Before Mr. Kelvin told us in detail about second life, I have to admit that I have no idea what the whole thing is. It seems to me that it is another online game that people gets obsessed in. Personally, I am not pretty much of a game person but since we have to do this for our assignment, I decided to give it a try.

The Sims

At the first glance of the second life, it reminds me of the other game that I used to play in—The Sims. With reference to the Wikipedia, The Sims is a strategic life stimulation computer game created by a game designer Will Wright. The game basically is about day-to-day activities of one or more virtual people in a suburban household located near Sim City. Players are able to control their ‘own life’ such as making decision on how their time should be spent. (The Sims, 2007) I recalled that I could build houses in the Sim city and design how I want my house to be like. Other than that, I have to move my characters around and make decisions such as going to the toilet and maintaining personal hygiene within my house area. I could even make my character and another character fall in love. However, they do not really communicate. I am not sure about the newest Sims game but when I played it, no words came out of them. Simply said, I got bored of the game as they seem to be like living zombies walking around and not really communicating with other people. It is a game, afterall.

Second life

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.

Let’s give it a try and welcome this new social networking environment!

References

Second Life. (2007, April 4). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved, April 5 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Second_Life&oldid=120268909

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/.