My View on Second Life

I recently published an article that talks about my second year in the popular virtual reality game called Second Life and just briefly mentioned about the "life" or what you could do inside the game.The main reason for the article was really to tell others about my "life" in there and how I went from a nobody to someone with a small but stable business earning real money. I also promoted my article using Digg, a popular site for people to post and share any interesting discoveries all over the web. And that's where the problem arise.

One response I got was: "2 years in second life? A lot of virtual sex, I suppose *shivers* ... I am not touching that link."

I quickly replied to the response by telling the person that was not the case. Virtual sex exists in SAL but that is not all it is about, at least not in my point of view. There are so much more to this game, you just have to take a look for yourself. I'm not saying this is the best game or best virtual game though, it has its pros and cons just like any other online games.But quotes like the above just offend me a little and really demonstrated how ignorant that person can be. That response actually gave me the impression that was what he/she could think about, sex, virtual sex to be exact. To this day, I still am not completely sure why such activity exist, after all the characters or avatars are just pixels. Basically you are watching pixels performing sexual acts. My understanding is some people do get pleasure just by watching but that is not and should never be my business. Let them be! There's always a saying "virtual sex is for those who cannot get it in real life", I don't disagree on that but if that makes those people happy then let them, as long as they are not harming or bothering anyone as a result.

To me SL is a game to escape from first life, the reality. It gives you a chance to become someone else other than yourself. Of course you can still choose to be yourself. As for me I have chosen to be a goth in the game, but my personality stays the same. I chose this style because I will never see myself dressing up like one in real life, SL gave me that opportunity, at least in pixelated format. Although I see people becoming completely different people, which is called role play or RP.

Commerce plays a huge role in SL, as you can see from its website Second Life, you can see the daily transactions that is happening inside. We are talking about real dollar values not just game currency because the game currency, Linden can be converted to US dollars through various money exchange services. There are many different types of businesses you can do in SL, its best to choose something you can enjoy, at least in the game, you have a choice unlike in real life. You can be a content producer like people on AC, producing houses, cars and basically anything you can think of. Or you can become a service provider such as helping people find jobs in the game or helping them decorate their houses. Many people will ask, why do you need a house or a car in SL? Having been playing for 2 years, I am still trying to find a better answer than simply because it is a game, people appreciate objects, house and cars in this case, that are designed and built with creativity. Some people I know enjoy decorating his or her house and drive around a nicely built car even though they have the option to fly or teleport.

Social is also another important part of the game, in fact I think it goes side by side with commerce. After all, people need to know about you and your products and/or services because they can even consider thinking of buying them. Similar to chatting on MSN or Yahoo, socializing in SL gives you a chance to make friends with people from all over the world. I don't recommend randomly talking to anyone you see though because sometimes people get freaked out, much like in real life. I suggest joining any groups that interest you and start from there (if you do ever want to give this game a try). Since we are on the subject of socializing, this brings me to my second point. People, those that have not played the game, constantly ask, why would you club or party in a game? Again, the only answer I can come up with is that the reason for those people that do clubbing and partying in SL is because they cannot do it in real life for whatever reasons. SL gives them a chance to experience that, whether for first timers or former party goers. This is also another way of socializing in this game, you are meeting people with similar interest, in this case clubbing and partying. I will probably never figure out what pleasure one can get by watching pixels "dance" but to each his own.

Please don't criticize this game or what people do in this game negatively without even experiencing it yourself for a minute. It makes you an ignorant and nothing more. You will also never fully understand why people choose to do whatever you think is wrong or pointless in the game. Everyone is different and please respect their choice.