Project Goal
I want to create a contextualized toolbox with which players can express themselves about an illusory topic. In this way heated discussion and conflict can become safe. People can experiment with outrageous viewpoint without being personally held responsible. If someone accuses them of immoral thought, they can just say: “I was only playing.”
The Power of the Virtual
What I want to do with Second Life is to inspire people to use it to the fullest of its capabilities. At the moment people in SL use it mostly to create things they know; dance halls, casino's, nice little cottages with a green lawn in the front. Especially the latter is just stupid, as you don't actually live in SL. You can't get cold, you can't get wet, so there is absolutely no reason to create a home for yourself according to such conventional standards.
What I'm selling is not a concrete, finished product, but a philosophy. I want to make people aware of the potential this second life has to offer. In the virtual world you aren't bound by physical or social laws. You should take this opportunity to create a whole new way of living.
In case of conflict between differing 'world views' the conflict shouldn't be discussed to death on the forums, but be acted upon in the dynamic, creative space that is Second Life itself. Discussion should be a party. And everyone's invited.
Examples
1) A guy placed huge, ugly signs on little plots of land that read 'Impeach Bush'. His neighbours immediately started complaining to him and Linden Lab (creator of SL) about their spoiled view, devaluating land and the rudeness of sticking a political statement into their face. But nothing could be done as the guy had the right to build anything he liked on his pieces of land.
My suggestion is to give the neighbours a huge crayon with multiple colours to choose from. With this crayon they could draw on the signs, 'improving' their look or overwriting them altogether.
This would offer a much more immediate response to express how they feel and it could be a whole lot funnier than nagging another resident to virtual death.
2) Someone wondered if a civil war would break out in Second Life sometime soon. He believed it could happen as military role-play groups are locked in an arms race and are trying to gain control over ever bigger plots of land. A lot of residents (me among them) disagreed with his view, as land can't be stolen from someone else and there aren't any lasting consequences, like death, in SL.
We can discuss this topic at length on the forums, but wouldn't it be much more fun to express it in a carnival-style shooting gallery. 2 rows of stands are facing each other. People can take their own guns and take place on a stand. When everyone's ready the shooting starts. If someone gets hit his stand will tilt backwards and the player's 'dead' for 10 seconds. But after this time the stand will flip right back up and the player can join the mayhem again.
If a win condition is desired perhaps you could say that the side that levels all of their opponents simultaneously wins the match.
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