It's been a while since my last (first) post about Combat Cards, the SL game of strategy and mayhem. In the intervening months, there have been a lot of changes. There are more cards to be played, more locations in which to play them, and more combatants as well. In fact, Combat Cards just finished a tournament that saw the top 4 scorers battle it out to the delight of all. If ever you were intrigued by this idea, now's the time to check it out!

I recently posed to be on one of the cards, and was told that Osprey Therian and Doc Boffin are looking for horror-themed models, so if you think you have an avatar that will fit right in with these, do contact them in-world. Here's a link to their website, and here's their blog, and here is their in-world location. Forget Tringo; this is a great example of an engaging, complex, absorbing game produced entirely within SL! Check out the tutorial here, then go fight the good fight!

The UK's 2005 Gambling Act comes into full force this September, with direct impact on many MMOs and Virtual Worlds who serve citizens of the UK.

"In September the remaining provisions of the Gambling Act 2005 will finally come into force. Its main purpose is to update the law on gambling, which in some cases is over 50 years old and is therefore inadequate for the modern world," Campbell Hooper's Alex Chapman told GamesIndustry.biz.

"This is because the new law creates a new single definition for 'Gambling', which includes playing a game of chance for a prize, and makes it a criminal offence to provide facilities for gambling without having and complying with an operators licence," explained Chapman. (our emphasis)

Lots of people will tell you that Second Life is a game. Lots of people hold many silly things to be true. Just because a lot of people who don't think things through say something doesn't make it right -- but that doesn't make it wrong, either.

The main problem comes from a basic confusion about what is a game, what isn't a game, what contains a game, and what can be treated like a game.

Kermitt Quirk continues to make bucks on his game Tringo by signing a deal with Two Way TV Australia Limited to publish his game as a PC title. This is great news for him, but non-news for any other game-makers in-world, as his so far is the only game to have been turned into a RL property.

I've always thought SL makes a fairly good platform for at least a proof-of-concept prototype game. It's a great way to bring potential investors to your game. You can develop your game in SL, bring folks in to look at and play it, make changes in real time, etc. Is more of this going on that I just don't know about? If you're a game maker/designer and you're working on something you'd like the world to know about, drop us a line!

If you missed the Second Life Home Run Derby that MLB.com did in conjunction with the Electric Sheep Company there is another chance to enjoy the thrill of going to ball game while sitting in a strangely uncomfortable office chair (that might just be me) than here is your chance. MLB.com and ESC are doing two more games later this month. Both games will reenact two real world games featuring The Boston Red Sox vs. The New York Yankees on Friday September 15th and again on Saturday September 16th.

The games will take place in a virtual Yankee Stadium and will have what I am assuming are the same tiny bobble headed players featured in the derby running, batting, pitching, and catching. Unfortunately the event will be limited to only 45 seats per game, and the tickets are not yet available. If you want to be one of the first to hear when the tickets go on sale, for the low price of L$500, join the group "Counting Sheep" in world. Thanks Hank Hoodoo / Jonah Gold.

I can't believe I missed this one. The Shelter is not only my home away from home, but host to many fun and varied games. I've already posted about Second Fortune and Trivial Obsession, but somehow missed Payment Podium!

Based loosely on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire", this game features some of the most mind-wrenching trivia questions I've ever seen. I live in perpetual fear that the dreaded Question #4 will get me (That's the point at which the questions get really fiendishly difficult). Of course, what makes the game are the shouted comments from the audience, ranging from helpfully correct answers to hilarious references and non-sequiturs.

Payment Podium takes place at 6 PM Sundays (with your host, Dolmere Talamasca -- hi, cousing Dol!), Tuesdays (hosted by the Brian-est of doggies, Travis Lambert), and Thursdays (hosted by none other than the Incomparable Sumar Morgan). Go check it out, but remember to wear your protective numeral-diffusing armor; #4 is always there, and it never sleeps.

It's easy for the media to label SL as a game, as anything having to do with virtual spaces seems to fall under that category. Residents know better, however. One of the main requirements for something to be a game is a well-defined goal, something for the player to win. SL doesn't really have a goal, much less a point. It's this that confuses so many newbies when they first drop in: the ubiquitous "Now what do I do?"

However, once they've gotten their feet wet in navigating the world, unpacking and using objects, etc., the new user will commonly make it their next task to generate some Lindens. They see the clothes, skins, and shapes that other avatars use, and they want to have those things too, but how? The weekly stipend pays very little. So they become driven to garner some money for themselves.

Wait... isn't that a goal? Pursuing this line of reasoning further, we can see a series of goals presenting themselves, somewhat abstractly based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. First and foremost, the physiological needs: food, shelter, clothing, etc. This definitely applies, as the newbie tries to find that perfect shape or outfit that defines them as a person. Next, the safety needs: am I going to be okay in this new world? Will I be killed, as in World of Warcraft? Can I find others who will help me? Then the need to belong and be loved: Can I find others like me? Can I find someone to care for, and who will care for me in return?

It's outside the purpose of this post to travel the entire pyramid; suffice it to say that perhaps SL is more like a game than people initially realize. Perhaps all we need is to broaden our definition of 'game'.