Blog 11: virtual worlds not so virtual

After creating an account with Second Life, I spent a couple hours exploring the game. I walked, I flew and I swam threw the huge map that this online community inhabits. While for the majority of the time I spent ‘playing’ I was actually lost in what looked like Siberia, I eventually found my way back to civilization where I was able to meet people, enter their private homes, and witness interactions that may not have been just game play for those involved. For many, Second Life is not really a virtual world, but instead a reality.
For example, a family friend who lives in Canada works at a University fulltime, but is a musician in his free time. This friend has a Second Life account, and enjoys a unique ‘playing’ experience. Sometimes he holds gigs in Second Life coffee shops. These are not make-believe concerts, but actual live performances. He sets up his equipment in his real basement, records the show and streams it live over the internet to Second Life, where fans can listen to his music. Here’s the most incredible part about it: he’s actually making money—so much money that with it he was able to pay the mortgage (on his real house) for a month. In addition, the café owner is making a portion of his proceeds from the money that other ‘players’ are paying to hear said friend play. In fact, our friend has acquired an impressive following in the game that one might say he is becoming Second Life-famous. With stories like these, it is hard to believe that Second Life is only a game.
Other commodities are exchanged in virtual worlds, too. In an article written by Julian Dibbell titled, The Unreal Estate Boom, Dibbell discussed a delivery man who purchased a virtual home for $750—more than one week’s pay in real life. Other virtual items are also auctioned on eBay for real money; Dibbell estimates that these purchases total around $3 million per year collectively.
Another very real aspect of the virtual world for many users is interpersonal interactions. While exploring Second Life, I interacted with some other users. Often times I didn’t initiate this interaction, and half the time I didn’t even notice people’s comments to me. When I did notice them, the dialogue was very different than what I am used to in computer games. I grew up playing The Sims, and at the time I couldn’t believe that characters were able to talk to each other. When conversation boxes appeared with another Sim’s message, it was cool, but unreal. Yesterday when I spoke to other Second Life players, it was a little strange that other people actually developed those messages and sent them; they weren’t computer-generated. I even entered a person’s home in the middle of snowy-nowhere and the person made an inappropriate comment to my character (or avatar). In the Sims, it wouldn’t have been strange because the message was programmed into the computer; in Second Life it felt uncomfortable, partially because it was dark “outside” and I had no idea where I was, but also because this inappropriate message was actually developed by another person, intended to reach me. That is when I signed off and uninstalled the game from my computer, because it was just too real to be ‘play.’

Source:

Dibbell, J. The Unreal Estate Boom. Wired, 11(01).

Second Life. 2008. Retrieved November 7, 2008 from