Second Life

I've chosen a Sandbox game called Second Life as the game to explore. Second Life (SL) is a virtual developed by Linden Lab that launched on June 23, 2003. Although it has been almost 7years old, I've only been onto this platform less than 5 times. Previous trials were due to school work when virtual lectures were held in the NUS island.

This time round, I've ventured into the "real world" to explore and interact with many other players as well as different islands. Basic navigation within the game is pretty easy, with walking and flying as the main form of travelling accompanied by the directional arrow keys. What ever interaction needed can be done using the buttons of a mouse.

My initial starting place was "Help Island". I could see many other players as well as helping boards. However, when I teleported to another place after a few clicks, I realised I was all alone in a huge island. Loading of the graphics is slow and as I fly through some parts of the island, what seems to be empty land slowly get loaded with features like houses and other buildings.

What amazes me is how beautiful those architectures are. So pretty that I feel like owning one myself in the game.




So, are such properties in Second Life considered as a form of goods? Though intangible, it's still an element in the game which needs money to buy, which is $Linden, a form of in-game currency in Second Life. As of now, I still have $L0 and I still have no idea how do I earn money to buy things. The only way that I've heard of is to use real world money, US dollar, to exchange into $Linden. I find it almost ridiculous to use real money in exchange of digital goods which in actual fact are just bits of 1s and 0s.



I also wonder who are the creators of these content. Because the architectures are so unique and different that it seems almost impossible for Linden Lab to create all of them by themselves. Is the community allowed to create their own content too? Something like The Sims by Will Wright? If so, is this a good way to earn $L? Creating your own content and selling to the other players for $L, which you can exchange back to US$. Can this be a motivation for playing the game?

I lost my way through the huge island and had no choice but to teleport to "home" through the menu. It didn't take me back to Help Island, and I ended up in some random place with a few other players. Then I got approached by a player who asked for directions back to Help Island. After telling him I have no idea, his reply was "Fuck you" before flying away. It makes me wonder how is this world in Second Life ruled/governed.

What I like about this game is its resemblance to real life; buying properties, possessions etc etc After staying in the game for a long while, the sky even turned dark into night time. It gives me as a player a sense of reality. Suddenly, it didn't quite feel as much that it is actually a game.

What is lacking now is the motivation to carry on playing this game. Being a Sandbox game with no absolute aim like goal based games, one has to set himself a target or goal to achieve, or else the interest may die off very soon. One motivation I have already mentioned earlier, which is creating content to be sold in the game.

Is it feasible? Will it cause the player to become a WORKER instead of a PLAYER like what Callois mentioned? Will a player who plays to earn money become a WORKER for sure? How about a player who actually enjoys the game a lot but only just making use of his joy in the game as an earning tool? Is it possible?