urgggh..laggineeessss~
Second life, on the other hand, is different from the Sims. Second life is an internet-based virtual world that enables its users, called residents, to interact with each other through motivational avatars, creating a social networking service. Residents are able to explore different virtual places, meet other residents, participate in individual and group activities and create or trade items and services to each other. (Second Life, 2007) The War Craft may seem similar to the second life as there is interaction among players and has its own economy. As mentioned in the ‘World of War Craft: Is it a game’, the gold and exotic armor and weaponry that players accumulate can be traded and sold in real money. Similar to the second life, avatars of your own characters can be chosen to represent you. (Steven Levy, 2007) However, the second life ‘does not have points, scores, winners or losers, levels, an end-strategy, or most of the other characteristics of games’. It is communication that takes place in the game setting. When I tried out Second life, I found myself not only trying to edit my own appearance and exploring the different virtual settings, but also interacting with other residents when I am in different locations. Within an hour in Second life, I can meet different people around the world, other than my own friends. I even met a person who has an avatar of a girl but actually is a guy. He admitted to me that he is gay, trying to meet other guys. I found that real interesting.
Second life definitely is not purely a game. There are lots of interaction and activities going on. Groups of the same interest such as our group com 125 can be formed to enable people to interact within their own arena. Most importantly, it is free. Unlike the Sims when one has to pay to get the software, Second life can be easily downloaded. It is another channel for interaction other than the normal social networking sites.
References
The Sims. (2007, April 2). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved April 5, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Sims&oldid=119832651
Levy, S. (2006). In World of Warcraft: Is It a Game. Retrieved April 5 2007, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14757769/site/newsweek/page/3/print/1/displaymode/1098/.