The real secret of Second Life

[Charlemagne Allen]

This is an actual conversation with a new account. Name is altered for privacy.

[16:58] Charlemagne Allen: how did you hear about SL?
[16:58] sfskfjweoweirweirwep: I saw it on a documentary about video game addiction.

[Ineffable Mote]

Not sure if this is intended for too serious a discussion but I figure it's one worth having so I'll take the bait anyways

Considering social media is pretty well documented as being addictive, so much of it by design, and then Second Life being so immersive, and the shopping being addicting(with or without gachas), and music can get to be addictive too(not to single out trance music, and melomania I think it's more traditionally called), and OCPD (Obsessive Compulsive Photography Disorder) is some kind of thing too, and one could go on, without ever mentioning adult content, but I can see how SL's kind of at least a quadruple whammy for a lot of people. Though I'm not sure it qualifies as a real secret or is even all that surprising.

 

I'm wondering if this was some new documentary that's out, or maybe just a youtube thing?

 

 

late editing to add in here: addictions and habits can be hard to kick and not just replace with one or another as typically with these things there are underlying issues involved..unresolved issues and/or unmet needs and often from a young age. and not to open those cans of worms here either but this is what actual counseling and therapy is for, from someone with genuine credentials maybe even a license, which very well rules out SL for that these days with really exceedingly rare exceptions.

Edited April 25 by Ineffable Mote

[Love Zhaoying]

Can't tell you the real secret, it wouldn't be a secret.

[Bree Giffen]

I guess we have nothing to worry about fellow residents. Second Life is not a video game.

[Midnoot]

47 minutes ago, Bree Giffen said:

I guess we have nothing to worry about fellow residents. Second Life is not a video game.

Prove it . V:

[Bree Giffen]

 

 

ChatGPT

Second Life is often categorized as a virtual world rather than a game, although it can incorporate elements of gaming. In Second Life, users can create and customize avatars, interact with other users, build and design virtual environments, buy and sell virtual goods, attend events, participate in activities, and much more. Unlike traditional video games, Second Life does not have a specific set of objectives or goals imposed on users. Instead, it provides a platform for socializing, creativity, and exploration. Some users engage in activities within Second Life that resemble gaming, such as role-playing, racing, or exploring virtual landscapes, but the overall experience is more open-ended and user-driven than that of a typical game.

 

 

[Midnoot]

8 minutes ago, Bree Giffen said:

 

 

ChatGPT

Second Life is often categorized as a virtual world rather than a game, although it can incorporate elements of gaming. In Second Life, users can create and customize avatars, interact with other users, build and design virtual environments, buy and sell virtual goods, attend events, participate in activities, and much more. Unlike traditional video games, Second Life does not have a specific set of objectives or goals imposed on users. Instead, it provides a platform for socializing, creativity, and exploration. Some users engage in activities within Second Life that resemble gaming, such as role-playing, racing, or exploring virtual landscapes, but the overall experience is more open-ended and user-driven than that of a typical game.

 

 

Open world sandbox game , yee?

[Sid Nagy]

The real secret of Second Life is: soon™
I'll explain it somewhere... eh.... in the near future?

[Conifer Dada]

Even those people who say SL and RL are one and the same and warn 'fakes' to stay away probably have a secret alt. or two for when they want to be 'fake' themselves!

[Luna Bliss]

5 minutes ago, Conifer Dada said:

Even those people who say SL and RL are one and the same and warn 'fakes' to stay away probably have a secret alt. or two for when they want to be 'fake' themselves!

Hmmm...maybe some people become something 'fake' when they develop an alt. But most I've known who develop an alt that has a life inworld considers that alt to be a facet of themselves, and so not fake.

"I am large, I contain multitudes." -- Walt Whitman

[Alwin Alcott]

18 minutes ago, Sid Nagy said:

in the near future?

even debatable if the future will be here "soon" .. some things wait on repair for a decade ...
( or they change the situation to a "feature" instead of being broken (as login on the testgrid) ) 

Edited April 25 by Alwin Alcott

[Kimmi Zehetbauer]

This is a game?  YT classifies it as one in their category.  SL does have some gaming - think Greedy Greedy! 🤣

[Garnet Psaltery]

What is the topic?  That SL is addictive?

[Jaylinbridges]

7 minutes ago, Garnet Psaltery said:

What is the topic?  That SL is addictive?

No.

The topic should be, newbies need to watch up to date YouTube videos about SL that do not look for addictive personalities.  Just ask the oldies why they have been in SL for 17 years.  This 45 min video was featured last year before the SL20B celebration.  I know it's somewhere in an old thread, but worth watching again this year.

 

[Thecla]

Is SL addictive, whether it's a "game" or not? To some people, obviously, yes. I know plenty of people who have struggled with SL addiction and have a few friends who still struggle with it. And by struggle I mean "spend an excessive amount of time in SL to the point where it adversely impacts their RL". But people struggle with all sorts of different addictions to various behaviors aside from the obvious endorphin producing triggers like drugs, alcohol, sex, etc. Because some people are addicted to SL does not mean that SL is fundamentally addictive. And from what I've seen, different people become addicted to SL for different reasons.

[Wulfie Reanimator]

7 hours ago, Bree Giffen said:

I guess we have nothing to worry about fellow residents. Second Life is not a video game.

This opinion is held only by people with very limited gaming experience. If SL isn't a game, then neither is Roblox, Minecraft, Gmod, EverQuest Next, or a whole bunch of other sandbox games without goals.

Edited April 25 by Wulfie Reanimator

[Persephone Emerald]

3 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

Hmmm...maybe some people become something 'fake' when they develop an alt. But most I've known who develop an alt that has a life inworld considers that alt to be a facet of themselves, and so not fake.

"I am large, I contain multitudes." -- Walt Whitman

 I find it interesting that you distinguish between an alt "that has a life inworld" and that they consider "to be a facet of themselves" verses alts used in different ways. 

 I don't think using an alt for practical purposes - such as a model, a tester, a bank, a way to avoid being bothered - is being fake. (I suspect you don't either.)  I think it's only being fake when one purposely tries to deceive others, such as trying to be "friends" with someone who has unfriended another account or as a forum sock puppet who likes and responds to the posts of their main account.

 I don't think it's being fake to have multiple accounts - perhaps as roleplay characters, to express different moods or artistic expressions, or to use different aspects of SL. I think it's only being fake when deception is the purpose of the alt.

[HeathcliffMontague]

12 minutes ago, Wulfie Reanimator said:

This opinion is held only by people with very limited gaming experience. 

I dunno. To each their own, but I built my first PC in 1992 and have been a Doom-aholic ever since. I don't consider myself a gamer as such, but have plenty of experience with fx first person shooters. Been pretty immersed in some of those throughout my life. Those are games, even if you engage in a team and converse with people from the other side of the planet.. I've never viewed SL as a game, though.  SL is just... SL. Hard do put an pin on it. Social platform? That sort of covers it. Metaverse? Perhaps.

[Persephone Emerald]

If light can be both a wave and a particle, if Schrondinger's cat can be both alive and dead, if God can be both one being and many beings, then Second Life can be both a game and not a game.

[Garnet Psaltery]

1 hour ago, Jaylinbridges said:

The topic should be, newbies need to watch up to date YouTube videos about SL that do not look for addictive personalities.  Just ask the oldies why they have been in SL for 17 years.

 

I'll ask myself then as I've just celebrated being here for 19 years.   For the topic, perhaps the OP can shed some light.

[Luna Bliss]

1 hour ago, Persephone Emerald said:

5 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

Hmmm...maybe some people become something 'fake' when they develop an alt. But most I've known who develop an alt that has a life inworld considers that alt to be a facet of themselves, and so not fake.

"I am large, I contain multitudes." -- Walt Whitman

 I find it interesting that you distinguish between an alt "that has a life inworld" and that they consider "to be a facet of themselves" verses alts used in different ways. 

 I don't think using an alt for practical purposes - such as a model, a tester, a bank, a way to avoid being bothered - is being fake. (I suspect you don't either.)  I think it's only being fake when one purposely tries to deceive others, such as trying to be "friends" with someone who has unfriended another account or as a forum sock puppet who likes and responds to the posts of their main account.

 I don't think it's being fake to have multiple accounts - perhaps as roleplay characters, to express different moods or artistic expressions, or to use different aspects of SL. I think it's only being fake when deception is the purpose of the alt.

I'm thinking of 'fake' as not inhabiting one's avatar to a degree of depth -- not coming "from the heart". Just staying on the surface is what feels 'fake' for me, as opposed to considering fake as 'the intent to deceive'. Regarding someone who deceives with an alt (thinking of a friend being stalked by an alt, and at times I am also stalked via being this person's friend and so targeted), this alt who stalks is very much connecting to the core of themselves in a deeper way (they have a need to bother another or 'get even' in their mind). Likewise with a sock puppet, though deceiving others using an alt they appear to be overwhelmed and have a need to give the support to themselves they're unable to give with their main account. So again, their deceptive account does not seem 'fake'.

Of course we can't, as outsiders, determine when someone is inhabiting themselves or alts in a more superficial manner and not "coming from the heart", and there's no easily determined line to measure such a thing anyway. And the case could even be made that relating to the world superficially is also genuine as not all encounters with the world are, or need to be, deeper ones. But for me, 'fake' means skimming the surface, as one is not participating in the reality of a complex/depth world. Reality is complex, and so not relating to reality with a degree of complexity seems 'fake' to me.

 

Edited April 25 by Luna Bliss

[Luna Bliss]

1 hour ago, Thecla said:

....."spend an excessive amount of time in SL to the point where it adversely impacts their RL".

Yes I think it's only addictive if it's affecting one's life adversely....otherwise it's what's known as a 'habit'.

[Love Zhaoying]

I would expect the real secret of Second Life is the sheer number of hamsters required, and the size of the wheel.

 

[Wulfie Reanimator]

1 hour ago, HeathcliffMontague said:

I built my first PC in 1992 and have been a Doom-aholic ever since. I don't consider myself a gamer as such, but have plenty of experience with fx first person shooters. Been pretty immersed in some of those throughout my life. Those are games, even if you engage in a team and converse with people from the other side of the planet..

That sounds pretty limited to me.

Engaging in a team or conversing with people doesn't really factor into what a game is, but if you mostly play shooters or competitive games then I can totally understand the disconnect.

There are lots of games just like SL out there like I mentioned, and they've been there since the 90s in different forms (especially MUDs like Furcadia).

[Arielle Popstar]

1 hour ago, Luna Bliss said:

Yes I think it's only addictive if it's affecting one's life adversely....otherwise it's what's known as a 'habit'.

Can call it just a habit while still partaking in it. One only starts to realize its addictiveness when stopping for a while and realizes the emotional withdrawals that come up as a result, especially if one hasn't substituted with a similar virtual world.