New Article: "SL's loyal users embrace its decaying software and no-fun imperfections"

[Scylla Rhiadra]

4 minutes ago, Ineffable Mote said:

I only skimmed briefly, but my initial impression is that it was written as a response to some Bo Ruberg's paper from nearly a decade ago along with some Stone's - the document amounts to really lazy attention seekings(for careering or what not) and isn't a serious exploration of Second Life itself.

I don't see this as a direct riposte to those, but it definitely belongs to the same genre.

I do agree that the paper is lazy. I'm not sure what kind of "career" it might have been thought to contributing to, but academia certainly isn't one.

[Love Zhaoying]

The style of this initial section, is almost directly lifted from the style of Alfred Bester's seminal 1956 Science Fiction novel, The Stars My Destination - in which everyone but the severely disabled could teleport, or "jaunt" as it was called in the novel:

"I’m on an outdoor dance floor that doubles as an ice-skating rink; strangers swirl around me while a full moon floats above in an incandescent purple haze. I teleport. I’m on a love island; wild flamingos dot an infinite stretch of ocean, and I crouch behind a tiger to eavesdrop on a proposal. I teleport again. I’m in the abandoned HQ of a property management group called Blackwater; Ukrainian flags decorate a neoclassical palace, strung-out meditation exercises play on loop, the backyard is a galaxy. I pause my e-tourism agenda and zoom out the map. This cluster of sims—the term for an area of virtual land in Second Life—becomes a tiny, twinkling node in an infinite sea of possible worlds."

So, even though I recognize the imagery and story-telling style, in this part I do see some good prose.

If I were to find the matching section in Bester's book - it could be shockingly similar.  I will just leave that to my own imagination.

 

[AmeliaJ08]

Too many errors to really keep on reading beyond half way.

Really no time for 'journalists' that cannot be bothered to even get basic details right. By all means have opinions but there's no need to just make stuff up, there's also a responsibility to at least attempt to understand the details and make it clear to the reader when you don't. Too often they seem to just confidently get things wrong as a substitute for this, who's going to check their work anyway.

 

 

Edited May 13 by AmeliaJ08

[Love Zhaoying]

..Thank you for giving us something to discuss beside the TOS changes..

 

[Istelathis]

I thought it was fine, sure there were mistakes but compared to what I could pull off it is a masterpiece 🤣

The author seems to be an interesting person

Quote

Alice Bucknell is an artist, writer, and educator based in Los Angeles and London. Working primarily through game engines and speculative fiction, their work explores interconnections of architecture, ecology, magic, and nonhuman and machine intelligence. Bucknell currently teaches at SCI-Arc in Los Angeles and MA Narrative Environments in London. They are the founder of New Mystics, an editorial platform merging magic and technology.

This person seems to be a bit of a technowizard, I have long found that to be a really fun subject to explore.  I imagine they would be a lot of fun to talk with on the boards, and bring a lot of entertaining topics to the floor.

Edited May 13 by Istelathis

[Extrude Ragu]

I used to write like this back in school when I needed to pad out my homework. I think I lost a few IQ points..

[Love Zhaoying]

1 minute ago, Istelathis said:

This person seems to be a bit of a technowizard, I have long found that to be really fun.  I imagine they would be a lot of fun to talk with on the boards, and bring a lot of entertaining topics to the floor.

It would be interesting to see what they used for an avatar.  (Putting together a "Wizard" outfit isn't that hard given the MP.)

 

[Love Zhaoying]

Just now, Extrude Ragu said:

I used to write like this back in school when I needed to pad out my homework. I think I lost a few IQ points..

Try parsing the last sentence or two, with at least one made-up word, when even a "Second Life" term would have been fine. 

"..the perfect place to respawn, reimagine, and reworld our own."

[Rowan Amore]

Once I noticed they couldn't decide between Linden Lab and Linden Labs, I disregarded everything else they'd said.  Sorry

[Scylla Rhiadra]

6 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Try parsing the last sentence or two, with at least one made-up word, when even a "Second Life" term would have been fine. 

"..the perfect place to respawn, reimagine, and reworld our own."

Again -- for better or worse -- the use of neologism is pretty standard in Postmodern or Post-structuralist theory, and a pretty good indication (confirmed by Stella's post above) that the writer has at least some academic background.

The best known example is "Deconstruction," which meant originally something rather more complex than its current popular meaning, "taking apart." It was coined by the French Post-structuralist philosopher Jacques Derrida, who also coined a multi-lingual pun, "différance," which combines both "difference" (as the way in which meaning is produced) and "defer" (because no meaning is every "final").

So, again, this just locates the piece within a particular milieu.

[Rowan Amore]

31 minutes ago, Istelathis said:

Working primarily through game engines and speculative fiction

 

[Love Zhaoying]

13 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

Again -- for better or worse -- the use of neologism is pretty standard in Postmodern or Post-structuralist theory, and a pretty good indication (confirmed by Stella's post above) that the writer has at least some academic background.

The best known example is "Deconstruction," which meant originally something rather more complex than its current popular meaning, "taking apart." It was coined by the French Post-structuralist philosopher Jacques Derrida, who also coined a multi-lingual pun, "différance," which combines both "difference" (as the way in which meaning is produced) and "defer" (because no meaning is every "final").

So, again, this just locates the piece within a particular milieu.

Ok, then - to end such a story with a neologism is, I suppose, an intentional choice to end with some panache.

I doubt that "reworld" will live on to be in our vocabulary, at least from this specific artwork.

 

[Scylla Rhiadra]

2 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Ok, then - to end such a story with a neologism is, I suppose, an intentional choice to end with some panache.

I doubt that "reworld" will live on to be in our vocabulary, at least from this specific artwork.

 

Too late!!

Not sure what its 19th-century meaning would have been, but apparently now it's a term used in sociology.

[Sadvhi]

What is the author comparing Second Life to? I don't frequent other virtual worlds but I imagine SL is as good as it gets.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

1 minute ago, Sadvhi said:

What is the author comparing Second Life to? I don't frequent other virtual worlds but I imagine SL is as good as it gets.

Quote

Unlike its main massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) competitors like VRChat, Fortnite, or Roblox, whose procedural, unsaved worlds are geared more toward letting off steam in drop-in play sessions and, likewise, cater to more mainstream (heteronormative, linear, violent) ways of play, Second Life is always there, remaining online even when the user exits. Its player-made worlds—once preserved on thousands of proprietary whirring servers scattered across the Earth and now hovering dematerialized in Amazon’s cloud—exist forever, waiting for you to log back on.

 

[Sadvhi]

I don't know about VRChat, but comparing Second Life to Fortnite and Roblox doesn't make any sense

[JeromFranzic]

4 minutes ago, Sadvhi said:

I don't know about VRChat, but comparing Second Life to Fortnite and Roblox doesn't make any sense

VRC has a more modern feel to it VS SL. Far easier to use, and as I've been told, mindbending sometimes with VR goggles. I can't run goggles with my PC, don't like the headaches due to long periods of use, so the boring old flat screen it is for me. In my experience, a lot of avatars there have the anime influence. I mainly came on board to check out some recreations of SL sites, including the defunct Derpyland and Ahern. I pop in occasionally to explore, haven't bothered to use voice yet. I am a female in VRC... not sure if they want to hear from a 48 year old fella and I am not in the mood to use a voice synth in world... anywhere, really (yet). 

[Ayashe Ninetails]

1 minute ago, Sadvhi said:

I don't know about VRChat, but comparing Second Life to Fortnite and Roblox doesn't make any sense

It reads to me like they don't play either of those games, either, LOL.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

13 minutes ago, Sadvhi said:

I don't know about VRChat, but comparing Second Life to Fortnite and Roblox doesn't make any sense

 

Just now, Ayashe Ninetails said:

It reads to me like they don't play either of those games, either, LOL.

I hate sounding as though I'm continually defending this piece, because there are most definitely issues with it.

But I think that the fact that they are very very unlike SL is the most important point. The article doesn't spend a lot of time on the comparison / contrast, but it's using these other platforms as a kind of baseline against which to highlight the uniqueness of Second Life.

I play none of the other games, so I'm not in a position to judge the validity of that claim, however.

[Scylla Rhiadra]

And it's maybe worth noting that, while the article focuses upon the glitchiness and out-of-dateness of Second Life (both of which are surely unarguably true), overall this is a positive perspective on the platform.

What it is saying, in essence, is that the fact that SL is not a slick, well-designed, and very "controlled" experienced is what gives it such limitless potential for producing experiences that can be had nowhere else, and that offer new perspectives on virtual worlds, RL, and ourselves.

As I say, lots of issues with this article. But the central argument I find compelling and interesting, even if it needs more nuance.

[Ineffable Mote]

Every industry is full of people publishing trash for the sake of publishing, and self importance. (and internet forums are a lot like this, too, and I feel like I should mention "blogs" as well .. ) It's kind of the down side of the promised "information age" overlapping in such a possessed consumerist society.

Edited May 13 by Ineffable Mote

[Ayashe Ninetails]

17 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

I hate sounding as though I'm continually defending this piece, because there are most definitely issues with it.

But I think that the fact that they are very very unlike SL is the most important point. The article doesn't spend a lot of time on the comparison / contrast, but it's using these other platforms as a kind of baseline against which to highlight the uniqueness of Second Life.

No, no, that's totally fair! I just have issues with this part of their quote:

 

40 minutes ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

cater to more mainstream (heteronormative, linear, violent) ways of play

Fortnite is a battle royale and creative platform with a very large competitive scene (tournaments with lots o' $$$$$$), a huge creative/world-building scene (self-contained user-created games and events located in their own private and/or public spaces, like Roblox), and the occasional virtual concert. There's a LEGO survival mode now, too, and a racing game like Rocket League.

Violent is not a word I'd use to describe it, either, considering the BR portion has the most PG "death" I've ever seen (you just glitch and disappear when eliminated). SL's combat is a lot more graphic in ways (think of those zombie-killing sims, and the like).

Roblox is just a bunch of user-created worlds, usually with their own style, gameplay, and theme. Violent could apply, if you're in one of those horror or battle games, sure. Not sure about linear - I guess if someone's making an entire adventure game, maybe, but that's situational, too.

Thing is, I could use those same three words to describe parts of Second Life, too (meh, maybe not linear, but that word doesn't quite apply to any of those games, really). And mainstream? Uhhhh...*pokes SL's fashion scene...*

Edited May 13 by Ayashe Ninetails
Added Stuffs

[Scylla Rhiadra]

10 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

Fortnite is a battle royale and creative platform with a very large competitive scene (tournaments with lots o' $$$$$$), a huge creative/world-building scene (self-contained games and events located in their own private and/or public spaces, like Roblox), and the occasional virtual concert. There's a LEGO survival mode now, too, and a racing game like Rocket League.

Violent is not a word I'd use to describe it, either, considering the BR portion has the most PG "death" I've ever seen (you just glitch and disappear when eliminated). SL's combat is a lot more graphic in ways (think of those zombie-killing sims, and the like).

Roblox is just a bunch of user-created worlds, usually with their own style, gameplay, and theme. Violent could apply, if you're in one of those horror or battle games, sure. Not sure about linear - I guess if someone's making an entire adventure game, maybe, but that's situational, too.

Thing is, I could use those same three words to describe parts of Second Life, too (meh, maybe not linear, but that word doesn't quite apply to any of those games, really). And mainstream? Uhhhh...*pokes SL's fashion scene...*

This is totally fair -- and sort of what I meant by "nuanced."

I think that there is sort of an ideologically-sponsored reflex to assume that anything that is as tightly designed and controlled as these other platforms are (relative to LL's "hands off" attitude towards user-generated content and experiences) means that almost by definition they must be heteronormative, linear, and violent -- as well (probably) as phallocentric, colonialist, racist, etc.

And you're of course absolutely correct that SL hosts activities that are also all these things, in spades. I doubt that there's a lot of vore on Roboblox.

Your last aside, about SL fashion, actually gestures at what is, to me, the central problem with the article, and that is that it doesn't account for how much SL culture (and not just its tech affordances) has evolved since the early days. We may not have the tight top-down control that other platforms feature, but we've evolved, for a variety of interesting reasons, into a heavily consumerist culture that is much less about "free play" and more about owning and showing off the newest mesh head, mesh body add-on, etc. I think our evolution in that direction is itself a really interesting story.

Edited May 13 by Scylla Rhiadra
Grammar

[Love Zhaoying]

I saw a couple phrases while peeking between my fingers that basically implied "SL is degrading". I am going back to see whether there was anything specific.

This had caught my eye earlier:

"..catalyzed by the realization of just how reality-adjacent it is to First Life. This is a truism leveraged more broadly against the platform’s system architect, Linden Lab, than its users, who seem to delight in moments when that system breaks down, from avatars to property, scaffolding new social behaviors atop its fault lines."

I come away NOW, thinking this means we (the users) seem to delight when the "system" of "being reality-adjacent" breaks down; upon initial reading, I thought it meant when the "system" of "Second Life itself" breaks down.   Ms. @Scylla Rhiadra? Teacher? Essplain pwease?

 

[Paul Hexem]

This person makes the word heteronormative come across like an insult.

Also,

Quote

Alice Bucknell is an artist, writer, and educator based in Los Angeles and London. Working primarily through game engines and speculative fiction, their work explores interconnections of architecture, ecology, magic, and nonhuman and machine intelligence. Bucknell currently teaches at SCI-Arc in Los Angeles and MA Narrative Environments in London. They are the founder of New Mystics, an editorial platform merging magic and technology.

Sounds like someone that couldn't handle a real STEM job and knew the underwater basket weaving degree wasn't going to land a job.

The kind of person that's completely unemployable outside of academia and gives universities a bad name.