*sighs*
I am thinking of doing a dialogue between my RL self and my SL avatar. She does get whiny and needy and well, wants to take up all my time seeing that she has a life of her own. Ah, the problems associated with multiple lives. My friend Frigg Ragu is of the opinion that SL should merely be an extension of the RL. Sure, I say, tell that to the people who surround me in RL. They think all I do in SL is waste my time and that of others. But is it really?
Yes, i believe over time it does become a sort of extension of our real lives. The things i do in sl are real to me. the friends i make there are real to me even when they have no connection to their real lives. Of course i am in a position that my real life really does spill into the virtual as i study the nature of the environment and possible uses of it.. as i create all kinds of things, and enjoy friendships that would never have existed without the communication capabilities offered by sl. think about this, theo, we may be rl friends.. but where did we develop that friendship? since we met about a year ago i think i have seen you in the flesh about four times. the majority of our interaction is in sl, and that interaction has been real enough for us to get to know each other quite well...
ReplyDeleteso i will see you either in the ether or in the flesh soon :)
Friends are friends, SL, RL or otherL. Anyone open to SL will find, as you and Zola have, that it is just as 'real' as RL --- different in modalities, but the impact and connection are there.
ReplyDeleteA question I've wondered about is whether SL has a special combination of just enough imagery and behaviors that are similar to RL and others that transform reality (TelePort anyone?)to make it especially powerful as an immersive world. It certainly has the advantage of attracting a large number of very interesting people, who can make something of it, whether in what they create or how they relate to others there. All I can say personally is that SL brought together a combination of these things that has had far more appeal and meaning for me than anything else I've found online.
I understand your points, but I need to remain on the fence on this. I recognize more than I let on probably because I have made very good friends as well, both of you included in my definition of good friends, but I also keep getting reminded of the fickleness of environment. I can't help but wonder at times whether it is something I really need in my life, or is an extension of my life, or simply something I choose to enact because I like to play. But then of course, games are an extension of my life, aren't then, so why shouldn't my play/pretend also be classified as such? I am tired and rambling. But I do love you both, you pixelated fools.
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