TV's Fascination with Second Life

Second Life has gained quite a following over the past few years, but this fall has seen that following splashed all over the television screen in plots, shows, and as background information for storylines. Some shows have gone as far as creating versions of themselves in Second Life.

First it was Law and Order SVU, though they called it Another Universe? Perhaps because the storyline painted Second Life in a very negative fashion? That part is purely speculation on my behalf and not backed by the show, or the game to my knowledge.

Then it was CSI:NY, where they went in full hog and showed off the graphics and fighting that can take place. They used it to follow the path of a contract killer, and in doing so the show turned into a demonstration on how Second Life works, what can be done, along with how people are actually using Second Life to make money in the real world. - One thing they didn't touch on there is the fact that those playing slaves, or submissives can charge for virtual sex and convert the money into real life funds, so is that a form of prostitution? (yes I'm being snarky but it does make you wonder why anyone would pay real money for cyber sex with a computer generated figure.)

Now it's the Office, which will be going into Second Life this week, according to reports.

So what is the fascination?

Honestly speaking, I don't know. My computer doesn't have the type of graphics card needed to hang around in Second Life for more than thirty minutes at a time, and I'm not big on computer games to begin with. I have a little lap top and can't even play Diablo 2 Lords of Destruction on it for more than thirty minutes before my computer heats up too much. But there's a reason for this. I bought my computer with work in mind, not playing games so the lack of ability to play computer games doesn't really bother me that much.

The short visits I've paid to Second Life have left me going 'huh, right, what's the point', but then again I'm exactly the wrong sort of audience for them. I'm far more text based. If I want to roleplay it will be in person with an RPG crowd, or in text in a chat room. Then again, I'm an author, so what do you expect?

Having said that, it's not just television shows that are jumping on the Second Life bandwagon, one of the publishing houses I work with, and currently have three books out with, also has established a presence in Second Life. They've set up a virtual office there and I'm intrigued in some ways, wondering how that will work, and what knock on affects it will have on the sales of the books and the popularity of the authors involved with that publishing house. If you're interested the house involved is Loose ID, which is primarily an e-book house publishing authors such as Angela Knight, Morgan Hawke, and Vivi Anna.

So I will remain bemused by the entire Second Life fascination and stay in my happy little text world. My few visits to that world have not inspired me to upgrade my computer to one with a better graphic capability, nor will I be giving up time in the real world, with my work, husband and children to wander through the realms of this particular fantasy...