Week 3 - Personality and Avatars

Being a noob in any game is tough. In Second Life, however, it is a little tougher. Changing out of those beginner clothes is a big way to tell the difference between a new player and a seasoned one in just about every game. However, in order to change your appearance, you need money… or you will have to settle for something that looks bad and probably looks way off, forever putting you in damnation of being a “noob”. 

Avatar customization in Second Life is immense. When just starting in SL, you need to get the hang of how objects and outfits work. It is pretty crazy and overwhelming when you learn about attachments and how they work. Most attachments are able to be modded, which lets you change their sizing and positioning. Most people are not aware of this, and their attachments are in very bad positions or scaled incorrectly. Nevertheless, looking like a noob in this game is very unimportant, but that mostly depends on what type of group or individual you are in contact with. Most people on SL are interested in the PERSON, the PERSONALITY, and the LIFE of that avatar… not so much their appearance. As I grew through my time on SL, my avatar has gone through many stages.

This is a picture of one of my very first avatars. Yeah, it is pretty interesting, right? You can tell that I was definitely into the whole, “I can do/be/dress anyway I want.” I have met some very interesting and amazing people through my career, and I will never forget many of them. In fact, I still talk to and remain friends with many of them! Anyways, I was always seen for my person, not my avatar (for the most part). I would say that most of my experiences on SL are equal to that of my real life. I made friends based off what things I liked, my value of opinions, and just my friendly personality.

There are, however, people who are the complete opposite. They base everything about a person straight off of their avatar. I came across this article while doing a little research on this topic. This is a excerpt taken straight from the article:
“

"Well, I teleport into a region," she says, recounting a latter case.  "Where a couple people [are] standing around.

"One said, 'Look at the n***** b****.'" 

"Another said 'Great, they are gonna invade SL now.'"

I ask her if she filed an abuse report against them with Linden Lab, since racist speech is a patent violation of SL Community Standards.  She shrugs.  "Better things for Lindens to worry about." She spent three months in the skin of a black woman. Some of her friends shied away, she believes. Then there were the "guys that thought I was an easy lay, for lack of a better term. It scared me honestly, some of the assumptions made. Especially here where everything [in avatar appearance] is changeable with a click. I lost a couple of what I thought were good friends [who] stopped IMing and chatting. They were polite to a fault when I showed up, but [it] was weird. You know how you interact and something changes and no one tells you. Some were subtle, some weren't." She laughs without mirth, recalling how some friends would ask her questions such as, "'[L]ike, when you going back to being you?'

" (Wagner, 2006)

Anyways, jumping back to me for the remainder of this post… here is a little list of people that I have met over the years and a little bit about them.

Name: Chronic Benelli

Date Met: February 2, 2008

What brought you to SL? What did you want to do?
 “Boredom and the urge for something new and exciting brought me to SL.”

How did you view me when we first met?
“I thought you were really dope and I knew we were going to be friends for a long time. You were super chill and very easy to get along with.”

Name: Stevie Muggins

Date Met: April 18, 2010

What brought you to SL? What did you want to do?
“What brought me to SL was one of my online friends bugged me to join this thing. And I’ve been addicted ever since. I was a complete douche to her though and never met her in world. What I wanted to do in SL was become SL famous by making some good stuff. That never happened though. :P”

How did you view me when we first met?
“I just remember going to your store once and buying a lot of shirts. You were standing there and I was like, “ohhayy I like your stuff!” I thought you were pretty awesome, and you still are today.

Name: Violet Aldrin

Date Met: March 29, 2010

What brought you to SL? What did you want to do?
“I was watching an episode of the office when i had mono, the one where Dwight’s talking about SL, and wanted to see if it was real. I used it while I was home sick and then forgot about it for like a year. Now I use it whenever I’m bored or bed ridden.”

How did you view me when we first met?
“First impression: scene kid punk; personality: could be nice, but insists on being loud and gross.”

Name: Mochi Nyoki

Date Met: May 13, 2011

What brought you to SL? What did you want to do?
“When I first joined it was just to practice Japanese, because I met a lot of Japanese people, but when I learned more about SL it became just a social thing for me, something to do when I was home and bored.”

How did you view me when we first met?
“When we first met, I thought you were one of those people who had some kind of self-importance and didn't talk much to people unless they had a certain status. I learned shortly after that you were pretty much the opposite!”

Name: ReleaseTheZombiies

Date Met: April 24, 2012

What brought you to SL? What did you want to do?
“I saw it on CSI or something and thought it was cool. So, I looked into it been playing since.”

How did you view me when we first met?
“I viewed you as cool. You were Lonnie's (Chronic Benelli) friend and you have a sick obsession with ham (an inside joke story between us, it’s extremely funny!) ... xD”

References

Wagner, A. (2006, February 23). The skin you're in. Retrieved from http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2006/02/the_skin_youre_.html