire said:

Barbie is a doll, not a game. Granted there are Barbie "games" but the doll itself is not.

Tonka trucks are toys, not games. Granted, in the decades since Tonkas were introduced, games came into being but the Tonkas themselves are not games.

Same applies to sand castles, although I am not aware of any sand castle building games.

So, when you tell your kids to go "play a game or something with Barbie" to get them out of the kitchen, while you cook?

Game has a far broader use then just "something with a defined goal"

[Selene Gregoire]

4 minutes ago, Shudo said:

So, when you tell your kids to go "play a game or something with Barbie" to get them out of the kitchen, while you cook?

Game has a far broader use then just "something with a defined goal"

lol All of my kids are adults. Never said "go play a game or something with barbie". It was either "go play a game" or "go play with Barbie".

The word may have a broader use but that doesn't make that usage correct.

Obviously, your definition of "game" is very different from mine.

[Nextio]

It's splitting hairs to be honest.  People get bent out of shape over it.  It's kind of like how people argue over comics/cartoons/anime/etc.  The medium used is basically the same.  The only thing different is the philosophy behind it.

Here's my rule of thumb though.  If i'm talking to someone who has never heard of SL or the virtual world genre, then i just say it's a game.  If i'm talking to virtual world residents, then i'll call it a virtual world.

 

[Shudo]

1 hour ago, Selene Gregoire said:

Obviously, your definition of "game" is very different from mine.

I wonder if this might come down to a Realise vs Realize or Metric vs USA Measures type thing. North Americans using their own unique definition to the rest of the world?

Oxford Dictionary definitions, top most entry

1. An activity that one engages in for amusement or fun.
‘the kids were playing a game with their balloons’

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/game

 

Collins doesn't have this top definition, being more of the Game = fixed goals.

 

Maybe the whole argument of "Is SL a Game" comes down to one being of the USA or outside it?

 

Edit: seems not, Mirriam Webster also list

 

1a(1) : activity engaged in for diversion or amusement :

 

with the "having a goal and rules" being down at #3 on their list.

 

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/game

Edited March 18, 2019 by Shudo

[Blush Bravin]

game definition: A form of play or sport, especially a competitive one played according to rules and decided by skill, strength, or luck. A complete episode or period of play, ending in a definite result.

virtual world defintion: A virtual world is a computer-based simulated environment which may be populated by many users who can create a personal avatar, and simultaneously and independently explore the virtual world, participate in its activities and communicate with others.

Which one sounds more like Second Life to you?

I've always felt that to describe SL as a game to people who have no idea what Second Life is about misrepresents the platform. I think it sets people up to not have a good time because they're expecting it to be something it clearly is not.

 

 

 

 

 

[Shudo]

33 minutes ago, Blush Bravin said:

I've always felt that to describe SL as a game to people who have no idea what Second Life is about misrepresents the platform

Possibly yes, but then you get that empty blank stare. "So it's like Discord then?", "yeah, but you can get married too", "ahh, so more like a kid's tea party", "well no, the bear sipping tea is likely Soft Linden who is a furry supportive of BDSM", "what's a furry", "Oh gawd, don't ask!"

Edited March 18, 2019 by Shudo

[Maryanne Solo]

[HarrisonMcKenzie]

To me, "virtual world" just sounds pretentious. It's like everyone in my university Japanese classes who watched j-dramas instead of anime because they were trying to be so elite and artistic. SL is a game. It's built like a game and plays like a game. Just because it doesn't have levels or a questing system doesn't mean it isn't a game.

[kali Wylder]

It may or may not be a game, but there are certainly some players in it.

[Kweopi]

it is a reality game, just as real as you want it to be. for some people= only pixels, for others = real feelings. If you play a shooting game, and other player kills you, is ok, if you get married in sl and your partner cheats you, is so drama. Only you can choose if is a game or not.

[Skell Dagger]

8 hours ago, Fionalein said:

Counterquestion: Is there any merit in asking this question?

You mean other than "Ooh, contentious topic! Let's see if we can get them bickering for at least 10 pages!"?

[Fionalein]

3 hours ago, Shudo said:

North Americans using their own unique definition to the rest of the world?

C'mon we all know they don't speak English  (we even tell them but they don't listen... maybe a language barrier problem?)

 

Edited March 18, 2019 by Fionalein

[Ceka Cianci]

3 hours ago, Fionalein said:

C'mon we all know they don't speak English  (we even tell them but they don't listen... maybe a language barrier problem?)

 

I wouldn't mix up North Americans with U.S. Americans if you are going to make fun of their English..

North Americans have been here for thousands of years..Where U.S. Americans haven't been here long enough to make a blip on the radar.

One had the language forced on them, while the other is just being lazy with it.

 

 

Edited March 18, 2019 by Ceka Cianci

[Gopi Passiflora]

12 hours ago, Fionalein said:

Yes, of course there is as merit. Dictionairies do not have to be rewritten because some diehard fans of a virtual world most of the world already have forgotten about again don't agree with a definition...

Counterquestion: Is there any merit in asking this question?

Well, Skell is right. I just wanted a discussion...and I may have not worded the original post as I intended....

Edited March 18, 2019 by Gopi Passiflora
Comma

[BilliJo Aldrin]

6 hours ago, kali Wylder said:

It may or may not be a game, but there are certainly some players in it.

and don't forget the losers

[Bree Giffen]

Is there any merit to calling SL a game...

...by an SL resident to an outside non-user?

No merit. An SL resident would be confusing the outsider.

...between two SL residents?

Merit is irrelevant because SL users know the non-gaming nature of SL.

...by two outsiders or an by outsider to an SL resident?

Also, irrelevant because outside users know nothing.