Ever wanted to be younger? Or change your body shape? Maybe you wanted to change your brown eyes to blue. Perhaps you wanted not to be human but be an animal like a fox, or even change your looks to be cute, rich and successful. Or maybe you had loftier ambitions it was your dream to be able to fly. With the popularity of films like Twilight, maybe your fantasy was to have been a vampire or even a food source for a vampire!
All beyond the scope of reality, real life’s not like that, but a second life could be. Second Life is an online 3D virtual world, designed by you and limited only by your imagination. From the moment you enter Second Life, you’ll discover a universe brimming with people and possibilities that are boundless, exciting and ultimately rewarding. It’s a virtual world the impossible is possible and the unlikely common place.
Created by Linden Labs back in 1999, Linden World as it was then called was an online place. , in which users could participate in task based games and socialization in a three dimensional online environment. This has since transformed, developed and morphed into the more widely know and enjoyed Second Life!
There are some 15 million registered users worldwide and last year there was an average of 38,000 of them logged in at any one time, this year is more like 50,000. Now, they are impressive numbers in anyone’s book, but what’s it all about. Jason Shaw, Second Life virgin talks to two such residents of this online realm of fantasy.
“I’m quite a newbie, only been on there since 26 May this year; I mainly joined to make online friends around the world. It’s an escape from reality, a place where you can be anything you wants to be” Enthuses Chandelle, a 24 year old mother of two who spends around four hours a day on the site. “I’ve been a mistress on it, but that was too much hard work!”
She regularly speaks with a lawyer in Australia, who on the site is her pet “It’s not a position of power, it’s more about friendship. Whilst there is sex on the site, but it’s not all about that, its m ore about the emotional bond, it’s about building up virtual relationship”
Leo, a 29 year old father from Sussex first started Second Life to chat to a friend who had moved overseas. “It was just a laugh really, just to chat to each other and do something; He came off it and just kinda stayed on. It’s really developed from there”
Leo, built up his character, or avatars as they are known, with an enhanced male body, muscles in the right place, pert little ass and tattoos “At first the avatars look rather crap, bland, without much features, you can make them better by spending a little bit of money on them, mine’s now complete, he’s a good looking guy and gets quite a lot of attention on SL, from the guys as well as the girls”
Whilst you don’t have to spend money to be on Second Life, it can help, “I’ve spent about £30 or so, just to build up my avatar and get some equipment for him. People can spend loads on things, but there’s no real need too if you don’t want. Just a few quid to make your avatar look good and that’s about it”
You may only need to spend a few quid as Leo says, but it’s clear that some people do spend a lot more, they buy things like buildings, vehicles, devices of all kinds, animations, clothing, skin, hair, jewelry flora & fauna, buildings, textures, works of art, equipment, custom content creation and other services. It could be because of these sales opportunities that make it possible for a few residents to actually make money from playing Second Life. According to figures published by makers Linden Lab, some 64,000 users took a profit in Second Life in February 2009, over half made less than $10, yet 233 made more than $5000 In March 2009, it become known that there are a few real life entrepreneurs who have made over a million a year from their SL activities, indeed the top earn grossed $1.7 million last year !
“I’ve not made a profit from it, I just do it for fun, it’s like escaping from real life, and on SL you can be anything. It gives you confidence, on SL you can do anything, you can say things that you’d never have the guts to do in real life.” Say’s Leo, whose avatar is a blood doll, a food source for a vampire. “It’s enjoyable; it’s kinda replaced the TV in the evenings, when I usually play. I don’t have any hobbies, SL is my hobby” Leo usually is on line between 9pm and 1 the following morning.
His wife knows he’s on SL, but doesn’t share his appreciation for this online world , “She just thinks I’m sad for going on it so much” Whilst she knows he’s on the site, she doesn’t know what he’s getting up to on it,, but there’s where the trust in their relationship comes in to play. “It is only a game after all, you can’t take it too seriously, although some people do” Confirms Leo, who warns of some of the dangers of living in a virtual world. “It can be easy to go far and let it take over. You could easily become far too involved and it affects your mood in real life, it can split up relationships and cause real damage”
Chantelle echoes this sentiment “People do take it too far at times; there are people online all the time, that life their life through SL, no that’s bad. It’s kind of scary” She’s not wrong, British charity Relate, the relationship councellors, said their staff were coming across an increasing number of people whose real-life relationships were falling apart because of what was happening in their parallel, unreal worlds. Last year a couple that were in both a real life and a second life relation spilt up after virtual adultery. In February this year, Lisa Best woke up and found her husband having sex with another guy SL “I saw John's little person having it off with another man in a dungeon on the screen," the 28 year old told a Sunday newspaper. The couple are in the process of getting divorced, and he soon to be ex husbands words have a hollow sound to them “.I was just messing about on there, there's not a gay bone in my body, just found it funny. I only went on for a laugh”
It’s not just a straight world, unlike some other online games, Second Life also caters rather well for the gay community, in June last year they opened the virtual gates of Gay pride for a fifth consecutive year. This is usually a month long celebration, much like the Prides on the outside in the real world. There’s parties, live music, events, art shows, even a dance pavilion with live DJ and a museum highlighting contributions of gay and lesbian people throughout history.
But it’s not just in June, there are year round activities for the gay Second Lifer, to enjoy in the ‘Gay World’ where avatars can bump n grind along to some top sounds and meet other like minded souls. Indeed, it’s pretty much like its RL equivalent; it’s also a good place to hook up apparently.
There are also places to go, clubs, bars and gay nudist beaches, which sound all that more exciting if you live in a dull city center where it rains a great deal of the time. Being a resident of SL can have a very positive impact, not only enabling you to make new friends from all over the world. There are also countless stories posted on message boards telling how SL has helped various people come to terms with their sexuality and gain the confidence to come out in the real world.
It can also be your gateway to a sea of leaning; there are many universities with their own SL campuses including Coventry, Bedfordshire, Illinois, Ohio and Harvard, so your thirst for knowledge can be well and truly quenched. It truly is a complete virtual world that you can immerse yourself in, just keep a check on what’s real and what’s not.
Real Life must always take priority.
Jason Shaw
aka Jas Zsun!
I'm proud to write for 
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2 comments:
I'm amazed at how many people there are on Second Life, 15 mill. Wow,
But I'd sure like to meet that Leo guy in real life.
Body like that with tattoos all over the top sure looks like a good catch.
Are you sure?
Who needs a second life, surely this one is more than enough?
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