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Major League Baseball In Second Life
Jerry23 writes "There's apparently an upcoming Home Run Derby in the world of Second Life, sponsored by Major League Baseball and created by The Electric Sheep Company. In proto-interactive TV style, fans can tune their laptops to the multi-player recreation and chat with other Second Lifers while they watch the real deal on the tube. And of course they can also pop over to the virtual souvenir shop and drop some hard-earned loot on a pixelated jersey." From the article: "[T]he virtual derby will not be a separate contest, but will be 'a real-time Second Life re-enactment' of the real thing, featuring avatars for each of the eight Derby players -- Major Leaguers competing to see who can hit the most home runs over the course of two rounds."
In other news, Electric Sheep Company writes in to slashdot to tell everyone about themselves.
-mrxak
Onions Will Kill You
and sometimes I wonder if I have too much time on my hands. Really though, I find this an interesting crossover of media forms -- like little kids holding their own home run derby in the backyard... except replace "little kids" with "30 year olds living in their parents' basement" and replace "the backyard" with "the internet which requires no physical effort". I guess I just don't understand it -- I know I'm a nerd, and I have a large disliking for professional sports ("Oh yay mr. baseball, you hit a ball with a wooden bat... here's your multi-million dollar paycheck. oh, what's that mr. coder, you worked 60 hours this week so you could implement your program before the server freeze?... well, we outsourced your job to India, clean out your desk") so I don't understand why all these second lifers are putting on their own little derby.
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
Could you take something like this, or perhaps the Super Bowl(tm), and virtualize the game, and then rebroadcast it, because your work is transformative enough that it's not considered copyright infringement?
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I'm still not sure why anyone would pay $3 to watch it, as the only clear benefit over ESPN is not having to listen to Chris Berman and you can do that by hitting the mute button on your TV. But then I'm not a MMR-whatever-it-is'er in the first place...
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
I skimmed TFA, and it doesn't appear to explain how the players in the home run derby actually...well, play. Can anyone explain how the game decides when a home run has been hit, and what factors are involved?
What the hell are you talking about?
And I'll remember to tip well the next time I'm out to dinner.
A steroid probe, of course.
Envy? No, I'm glad I'm not a stupid (what's the average SAT/ACT score of the average baseball/basketball player?), drug-enhanced, overpaid dolt. Bitterness? Yes, because I think it's stupid that entire populations (not just America, the whole world [think of all the crazy World Cup stories, locking spouses in closet so you can watch a game or running into a burning house so you can grab your t.v. to finish watching the rest of a match is STUPID]) are so amazed by sports that they don't see a problem in paying millions to people who contribute nothing to the world (they play a fucking GAME -- kids play games for FUN!) while people that are intelligent and pour their lives into their profession (teachers, social workers, doctors, etc) are paid poorly (well, maybe not doctors). :}
P.S. unless your ISP charges per data bit or per minute then all it cost you was a smile
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
I considered attending - but the entry fee (approx U$3 at current exchange rates) is far too steep to justify, considering I get the real thing for 'free'.
"Teachers? I've seen plenty that are just there to get their paycheck and let their union protect them from being fired."
Oh yes, they are just soooo lazy. Actually, most teachers are hard working. What teachers do you know? Both of my parents are teachers and they usually go in to work around 7 in the morning and don't get back until 5 or 6 at night. I have worked for 3 different schools through tech consultant jobs and dealt with a lot of teachers -- almost every teacher I met seemed like the hard-working type with a "make the world better"-esque goal in life. Oh yeah, it's just sooooooooooo hard for teachers to get fired -- actually, it's VERY easy for teachers to get fired (if they're not doing their job). Once they have been doing their job, they get tenure... then their job security is much more firm... however, the trade-off of long hours and low appreciation just to get tenure and then get... more low pay is not worth it (you don't have to be an economics major to realize that -- also, yes, there is NO fucking debating that their pay is low -- I, with a bachelors degree, would make more money the first year of a job than my parents currently make [they've both been working at the same school for over 30 years, both have masters degrees, and are both department heads]).
I DON'T care what people do for entertainment purposes -- watch baseball, watch bondage videos, dance, eat tub upon tub of cool whip!!! It's not about entertainment when someone gets paid over a million dollars per point (divide some professional athlete's salaries by the number of points they score) in a GAME (games are suppossed to be about fun, not money) while people in real life are dying for little to no recognition (think of all the firefighters, soldiers in Iraq, etc.) it sickens me.
What's entertaining to me? I enjoy playing games (for fun, not for millions of dollars), talking, long walks on the beach, music, dancing, singing, living life to its fullest!
A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kick boxing.
They *need* more electric sheep. Can you think of a better place for them to look for them? :-)
Okay, maybe in andriod's dreams, but we all know how that worked out for Data...
You're glad you're not highly paid? I don't see what's stupid about making millions for playing a game. Seems pretty clever to me. Maybe you're the real smart one though, doing something much duller and less exciting for a tiny fraction of the money.
What exactly is wrong with being entertained? Seems you're just bitter that the forms of entertainment you enjoy are different to that of the majority and you feel left out. I'm sure whatever forms of entertainment you like are pretty stupid and pointless, but maybe other people have more class than to insult your intelligence because of it.
I don't remember ever paying millions to a sporting event. Maybe that's in yen?
If you consider entertainment and excitement to be unimportant, then you have no soul.
Stop being so bitter. When millions of people want to watch a social worker wipe the arse of a pensioner then they'll get paid millions. Until then stop your tiring killjoy act, you're not impressing anyone by demonstrating how mature and elitist you are.
The only reason sportsmen get paid a lot is because people like being entertained by them, so you obviously do care what people do for entertainment, even if you're too dumb to realise the connection.
I call lack of citation on the original poster's mention that MLB sponsors the event. The linked blog says that the virtual event would be held in conjunction with an MLB real-life event, but it does not say that MLB sponsors the virtual event.
Free-market economics. There's a strong demand for entertainment (watching good athletes is enjoyable), but not much supply in the way of top-level athletics. If any schmuck could play Major League ball, salaries wouldn't be high (think janitors here). Since very few people are skilled enough, their pay is higher.
If you feel that their salaries have some intrinsic value, then you'll agree that all professions should be ranked according to 'worth' and payed accordingly, right?
Fred Phelps' cult now seems reasonable.
"I considered attending - but the entry fee (approx U$3 at current exchange rates) is far too steep to justify, considering I get the real thing for 'free'."
Yes, those orgies are expensive.
I'm sorry, I just got done with my set theory class, and I did not realize that the sets of Second Life and Major League Baseball intersected. I was certain they were disjoint?
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID
I think the Colts suck and should leave town, but I have to pay for this shit? Lucky for me I live near the county line, so sometimes I'm able to avoid paying this dumb tax.
Oops, nevermind that second part, the tax is in all the surrounding countines. Guess I have to pay for it no matter what.
I wasn't thinking about tax-payer funded stadiums, more about ticket prices. Things like in your link is mainly an American phenomenon.