"Second Life is clearly not a game," Cory tells me. "There's plenty of game-like behavior and plenty of play within it, but really, just about any definition of game you find there's usually some goal component. I think it comes down to the more individual level, whether you consider real life a game." This is true. The word "game" evokes, at the very least, a set of formal rewards and penalties corresponding to each player's actions, whether it's getting $200 for passing go or hearing that infamous ding in World of WarCraft. Second Life, by all accounts, has no such structure. The average player will log on, buy some land, hang out with some friends, maybe build something neat ... and that's it. No mob camping or gold farming here.