Second (2nd) Life?

[J Noland]

I was watching a documentary a few weeks ago about a man who led an online life completely seperate from his real life on a website called 2nd Life. It made me wonder if anyone here has ever tried something like that. I don't think I would like it because all of the other people you interact with are real people playing their parts, therefore they aren't like my normal dd characters. The thought of just building an identity as you like it and presenting it to other people as "you" is interesting still. I guess it's kind of like Sim's. I couldn't find another topic for this when I searched so I'm sorry if this has already been covered.

[roxanne]

What's Sim's.  Very interesti ng.  There is a site on here called Small World.  I don't know if it's attached to Wild MInds or not.  I tried to get on, but couldn't.  Does anyone know anything about it?

[Laila]

I've done something like that before. I once joined Gaia Online and some other site, where you can create your own 3D character/identity to interact with others. I wouldn't change my age, but I'd have a different name, birthday, location, and appearance. I've also played a bit of World of Warcraft. Even now, I feel like my internet life and real life are for the most part, separate lives. Wind Minds Network is the only place where I feel like my real self, not pretending to be anyone else.

[J Noland]

Sim's is a kinda video game where you create a person (or avatar) and interact with other people online or with charaters you make up. Kind of like virtual dolls. I noticed the Small World thing but since I didn't know what it was I didn't pay much attention.

Several years ago I tried to join a site where you are a person in the Roman Empire but all of the names I kept trying to use were already used and I gave up...dd'ing is so much easier :)

I just wonder if it would help when I feel like I'm needing something more real that MD. Or maybe it would start a horrible obsession! I'm not at all a "gamer" type person so I tend to assume I wouldn't like it.

Definitely this site is the only site where I'm truly just me

[Cheryl Calvino]

Oh heck yes!  I'm a huge fan of roleplaying games, especially fantasy-based ones like Neverwinter Nights, Dragon Age, and the Elder Scrolls series (Oblivion, Morrowind).  I really care about my characters in those games, because they essentially ARE my DD personas.  Any game where you can customize your own character is like crack cocaine to me, and I wind up taking it pretty seriously.  I've written a large number of stories (I guess they would constitute fanfictions, though I hate to admit it) based on my character's adventures in those worlds, and done a fair bit of art work as well.

 

I gotta say, though, I've never really gotten into any games where I have to interact with other people (MMOs).  I worry that other people will see how much the game means to me and think I'm a total freak.  I guess a part of me just doesn't want other people to interfere, too.

[J Noland]

Gee I wonder if in the future people will just stay home and life in a virtual online world, going to work and meeting friends in virtual settings. It's tempting to dabble in that sort of thing but I'd be afraid I'd flake out (like I do in many social situations) and leave real people hanging, wondering where I went. I was invited to be in D &D groups when I was in high school but they sounded too "pre-fabricated" for me. I wish I knew back then about this MD'ing stuff. I would have probably had alot of fun; I was able to be more social as a teenager.

It makes me nervous to even think about joining something like that, almost like physically walking into a party of strangers and having to mingle...ahhhh! Run for the corners!

[Laila]

Well, I finally found that "other site." It's called IMVU. Just for fun, I signed up there again yesterday and created an avatar of my main DD character. I gotta say... If anyone is having trouble finding celebrity pictures or whatever to represent their DD characters, this is a good place to make an accurate-looking avatar. I'm still browsing skin tones and head shapes, in which there are over 500,000 of them to pick from. Goodness! o_o

 

So, I went into some anime chat room with my character. The setting was at a shrine with a waterfall in the background, lol. I felt kinda excited cuz people called me by my DD character's name, and I acted just like him (like a gay male). But I realized that he wasn't going to seem amazing to anyone but me. From others' perspective, he's just a noob avatar in comparison to their extremely creative avatars that they must have spent a million credits on clothes/accessories to make. Or maybe that's just in a room full of anime otaku. =P

Laila said:

I once joined Gaia Online and some other site, where you can create your own 3D character/identity to interact with others.

[J Noland]

So maybe the online identities aren't good enough for us. It sounds like it is fun to finally inhabit your character in a visual way but it doesn't give that dd "high" that we must get. To interact with other real personalities who have their own desires and objectives isn't as satisfying as being *everything* in the dream. I wondered if that's how I would feel, like I'd end up with the same insecurities as I have in real life, or that it wasn't as good as a dd. It's still nice to think that you can jump out of your skin and into a creation. But then I think, ugh I've been dealing with other real people and their issues all day I don't want to spend time dealing with more real people. Still it's a facinating thing to discover what people would create.

Laila said:

Well, I finally found that "other site." It's called IMVU. Just for fun, I signed up there again yesterday and created an avatar of my main DD character. I gotta say... If anyone is having trouble finding celebrity pictures or whatever to represent their DD characters, this is a good place to make an accurate-looking avatar. I'm still browsing skin tones and head shapes, in which there are over 500,000 of them to pick from. Goodness! o_o

 

So, I went into some anime chat room with my character. The setting was at a shrine with a waterfall in the background, lol. I felt kinda excited cuz people called me by my DD character's name, and I acted just like him (like a gay male). But I realized that he wasn't going to seem amazing to anyone but me. From others' perspective, he's just a noob avatar in comparison to their extremely creative avatars that they must have spent a million credits on clothes/accessories to make. Or maybe that's just in a room full of anime otaku. =P

Laila said:

I once joined Gaia Online and some other site, where you can create your own 3D character/identity to interact with others.

[Laila]

Yeah, that's pretty much how I feel. And some people randomly do stuff to others, like you can just grab, kiss, and punch anyone without warning... I hate it when that gets abused, lol. But it's just for a little fun. I don't even feel like using my DD character anymore...I'll create a whacky one like everyone else. xD

 

I'd actually rather get back into role-playing in a controlled setting, which is as close as it gets to my DD highs. Speaking of highs, I'm having one right now!! -daydreams in bliss- x3

J Noland said:

So maybe the online identities aren't good enough for us. It sounds like it is fun to finally inhabit your character in a visual way but it doesn't give that dd "high" that we must get. To interact with other real personalities who have their own desires and objectives isn't as satisfying as being *everything* in the dream. I wondered if that's how I would feel, like I'd end up with the same insecurities as I have in real life, or that it wasn't as good as a dd. It's still nice to think that you can jump out of your skin and into a creation. But then I think, ugh I've been dealing with other real people and their issues all day I don't want to spend time dealing with more real people. Still it's a facinating thing to discover what people would create.

[roxanne]

I went to IMVU, but was not successful.  I picked a general avatar - female - and logged in.  They accepted me and gave me a male avatar that I couldn't get rid of.  I tried everything - e-mailing the HELP center, calling, going back to profile and making sure I was listed as female, but nothing worked.  So I deleted everything, but kept getting this half-naked male avatar "stalking" me; he was my screen saver, his picture seems to follow me.  When I log-in to my home page, it's still there, even though they e-mailed me saying I was deleted.  Until all this happened and I went into a mild panic, I could see where it could be fun.  I would enjoy creating an avatar, but not sure I want to go back there again.  Anyone know anything simpler.  I am very new at all this.  And how do they bill you?  And do you have to give accurate info, like birth date, etc.  Other than billing info.

[Laila]

@Roxanne: Woah, I'm sorry to hear about your experience there. I read somewhere that you can't change the sex of your avatar for free. You have to buy it from the catalogue, lol. I don't think that's worth it. I would just start over with a new IMVU account and email account. I created a quick new Yahoo account just for IMVU because I didn't want my main email receiving anything from that site.

 

When I signed up, I had to choose an avatar that was already made, so I picked a random male avatar. Then I clicked on the Shopping tab and browsed hundreds of hairstyles, faces, eyebrows, and etc. You can just "try" each one on to see how your avatar looks. Took me a few hours to tweak mine. You'll probably have to buy more credits, or take surveys to earn credits, if you want to wear a lot of accessories to show people in chat rooms.  It's $5 for 5,000 credits. However, if you're simply in it to make a dream avatar, just try things on and take a screenshot without buying anything.

 

As far as IMVU is concerned, I know you don't have to give accurate info. I'd imagine that that's the way it works for other places like it, if the software is free to download. I'm not familiar with many other websites. It seems that IMVU and Second Life are the most popular. If you like anime, then you may like Gaia Online, which is also free. You earn Gaia money by doing activities on the website (posting, voting on art, etc) so you can buy new accessories for your avatar, or you can donate money and get that turned into Gaia money. Or simply...create a dream avatar on Tektek.org.

 

roxanne said:

I went to IMVU, but was not successful.  I picked a general avatar - female - and logged in.  They accepted me and gave me a male avatar that I couldn't get rid of.  I tried everything - e-mailing the HELP center, calling, going back to profile and making sure I was listed as female, but nothing worked.  So I deleted everything, but kept getting this half-naked male avatar "stalking" me; he was my screen saver, his picture seems to follow me.  When I log-in to my home page, it's still there, even though they e-mailed me saying I was deleted.  Until all this happened and I went into a mild panic, I could see where it could be fun.  I would enjoy creating an avatar, but not sure I want to go back there again.  Anyone know anything simpler.  I am very new at all this.  And how do they bill you?  And do you have to give accurate info, like birth date, etc.  Other than billing info.

[J Noland]

Wow, people must make a fortune with those sites. If I was computer savy I'd start my own site and people could buy suprises like you've won a beauty contest or you're ex girlfriend had your baby without telling you and you owe back child support. It's probably best that I stick with my day job. I'd love to see what 20 years in the future is like; people will probably have avatars that live most of their lives.

 Does anyone have the service that alerts your online contacts if you die? That is probably going to become very important.

[Lightman]

I avoid them like the plague. First thing is that I really don't need anything else that disconnects me from reality (I do that far too well on my own) and second I'm terrified that if I try... I will get hooked.  Que dramatic music...