I take them as two extremely different genres. Minecraft is mainly about building and exploring with friends, while second life is largely based on building close personal relationships focused on discussion and sex.
There's some overlap for sure, but I think generally speaking, the players of each game want very different things (I also expect the average age of Second Life players to be much older than those who play Minecraft).
I think you're overestimating how much Minecraft is about combat/survival/etc. Most of what I hear about Minecraft sure makes it sound like it's largely about playing with your virtual legos, alone or with your friends, which is not so far off from one of the things some people love SL for - building crazy places to hang out with your friends, in crazy costumes.
I take them as two extremely different genres. Minecraft is mainly about building and exploring with friends, while second life is largely based on building close personal relationships focused on discussion and sex.
There's some overlap for sure, but I think generally speaking, the players of each game want very different things (I also expect the average age of Second Life players to be much older than those who play Minecraft).