sim-ple... get a life. Sim-ulacra

http://www.jesusda.com/docs/juegoslinux/s5/im...



Avatars, virtual reality, 3D… they still sound like futuristic prospects in today’s society, but we are living in an era that has accepted this as the norm. The younger generations are growing up with exposure to such existences online as the game ‘Second life’ or even the ‘Sims’. So it’s not surprising that one out of every five Americans over the age of 5 years old has participated in some form of online social game (http://mashable.com/2010/08/23/social-gaming-study/).

Now this is where I am going to get personal, I am going to share my experience with the day I got drunk and decided it might be a good idea to try out this ‘Second life’. To start off with, my mother was minding my children, so I had no other responsibilities on that day, and after a couple of red wine’s I was curious. I had in the past played the ‘Sims’ and I did enjoy building the houses but the fact that you have to send your sim to the toilet and shower regularly etc really annoyed me (and for all the gamers out there I am well aware there is a cheat to override those urges).

I’m setting the mood here… wine in hand, giggling a tad, I signed up! I created an avatar that was prettier than me, skinnier than me, and I had bigger boobs… like, way over the top gigantic boobs. I never took it seriously, I was laughing so much I could barely see the screen. I learnt how to do all the necessary things like walk and interact with objects etc. Then off I teleported into the real world. I was ‘walking’ around trying to ‘talk’ to people, and for someone with barely enough computer skills to use ‘word’, I was flat out with that. Eventually I was taken under the wing of an angel, no, like a real one, or a fake one, or a real one in a fake world… ok now I’m confusing myself. This angel took me to her ‘clan house’, which she assured me was very special, not many people were brought here. I was thinking to myself “I’m 12 times over the legal alcohol limit, and I’m talking to an angel, this is going to end badly!” Trying to cut a long story short I was invited to attend a meeting with this angel at her special clan meeting place thingy (to be honest I forget what it was called). All the while I am laughing so much at how serious this woman is taking this game. Of course I wasn’t rude to her, I do have manners, even when I am inebriated, but I was finding this quite entertaining. The angel described things to me via private chat about who was who, and who was getting married. All of a sudden I’m getting bored because I think this is all drivel so I begin to start pressing buttons and selecting options. Next thing I know, I am apparently standing in front of hundreds of clan members, NUDE. Yes, I had no virtual clothes on. Again, laughing at the fact that even online I can manage to get myself into trouble while drinking, the angel is getting quite cross with me. Apparently the ‘king’ was offended by my no nipples and missing genitals. She was trying to explain over and over how to put my clothes back on and that’s when I turned the game off. So that’s my story, but then again I have a life that I love, the first one. I have two children and I study online, and I dance and have family that drive me insane but that I love dearly. There is no way I could commit to anything other than a game of solitaire (and usually that’s when I am on the toilet) for more than five minutes.

That aside, when I watched the four corners documentary called ‘You only live twice” (http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/special_eds/20070319/default_full.htm) I was mesmerised at the potential I saw! People becoming millionaires selling houses that don’t exist to people that don’t exist, on land that doesn’t exist. I can see the allure of online social gaming, there are no boundaries, everyone is beautiful, rich, and can FLY! (Which apparently I can even do 12 times over the limit). What scares me are people who are missing out on the reality in their own lives. They all have family or friends, or a job. But what sort of escape is it for people? Why do they want a second life, when they aren’t making enough of the first one? My advice, get a life.. now. In the physical world where u can touch someone or hear someone laugh or fall over! But it’s real, and it’s not very long. From a business perspective, second life has a HUGE potential, but what at what cost? Human interaction… can you put a price on that?