As is often the case lately, this weekend I found myself explaining Second Life to someone unfamiliar with the concept of VWEs. Their immediate response was... "I never thought YOU'D be a gamer!" Hmmmmm... a gamer... (not unlike the mother who upon learning what I did for a living then responded with "OH! You're in PR?!? Used to like you!)
Follow that up with a discussion in SL about virtual identities that claim that the virtual world erases stereotypes (NOT)... We can create alternative identities... but even these are judged. In the discussion, someone posted the link attached above in the title of the post. It's the trailer for http://www.secondskinfilm.com/home.html. All this made me very interested to see the outcomes of the Masks group!
Again, I also find myself contemplating some comments made on this blog... that people in SL have no RL. I beg your pardon. My RL is awesome... and I'm enjoying SL too. BUT... how does that change the way people look at me? Yet another opportunity to put me in some category.... middle-aged, mom, white, female, American, student, gamer...
5 comments:
Yeah, I get that a lot too. Like when I say "I'm taking this awesome class about second life!" my friends either look at me like I just wasted $1000 or like I have no life...or they just think I'm that obsessed with Dwight Schrute.
When I hear or read the word "gamer," I tend to think of the pudgy, hairy, sweaty guy living in his Mom's basement, with thousands of dollars' worth of Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica memorabilia, with an XBox that's only been available in Japan, a Playstation 4 (bought the prototype from Sony), and a super-computer he built himself. He has bunches of online girlfriends, mostly sexy rabbits and sprites. To top it all, he is fluent in Klingon and Japanese.
Then I think to myself...wait a second...I love video games...and I am none of these things. Does that mean I don't love them enough...? Or does that mean I just broke some type of stereotype? Does the fact that my brokeness limits me from buying an XBox mean I'm not dedicated? Heck no. It means I have a life and bills to pay. So basically, my apologies to all those gamers who aren't sweaty, hairy, pudgy men, for putting them in that box.
Jeez, I thought I already had to battle enough stereotypes being a woman, black, a Christian, child of divorced parents, etc. Now I gotta battle "anti-gamerism" too? Ah, America.
After learning that he was using SL someone was told to "get a life!"
His response was: "I have 2!"
Last time I tried to explain SL to someone went something like "well, you create a character, run around, fly, talk to people, build stuff... but it's not a game." Which is kind of difficult to explain because at first glance it really looks like a game. Also difficult for me, since I haven't found any activities that are better or enhanced in SL over RL.
And to Gaellissa: there's nothing wrong with being fluent in Klingon :-P
Man - Can't wait for you to all see our results on Monday, here's the preview...
Nearly every person insisted they were just like thier avatars...
Ironically - our data completely disagrees. There almost seemed to be a sense of shame and shock that someone would present themselves differently to the SL community.
In gaming magazines that litter my house due to my hubby's hobby of gaming and gaming industry research - I often read the comments from readers who complain that thier girlfrieds don't get why they game, people don't follow gaming enough to be true gamers, etc. The response of the editors is always the same...
Your girl doesn't like gaming, probably because you treat her like an idiot if she doesn't know something you've had years to learn...
And if someone doesn't research how breathing works... should they stop breathing?
I feel - especially after our research, that gaming is a vital aspect of our culture. We use it to release stress (we can't very well go out and hack and slash our neighbors for having yet another party). We use it for more interactive entertainment that TV or MOvies - honestly I think that AMerical Idol is so popular because we get to vote. Researchers have been complaining for years about sitting in front of the TV and vegetating... So, we have games now that require higher level processing and problem solving. We have video games that make us move/dance/etc. in order to play. We even have a kid focused game system (yes, my son has it) where in order to play the game he has to pedal a bike, or it stops. Gaming is no longer the screen in the dark where the antisocial nerd sits while the world passes him by. Now it's a place where you can meet people, interact, and work out teamwork issues long before entering a situation in real life where it's required. I swear watching my son help my husband play a game is some of the best times in my house. My son sees things on the screen that we never do. He is learning to problem solve and learning that sometimes you need people to help you accomplish a goal. Honestly, as a mom, I'd rather have my child playing an age appropriate video game than staring at a TV screen and letting his brain turn to mush.
The sterotype of the gamer is starting to fade, but is not gone. The difference is... those forms of social interaction that it's replacing are starting to fade. Do people play spades face-to-face anymore. I miss that, but I can always play online. The sports competetion in highschools is unbelievable. In my school - we have over 700 in my class alone - how many of the 2000 people (3 grade levels) trying-out for a shot on a sports team actually made it? Of course there was debate, german club, etc... but it's not the same. As I said, Gamers aren't the ones living in Mom's basement while they forget to live (at least most aren't), they are the ones who are running the business world and are professionals...
"We can create alternative identities... but even these are judged."
I would think that these would be judged even more, you choose your SL identity, some things in RL aren't as easily changed or chosen. If someone includes a particular trait in their SL identity wouldn't it always be because that's the way they wanted to be seen?
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