Back in 2009, Wagner James Au wrote an article on his blog about the benefits of introducing a level-up or achievements system to SL. Unfortunately his line of thinking drew a lot of ire (see the comments section of said article). Now, with Second Life having just recently added a "Roles and Ranks" feature on its new Community platform on March 2nd, it seems the same complaints and hesitations saved for posterity on the New World Notes blog are back.

I must admit, I often get existential on SL. That is, I often wonder what the heck the meaning of it all is. Without a goal in life (real or Second), everything is just a matter of time hurtling us further into the future, willy-nilly. I like that Second Life affords one the ability to roam the virtual world's many attractive sims. But after a while, I can't help but feel a sense of aimlessness to it all. Though not exactly on the same level as XBox Live's achievements system, Second Life's "Roles and Ranks" feature adds a bit of focus to my virtual life.

Maybe I'm a bit biased, given that I come from a writing background, and I prefer forward narrative movement. I much prefer games that give the player a focus (specifically stories, like in role-playing games), as opposed to being too open-ended. It seems a lot of the folks opposed to the concept of leveling up in Second Life are traditionalists who embrace Second Life for that open-endedness (mind you, my earlier comment was not a knock on open-endedness; I was just indicating my lack of preference for it, nothing more). Some sound rather elitist (read again the comments section in the aforementioned article; also check this one out) and look down upon the "type" of people achievements systems attract. I for one think everyone's entitled to a Second Life, regardless of their "gaming" preferences. A game should be able to provide an aim for its users. 

What do you think? Is this small step one in the wrong direction for Second Life? Or is it too ho-hum and not enough to trigger interest in those longing for more from Second Life? Or is it much ado about nothing?