I mentioned earlier that I was playing in IMVU, a virtual chat client that allows a person to design their own 3D avatar. The idea was amusing to me, but I'll admit that I didn't like the idea of being restricted to one room...so I've graduated to Second Life.
Second Life is a virtual world that, like IMVU, allows a person to have a 3D avatar, but what makes it so much more intriguing is the ability to wander through user created spaces...sometimes complete cities. Thus far, I've spent most of my time exploring some of the brilliant atmospheres that people have created, but I'm also considering the roleplaying possibilities.
A couple of places that I've enjoyed:
Babbage town – A gorgeous steampunk city that has very little traffic at the moment. That's unfortunate, because it would be a supremely fun place for roleplaying.
The Dune Project – A SIM set up specifically for roleplaying Frank Herbert's novel. It has a learning curve, so I've only wandered through as a tourist, but I'm seriously considering a more serious commitment to the game. I just haven't decided which faction I want to play. (I'm a total Dune geek)
The Wastelands – A post-apocalyptic salvage SIM. I haven't fully explored this one yet, but the atmosphere is dark and dirty...just as it should be.
Etopia Eco-Village – This place is just plain pretty to look at. It's based on sustainable living and eco-friendly building design, and it was obviously a labor of love by whomever put it together. I spent a great deal of time just playing all of the drums that are available for drumming circles.
On the downside, there's a lot of advertising, especially in the main hubs, but it's pretty easy to escape those one you learn where to go. Also, there seems to be a lot of “Gorean” roleplay, which I'm assuming is based on the Gor novels given the references to female slaves. I've tried to avoid those areas like the plague.
Anyhow...if anyone happens to play on Second Life, feel free to find me there. My character's name is Cyan Taurog, and I'm always up for good company. Exploring can be lonely trade.
6 comments:
Gor is it? I read that series when I was a teenager and found the initial cycle of books were quite good. The descriptions of the world and the adventures of the hero were well done.
When the slavery aspect started getting out of hand, I lost interest. It was all very 'adolescent' and by that time I was getting too old for it. I haven't read them all, but I did come across one I'd not read a year or three back and it was awful. Repetetive and obsessive in a way I associate with cinematic serial killers.
In Germany, some adult players of Second Life have created a big scandal. They chose the avatars of children and made out with grown-up avatars in not-too secret secret darkrooms, much to the shock and dismay of other secondlifers.
The funsters have been identified and now face a trial for child abuse, because sex with pixel kids is treated like sex with real children in German law.
So Second Life gets a lot of negative attention here but what the heck, it's fascinating and if I should ever meet Cyan Taurog we'll have a ball (no chain)^^
BTW your blog is gorgeous, I found it thru Sidney's. You seem to like the Preraphaelites a lot, as does
- Ai
I created an account just to see what it was like, but my computer Didn't seem to like it very much. Nothing seemed to work as it was supposed to. I think I'll stick to eve.
=)
ai - A community like Second Life naturally lends itself to all sorts of different fantasy oriented uses. Some of them are positive, some are negative, and some exist within certain shades of gray. I suppose that the best that we can do is deal with the issues as they come along.
And thank you for the nice comment on the blog design. I do love Preraphaelites. :)
Moif - It's unfortunate that it didn't work for you. I think that you would really appreciate some of the steampunk creations. If I figure out how to do snapshots, I'll post them for you.
I'm not surprised that it was buggy, though. It gets that way for me sometimes too, and it's pretty frustrating at times.
There is a free program called Frapps that lets you capture still and short movies.
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