The propensity to absorb oneself in make-believe originates in childhood, when a simple prop could make one a princess, a movie star, a soldier, a hero or a villain. As adults we immersed ourselves in music, books, storytelling, movies, television, or structured games, and each of these pursuits probably required progressively less imagination. But once upon a time, radio listeners had their imaginations piqued by some fundamental sound effects created by plungers, tom-toms, rain boxes, canvas, silk, tin cans, rubber balloons, pillows, cellophane, and bottles. Then movies and television presented us with complete pictures of stories, at first amateurish, but later technically sophisticated. Now, in the computer age, the “tools” of immersion have become powerful and complex, simultaneously requiring both less and more imagination to create a truly immersive experience.
Computer games have given us the ability not only to imagine, but to participate in an alternate reality and to actually influence it. But some of these alternate realities no longer fit the definition of game. They can’t be won or lost and have no end state. But they are fun and addictive. They are truly virtual worlds in which we can actually live an alternate life.
Early computer gamers indulged their fantasies in text based games while mastering clearly defined environments. But technology advanced, reality caught up with fiction, and people became truly able to “jack in” to a virtual world in a sensual and even affective way. An electronic image can give you an actual presence in a virtual reality that is not truly physical, but is certainly relational and definitely emotional.
Classification schema of game-players abound: One set of classifications might be the achiever, the explorer, the socializer, or the killer. Another might be the role-player, the storyteller, the power-gamer, or the war-gamer. All immerse themselves, but to different degrees and in different ways. How does this relate to Second Life, a “game” in which others as well as one’s own self have a presence?
One type of Second Life “resident” uses SL mainly for extension of his or her real life or RL. These individuals cannot or do not want to differentiate SL from RL - they want to extend their RL into SL. This player mixes SL and RL freely, meeting fellow players for lunch in the real world, possibly engaging in business transactions with them, or dating. There is not much imagination at work or role-playing going on. This can become serious business vs. simple fun and enjoyment.
The extensionist has no real “second life.” This can make her just a little threatening to the virtual worlds of others, because she tends to bring RL needs and arguments to it, and tries to enforce RL customs and rules, sometimes diminishing the freedom of others and inhibiting herself as she does so.
A second type of resident is the immersive role-player. For this person, SL and RL are separate – different lives with different rules. This is the basic intention of role-playing games, but it is antithetical to the extensionist idea of what a virtual world could or should be. This can be dangerous to the role-player’s very virtual existence. The extensionist does not always understand or accept the kind of separation the real role-player requires, and, if the role-player’s persona is not sufficiently outrageous and unbelievable, can label it deception and fraud.
To deal with these realities, the role-player may hybridize. The hybrid player may seem to be an extensionist, but actually is not. This player has a pseudo-life that may closely resemble that player’s real life, differing only in some minor or perhaps some pivotal way. There is no desire or willingness to merge SL with RL. But there is danger here as well, and that is that there is always the possibility of emotional damage to other players whose own imaginations rely upon the truth of the way others represent themselves.
This brings us to Gudrun’s non-mutually exclusive Second Life Paradigm of Existence in a Virtual World:
Parenthetic markings are intended to differentiate players of differing motivation. All of this, of course, is intended to be confusing. :=P
La raison for participation in SL is some element of personal fulfillment in one or more of these categories. This grows out of the simple desire for an enjoyable experience and the individual pursuit of goals and desires while opposing external interference.
At no time in real life does one person reveal the totality of their personality to another. This is not deception: each one of us knows that there is much going on within us that is not being revealed. One can only express their true desires and feelings to the extent they are compatible with what others are willing to accept. Otherwise, discourse becomes discord, isolation, or worse.
In any life, most of us do not always tell people what we really think of them. Conversely, we may not want to hear from them what they really think of us. We might guess at their true feelings, but really do not care about them except to the extent they affect our relationships. Most everyone participates in this kind of politeness and deference.
In living our second lives, we must keep a firm grip on the fact that the social self that others present to us is not the whole of their personality. As in real life, we mature, and the reactions of others as we present ourselves to them affects our feelings toward ourselves and our self conception. Of course, we also dynamically mold an image of ourselves for others. In our interactions we "take the role of the other" to evaluate the way we come across in any given situation, and we adjust our behaviors (and perhaps more importantly, the amount of information we divulge about ourselves) accordingly. And we must keep in mind players’ differing reasons for participating in a virtual world.
Much of the fun of a virtual world is the illusion. When all illusion is worn away, are you left with something that feels almost like a job? It’s probably a bad thing when playing a game makes the player feel annoyed and obligated. Is that what we’re here for, LOL?
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