Even in pretend-life, you need the McMansion September 9, 2007 Jill First I read this article and was like, dude, these people are pathetic. Then I was like, dude, you’re a blogger. Then I wuz sad.
You think it’s like blogging? I never spent money to keep up with other bloggers, but then, I have a pretty low-rent blog! š
I played text-based (online) story-telling games at uni. It’s like story-telling or dreaming together, and the guide-line in those text games was more or less, you can do whatever you can describe (and fits the genre). An economy never formed, because in the end, it was your writing that defined your status. You could in theory have paid someone to write up what your character looks like, but you’d soon be found out if you couldn’t deliver the same kind of quality while story-telling. What evolved was a cooperation (to tell a good story together) and friendly competition (to at least meet your co-authors’ quality of writing). Rather interestingly, you can do whatever doesn’t have to lead to anomy if status isn’t defined by in-story power, but by your story-telling skill. Also rather interestingly, on a lot of games many characters weren’t drop dead gorgeous (though sometimes the writing was) or even rich or powerful. The bit in the article about the “pretty” rat race in SL scares me more than the bit about the houses, I guess ā “isn’t it bad enough in real life?” It also makes me wonder ā if you have achieved beauty IRL, would you even be the target audience for SL? Considering that it seems so much less exclusive there? Wouldn’t it in some ways be a step down? (I guess it’s easier to beat age in-game though.) On the other hand, it’s still interaction, expression, possibly creativity, so it probably beats watching some stupid movie hands down?
I’ve never played SL, but I used to have the Sims, and I spent most of my time building houses. And, um, encouraging my Sims to die in fires or drown in the pool. Or pee on the floor. I understand the newer versions let the Sims actually do far more interesting things than mine did. Tip: never, ever create a Sims couple using the characteristics of yourself and your toxic ex-boyfriend. Trust me on this one.
zuzu, I kill my Sims all the time. Build them fancy houses then put them in a room and take away the doors. Starve them. Drown them. Give them guinea pig disease. I even have a voodoo doll that kills them instantly. It’s great fun.
I read the article and went farther and downloaded the software. It all appears quite time consuming and based on wanna be type fantasies. I barely have the time to read blogs, why would I want this? I asked my role playing geek son who does all the IT work for my business and he sneered, “Its pathetic mom, who wants to pay money to go and play like real life?” I said, oh its for geeks who want to be something else they can’t in real life. “Its even lower than that.” was his reply. I have decided to deinstall the software I installed, not so much because of what he said, because I’m still intrigued, but crise, my time is consumed in trying to make it in the Real World!
My ex is big into SL– his “house” is only a little japanese-like apartment with no chairs, one table, and a flower in a vase (he’s awful proud of that flower!). Why would you spend your time buying or creating all this stuff in one place when you can wander around and meet all the wierdos?
Shouldnāt it be called āFirst Lifeā? You just made me laugh out loud in class. Now my professor knows I’m not paying attention.
why would I want this? Maybe, they have their first life sorted out, and need a new outlet to try things without giving up what they have. More importantly though, real life by its very nature is lacking. You can buy the Ferrari, but you won’t be Magnum PI. The Lamborghini, but not the perfect sunset or the empty street. The muscle shirt, but not the muscle. If you give your true love a first kiss all the way up in the big top, the place will probably smell of elephant dung. In short, these games seem like “life without bad hair days” to me ā not that I ever actually tried 2nd life ā, and the question does not really seem media-specific, but equivalent to, Why would I read fiction? Or watch a movie? Or dream, or phantasise? So I for one can see the appeal at least in theory.
Zuzu – I once created a family in sims 2 that was in every way identical to my family the year my parents divorced. Sick, I know. The results were pretty twisted, too. I’m pretty good at the sims, but even trying my best, in the Sims 2 version of my family, my mom went psycho, my father died of disease, and my two brothers were taken away by social services. I knew there was a reason I was happy they split up š