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| Tuesday, October 31, 2006 |
| Discovering My Second Life |
Last night was weird. Over the past couple of weeks I have read a lot about Second Life and I have been intrigued to find out a bit more about it. Well, last night I gave it a go and it's weird. I don't know how many of you have actually heard about it/seen it/signed up for it, but allow me to explain (as best I can).
Essentially, Second Life is exactly what it says it is - another life. Upon signing up for the programme, you have to pick a name for your avatar and put in some basic information about yourself. At this point you have the option to join the free service or the premium service. As I was only seeking to understand how this works, I only signed up for the free service. As far as I can tell, if you sign up for the premium service, you can buy property and make money that can then be converted into real money (as far as I understand). Once you have signed in and chosen a name you enter a 'training' area where you learn how the whole thing works. For example, you learn how to change the appearance of your avatar in the finest detail. You can modify hair, body, clothes, even the length of your eyelashes and the shape of your eyebrows. Once this is done and you get to grips with how to control the character, you're away into the virtual world and free to explore what Second Life has to offer.
Once I got past the 'training' I was unleashed upon the world, free to do whatever I wanted - the freedom! So what did I do??? I wondered around aimlessly and spoke to some rather unusual characters. The first of these was a guy with the name of Dwarfbox (or something like that). Now I guess you would suspect that the first thing that struck me was his unusual name, well you would be wrong. What first brought him to my attention was the chicken on his shoulder. Yes, you did read that right - a chicken. There he was, confidently strutting around (would you carry a chicken if you lacked confidence?? I guess not), with a chicken perched on his shoulder. Why?? Why the urge to walk around in an alternative reality with a chicken as a companion?? This place is clearly weird.
After talking to the chicken-man, I bumped into someone else who was almost as weird. This guy was walking around with an afro for a head. No eyes, nose or mouth, just one great big fuzzy afro. Barely had we got passed the hellos, than he was asking me what I have got and if I have any money. Bit forward I thought, especially for a man who has an afro for a head. I said no, I was new. He replied 'Try this'. Next thing you know, I have acquired something called 'Red Dragon'. Is this some kind of weird, alternative reality drug? And why has he just given to me?? And why has he now disappeared?? I decided that this 'Red Dragon' thing was not a good thing to have. 'Never accept gifts from strangers' my mum always said, 'particularly if their head is an afro' (Ok, maybe she didn't say the last bit).
Before leaving this weird world, I bumped into a couple of ladies. Given the nature of this weird place however, they weren't just any old ladies. One of them was dressed rather conventionally, whereas her companion was a little more, how shall we say, extroverted. Essentially, she was dressed in her underwear and wore a witches hat and carried a dragon around for company. Quite why she felt the need to carry a dragon around with her I have no idea, perhaps because she could. I realised at this point that there is a strange obsession in this place to accessorise with mythical creatures, or chickens.
After talking to these weird and wonderful characters, I decided to leave and re-enter the real world. A world where people don't carry chickens on their shoulders, or have afros for a head, or accessorise their clothes with a purple dragon. Having said that, how long will it be before Bush or Blair do all three?? Perhaps we will see Bush with a chicken on his shoulder after the elections. But after a while, would it be Bush with a chicken on his shoulder, or a chicken with a Bush under his feet?? Who knows, it's a crazy world! |
posted by korova @ 8:23 am  |
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| 3 Comments: |
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I love the idea of Bush trampled under the feet of oppressive chickens.
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I just read an article about it too and am about to go and see what it is like. I hope it's crap. Otherwise, I will never get any work done.
Writing life and Second Life don't realy sound like they are compaitible.
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Hi Sarah - sounds good doesn't it??!!
Hi Rachel - I have to say, the experience was enough. If I did get too involved in it, I wouldn't have time for anything else - certainly not maintaining 2 blogs!!!
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I love the idea of Bush trampled under the feet of oppressive chickens.