New Mars Forums

Byron

Member

From: Florida, USA

Registered: 2002-05-16

Posts: 844

Re: Virtual communities - Any of you heard about Second Life?

Hey,

One of the reasons I've been away from NewMars for so long is that I recently got dsl service after years of being limited to the snail-like crawl of dial-up.  It wasn't long before I discovered the lures of mmog's...actually one in particular called Second Life, that is currently undergoing limited beta testing.  It takes a great deal for something to grab and hold my interest for an extended period of time, but 2nd Life is definately one of them  :laugh:

What is truly amazing about SL is that it attempts to recreate "real life" in a wholly virtual "world" in which the basic concept is nearly 100% user-based content.  Not only do the players have totally customizable avatars, they can do virtually anything in-world, ranging from dressing your av in an unlimited range of clothing, to building (modeling) things in 3-D, to making and spending money, to gaining popularity ratings in order to get higher bonuses.  It's basically a whole new society being created in cyberspace, something I've dreamed of since I've been a kid in high school.  You can even script in SL...using a C++/Java based scripting language...what other mmog offers that??

The thing that is so fascinating about SL is the social structure...and how it so closely mirrors that of r/l.  I mean, it started on a literal blank slate, and everyone that comes in gets a set amount of "cash", but after that you're on your own to do whatever you like.  As in r/l, you have a few tremendously successful people who are very wealthy and have giant castles and the like, while others are forced to make do with very little.  It is a very libertarian, entreprenuer-based system with people selling stuff to others, as well as hosting events, etc. which beats out mindlessly shooting things in EverQuest by a long shot..lol.

If any of you have played Second Life, or get an opportunity to do so in the future, I'd love to hear about it in this thread, especially how it relates to human nature in a wholly new enviroment...

If and when human settlements get established on Mars, it's clear to me that people are going to behave the exact same way as they do here on Earth...there is no getting around that at all.   Any attempts to implement a "social system" that runs counter to so-called human nature simply will not work...people are the way they are, good and bad, and there really isn't any way one can get away from that, regardless of how hard we may try.  Even if we make things "equal" on a resource basis (housing, jobs, etc), socially, things will never be "equal."  Some people will call the shots, and others will follow.

Perhaps someday someone will create a mmog called "Mars Life," which will have all the parameters of the harsh Martian environment, and the players attempt to create a new Martian society such as building underground habs, making new discoveries, accumulating enough resources to start terraforming the planet (although some may not want it), etc, etc.

I'd better stop before I get carried away here..lol.

B

Shaun Barrett

Member

From: Cairns, Queensland, Australia

Registered: 2001-12-28

Posts: 2,843

Re: Virtual communities - Any of you heard about Second Life?

Hi Byron! It's good to see you again.

    I just deleted a post over at "Terraformation" asking where you were!
    We've missed your input.

    All your future leave entitlements from New Mars have been revoked, by the way!!
                                       

P.S. For the cave-dwellers amongst us (i.e me! ), what does
       'mmog' stand for?   

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The word 'aerobics' came about when the gym instructors got together and said: If we're going to charge $10 an hour, we can't call it Jumping Up and Down.   - Rita Rudner

Byron

Member

From: Florida, USA

Registered: 2002-05-16

Posts: 844

Re: Virtual communities - Any of you heard about Second Life?

Hey Shaun...it was nice to know that you guys were missing me   

FYI, "mmog" stands fro "Massively Multiplayer Online Game" - a mouthful, huh.  Anyhow, Second Life is way more than a mere "game," which is why I've become so addicted to it..lol.

B

Palomar

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2002-05-30

Posts: 9,734

Re: Virtual communities - Any of you heard about Second Life?

Byron:  One of the reasons I've been away from NewMars for so long is that I recently got dsl service after years of being limited to the snail-like crawl of dial-up...

*Excuses, excuses    :;): 

Shaun:  All your future leave entitlements from New Mars have been revoked, by the way!!
                                       
*Yes indeed!  Glad to hear from you again, Byron.

--Cindy

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We all know [i]those[/i] Venusians: Doing their hair in shock waves, smoking electrical coronas, wearing Van Allen belts and resting their tiny elbows on a Geiger counter...

--John Sladek (The New Apocrypha)