Second Life is a persistant virtual 3D digital world. That's the most accurate generic description I can give. To be more specific, there is basically three different "games" here depending on what about Second Life you are most likely to enjoy.
Tha majority of people that play Second Life spend the majority of their time playing the "social game". In other words, for them it's a big graphical chat room with a huge variety of amusing distractions. The less intelligent of these people tend to spend a lot of their time hanging out in clubs dancing and saying stupid things to each other. On the flip side of that the more interesting one's tend to become DJs or put on live music events or put on plays, or whatever creative methods they can come up with to provide and interesting an entertaining social environment within the "game". And of course there's a large Furry population and lots of people that can't seem to stop with the cybersex, not to mention the whole Gor thing (*shudder*).
Another group (myself included) really get into the creative aspects of the game. The entire game world is based on five things: avatars, prims, scripts, particles, and physics. Avatars are people. Prims are the building blocks which all objects in teh world are made of, and the system is flexible enough to create ANYTHING (really, it's more open-ended than you can probably begin to imagine). Scripts are written in a special language called LSL that allows you to script objects to do almost anything (there are some limitations, but they are very few). Particles are a way to make pretty light shows, but the particle system is almost as flexible as the scripts and prims. And the physics engine puts it all together in interesting ways. As a single example off the top of my head, someone has built a NASCAR racetrack with cars that work and they have a regular "season" of racing that's interesting to watch. Another group made an interesting Myst knock-off. Yet another group has made an interesting Lemmings knock-off. Casino games are very popular. I've built some fun stuff myself (I successfully put a dance club into friggin' ORBIT ... but the world physics goes very funky when you start putting prims and avatars that far above the limit beyond which they are not supposed to even be able to exist. I love breaking the game in fun and creative ways)
Finally, the meta-game of Second Life is the economics. Unlike most MMOGs, SL actively encourages the trading of US$ for L$. There's a site called Gaming Open Market that is the main player in that these days, and it's got like a little stock-market setup for buying and selling in-game currency. Well, if you play the "real estate" game or make enough cool stuff for people to buy or have a very popular social club, it's actually possible to make enough L$ to make a decent living selling it off for US$. I'm just starting to edge into this area, mainly because up until now I keep spending my $L. But if I'd been selling it it would have come to about $82 a week, and it's been steadily increasing, so I may get into this meta-game a git more soon. I know one woman that for awhile made an average of $10K US a month doing this (she "owns" over 40% of the "real estate" in Second Life ... although land prices have dropped a LOT recently with a flood of new sims opening up, so I'm betting her income is going to be taking a bit of a hit for awhile).
If you are a Socializer or a Builder type, then this is the ultimate game. Period. And it's got a seven day free trial, so it's worth checking out.
If you are an Achiever type, then there's not as much for you here unless you learn to like to Achieve through the Socializing and/or Building. If you are a Killer type, then there's almost nothing for you here (although there are some nicely scripted battle-zones, and a couple of mecha clubs, it's definately the exception rather than the rule). You're welcome to check it out, though, of course.
Edited By TPRJones on 1127194930
"ATTENTION: Customers browsing porn must hold magazines with both hands at all times!"
I'm still not sure what the point is, but if it's a free download, I'll check it out just to see it.
"Happy slaves are the worst enemies of freedom." - Marie Von Ebner
"It was always the women, and above all the young ones, who were the most bigoted adherents of the Party, the swallowers of slogans, the amateur spies..." - Orwell
My new brother-in-law is a geek, but his friends are euber geeks.
He was telling me that some of them make money playing Star Wars Galaxies. (At least, I think that was it).
Since they are unable to interact with women, they have a lot of free time (and money), so they spend it building up their group.
When they have a ton of excess (everyone buffed up, with backup weapons and armor for everybody) they sell stuff on eBay.
$600 for that shit? I'm even more ashamed I'm in IT.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Making in-game money was crazy-easy in SWG, considering there was almost zero risk in resource farming. I made millions in the 60 days (or so) that I played.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
I remember buying a UO account for $600 that had a bunch of houses. Sold all the little ones for about $650 and kept the bigger (tower and house with patio). Could have sold those for an additional $1000 at the time. We off loaded our Trammel housing when we wanted to go on vaction for around $800 total. At it's peak, UO was a decent source of income. But, houses were the key. You had to own property. Looks like it's the same thing in this game. In any online game, the first thing you should do, before building characters, is finding out how to accumulate as much land as you can. That's where the easy money will be.
I love breaking the game in fun and creative ways)