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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."
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.
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?
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.
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.