1.31.2009

Second Life

Although I have never joined Second Life, I have played games, such as The Sims, that similarly create a virtual reality. As in Second Life, in The Sims players are able to choose every little detail about their appearance, personality, family, job, and home. For one summer, I religiously played the game. My main motivation for playing was that I wanted my character Bob to be the most accomplished Sim. The creators of The Sims designed it so you have to put in more hours to become more intelligent, have more friends, and have a house filled with all the coolest things in the game.
But eventually, Bob went from a nurse to a doctor, had an eclectic mansion, was friends with everyone in the neighborhood, and there was nothing else to achieve. I lost interest in the game. Yet, people who participate in Second Life may never reach the point where they “beat” the game because Second Life is always evolving as new people join and the land expands. But nevertheless, there is an inherent limit of new things to accomplish.
One of the reasons it was relatively easy to beat the Sims was that many of the obstacles in every day life were removed. Bob never got older, never randomly got sick, never had to deal with bad weather or natural disasters, and never had to be any where other than work or home. Second Life similarly presents a world in which a there a rarely major changes in weather and health. One of the reasons, I lost interest in The Sims was that the game was always at the same pace and nothing was every really different the more I played.