An Average Guy on Second Life

So my good friend Alicia Chenaux came up with the Big Bad Blogger Challenge. I usually don't do blogger challenges for several reasons.

1. I don't really consider myself a "Blogger". I just play with toys and talk about them.

2. I usually don't have time to do them.

3. They are usually about girlie stuff, to which I usually dont have much to contribute to.

This particular challenge runs over several days, and I have seen several great entries for them. Again, I just have not had the time to keep up.

But today..for some reason, I got it into my head to do one of the themes: If there was someone you could trade places with for one day in Second Life, who would it be and why?

So here goes.



I would like to trade places with Truth Hawks for 1 whole day. Why? Let me 'splain.

1. It would be interesting to see what it would feel like to actually have talent!

2. I might get a sneak peak at his next work of amazing..and hold it over my friends heads for a little bit.

3. I might be able to influence him to make more GUY hair!

4. I would have is Avatar eat more...he is a SKINNY little dude!

5. I would upgrade his dances ...so I dont have to keep adding him to my Huddles

6. Being Truth for a day, would give me a break from my stalker.

So, as I log in as Truth, I weed through ALL the messages he gets, I scan the "in process" folders for unreleased stuff, then start to peruse down his friends list. That is when I see it! My stalker...IS ON HIS LIST TOO! *facepalms

Damn..well, 5 out of 6 ain't bad!

*thanks to Truth for indulging me with this little lark AND...thanks to the Amazing Rylan, for not only thinking I am crazy...but for helping me with the pic when I was getting frustrated!

I my previous post, I laid out 3 "types" of people that inhabit the world of Second Life. In the third type, I referred the the phrase "It's only a game". I have heard this phrase used about Second Life many times, and it always confused me a bit, mostly because I don't consider it "Just a game". Tonight, I had a small epiphany.

A game is a game. Poker, Chess, Football, Baseball, Basketball, Hockey, Nascar, Barrel Rolling, Downhill Shovel Racing, and even Politics are all games. Some games have higher stakes than others, but when it gets right down to it, its ALL, "just a game". The difference is how much energy each player puts into whatever "game" they are playing. Heck, people make entire lives out of "games". Careers are created, maintained, and die, playing "games". People are born, live, and die..in games. It has been said, that all the world...is a game. (Actually, I believe it was "All the world is a stage", but you get what I mean..:) )

So when somebody says Second Life "is just a game", I think they really don't understand. Of COURSE it's a game. But EVERYTHING is a game.

So, here is something I want you to really think about.

Maybe it really IS not whether you win or lose...but HOW....you PLAY...."The Game"!

*smiles, and slowly turns, heading back to his favorite spot for some more playtime

(sung to the tune of People are People by Depeche Mode)

I have been thinking a lot about Avatars in Second Life recently. Just doing a bit of introspective study of myself and others. I don't know if its just me, or human nature to try and categorize things, but I think I have come up with something.

There is always something dramatic happening around in Second Life. It either starts in Plurk and spills over onto the Grid, or visa versa. It's usually about something that somebody did, or said, or didn't say, etc etc etc. All this Avatar interaction, which is really just an extention of human interaction, is really just different types of people...misunderstanding each other in my humble opinion.

It seems to me, that there are 3 basic types of Avatars (and the people behind them) that are in Second Life.


Type 1. The very serious Avatar

This Avatar takes everything very seriously in Second Life. As serious as they take their Real Lives I would hope, but there is nothing funny, or light hearted about this Avatar at all. Everything these Avatars do and say are done and said with complete seriousness, just as if there were interacting with you in Real Life.


Type 2. The occasional serious but usually light hearted Avatar.

This Avatar takes some things very seriously in Second Life, but also knows that much of it is just for fun. Each Avatar in this catagory has some things they take seriously in Second Life. What does this Avatar take seriously? It could be anything really, but there is something or things they they take very seriously in Second Life, while the rest of it is all for fun, or just ignored.


Type 3. The complete lack of seriousness Avatar.

This Avatar is only interested in fun. Nothing about Second Life is taken seriously at all. They travel within the world of Second Life, and do anything they please, without any regard to anything really. These people can be griefers, although not all of them are. These Avatars can be judgemental, but always cover it by saying "oh, its all in fun". This Type of Avatar will usually move around the Grid in a group. Sometimes you hear them in voice, laughing at what they see, or hear. They may do different Role Plays, try different things out, but all of it is just "playing in the moment". After all, Second Life is "just a game".

(Each one of these "Types" have subcatagories, some of which are way to numerous to list. This is just a simple comparison list for pete's sake! :) )

The above catagories are not judgements, but an an attempt to illustrate a point. It would seem to me that where most of the problems that occur with Avatar interactions is when you get incompatible types of Avatars together. If you put a Type 1 Avatar together with a Type 3, I would predict that they would not get along well. Maybe for a short time...but eventually it will fall apart, usuallly involving drama of some sort. I have even seen two Type 2's have issues, because what each one took seriously was not the same thing.

Maybe the trick is to really identify what Type you are, and surround yourself with like Types?

It does remind me of the E-Harmony commercials you see on TV or hear on the radio. 39 levels of compatibility testing (or something like that) to find your perfect match, or your money back...yada yada yada.

Maybe once Linden Labs is finished moving all the "adult" stuff into a lock box (um...I mean..the ZINDRA SIM), they can come up with a way to indentify your "Type" of avatar, and then they can customize your Second Life experience THAT way too. Just a thought.

So I guess the next question is...what Type are you?

*runs