Very high concept, but ultimately I think it takes far too much effort to get to the point of customizability that it touts. That said, it's immensely interesting from a concept standpoint, and also from the legal disputes that've come out of it.

I think as Paul said, it doesn't give an amazing first impression - and you really need to learn about all that you can do and force yourself to look around the world to really appreciate how amazing it all is. The learning curve (as stated in the only review) is far from instant, and really takes some monkeying around to know whats going on.

Now that the forums are, finally, back online, I've started a thread on the secondlife forum to continue the discussion of whether or not SL is a game, or exactly what it is:http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/group/secondlife/

As to why so many people give this game such a low rating is its first impression. When I first entered SL, I was thoroughly unimpressed. I actually gave up on the game for some time, until a friend convinced me to go back. He showed me where all the good noob places are, and showed me how to get around in the game. After that I've been having fun. I think that SL just doesn't make a very good first impression.

Yeah...I will start sometime soon....as of right now though learning C# is taking up a lot of my time (I am wanting to make my own RPG eventually...)

I've started with cloths and stuff myself. Sun Microsystem gives away free shirts and jackets at their sim, and I thought that was a good idea, so I'll be doing the same thing :)

Right on sounds good....I can't wait until I start up....my girlfriend has actually already beat me too it...she has started making her own clothes and stuff lol...

I will be, everything is in planning right now. But rest assured that sometime this summer I will be starting on a sim in SL geared toward gamers and developers :)

Yeah that is what I meant, I actually read a review where I was pretty much getting at the same thing....there is just so much that you can do on SL that labeling it as a game just seams to be too narrow a definition. I hope one day to actually be able to purchase land in SL too and begin building....(I am a poor college student right now though lol...)but someday ...for right now I'll just enjoy people like you adding to the fun :) ....oh I just assumed that you build stuff in SL...am I right?

Like I said, it's "technically" a sim. I know it goes beyond what would traditionally be labeled a game. Some people, myself included, consider it to be the ultimate "web 2.0." There are many people in there running successful businesses. And there are real world businesses using it the same way you would a website, including Microsoft, Sony, Sun Microsystems, Dell, and IBM. So, even if it is technically a game, it's grown way beyond that label.

Ah, you got me on that one lol....I just think it is difficult to rate it as a game though because there are so many things that can be done within second life (I have seen some damn good games made within second life) and then ultimately there is some crap...(even though I rated it..lol...but I guess it is all about preference)..

I think it does qualify as a game. It's technically a sim.

Lol maybe it's part of linden labs' strategy to take over the world....what gets me though is why people have given it such a low rating here?....I think this is an awesome digital world...but I guess maybe people rated it so low because technically it really isn't a game.

Wierd....this game has been posted twice:
http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/game/second-life

The thing is Second Life is not a game. It is a digital world. Yes, there are games in it but that is not the point of SL. The point is social interaction. I don't know what was so terrible about SL (read posts below) I had no problem getting right into the SL and enjoying it. The controls were easy and intuitive and I could always fly somewhere new if I the area I was in sucked. Second Life is all about exploration and meeting new people.

The concept is great, the execution is terrible. This "game" is so rough around the edges I felt like I was using a hacked developer tool rather than an end-user product.

This game was so unenjoyable I don't even want to spend the time writing a review for it. But it does deserve at least a 2 for being visionary.