"Imagine discovering a continent so vast that it may have no other side. Imagine a new world with more resources than all our future greed might exhaust, more opportunities than there will ever be entrepreneurs enough to exploit, and a peculiar kind of real estate which expands with development."
- John Perry Barlow (poet, essayist and author of A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace), 1981.
Imagine that within that new continent there were sites that provided downloadable 'massively multiplayer online games' (MMOGs), software that allowed users to create their own continents, and you basically have an Inception-style digital mindblow. The virtual reality game Second Life is probably the most widely recognized brand of this particular software. In Code 2.0 Lawrence Lessig discusses Second Life (Four Puzzles From Cyberspace) suggesting that there are one set of norms for real space and another set of norms for MMOG cyberspace. While this may be true, real world users tend to react to cyberspace conflict operating out of their real space norms. For example, crimes in cyberspace being punishable in real space. In Nov 2008, The Telegraph (UK) ran a story on Second Life Adultery focusing on two cases where a partner cheating in cyberspace had life changing results in real time. MMOGs give users the freedom and anonymity to engage in behaviors or act out fantasies that they may not be comfortable with doing in real space but doing so is not without consequences.
Red Light Centre is one MMOG that encourages users to engage in adults only fun. Just as its name implies, Red Light Centre is an online red light district-type virtual world centred around interacting with other 'open-minded' users in an adults only, fulfil your fantasy environment.
It's not hard to imagine the real world implications for spouses found to be using this site. The BBC even has a documentary focused on the consequences of virtual world adultery. Second life and Red Light Centre are just two examples of MMOG that facilitate these behaviours but there are many, many others.
Keneva is like a smaller version of Second Life with a similar focus on user interaction but within a shopping and entertainment focused atmosphere. With the familiar in-no-way-true-to-life virtual avatars, an emphasis on shopping and a name that contains "Ken" it has an eerie Mattel feel.
Red Light Centre is one MMOG that encourages users to engage in adults only fun. Just as its name implies, Red Light Centre is an online red light district-type virtual world centred around interacting with other 'open-minded' users in an adults only, fulfil your fantasy environment.
The Red Light Centre Website.
It's not hard to imagine the real world implications for spouses found to be using this site. The BBC even has a documentary focused on the consequences of virtual world adultery. Second life and Red Light Centre are just two examples of MMOG that facilitate these behaviours but there are many, many others.
Keneva is like a smaller version of Second Life with a similar focus on user interaction but within a shopping and entertainment focused atmosphere. With the familiar in-no-way-true-to-life virtual avatars, an emphasis on shopping and a name that contains "Ken" it has an eerie Mattel feel.
An example of the avatars on offer at Keneva.
This brings us to the world of MMOG business. Many businesses and public figures are taking advantage of the popularity of platforms like Second Life and Keneva to promote their agendas.
Brands engage in product placement just as they would in real space, politicians are engaging in online PR campaigns and with an endless continent and billions of potental buyers, the real estate sector is booming.
Marketing companies are now releasing guides for businesses and individuals wishing to buy and sell real estate in the virtual world. All in all these factors make virtual worlds a little more real world than you'd expect and prove even your ultimate fantasy universe can't escape the reach of big business.
Song BMG in Second Life
Brands engage in product placement just as they would in real space, politicians are engaging in online PR campaigns and with an endless continent and billions of potental buyers, the real estate sector is booming.
Obama campaigning in Second Life.
Marketing companies are now releasing guides for businesses and individuals wishing to buy and sell real estate in the virtual world. All in all these factors make virtual worlds a little more real world than you'd expect and prove even your ultimate fantasy universe can't escape the reach of big business.
Click on the links below for more interesting articles:
Japanese Politician risks Wrath of Government over Second Life Campaign.
There.com (MMOG)
The Metaverse Journal: Virtual Worlds in the News
