Bonus Mission #2: Not a Game

I have a confession to make –Second Life did not interest me in the least bit initially. I would have never known about its existence if I did not have to take the COM125 class. Actually, that in itself is a lie. I did know about Second Life before I took the COM125 class. In fact, I learnt about Second Life through a friend’s blog.

Perhaps the sexual screen captures of Second Life she had posted in one entry turned me off and left me with a bad first impression of this virtual reality. I could not imagine who in his/ her right mind would enjoy having virtual sex. Perhaps my friend was making a mockery out of the realism Second Life is supposed to portray by posting those pictures up on her blog.

It seems everybody can be anybody on virtual realms like Second Life, which is no surprise because that is what new media brings with it –freedom of identity. Well, at least I like to think so. Being a non-gamer, I did not response at all to the influx of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games or MMO but I am acutely aware of how people can be consumed by the gaming world since I have friends who are fanatics themselves.

In one Newsweek article, Steven Levy (2006) wrote on the power of MMOs, particularly the massive hit World of War Craft (WWO). While WWO displays obvious characteristics of a game more so than Second Life, there are similarities between the two. Just as how Levy observed about WWO, human choices and morals are essential for interaction in a fantasy world like Second Life.

Real people are sitting at those consoles and jabbing away at their keyboards. The act itself may seem passive but a lot of thinking is happening in the mind as a participant goes through the terrain in Second Life. So much so that it elicits sudden bursts of frustrations and elations from players (i.e. my observation of fellow classmates who were trying to get themselves off the ‘orientation’ island in Second Life).

What fascinates me about Second Life is how it is very much like the real world. As my friend has demonstrated with those screen captures on her blog, you can have sexual intercourse in Second Life. You can also earn Linden dollars, Second Life’s own currency and convert it into real money you can use in the real world. Plus, as told in a previous lecture in COM125, you can even use it to aid the marketing efforts of your product. A hotel, which has yet to be completed in real life, has already enjoyed visits from virtual citizens in Second Life.

It takes time and effort to be a participant in Second Life or any virtual fantasy world and it is nice to know that there are people who do so for a cause. Take the example of artist, Joseph DeLappe, (Clarran, 2006). Though he is a passive player in America’s Army, he types the names of real soldiers whose lives were claimed in the real life war of Iraq in the game’s chat interface. He is just one of the many Americans who feel they and the atrocities of the war needed to be remembered.

As I have said before, I am not much of a gamer but if worlds like Second Life, America’s Army and WWO can be utilized in ways a hotel and a concerned citizen have demonstrated to us, I have no reason to dismiss these worlds as just mere games you play to while away your time.

References

Clarran, R. (2006). Virtually dead in Iraq. Retrieved April 7, 2007 from http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2006/09/16/americasarmy/

Levy, S. (2006). World of Warcraft: Is It a Game. Retrieved April 7, 2007 from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14757769/site/newsweek/page/3/print/1/displaymode/1098/