Friday, August 10, 2007
Second Life?
Are any of my readers familiar with Second Life? I was reading this WSJ article about Second Life that I found through the blog murketing and I got curious. I have heard of Second Life before, at work. But I don't know anyone who plays there (is it even considered playing?). Do any of the four or five readers I have frequent Second Life? From the little I have seen, it's like the Sims on steroids, although my reference is already quite dated (Sims who? would say some). And what about the subject of the article? Would you consider what this guy was doing "cheating"? I don't quite know what to make of it. I guess if it was me and Gabe, and he would be marrying chicks on virtual worlds, I would be awfully pissed. I can be pretty territorial.
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It would bother me, too... that is a bit over the top. My online friends aren't mysteries to me. Their online personas are who they really are - not who they are pretending to be....
ReplyDeleteInteresting article. I've never played Second Life. I've thought about checking it out a few times, but have never done so. I've played World of Warcraft and known people whose characters got married. I've seen the dance parties and such there, as well as the really cheesy simulated sex (walked in on someone I knew from real life doing that in an inn room once), but that's never held any appeal for me. I enjoy the questing and beating the horrible monsters and helping other people conquer their quests. Anything can be taken too far. Moderation is the key. If you haven't seen it, check out the "World of Warcraft" episode of South Park on YouTube to see what online gaming taken to the extreme can be like. I've seen former students toss away their scholarships due to excessive gaming (not as many as to excessive drinking and partying though). Any addiction or excess can be sad. However, in moderation, these things can be good social outlets, just like blogging. I have several good friends on WoW and my characters (I have several) are members of guilds. You just don't get to know each other like you do your blogging friends though, since we don't talk about our real lives on the game.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Wolfgang, online gaming in moderation is probably very entertaining. But the whole Second Life concept bothers me, and the fact that some people get sucked into this virtual life so intensely that the boundaries between real and fantasy blur is as a bit too Matrix-like for my taste.
ReplyDeleteI read an article about it a few weeks ago (some guy was suing another guy), and it's the first I heard of Second Life.
ReplyDeleteSheesh I've got enough going in my FIRST life to devote any time to anything like that.
And yes! The first thing I thought of was the Matrix!
I agree, Attila. I already spend enough time as it is with the blogging.
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming to visit my blog. I have yours on my Google Reader.
Ingrid, I do know someone whose wife got into this very heavily, and it led to a marriage breakdown (that was probably coming anyway). It is one thing to do role playing, but quite another to take on "spouses" that aren't so imaginary. We have to realize that emotions DO get factored in, and things can easily get out of hand. Fantasies are always more appealing than reality, but the reality is - the ARE just fantasies, and nine times out of ten those mysterious Second Life players are more screwed up in their real lives than they appear to be. No "Second Life" playing partners for me!
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