I’m sure most of you have played a game some time in your life. Be it a board game or a video game, the most important characteristic of playing a game would be the achievement of an objective. In the world renowned board game Monopoly which has been around since 1935, a player wins once he/she has dominated the entire game’s market. (Monopoly (game), 2007) In the online game World of Warcraft (WOW), players control a character avatar within a persistent game world, exploring the landscape, fighting monsters, and performing quests on behalf of computer-controlled characters. (World of Warcraft, 2007) As you would have probably realized both games although from different eras, share similar objectives which is to eliminate other players.
In today’s age, online games such as “WOW” provide a virtual environment whereby gamers are given the opportunity to interact with one another. As one user describes “Warcraft is the new golf, I actually closed a deal with a company I met through WOW.” (Levy, 2007) As such a game such as “WOW” without a doubt provides people to live a virtual life online. Using avatars and nicknames as a form of identity, players in this virtual world trade with one another ad forge relationships which in the past would only be available in an offline context.
Second Life (SL) is an internet-based virtual world which became prominent during late 2006. In it, individuals who register accounts are called residents. Once inside this virtual world, elements of the real world come into play. For instance, residents are able to work in order to earn Linden money. This of which could be earned through a variety of jobs from “camping” whereby one’s character sits at a spot, to even acting as another virtual character’s bodyguard. The interesting thing with regards to this virtual currency is that one can actually purchase Linden money with real money. Though the exchange rate fluctuates, as of February 2007 it has remained reasonably stable at around L$ 270 to US$1. (Second Life, 2007)
In this virtual world, residents travel to different places via teleportation. Within the realms of a certain place. The most common mode of transport would be by walking. However, certain functions such as flying also enable users to travel from point to point. Besides these means of transport, users are also able to ride bikes, drive cars and even fly hot- air balloon. With the exception of walking, all the means of transport in Second Life may seem hard to achieve or even physically impossible in the real world. However, with the creation of Second Life, there are no boundaries to what one can do in the virtual world.
Although Second Life does share similar characteristics to games such as WOW whereby individuals are able to choose, personalize their own avatars and then interact with other players from around the world, the main reason as to why I would not consider Second Life a game would be based on a few reasons. Firstly unlike most games, Second Life does not enable its users to save a certain setting. That means that once a user decides to log out, the virtual world would not wait for him/her. Things can change while the user is offline. For instance, new buildings may be constructed and the surroundings may be upgraded.
Secondly as mentioned above, in a normal game, gamers are most often tasked to work towards a greater objective. However in Second Life, there is no objective. Users are able to do anything they want to do without having to go through various steps. They could take a stroll down a virtual beach or even party at a virtual club. In other words, the only most likely objective in the virtual world would be to interact with the thousands of other users.
However although greatly different, Second Life still share a few similar characteristics of any other game in terms of interaction. Although, users do not necessarily have to work with others towards a main objective, communication between one another helps foster friendships and relations which eventually would develop into another kind of world which we live in.
References:
Levy, S (2007). World of warcraft: is it a game?. Newsweek Technology, Retrieved April, 5, 2007, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14757769/site/newsweek/page/3/
Second Life. (2007). In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved Apr 5, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_life#Parody
World of Warcraft. (2007). In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved April, 5, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_Warcraft
Monopoly. (2007). In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved April, 5, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly
In today’s age, online games such as “WOW” provide a virtual environment whereby gamers are given the opportunity to interact with one another. As one user describes “Warcraft is the new golf, I actually closed a deal with a company I met through WOW.” (Levy, 2007) As such a game such as “WOW” without a doubt provides people to live a virtual life online. Using avatars and nicknames as a form of identity, players in this virtual world trade with one another ad forge relationships which in the past would only be available in an offline context.
Second Life (SL) is an internet-based virtual world which became prominent during late 2006. In it, individuals who register accounts are called residents. Once inside this virtual world, elements of the real world come into play. For instance, residents are able to work in order to earn Linden money. This of which could be earned through a variety of jobs from “camping” whereby one’s character sits at a spot, to even acting as another virtual character’s bodyguard. The interesting thing with regards to this virtual currency is that one can actually purchase Linden money with real money. Though the exchange rate fluctuates, as of February 2007 it has remained reasonably stable at around L$ 270 to US$1. (Second Life, 2007)In this virtual world, residents travel to different places via teleportation. Within the realms of a certain place. The most common mode of transport would be by walking. However, certain functions such as flying also enable users to travel from point to point. Besides these means of transport, users are also able to ride bikes, drive cars and even fly hot- air balloon. With the exception of walking, all the means of transport in Second Life may seem hard to achieve or even physically impossible in the real world. However, with the creation of Second Life, there are no boundaries to what one can do in the virtual world.
Although Second Life does share similar characteristics to games such as WOW whereby individuals are able to choose, personalize their own avatars and then interact with other players from around the world, the main reason as to why I would not consider Second Life a game would be based on a few reasons. Firstly unlike most games, Second Life does not enable its users to save a certain setting. That means that once a user decides to log out, the virtual world would not wait for him/her. Things can change while the user is offline. For instance, new buildings may be constructed and the surroundings may be upgraded.
Secondly as mentioned above, in a normal game, gamers are most often tasked to work towards a greater objective. However in Second Life, there is no objective. Users are able to do anything they want to do without having to go through various steps. They could take a stroll down a virtual beach or even party at a virtual club. In other words, the only most likely objective in the virtual world would be to interact with the thousands of other users.
However although greatly different, Second Life still share a few similar characteristics of any other game in terms of interaction. Although, users do not necessarily have to work with others towards a main objective, communication between one another helps foster friendships and relations which eventually would develop into another kind of world which we live in.
References:
Levy, S (2007). World of warcraft: is it a game?. Newsweek Technology, Retrieved April, 5, 2007, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14757769/site/newsweek/page/3/
Second Life. (2007). In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved Apr 5, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_life#Parody
World of Warcraft. (2007). In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved April, 5, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_of_Warcraft
Monopoly. (2007). In Wikipedia [Web]. Retrieved April, 5, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopoly
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