Second Life

My husband and I went for coffee with a friend the other night. During the course of our conversation, we got on the topic of video games and whether or not we would allow them in our homes and relationships. My husband and I enjoy playing video games. We don't play them often (I do more than him usually) but it is nice to have them in the house for those snow days. But we have never been really addicted to them. I mean, when a new Lego game comes out, I will buy it and spend a copious amount of time playing for days at a time. But the novelty wears away quickly, and then I won't touch a game for months at a time.


My friend told me about this game called Second Life. I only got a brief description of the game, but my understanding is that you are able to create a whole virtual world for yourself. You make a character look how you want, you have the job you want, the house you want, the friends you want. You interact with other users, and make friends over the internet. This in and of itself may not be so bad. Everyone needs an escape, and for some people they find relaxation in games. But there needs to be balance.


My friend told me about this one girl who did an interview or something. In Second Life, she is a singer. She has fans, albums, and lives a lavish virtual lifestyle. In real life, she aspires to sing. She wants to be a performer, but hasn't had many opportunities. Being in the music business myself with a desire to carve out a career in it once school is done, I understand that it is a cut throat business. There are a lot of people who can sing and dance and write who are marketable and charming. But this girl thinks now that that her key to success is her virtual career. She hopes that one day, she will be afforded an opportunity to perform as a career in "this world", as she refers to it, because of her Second Life success and following. This makes me so sad.

I do love this game.

I have very strong opinions about games such as this and WoW. I have seen how addictive they can be, and how that addiction can lead to problems in real life relationships. I was privy to aspects of one friend's marriage as she and her husband struggled to find balance between the time he spent on WoW and the time he spent with her. It almost wrecked them, and at one point she was talking about how she had begun to consider divorce. Games should not cause this sort of discourse. 


Are virtual realities causing people to lose their ability to engage in real life, face-to-face authentic relationship? What is the appeal of these sort of communities? Or should I be asking, what is so repulsive or difficult about real relationships that causes people to create a fake life for themselves as a way to interact with people they have never, and may never, meet? 


I am not against video games. In fact, I love playing games with my husband. But I feel that, for me at least, virtual reality games are taking it too far. I rather love my life, and would rather live it then create a 2D knock off that is nearly perfect but far from real.


-SP