At a recent
science fiction convention I became involved in a long conversation with a woman who is an active user of
Second Life. I'd heard a little about it and she was interesting, so I thought I'd take the plunge and try it myself.
First of all, it's not for the hardware and data bus challenged. I have a recent iMac with the good graphics card and a cable modem, but screen draws can take up to a minute to really fill in the details. Slower during heavy use. But the software of Second Life is very impressive and some very creative people have invested in it. There are some very cool and beautiful creations places constructed by the builders. Getting started is fairly easy, and you really don't need any money to play. Plus there is a Battlestar Galactica sim that looks like fun, if time intensive. A couple nice dance clubs that play good music, and give you a chance to meet people while tango software protects you (and your partner's shins) from the effects of two left feet.
But I was looking for a free bathing suit and ended up in a ghetto. For some reason, somone took the time and effort to design a real slum, complete with burning cars, dark nights and plenty of vice. Complete with real streetwalkers. Yes, there were actual characters standing around 'dressed' as cheap 'hos, looking for johns.
My friend told me sex and weddings were a big business in Second Life. I didn't believe her. Now I do. Sex sells in the land of pixels. It's everywhere, with automated genitalia and companionship available for the right price.
The way I see it, if I'm going to have a 'Second Life', it ought to be to do things I can't do in real life. Like drive a Formula 1 car or fight Cylons. I don't want to see a slum, I want to see Rivendell. And if I wanted a hooker I'd prefer the kind that gets politicians to resign. A streetwalker made up to look cheap is off the menu. And what sort of person would play that sort of character? If you wanted to play a prostitute why not play some outrageous courtesan? Hang around with Princes and Generals at Versailles and service rich nobles. Or maybe live on an exotic world from one of Robert Heinlein's wet dreams. Build Castle Anthrax. Pretending to be a streetwalker is just whacked.
Or maybe it's just a failure of imagination. After all, real people voluntarily appear on The Jerry Springer Show. Money matters in 2L and if you don't want to spend real greenbacks to get linden (the local currency) then you must find another way. Maybe people simulate real life where people trade on what they have at the minimum, because they can't see their way to the top. Maybe instead of escaping real life, they've just copied it.