This week in my research project, I am going to go over how
people use this 3D virtual world in correspondence to their interests and
personalities. Going along with this, I may even touch a little bit on
different communities that are seen throughout Second Life.
First up, Second Life is more than capable of allowing it’s
users to fully express themselves, their life styles, and their personalities.
While the creators, Linden Labs, allow customization, a lot of the interests
and styles come from the other players who create products, clothes, and
avatars of the same style and so. Content creation, customization, and sharing these
things with other players is what drives Second Life and the world around them.
Take me, for example… a few years ago, I created a few different uniforms and
avatar sets based off the popular game franchise Metal Gear Solid.
I have made plenty of sales and I’ve even been approached by
buyers asking me to create more content of similar nature, so that they could
start a Role Playing Group solely BASED off MGS. This idea practically goes
towards any single kind of product you will find out in this virtual world.
Another very large way to express one’s personality and
style is to own a house, or “land” and many people would say. “Land” meaning a
plot of space where they have full control over what goes on it, who is allowed
on it, and what they can do to it. These plots are either bought DIRECTLY
through Linden Labs for a moderate to large amount of real life money
(depending on the size of the land), or through other players who are allowed
to rent out the land for a price. This is exactly how it is in real life. Anyways,
back to customization… this is a picture of typical houses I have found while
wandering through random Sims.
It seems as if this Sim was dedicated to a residential
district for players, allowing pre-fabricated houses and homes to be rented and
used by players who are looking for a home of their own. The best part about a
home is that it allows a person to show off their true colors. Players can put
up decorations including pictures of friends, pictures of adventures they have
had in Second Life, or even pictures of things from real life! These houses and
lands allow a player to just “get away” from everything and everyone, giving
them space or the private time they need to work on other stuff or to recuperate.
On the flipside, they are also amazing places to have friends come and hang
out! These two pictures a great example of that exactly.
Finally, I want to touch base on a few different popular
groups that you might see out there in the Second Life world. These groups are
seen very differently based on a person’s opinions and ideas, but people will
fit in with what they are. First off, there are players that consider
themselves “Furries”. These are people who dress up in avatars as their
favorite animal and sometimes even act like these animals (small, timid, and
shy creatures). These types of players
are usually found sticking close together to a small pack of friends or
community. This is a picture of a group of friends at the “Flyin’ Tails
Airfield”
Another very popular group of people is vampires. These people
go around to wherever there is a large amount of people in an area, and they
will proceed to attempt to “bite and suck” the blood from players avatars. Now,
players can either play along or decline, since everything is done through
scripting. When the people who use this system, called Bloodlines, they use
their blood for prizes, bragging rights, or whatever a community or group will
use them for (like currency or seniority).
The last group of players I want to cover are the Second
Life Military people. The SL Military is a large-scale Role Playing organization
mainly focused on combat tactics. Each military group has its own leaders,
officers, and members… along with having their own headquarters base, equipment,
tools, and weaponry. Leaders of each group often schedule attacks on another
militaries base or gather its members to defend their base. These combats use
Second Life’s health and damage system, allowing players to die and respawn in
specified locations, much like in a First Person Shooter!
That is it for this week. Hope you had a good read!
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