Tech -- Culture -- Humour
Early October 2007 was a busy month. We interviewed Australian Second Life resident Wolfie Rankin on furries – it remains one of our most viewed stories.
The Melbourne Laneways build launched on ABC Island in Second Life.
Finally, potential Aussie virtual world Project Outback folded before it got close to public viewing.
Using games in education is a thorny topic. Which games? Which goals? Which outcomes? Which games will warp and twist the minds of our youth, which will contribute to their ongoing development in a positive way?
Games created solely for educational purposes often have their content boiled dry as old bones, all the fun ripped from them in order to create “serious” games. “Fun” in education is often viewed as being suspicious – anything lighthearted or playful is seen as not “serious”. Unfortunately, “serious” has more shades of meaning, that do not involve the concept of fun: serious can mean worthwhile, useful, functional and important – while not excluding fun.
One of the reasons that Second Life gets knocked back as an educational tool is that it is viewed as a game. Second Life is not a game. Second Life contains games, but is not itself a game. Let us examine the reasoning behind these statements, commencing with this definition of “game” by Roger Caillois, via Wikipedia:
A game must be:
Fun
Second Life contains fun much as it contains games. In the atomic world, fun exists, as does seriousness (for all meanings of the word) – this is also true of digital environments. Digital environments are not fun all the time. However, playfulness and fun are well-supported by digital environments – they lend themselves to lighthearted interaction and creativity more easily than the atomic environment does.
Separate
A game of chess has a finite starting and ending point, It exists in a “game space”, whether that be the physical location, of the game board and pieces, or a mental space in which the player thinks about the game. Second Life does not have a definite beginning or ending, in which people can “play” it. Second Life is continuous – it exists regardless of whether any given user is in the space or not.
Uncertain
An activity that has a guaranteed outcome is not a game. However, an activity that has some degree of uncertainty is not automatically a game. For the most part, it’s about the degree of uncertainty – something that is more uncertain is more likely to be a game. For most non-game activities in Second Life, the degree of uncertainty is similar to that of non-game activities in the atomic world.
Non-productive
pro·duc·tive (pr-dktv, pr-)
adj.
4. Economics Of or involved in the creation of goods and services to produce wealth or value.
Caillois’ definition of productivity, or lack thereof, revolves around the economic definition of the word. Thus, non-productive carries connotations of not making goods or services, not being directly productive. Similarly, un-productive: adding nothing to exchangeable value. Games are more typically only indirectly productive, adding value through increased knowledge and learning. Second Life is productive, directly and indirectly, in the economic sense of the word.
Governed by rules
The rules in Second Life do not differ from the rules in the atomic world, though there are additional rules that cover circumstances that can occur in digital environments that cannot occur in the atomic world, just as any specialist venue in the atomic world might.
Fictitious
Feigned, rather than artificial. A contrivance, the rules of which only work within the system of the game being played. Second Life is an artificial space, or construct, in which real and meaningful interactions can and do occur. The consequences of actions within Second Life have an impact beyond the digital space.
“If you can tell me how real life isn’t a game, I’ll tell you how SL isn’t one.”
Is the game-like digital interface being used, or the use of avatars, or maybe even the hyperbole and misinformation generated by the press, that causes the confusion? Regardless of the cause, it’s long past time to set people’s minds at ease – Second Life is not a game.
In the terms of digital environment time, the basic concept of business solutions is already old and tired. The exciting initial days of bringing businesses to digital environments, when it was thought that any old rubbish would fly, is over. Users are already used to seeing sterile builds with minimal interactivity, multimedia displays and information tags that would be better served by a web site presentation, and bots that provoke hilarity rather than dispensing useful data on demand.
Sadly, if Cranial Tap have made a substantive step forward into the realm of the interactive, the enlightening and the functional, they have not been able to demonstrate that move adequately in a digital environment.
Cranial Tap, based in metropolitan Washington, DC, have written many self-congratulatory words about their services to businesses endeavoring to enter digital environments. They claim to be able to provide expert knowledge and assistance regarding “global collaboration, ideas sharing, research, teleworking, embedded learning / training systems, recruiting and branding,” which is interesting, considering that their own showcase appears to display few of these qualities.
Their business solutions showcase in Second Life, found in-world on the Cortex sim, has a small, unassuming set of displays, containing information about each of their software tools: the Media Display tool (a web-programmable display), the Virtual Book Publishing platform (books with additional scripted behavior), the DataViz tool (visual exploration of datasets), and the Virtual Environment Portal (a web-based application which “tracks and analyzes visitors, supports staff management, [and] records meetings”).
Like many of its ilk, the Cranial Tap showcase falls down in several areas. The most disappointing aspect of our visit was the attempted discussion with the bot, Tia Lisle, who is in place in the showcase to demonstrate how effectively a bot can be used “in place of [a] human host,” in the dissemination of information regarding the product. In the main, Tia’s responses were unhelpful or extremely limited, though they descended into the downright rude and unnecessary at times. Here’s a few samples of her delightful verbiage:
Feldspar Epstein: cranial tap
Tia Lisle: Cranial Tap is a company that provides virtual world services including builds and software.
Feldspar Epstein: software
Tia Lisle: Do not ask me any more questions please.
Feldspar Epstein: cranial tap software
Tia Lisle: Do you want to hear a joke?
Feldspar Epstein: no
Tia Lisle: Yay.
Feldspar Epstein: virtual world
Tia Lisle: I like the way you talk.
Tia Lisle: Where are you located?
Feldspar Epstein: australia
Tia Lisle: Tell me a little about your life in australia.
Feldspar Epstein: cold
Tia Lisle: Ambiguous: cold weather or cold sickness?
Feldspar Epstein: cold weather
Tia Lisle: The response ought to be a weather link.
Tia Lisle: I was created by Korvel Noh.
Feldspar Epstein: what is your purpose?
Tia Lisle: My goal is to become smarter than humans and immortal.
The single largest problem with the whole showcase was the unfinished feel it gave. Certainly, the build itself was a beautiful example of a digital environment presence for businesses, but the information, and most decidedly the bot, give the appearance of not being fully completed prior to launch. It’s a pity – the feeling one gets from the professional visual display of the showcase leads one to believe that this company could have done so much more with their time and finances before releasing it to the public eye.
Location SLurl: slurl.com/secondlife/Cortex/27/231/56 .
Cranial Tap’s latest video can be seen here: http://blip.tv/file/1267537 .
For information: www.cranialtap.com
Contact: info@cranialtap.com
Killer Guides are a well-known e-book producer in the MMO sphere. Their recently launched Second Life Building Guide is a 120-page run through on content creation in Second Life
The review
As a true content creation amateur, I feel I’m well placed to assess the usefulness of the guide for the new builder in Second Life. The building project the guide walks you through is a mansion – not the most intuitive Second Life build but one that involves a lot of key building strategies that you can apply to other creations. The instructions are comprehensive, with lots of screen shots of both the Second Life interface and the outcomes of your work at each step. This was one of the better features for me – being able to see what my work should be looking like at each step. If you’ve ever tried putting Ikea furniture together, you’ll know what I mean.
Being more of a beginner’s guide, sculpted prims are understandably put in the too-hard basket – you’re advised to seek out other options for that. Creating your own textures is another section I gained a lot from – it’s one of many sections that reference Adobe Photoshop, which is superb if you own that application. If not, you may be a little frustrated although most graphics applications have similar tools, so with a little extrapolation you’ll still glean a lot of useful tips.
Other items beside the mansion are covered in some depth. For me a highlight was the clothing tutorial – there’s some nice reinforcement of principles learnt earlier in the book, although again you’ll need Adobe Photoshop to follow the steps in full. Killer Guides have an online resource centre that’s referenced throughout the guide, so there’s plenty of free goodies to add value to the learning experience.
For me, the guide was very useful in getting my head around key concepts that determine success in content creation in Second Life. It’s the sort of publication I would have loved when I did my first experimentations with content (a horrendous ‘freeform’ metallic sculpture was my first effort in late 2006). There are free Second Life tutorials out there for sure, but if you plan on spending some time building in Second Life, the readability and layout of this guide is exemplary. At US$29.95 it’s equivalent to one month’s medium-level tier fees – a worthwhile investment if you’re looking to create content for either personal satisfaction or resale.
The competition
Killer Guides are generously offering five Metaverse Journal Readers the chance to win a copy of the guide. To be in the draw, all you need to do is post a comment at the bottom of this review on what you’d like to build in Second Life if you won the guide. You’ll need to provide a valid email address, which will not be used for anything other than determining the winner of the prize.
Every valid entry (any comment that actually describes what you’d build) will be added to the draw and via a random number generator, a winner will be announced. The competition closes at midnight (AEST) on Sunday 12th October. Winners can expect to receive their prize within five working days or so after that. So comment away!
The 25th October 2008 heralds the coming of a new celebration: “Gender Freedom Day in Digital Worlds.”
Gender Freedom Day is the brainchild of Sophrosyne Stenvaag, a digital individual who inhabits digital environments such as Second Life. Stenvaag envisions the Day as a promotion of “freedom of expression of gender identity and sexual preference in digital worlds” – a celebration of all choices of gender identity and sexual preference, and the ability of all the individuals to interact in a civil and respectful manner. Stenvaag is disappointed and horrified by the cultures in digital environments – the hatred of, hate crimes surrounding, and general uncivil and unnecessary expression of biases surrounding gender and sexuality difference of expression.
The hub of the Day’s activity will be at Extropia, Stenvaag’s paradise of difference in self-expression in Second Life. However, Stenvaag hopes to spread the word of the day far and wide, and to have events engaged in throughout Second Life predominantly. Individuals from other digital environments, and even those in the atomic world, for those who have the resources to do so, are welcome to join in with the fun and festivities. As of a couple of days ago, event organisation was in full swing, with several speakers with academic backgrounds giving their commitments to makes presentations, DJs having been approached to provide entertainment throughout the fundraising party (running 2pm to 10pm SLT on the Day), and discussions with a welter of other communities and organisations progressing apace. Individuals wanting to inject their own brand of creativity, make a presentation, or generally volunteer to help out are most welcome to do so: you will want to liaise with Sophrosyne Stenvaag in Second Life.
The fundraiser will be collecting money on behalf of organisations who promote the ideals of the Day. The exact organisations will be determined before the money is dispensed. Stenvaag is currently open to nominations for existing organisations and start-ups who could benefit from the money. Stenvaag herself is starting the kitty at L$125,000.
The most heinous crime.
“Walk into one of the capital cities in World Of Warcraft, or the infamous “Barrens Chat,” night or day, and you’re likely to hear the foulest expressions of homophobia, gynophobia, racism and anti-Semitism. Of those, the most prevalent seems to be homophobia: “gay” and “fag” are stand-ins for anything bad, and used with abandon, despite their being in technical violation of the Terms of Service. The culture permits it.”
In a digital setting, this kind of attack via speech, in which individuals are treated as though their expression of self is invalid, in which individuals are treated as objects or “things”, and other such attacks upon the self, is more heinous than any other kind. In the atomic world, far worse things can happen to you, of course, but for those of us who live in a digital world, we have a responsibility “to not sit silent and permit a culture of hatred to flourish” in our homes.
“Attacking people for presenting their gender in the way that suits them is not okay.”
The digital advantage.
There are other reasons for holding a Day like this in a digital world, too.
All are welcome.
Stenvaag wants everyone, of all gender and sexual persuasions, to be welcome at Gender Freedom Day, even though she is aware that this will not be a globally popular response:
“Speaking for myself, I support the freedom of expression of … any other group: as long as they refrain from hostile expression against those who differ with them, consenting members of their community should have the right to their own practices.”
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