Well, for one, it's not a game. It's more of a social networking platform with economical and creative/development features at your disposal.
Anything from running a business (like a major business cause small stuff just won't cut it), creatively expressing yourself via the building and development tools, socially networking (duh), holding online meetings, becoming land barons, being one of many annoying pest in a virtual world and continously being banned for it, crashing sims (servers) , playing as a girl even though you're a man in real life so that you can hit up on virtual lesbians, becoming a man whore, etc. Ok, so I am going on the deep end there but, yea, it happens in SL.
So, to answer your question about it being fun. It's fun however you make it fun. Don't expect to be handed the fun when you first get in. You have to experience it for yourself and find something you like to do. The majority of people just like socializing.
There was a documentry I watched a couple of months back about how MMORPG's have taken the world by storm, and they spent 15 minutes focusing on this then repeated the show in game later that night. From what I have seen and read about Second Life laws and hangings should be put in place to stop it in its tracks and prevent it from ever happening again!
I'd say no. The Lindens (the company who runs the game) are scammers. I played awhile ago with my friend and got banned no apparent reason and they stole a few hundred dollars off my credit card which i had to cancel because they kept taking money. Then a few months later they banned my friend and he asked why and they said he was plotting against the game which was way messed. I would not recommend this game for anyone. If maybe a different company ran the game I'd still be playing because it was fun while it lasted.
Doubtful they are scammers. As the FBI has a close eye on them, to make sure they are not messing with money inappropriately.
Your case is probably a joke, maybe not. But don't recommend not playing it because of just your one case. Sorry, but I don't believe your words.
And to the OP, Second Life isn't a game, but a virtual world where you design, build, create, and live in. Whatever ya want, it's most likely there. Many call it a glorified chatroom. Quite the opposite. You can build and create things, sell them, own land, own islands, roleplay and fight in combat/roleplaying sims, have sex of all kinds, visit amazing places, learn. It's a giant sandbox of things to do.
It's a great place to meet new friends, chat, and shop around. I played other MMORPGs too, and found this one to be much more relaxing and sociable. There are so many stores to visit, and you can have a lot of fun simply decorating yourself with a free account. No need to get the premium account or even give them your credit card information.
And yeah I also have heard about people getting looted by Linden. They have some kind of shell game going on. People buy LinDollars, use them to buy your junk, then Lindon bans you and takes the money out of circulation I would presume. Hey that sounds a lot like the Federal Reserve working with the IRS now that I think about it!
O.O I just gotta get in my 2 cents . SL is IMHO not a game...its a social mess. You can do a free account but you better believe you cant go many places because the peeps who have money invested in this place own all the land and have barriers up so you cant cross the land lol. So you can fly but you have no place to fly HAHA. Many places wont let you buy or even enter their areas if you have no "payment info" on your profile ( in otherwords..they want to see that you have invested money into the game). When you do a search for places to visit and/or shop, 99.999999999999% of them have an extreme sexual theme. As one person without payment info given to the Linden's you have many restrictions against you from the start. YES you can go to sandboxes and learn to build THAT IS IF you are not hit by scripts that send you acres away in a nano...or blasted with weapons, or worse. It is not IMHO a healthy environment...and if you just enjoy dressing up your character or home like playing with dolls then you still have to invest money....and that my friend is where I DRAW THE LINE BECAUSE there was at least one if not many many people who had their accounts hacked because their info was compromised while in the archives of the Linden's. This is of course alll my own thoughts and opinion's. Unless you feel like throwing money around AND you happen to be creatively gifted then maybe you would like this "game". For me and mine, I think it is a mess.
Try it and see, and give it a bit of time if you do. The game's initial look and feel (the newbie island) can be very cartoonish looking and feeling. It is NOT impressive. Get out of there asap and go exploring a little. Use the "search" feature to find public access areas that sound like they might be interesting, or events that sound intriguing. Go visit a good nightclub or strip club and marvel at how lovely the player avatars can be when good avie designers/skin designers/clothing designers are involved (yes, getting that for yourself will cost you in game money--you're paying talented people for their services, and that does and should cost). Maybe buy a few linden and shop some, if you think you might be sticking around. Visit the Island of Apollo to get an idea of how breathtakingly beautiful the game can be, when a talented player builder gets down to work.
But do NOT come to MMORPG.com and ask this question and expect any sort of fair or objective answer from the people who come to this site. It's the resort of the disaffected and the jaundiced for every game. I think SL is the worst treated of the bunch, since it's so freewheeling and open, and relies on the creativity and ingenuity of its players to make it interesting--the designers don't spoon feed you the game. The idea that someone might create a sandbox game where anything goes, and that anything does go on there, absolutely outrages a lot of people, especially if they disapprove of some of what happens, or lack the imagination or energy to find or make their own fun. Or both.
To dispel a few of the deliberate distortions in this thread, though--Linden labs are not scammers, not in the sense anyway that they're crooks. They may be incompetent and insensitive many times, but they're no worse than any other set of game designers out there (I can think of much worse ones in this regard--SOE, most notably). Nor have I ever heard of anyone being hacked in SL, although I do know at least one person in WoW who has--so LL's security is probably no better or worse than any other online game company's. As for not being able to move freely in the game, many people "live" in SL--they have houses they bought on land that they paid for. They put up privacy boundaries or install security devices to keep people from walking in the front door and disturbing them, just as you or I lock the front door when we're at home in RL. But a lot of people in this game WILL walk into your house without invitation (many will try to sneak into them, and there are lots of ways to do it). Newbies are especially notorious for this kind of discourtesy. So the privacy barriers are understandable and necessary. As for people with "no payment information on file" being discriminated against, this does happen and I don't approve of it personally. But I can understand why it happens sometimes. Since the game is free to play (unless you plan to buy land), it's a griefer's paradise. People can and do create accounts just to get online and make life miserable for people who like SL. Often they won't put payment information down because it makes it easier for them to create a new account and go on griefing if they get kicked out. Rather unfairly, everyone who hesitates to put payment information down comes under suspicion of being a griefer, and so some people in the game just say "screw it" and ban all such accounts from their property. But that still leaves a lot of very public world to explore. The only really valid criticism I've seen here is that the game is laggy. But a lot of that has to do with the large amount of graphical detail your computer is being asked to handle, which gets back to the variety and complexity of player made content. I think it's worth the trade off, although others obviously feel very differently.
I've been playing SL two years now and I still log on almost every day. I can't think of another game I've played that's kept my interest this long. Other people I know and respect lasted a day before logging off never to return. The only way to know the answer to your question is to try it yourself.
IMHO this "game" has created an unhealthy atmosphere for people even though they have chosen to be in this "game". Yes peeps put up barriers because of the land they have but my point is that for crimey sakes then how is anyone to fly anywhere. You cannot fly across barriered(?new word) lands tho I do understand the barriers but it still dosent change the fact that it restricts everyone in the "virtual World". AND yes there were occasions tho I cant name them that some people's account information was compromised because the Linden's secuity was not strong enough. AND there are certainly not that many public access places to keep one interested for very long AND yes you can still get blasted by some idiot and griefed till you want to scream. SL has no constant way of controling the griefers and that makes for some VERY wasted time spent trying to get away from griefers.
There is still the "sexual" aspect of SL that IMHO is more then extreme, and which I feel could further ruin certain types of people that in real life already have problems controling their sexual appetites.
Aside from that UNLESS you really do have a gifted creativity or you are willing to spend a small fortune to buy buy buy, then I see no reason to even bother with this "game". Even if you are gifted, could you not find a better way to use your creativity then a spiced up virtual world? Anything goes in SL, which means you are in for tons of grief unless you have your own land(you WILL PAY THRU THE NOSE LOL) and even then the griefers are known for breaking barriers and still causing problems.
Well enough of this if people choose to waste time on this "game", its their choice....these are my opinons and thoughts..PS I think you are crazy if you bother with it .
But people do try it and do enjoy it; I'm one of them. Why can't you just live and let live? For the life of me, I can't understand this impulse to get on this board and trash something you don't like, without allowing the possibilyt that whether it's good or bad may just be a question of individual taste. Show a little tolerance, for god's sake.
The original question was "is this game fun." Why can't you accept that the fairest, most genuine answer to that question is "maybe. Try it for yourself and see?"
Dear little Chastity... I stated that the words I typed were my opinion and I believe I do have a right to voice them...of course you dont have to read them now do you? As for the content of what I said...well yes people ... BY ALL MEANS DO TRY IT LOL...but I believe if you are of like mind you will leave it in a hurry. It is IMHO not a healthy environment...but if you like to spend money, and you like the extreme sexual content then go for it, though IMHO I think someday you will regret it. My post before and this one are my opinions and thoughts...you do not have to agree...you do not have to read...you do not have to even reply...lol. Have a great day!
It's not a game although you can create games or use it as a platform for your own mmorpg games.
Is it fun?
It really depends on you and on what interests you but if you are expecting something like your everyday MMORPG then SL is not for you. Do look into it more. Second Life is not all about cartoon sex you know. LOL!
I didn't like the complexity and the graphics when I joined 2nd life, but I didn't stay long. It didn't seem very newbie friendly, so I never stayed. Though I have heard a lot about this game. .. But, I still wont try it for real. I think it is just too complicated and you need to be very creative. .. I prefer a game with some PvP and fantasy and more conservative gameplay.
lets stay away from the internet because of the people who decided to take up residence on it. you have social extremes everywhere on it(sex, to religion), and you have griefing on it.
to be perfectly honest the number of times that I have been griefed in a sandbox is just a little over a handful. as for avoiding social extremes that both of us don't want to put up with use the search function. there are actually quite a few good roleplay sims(stay away from gorean, those are some messed up people). and if you mange to get into a creators niche it's actually a tiny bit short of amazing(if people can make stuff they're going to, this is what humans do and our real purpose), so many people working on so many interesting projects.
I find it amazing that by 2020 first world countries will be competing to get immigrants.
Dear little Chastity... I stated that the words I typed were my opinion and I believe I do have a right to voice them...of course you dont have to read them now do you? As for the content of what I said...well yes people ... BY ALL MEANS DO TRY IT LOL...but I believe if you are of like mind you will leave it in a hurry. It is IMHO not a healthy environment...but if you like to spend money, and you like the extreme sexual content then go for it, though IMHO I think someday you will regret it. My post before and this one are my opinions and thoughts...you do not have to agree...you do not have to read...you do not have to even reply...lol. Have a great day!
People are funny when their egos show, they just spew nonsense. There's a classic example in that box called CherokeeRain.
Condescending context, irrational and unorganized thoughts, lots of ellipses (...), and even a concluding "goodbye" statement with a professional tone that doesn't fit the author's style.
These are the kinds of people you don't want in your lives. If you know where "CherokeeRains" reside, avoid them like the plague. If you happen to be a CherokeeRain, please keep your childish remarks to yourself and stay away from respectable, intelligent people who can express their thoughts better than you.
Yes, I only went to this alternate reality's board to say this. I don't even play Second Life.
I second the notion that is it not a game.. though it does contain games. Calling it a game is like calling the internet a game... it is not, it is a medium over which games can be designed/played, among other things.
It shouldn't really even be on mmorpg, although this site seems to not only be related to mmorpg's anymore (with things like sl and hellgate on it, for instance)
Comments
Many, many people have great fun in this game!
It scared the shit out of me though.
Well, for one, it's not a game. It's more of a social networking platform with economical and creative/development features at your disposal.
Anything from running a business (like a major business cause small stuff just won't cut it), creatively expressing yourself via the building and development tools, socially networking (duh), holding online meetings, becoming land barons, being one of many annoying pest in a virtual world and continously being banned for it, crashing sims (servers) , playing as a girl even though you're a man in real life so that you can hit up on virtual lesbians, becoming a man whore, etc. Ok, so I am going on the deep end there but, yea, it happens in SL.
So, to answer your question about it being fun. It's fun however you make it fun. Don't expect to be handed the fun when you first get in. You have to experience it for yourself and find something you like to do. The majority of people just like socializing.
There was a documentry I watched a couple of months back about how MMORPG's have taken the world by storm, and they spent 15 minutes focusing on this then repeated the show in game later that night. From what I have seen and read about Second Life laws and hangings should be put in place to stop it in its tracks and prevent it from ever happening again!
I'd say no. The Lindens (the company who runs the game) are scammers. I played awhile ago with my friend and got banned no apparent reason and they stole a few hundred dollars off my credit card which i had to cancel because they kept taking money. Then a few months later they banned my friend and he asked why and they said he was plotting against the game which was way messed. I would not recommend this game for anyone. If maybe a different company ran the game I'd still be playing because it was fun while it lasted.
Doubtful they are scammers. As the FBI has a close eye on them, to make sure they are not messing with money inappropriately.
Your case is probably a joke, maybe not. But don't recommend not playing it because of just your one case. Sorry, but I don't believe your words.
And to the OP, Second Life isn't a game, but a virtual world where you design, build, create, and live in. Whatever ya want, it's most likely there. Many call it a glorified chatroom. Quite the opposite. You can build and create things, sell them, own land, own islands, roleplay and fight in combat/roleplaying sims, have sex of all kinds, visit amazing places, learn. It's a giant sandbox of things to do.
I love it.
It's a great place to meet new friends, chat, and shop around. I played other MMORPGs too, and found this one to be much more relaxing and sociable. There are so many stores to visit, and you can have a lot of fun simply decorating yourself with a free account. No need to get the premium account or even give them your credit card information.
It's not a video game, it's a 3D chatroom.
-------------------------
No its not fun. Its not even a game really.
And yeah I also have heard about people getting looted by Linden. They have some kind of shell game going on. People buy LinDollars, use them to buy your junk, then Lindon bans you and takes the money out of circulation I would presume. Hey that sounds a lot like the Federal Reserve working with the IRS now that I think about it!
O.O I just gotta get in my 2 cents . SL is IMHO not a game...its a social mess. You can do a free account but you better believe you cant go many places because the peeps who have money invested in this place own all the land and have barriers up so you cant cross the land lol. So you can fly but you have no place to fly HAHA. Many places wont let you buy or even enter their areas if you have no "payment info" on your profile ( in otherwords..they want to see that you have invested money into the game). When you do a search for places to visit and/or shop, 99.999999999999% of them have an extreme sexual theme. As one person without payment info given to the Linden's you have many restrictions against you from the start. YES you can go to sandboxes and learn to build THAT IS IF you are not hit by scripts that send you acres away in a nano...or blasted with weapons, or worse. It is not IMHO a healthy environment...and if you just enjoy dressing up your character or home like playing with dolls then you still have to invest money....and that my friend is where I DRAW THE LINE BECAUSE there was at least one if not many many people who had their accounts hacked because their info was compromised while in the archives of the Linden's. This is of course alll my own thoughts and opinion's. Unless you feel like throwing money around AND you happen to be creatively gifted then maybe you would like this "game". For me and mine, I think it is a mess.
Try it and see, and give it a bit of time if you do. The game's initial look and feel (the newbie island) can be very cartoonish looking and feeling. It is NOT impressive. Get out of there asap and go exploring a little. Use the "search" feature to find public access areas that sound like they might be interesting, or events that sound intriguing. Go visit a good nightclub or strip club and marvel at how lovely the player avatars can be when good avie designers/skin designers/clothing designers are involved (yes, getting that for yourself will cost you in game money--you're paying talented people for their services, and that does and should cost). Maybe buy a few linden and shop some, if you think you might be sticking around. Visit the Island of Apollo to get an idea of how breathtakingly beautiful the game can be, when a talented player builder gets down to work.
But do NOT come to MMORPG.com and ask this question and expect any sort of fair or objective answer from the people who come to this site. It's the resort of the disaffected and the jaundiced for every game. I think SL is the worst treated of the bunch, since it's so freewheeling and open, and relies on the creativity and ingenuity of its players to make it interesting--the designers don't spoon feed you the game. The idea that someone might create a sandbox game where anything goes, and that anything does go on there, absolutely outrages a lot of people, especially if they disapprove of some of what happens, or lack the imagination or energy to find or make their own fun. Or both.
To dispel a few of the deliberate distortions in this thread, though--Linden labs are not scammers, not in the sense anyway that they're crooks. They may be incompetent and insensitive many times, but they're no worse than any other set of game designers out there (I can think of much worse ones in this regard--SOE, most notably). Nor have I ever heard of anyone being hacked in SL, although I do know at least one person in WoW who has--so LL's security is probably no better or worse than any other online game company's. As for not being able to move freely in the game, many people "live" in SL--they have houses they bought on land that they paid for. They put up privacy boundaries or install security devices to keep people from walking in the front door and disturbing them, just as you or I lock the front door when we're at home in RL. But a lot of people in this game WILL walk into your house without invitation (many will try to sneak into them, and there are lots of ways to do it). Newbies are especially notorious for this kind of discourtesy. So the privacy barriers are understandable and necessary. As for people with "no payment information on file" being discriminated against, this does happen and I don't approve of it personally. But I can understand why it happens sometimes. Since the game is free to play (unless you plan to buy land), it's a griefer's paradise. People can and do create accounts just to get online and make life miserable for people who like SL. Often they won't put payment information down because it makes it easier for them to create a new account and go on griefing if they get kicked out. Rather unfairly, everyone who hesitates to put payment information down comes under suspicion of being a griefer, and so some people in the game just say "screw it" and ban all such accounts from their property. But that still leaves a lot of very public world to explore. The only really valid criticism I've seen here is that the game is laggy. But a lot of that has to do with the large amount of graphical detail your computer is being asked to handle, which gets back to the variety and complexity of player made content. I think it's worth the trade off, although others obviously feel very differently.
I've been playing SL two years now and I still log on almost every day. I can't think of another game I've played that's kept my interest this long. Other people I know and respect lasted a day before logging off never to return. The only way to know the answer to your question is to try it yourself.
--Chastity
IMHO this "game" has created an unhealthy atmosphere for people even though they have chosen to be in this "game". Yes peeps put up barriers because of the land they have but my point is that for crimey sakes then how is anyone to fly anywhere. You cannot fly across barriered(?new word) lands tho I do understand the barriers but it still dosent change the fact that it restricts everyone in the "virtual World". AND yes there were occasions tho I cant name them that some people's account information was compromised because the Linden's secuity was not strong enough. AND there are certainly not that many public access places to keep one interested for very long AND yes you can still get blasted by some idiot and griefed till you want to scream. SL has no constant way of controling the griefers and that makes for some VERY wasted time spent trying to get away from griefers.
There is still the "sexual" aspect of SL that IMHO is more then extreme, and which I feel could further ruin certain types of people that in real life already have problems controling their sexual appetites.
Aside from that UNLESS you really do have a gifted creativity or you are willing to spend a small fortune to buy buy buy, then I see no reason to even bother with this "game". Even if you are gifted, could you not find a better way to use your creativity then a spiced up virtual world? Anything goes in SL, which means you are in for tons of grief unless you have your own land(you WILL PAY THRU THE NOSE LOL) and even then the griefers are known for breaking barriers and still causing problems.
Well enough of this if people choose to waste time on this "game", its their choice....these are my opinons and thoughts..PS I think you are crazy if you bother with it .
But people do try it and do enjoy it; I'm one of them. Why can't you just live and let live? For the life of me, I can't understand this impulse to get on this board and trash something you don't like, without allowing the possibilyt that whether it's good or bad may just be a question of individual taste. Show a little tolerance, for god's sake.
The original question was "is this game fun." Why can't you accept that the fairest, most genuine answer to that question is "maybe. Try it for yourself and see?"
--Chastity
Dear little Chastity... I stated that the words I typed were my opinion and I believe I do have a right to voice them...of course you dont have to read them now do you? As for the content of what I said...well yes people ... BY ALL MEANS DO TRY IT LOL...but I believe if you are of like mind you will leave it in a hurry. It is IMHO not a healthy environment...but if you like to spend money, and you like the extreme sexual content then go for it, though IMHO I think someday you will regret it. My post before and this one are my opinions and thoughts...you do not have to agree...you do not have to read...you do not have to even reply...lol. Have a great day!
It's not a game although you can create games or use it as a platform for your own mmorpg games.
Is it fun?
It really depends on you and on what interests you but if you are expecting something like your everyday MMORPG then SL is not for you. Do look into it more. Second Life is not all about cartoon sex you know. LOL!
Second Life Jobs | Earn Linden Dollars | Second Life Camping | Exploration
I didn't like the complexity and the graphics when I joined 2nd life, but I didn't stay long. It didn't seem very newbie friendly, so I never stayed. Though I have heard a lot about this game. .. But, I still wont try it for real. I think it is just too complicated and you need to be very creative. .. I prefer a game with some PvP and fantasy and more conservative gameplay.
lets stay away from the internet because of the people who decided to take up residence on it. you have social extremes everywhere on it(sex, to religion), and you have griefing on it.
to be perfectly honest the number of times that I have been griefed in a sandbox is just a little over a handful. as for avoiding social extremes that both of us don't want to put up with use the search function. there are actually quite a few good roleplay sims(stay away from gorean, those are some messed up people). and if you mange to get into a creators niche it's actually a tiny bit short of amazing(if people can make stuff they're going to, this is what humans do and our real purpose), so many people working on so many interesting projects.
I find it amazing that by 2020 first world countries will be competing to get immigrants.
People are funny when their egos show, they just spew nonsense. There's a classic example in that box called CherokeeRain.
Condescending context, irrational and unorganized thoughts, lots of ellipses (...), and even a concluding "goodbye" statement with a professional tone that doesn't fit the author's style.
These are the kinds of people you don't want in your lives. If you know where "CherokeeRains" reside, avoid them like the plague. If you happen to be a CherokeeRain, please keep your childish remarks to yourself and stay away from respectable, intelligent people who can express their thoughts better than you.
Yes, I only went to this alternate reality's board to say this. I don't even play Second Life.
Cheers!
EDIT :: changed "game" to alternate reality.
I second the notion that is it not a game.. though it does contain games. Calling it a game is like calling the internet a game... it is not, it is a medium over which games can be designed/played, among other things.
It shouldn't really even be on mmorpg, although this site seems to not only be related to mmorpg's anymore (with things like sl and hellgate on it, for instance)