Thursday, October 15, 2009

Second Life



When I saw the name Second Life, even before I knew what it actually was I figured it to be a sort of virtual world. From previous experience, I've played with The Sims, and that was pretty fun. You could do alot of things without the risk of real consequences. The same thing can apply here with this Second Life game, as it became a premium life in virtual reality. I mean to say that I was able to do things not just generally risky (like start a business) but things that were literally impossible for a human to do (such as flying).

In my screenshot, I had flown to the top of a building in the middle of the night and faced a bizarre building that resembled a freakish version of the Eiffel Tower. I pondered for a moment and realized this is what the virtual reality aims to please with. I've never flown to the top of a building, let alone be on top of one. Mostly it's for fear of becoming absent minded enough to lose balance and have an impolite kiss with the concrete... but all the same--heights are definitely one of the many things that hinder people from doing things they normally wouldnt attempt in reality.

Another thing I realized is that games like this seem to have a fairly solid base in reality, just enough to keep a comparison between life and fantasy. If I was in a game that had me as a bird and able to fly, it may be fun for a while. However, being as a person and flying gives that base in reality and satisfies that "I wish that I could fly" rather than "I wish I was a bird...who in reality can fly".