From Virtual World to Virtual World...

After experiencing such a diverse virtual world such as Second Life, I find myself disappointed in the virtual world of Heritage Key. Given that this world is substantially smaller in size, I wouldn’t expect as much lagging when teleporting or when graphics are trying to become clearer. Unfortunately though, these graphics never reach their full clarification as I have often received messages warning me that my graphics card is incompatible with the program.

Besides technical issues, it is hard to fully personalize your avatar. As strange as this may sound, I often feel “naked” when walking around. The clothes on my avatar seem to resemble the tightness of spandex and really outline the curves and lines of the female body. After picking out new clothes, this effect still occurred, and the choices to actually customize my avatar were limited. Coming from Second Life, I now feel the need to have my avatar resemble and represent me; but was unable to do so in Heritage Key.

In terms of finding places to go, I am impressed at the neat educational destinations such as King Tuts Tomb, but feel that traveling is very inefficient. Often times, I am unsure of where I will be teleporting when I enter what appears to be a portal. I would encourage Heritage Key to make this aspect more clear and accessible. However, once I navigated to King Tuts Tomb, I was in utter fascination at all the paintings.

Overall, Heritage Key provides great educational resources, but the technical part of the virtual world really needs to be more extensively developed.

Dancing Anyone?

Ryan and I embarked on our adventure in Second Life and went to Burning Life on Saturday. We first attended a techno dance club entitled Nlight Noonan, which proved to be a bit scary. Never having had audio on when others communicated in the chat box, ghost-sounding voices pronounced their words. Not only did the sound of the words come as a surprise, but also what the avatars both said and how they dressed.

The majority of the avatars at this club talked in a very sexual manner often using profanity with one another. Some avatars were even scantly clothed. This was a part of Second Life that I had never witnessed. After reading the directions on how to dance, I still could not figure it out as I could not locate a dancing ball. On the contrary though, I was successful in walking around without bumping into anyone.

Next, Ryan and I decided to go to a party at the Wormhole (?) and this was a much more successful adventure. The theme at this dance was Star Trek, so it was interesting to see what the other avatars were wearing. After I was still unable to find the dancing ball, I built up the courage to just ask. To my surprise, the avatars were kind to me as a newbie, and told me how to dance. I was shocked to see my avatar dance, as the moves seemed quite risqué!

Overall, I learned how to dance, and learned that there is much diversity in Second Life. The type of avatars you come across really does depend on your location.

What Defines Society?

Society consists of all the individuals that make up a community. These individuals differ in race, views, appearance, and background. However, morals can corrupt this society, or cause it to have flaws. It is these flaws that have a negative effect on particular individuals.

Insecurity often leads individuals to follow the norm of society. This “norm” however is based on corrupt morals. Certain individuals who possess self-confidence often act or dress a certain way. When these confident individuals look down on others, who possess a lower self-confidence, the people who have this lower self-confidence often conform or change in order to be accepted by this confident individual. When all these people conform, they form what is known as the “norm.” Morally, if you are happy with your decisions, you should not feel the pressure to conform to be accepted. It is through derogatory glances or excluding individuals that these confident people gain the power to lead the norm.

I consider this a “flaw” of society. Individuals like those who decide to dress differently in Second Life, feel uncomfortable expressing their true self in reality. They feel uncomfortable because those in the “norm” treat them in a negative way. This is a flaw because I feel that in a community, everyone should be accepted regardless of how they choose to express themselves, given that this expression is safe. Thus, when everyone does not feel comfortable expressing himself or herself because of this norm, this is the “flaw of society.”

Embarking on a New Adventure...

Deciding to be courageous and adventurous, Ryan and I have chosen NliughtN Nootan, a techno themed dance to attend this Saturday at 2:00 SLT.

I am extremely excited to attend this event as I hope to interact with many avatars. After having a positive experience with the avatars at Luskwood, I am anxious to see how the avatars at a dance differ. I am a bit nervous as I am unsure of how to dance well, but I love techno music so hopefully if all else fails, I can at least stand and listen.

Before I embark on this new adventure however, I will be walking around Second Life to practice walking normally before attending Burning Life. Recently, I find it hard to navigate and walk in a straight line without walking into anyone. I definitely need to solve this problem, as I don’t want to look too much like a newbie when I walk in!

Are Virtual Worlds Necessary in Today's World?

After talking about visiting numerous places in Second Life, and feeling this sense of emptiness around me, I decided to search for hangouts. I first came across a hangout called Luskwood. Upon teleporting there I was interested to see many avatars dressed as animals. I discussed with them that I was exploring this virtual world for a college English class. They didn’t mind my asking them questions such as why they chose to dress like they did.

Earlier, I had made a claim that I had not understood why people chose to engage in Second Life, I didn’t understand its benefits. However, Topher and Nekorina clarified why they joined this community:

Topher Delcon: Its a chance to be whatever you want to be and try out things you cant do in the real world. I’m a human all day long in real life, why not be something else when I’m relaxing online.

Nekorina Bourjade: sees Life as a learning experience, and trying new things is the way to know whether you like it or not, also on SL you can be true to your inner self which is the Self you don’t really show in the real world.

I never thought about this virtual world as a place to try new things, or to explore your inner self. This idea that you can be “true” to your inner self really illustrates the flaws of society. Here, people don’t feel like they have to “mask” their inner self as society typically tries to conform individuals to thinking and acting a certain way. However, one must consider the virtual “mask” that is displayed in Second Life. Although these avatars can be true to themselves in terms of personality, dress, and actions, they do not reveal their true names. One must question then where the middle ground is between a virtual reality and an actual reality. It is plausible that one day people will feel comfortable displaying their true self without feeling pressure from society? Or will mankind always need this sort of program to alleviate pressure that others feel from society?

I found all this fascinating, and plan to explore Second Life further. One of the avatars offered to take me to a human avatar dancing club to show me what it is like. I am very excited to see how this experience not only changes the way I view Second Life, but how it affects my original claim. Below, I am pictured with the avatars that so kindly answered my questions.