Among people I know, there is no middle ground in the opinion of whether Home is a game or not. Many on this forum may have strong opinions about this, as it has been mentioned in many of the articles. Some people are very adamant that Home is not a game and they take exception when I state that it is. I feel that both extremes of that argument are missing the point of Home. I say that Home is a game because Home is like one big RPG game. We all get to play different roles in this game called Home. Homelings are a wonderful example of this. There are also those who play as the opposite gender. I had a friend come as not being the gender of his avatar. Many may say that he lied and immediately deleted him, but, to me, he was still the same good person behind the avatar whatever gender it was. He was just role-playing as a female (Of course it is not right to role-play in such a way to intentionally deceive in a way that would hurt another person and I would not condone that). Why else would there be so many costumes sold on Home, if we weren't meant to role-play? On the other side of the coin, it is not just a game, as some of these kids play the game, saying and doing whatever they want to avatars as if they were computer generated automatons. This is where Home becomes so much than a role-playing game such as Final Fantasy. As great as the stories are in RPGs, there is no comparison to having a conversation with a real person behind the pixels. Characters in a game never go off script. The people on Home behind the avatars are people with feelings, who are highly intelligent with their own unique thoughts and ideas. Home is a playground, relax, have fun and be respectful to others. I would love to hear everyone's thoughts on the subject.

Home to me is a place where I have a lot of friends from a lot of places. I don't role play too much, I don't wear costumes except on special occasions that call for it. I love to play dress up though, and try new things. It is like having the worlds best paper doll to play with only this one is me, so I guess that's playing a type of role, LOL. The gender behind the avatar only becomes important if the person uses it for malicious purposes, I have several male friends who come out as females, and in a way it might be a good experience for them to see the other side of the coin so to speak. Home is a place of infinite possibilities and many improbabilities too LOL, where else will you see a fairy with a Hamster head or a Hamster with a fairy head. The possibilities are endless.

Lovely work, Olivia.