I got a sad text from my mum last week, she asked if I would ring her more. I gave up ringing her months ago as she never picks up or phones back, and the reason? She’s on the bloody internet every available moment doing God knows what. It’s not right, she used to tell me to go play outside when I was younger and to stop playing video games.
I know all too well how addictive online gaming can be, especially when there are a load of people to “mingle” with – I spent nearly two years solid playing Diablo 2 and the only thing that stopped me was when my internet got cut off because I didn’t pay the bills.
Second Life
My mum is an active member of the Second Life community, the more I find out about this game the less I like the idea of. An old friend of mine “Batchy” was telling me about how he bought a penis for his avatar – they come in all shapes and sizes and custom “functions”… Basically he got one so he could jizz when have online sex with another person using an avatar. Basically its an imaginary space where you can act and appear how you like, with a million other people around to create a virtual life… or second life. These guys actually write rl = real life or sl = Second Life, they get so absorbed and connected to the game that they have to differentiate. It reminds me of friends who used to actually role play when playing dungeons & dragons (or some Gothic equivalent) – acting like the character they are playing, it seemed like a vent to be the dick that you want to be but are too scared.
One thing I can say I like in second life is the ability to make this range of items and shit for your dude, you can of course make your own shop. Last time I walked in on my mum (she hides her second life from us real-ies) she was talking to a woman/avatar who actually makes a real living from playing DJ sets within the game. I’m guessing the conversion rate from “make believe” to “actual money” wouldn’t be so great but the community is turning into a society – she gets thousands of regular listeners and even money through advertising.
Where’s it all Going?
Ok, lets say we all started living online, what would that mean? The main change is the social aspect, on one hand you “are” talking to lots of people and working together or whatever, on the other hand it’s not you, you are sitting still in a room thinking shit in your head. However the emotions are more or less the same, you can jizz but you can never really feel their skin, or look into their eyes – You get a distilled version of what that person wants to be.
People are different people when they are online and I think that is part of the appeal – My mum is nearly sixty and yet her avatar looks like a Viking Goddess/porn star, I dread to think of what she does in that room but at the end of the day I understand. Is it sad that her friends are all online? No I don’t think so, people I work with are not normally by choice and online you are automatically drawn to people you like and make friends you appreciate for how they act rather than out of proximity.
Maybe it’s just having that comfort zone, when you are out with people you share terms, space and time, online this is all choice – If you cant be arsed seeing that boring mate it’s no biggy – Internet people you can ditch and there are a hundred more in the next area. If you do that in reality you may lose a circle of friends, and are more social rules to abide to.
My friend Batchy is now living in Switzerland with a girl he met on Second Life and they have a kid on the way! He is an odd character, but actually really talkative in person – I can’t easily pin the same picture on every Second Life citizen as they are all different. It is easy to see how the internet can be a double-edged blade, isolating you from the real world around you or bringing it closer. There is no clear good or bad, I personally feel that it’s quite a selfish way to pass time and should only be done casually like playing a normal game. I feel guilty for the time I spent “playing” Diablo 2… Maybe it’s just how my mum raised me?
second life prevert confronted ß Sky News
No comments:
Post a Comment