Have you heard about Second Life before? If not, Google it and you will be amazed how much information is available about this game called Second Life.
Basically it is an online virtual world where you can create your avatar, meet other avatars and interact with them. Also you can do anything in this virtual life that you can do in your real life. So you can eat, sleep, work, go shopping, throw a party, buy a house and much more. It’s like, if you want to be someone else, this game will allow you to be them.
I think the reason people are so addicted to this is because you can pick how you look, what you wear and what you want to be called. It is normal for everyone to want to be more beautiful and handsome than they are so this game will allow people to go to the next level.
This game is similar to the Sim City PC game but in a more personal level.
From their website, they describe themselves as:
“Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by a total of 4,315,826 people from around the globe.”
I have never played it but as far as I know it is free to create your second life account but it is very basic avatar. It is really limited as well so if you want to continue, they sell Premium membership which will cost you US$9.95/month, US$22.50 quarterly, or US$72/year. So yes you have to pay to be someone else.
But the most important part to remember in this game is that you need to spend your hard earned money to buy virtual cash which they called Linden Dollars. So if people are addicted, they tend to spend not only lots of time but lots of their hard earned money to be in this game. The shopping you are doing for your virtual avatar, the car you bought or house you are planning to buy all need Linden Dollars.
Simple changes in your avatar like having a pigtails costs 200 Lindens and glittery clogs is 400 Lindens. If you buy an island it costs you $1300 in real money and on top of that $195 upkeep charge monthly. Now you can do the maths on how much people are spending to be a part of this virtual world.
I am not sure how people can justify spending so much money to live a virtual life. I do understand small sums spent for entertainment but you can spend all your savings in this game if you become too addicted and want everything for your avatar.
Because of all these games out there, people are becoming less social in real life and also more obese as they sit in their chair the whole day making sure their avatar looks good and happy while the real person is not getting any exercise or meeting any people.
The most amazing thing for me about Second Life is how people have time to manage it as I know it takes quiet a lot of time to make sure your avatar is managed well and is socialised properly. I am struggling to even manage my time in this real life; I can’t imagine having two lives to manage. It is definitely not for me.
To have an account in this game is not bad but to make this game your life is a very stupid thing in my opinion. Seriously, live your real life happily than trying to find happiness in a virtual life.
Read some of the story on what happens in Second life.
Avatars and Second Life adultery: A tale of online cheating and real-world heartbreak .
Do you have a Second Life? Why do you play it?
nepaliaustralian 