Project+Sexytime+presentation


 * Page 1 How it all started**



//**Ethnography: The branch of anthropology that deals with the scientific description of specific human cultures.**//

A couple years ago, some friends told me of this new "game" where you could be anything you want, look like anything you want, and create anything you could imagine. It was a PC game (PC games far superior than anything on console) and it was free! I also heard that you could order pizza from a virtual Pizza Hut inside the game and it would be delivered to your house, so now I had to try it.

Introduce the virtual economy created by the sim, and then show the market share of adult business created by programmers and demanded by avatars.


 * Page 2 Reinventing yourself**

Hell Yes, anything you want.

After creating an account I dressed an avatar who I wanted to look somewhat like my real self with some slight improvements (taller, with better abs). Some people will build their avatar in their perceived image of themselves, which may have no real connection to the way they look in real life. Some people will dedicate hours to perfecting their look, while others will take off exploring as a default avatar shape and skin. The way you look in second life has a huge impact on how others interact with you. Players that spend lots of time on the grid usually spend real money to improve their image, which in turn improves their perceived image of themselves.




 * Page 3 Economy**

During my time in Second Life I spent approximately $50 usd, this was uploaded in small $10 amounts via linden exchange service and usually the exchange rate was 268 to 1. Most of my budget was used to by designer jeans, shirts and shoes. The largest personal expense was a realistic skin and hair, both totaling $2000L. Being a typical male I bought several small boats, luxury cars, and a 81' yacht "Partytime" with air-wolf type helicopter. Once the class project was underway I spent some Linden on avatar skins, The Devastator Decepticon $250L, and Generation 2 Batman skin $500L, I wanted a Michael Keaton Batsuit but it was not available, I would never take Superman because he is an illegal alien that has never done anything bad. Batman however represents the vengeful dark side of man, a wreck loose billionaire with superior technology who has no superpowers. The transformer image was generally well received by people I met on the grid. Other avatars would often change to some other model of Transformer, and as hard as I might have tried, nobody wanted to "fight". The Batman skin actually got me ejected from sims on more than one occasion. According to warning signs posted on buildings people reenacting comic book battles is apparently a problem in some places.

Below is an excerpt taken from my journal pertaining to the virtual market in Second Life. These stuff I purchased was with real money converted to Lindens the SL currency, via LindenX.

//February 2008// //Last night I was searching around the North Shore Wharf, looking for something cool to drop some linden on. I consider North Shore to be part of the reason SL has been so successful. They are a brokerage that sells yachts, powerboats, helicopters, and private jets. They have a huge facility complete with private hangars and tarmac, full marina, and some premier clothing and accessories for men. The wharf offers a taste of the virtual good-life to aspiring lindens; think of it as a virtual Robb Report.

With all of the waterways in SL I figure a boat would be a cool way of exploring the grid. I love boats in FL and this addiction has followed me into SL, albeit cheaper and no risk of sunburn. After studying the touch panels around the marina I decide that a Cobra G2 was affordable ($200L) and could seat four avatars. It looks similar to my FL Bayliner. I started out looking at 180' 4 level mega yacht $9,000L, and a badass bluewater 81' sloop, $8,000. Both yachts were easily $30m boats in FL, and hold 30 people and have several staterooms, hottubs, private chopper, etc. They really a huge selection of toys to satisfy your inner-geek at North Shore Wharf.

When I decided to buy the G2 I clicked the sales poster and hit "pay" the note came up and said my product would be delivered into my inventory momentarily. When this did not happen I im'd the employee of the wharf, to find out If I got ripped off or not. In a few minutes she arrived at the dealership and apologized for the trouble. She contacted her boss who was offline, and helped me go through my inventory to make sure I hadn't messed up the order. Long story short, I have to wait until tonight for my new boat to be delivered (talk about art imitating life) but for my troubles the lady put me in a "loaner" boat and gave me access to the jetskis at the wharf. Very cool.//

Just as I bought a boat and clothing, this virtual market exists for everything a person might need in the virtual world. The exchange rate of Lindens vs. USD and Euro is a fluctuating market with people who play the currency exchange in hopes of real life profits. As more people become SL users, the stability of the market is called into question when cheap goods flood the once lucrative market. Designers that work hard to build items for sale in Second Life invest time and money to get their goods sold in the virtual marketplace. With the introduction of copybots, (prims in simulators that copy designs of stuff for free) the stability of the virtual economy could be compromised. Popular designers copyright their skins, hair, clothing lines and can demand several thousand Lindens for them, if a user could steal these designs and use them for free, whats the incentive to pay?

Copybot, the Disaster Capitalists group covered the hack known as a copybot in their presentation. When I was renting at Vella's marina we (the dock residents) noticed a small snowman in the sim. This snowman looked like an avatar but had no tag. He was first sighted up in the air above several yachts docked at Vella's. I thought it was an avatar dressed as a snowman but he would drop to the sea floor if you approached him. The snowman stayed in our simulator for a few hours, I dont know how much information, if any, that it recorded before admin gave it the boot. I think it's all entertaining watching people exploit the software. Pirates Unite! But if a copybot ripped off my designs I can see the reason for concern.


 * Page 4 Sustainability of a virtual economy**

One of the hardest concepts about Second Life that the layman has to understand is that its a game/app/program that involves hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world. Created by a software developer it was viewed by some as the pinnacle of modern software development. Linden Labs built a fully interactive virtual world, where the player would have complete autonomy with other players from across the globe. Since the dawn of computer gaming a //more virtual// world has been the dream of designers and players alike. To enable the player to interact with any object, and can fully customize their gaming experience, then software starts to become a new medium of communication. Users can interact with another's virtual property, buy their own items, or build anything. A complete user experience. Everything is 10 Lindens store. Some say its a threat to the virtual market driving down prices on prims. Casual users that don't invest real money in their avatars drive the demand for stores like this to thrive.


 * Page 5

Virtual Community

** Doing the robot

Of all the experiences in Second Life, the most unique is the community invented by the users. The sense of community is alive and thriving across the grid. Land sales have increased and the size of the grid in recent months, but the mainland has stayed relatively the same size. If people buy new property they get islands out on the once open ocean. Proof of the new construction: person can "island hop" from one sim to another. Many of the Universities in Second Life are around the University of Kentucky Island. Most of our group has "hopped" around the other colleges and talked to other instructors and students using second life in their curriculum. During my research I met many new people. Some were faculty and staff from UK, others were students from class. People that I wasn't friends with in class were now my "virtual" friends. By creating a new medium, this virtual society facilitate real life relationships with people all across the world. The experience of getting to know classmates as an avatar, and then meeting them one by one in real life was really unique. This simply would not been possible without the technology created to make a game of this caliber. Ten years ago Second Life was a programmer's dream. Video games have officially gotten smarter. As a medium of communication, the level of development of the user is unlimited. Its a realistic simulator where interaction with other users is the only "prize", there is no "beating the game" because the game goes on as a //parallel//, world. However, calling Second Life a game would be a misnomer. It would be more appropriately categorized as a first person, multiplayer, life simulator. People are always on the grid, and the experience never resets except for service outages. There are newspapers, radio stations, and cable tv to reinforce the community aspect. Nobody gets sick, and you never run out of lives. Improved living made possible by modern technology.

The utilization of Second Life in the classroom was very beneficial on several levels. Perhaps the most amazing was the bonding experience between people who see each other in a classroom everyday but don't actually know one another. When the project started we came to know each other by avatar name, instead of our real names. Many of the avatars are political science majors, and we have had classes together before. Most of us were experienced with other forms on online content we have used wiki's, Ning, and blogs for other classes by Dr. Rice. The University of Kentucky may not be a top 20 institution, but as far as cutting edge technology UK is a pioneer of "Virtual Learning". The use of Second Life is the next thing in online experiences, higher learning institutions around the world are using it in classrooms with great success and more schools coming on-line with a campus. Uk libraries have long been known for having the coolest new technology and fastest connection speeds; and they have played a critical role of SL development of the campus. The dual-core processors and 22" screens in the library's computer labs make the second life experience that much better. The Kernel school newspaper has given some coverage over the activities of the virtual campus, most recently the grand opening last month where a large crowd checked out the island. One of our fellow avatars works for the Kernel and recently attended a alternate bio fuels seminar hosted by corn producers association. Second Life is one of the best web-roots movements available to concerned parties and interest groups. As more specialists and companies are relying on the marketplace of second life, the demand for smart Second Life users is a job interview plus. A good example of the virtual community carrying over into real life, because we got to know our fellow students better and the gimmick of the avatar name is entertaining. We often refer to one another casually by our avatar names.


 * Page 6 A Sense of belonging**

Custom built gaming rig $2200 USD converted to Lindens $30 Second Life Download $0 Earning 50% of a 500 level class grade using virtual reality - priceless

I spent at least 10 hours a week doing Second Life research. Like anything I normally do I become hell bent on full dedication to the project. Logging in and searching around for things I heard in the news, and spending time watching the school's virtual campus come together. If you sit and do homework while idle in world hours quickly add up. I did not meet anyone that I would consider a friend in Second Life. I did spend time in world with people from class and got to know them better, so I guess you could say we got to be better friends. The best experience from using the application was that it facilitated interaction with persons that my real world has constraints on. A pseudo relationship was built with a friend of mine that would normally never been possible. Due to the fact we are both in relationships with people who would not understand or be very accepting if we had been spending that much time together in real life. The places we went and time spent together would have been considered wrong if it had been going on in the real world, but in Second Life this time spent was legitimate research but it was better since we were doing it together. We do not live double lives or have bad intentions, and I think it should be noted that there was no expectations that it would be carried over into reality But the conversations and trust in each other transcended into the real world, and established a better friendship and deeper understanding of one another. This was the best part of the project. The authors of the books we read claim that when the modalities of constraint are lifted from society, society will flourish and come into it's own. I believe that to be true. So if a relationship can be made better between two people who don't really get to spend time with each other, maybe on a macro scale relationships between states could also be established? For example: If leaders from Israel and Palestine have an impossible time trying to establish peace talks, because of security or social expectations from their people. What if using a technology similar to Second Life could make this communication happen. In the virtual world there is no need to send in special police or secret service to sweep a neutral area, talks could be hosted in world at an agreed location. Now I agree this is hard for most to swallow, but years ago people also thought buying pizza in a video game would be impossible to get home delivery.

So does Second Life exist as a new blank slated society? Yes. Does Second Life serve as a vehicle to share ideas, culture and dreams with other people in real life? Yes. Could Second Life replace real people in one's life that establish a feeling of community and belonging? Yes.

Second Life is not the only networked gaming experience that builds community. World of Warcraft is an even more developed pay for play game that pits players of a common good against players for the opposing force. Users spend years developing their avatars and learning new strategy. WoW has millions of players across the real world, playing in the same virtual realm. Since players fight together against others and rely on friends to help them do battle a very strong sense of comrade exists. Likewise, a strong sense of enemy exists as well. Second Life is not a fighting game like WoW, its more like a social networking simulator with virtual residences and community. These two computer programs are the frontrunner's in the virtual entertainment world.

This is a video from Youtube that's proof positive of the good and bad aspects of virtual community. media type="youtube" key="LkCNJRfSZBU&hl=en" height="355" width="425"

A classic example of people who use online multi-player games and the amount of teamwork that goes into a really well developed online simulator. While Second Life may not have all the features of a true "game" the experience is the same. People forge virtual relationships with complete strangers that soon become friends. If you are already friends, then you have an opportunity to become better friends.




 * Page 7 Project Notes**


 * Problems with Second Life research project:**

One of the early on problems some class users experienced were the hardware requirements needed to run the application. Atlanta is a Mac user and found that Second Life works fairly fast with limited crashes. Three other group members used laptop pc's to do their research work and experienced major lag and frequent crashes. These were normally due to dated video chip sets on laptop motherboards compounded with old drivers for direct x and video, most of our group updated their software, bought ram, or switched to library computers to do the bulk of their work. My own personal computer that I did my research on is a highly modified gaming rig optimized to run graphics heavy applications. I believe that the easier Second Life is to use for the student the more likely they are to log more hours on the grid. Recently I ran into shader issues with my video card, due to the newest version of Second Life which had several bugs but is apparently patched now.

Another problem with the project was getting everyone on at the same time. I believe this only happened once, mostly due to the hardware constraints of the application. When the entire class was in world together during lab sessions the first few times it was like "herding cats". The cool factor coupled with the "look at me" attitude made for organized chaos. I am just as guilty as anyone else in the class, changing skins, weapons, and dancing around the instructor when he was trying to speak, it was quite a trip being in world and in class at the same time with people we know.

Cat herding is a challenge in and of itself. Getting everyone involved on the same days with a group of six was a constant struggle. Some days group members didn't come to class, and had no idea what direction the group was going and led to smaller factions of individual research. The final presentation should be interesting to say the least.




 * Our survey criteria:**

We started out conduction interviews. Below is an excerpt from my journal with the sample interview questions.

//Tonight the A team met in the WTY library to start our group research project. It went surprisingly well, we started our research by finding people to interview. We had established a few interview questions for people who agreed to talk to us. We started out by telling them it was for a research project for school, and their response was always the same "What school?" "I wish I had got to use SL for a school project". After the novelty wore off we started hammering away. Here are our first few questions

How long have you used SL? How many hours a week are you in world? Are you in a real life relationship? Are you in a second life relationship? How much money have you spent in world? How do you earn money in world? Do you engage in virtual sexual activity? Do you consider SL cheating in real life? Do you think SL allows you to do things you cannot do in real life? Do you believe your significant other would be angry if they knew what you did in world?//

We also made note cards which had the same questions on them, along with the name of our school and purpose for the project. The question was to see how much personal information avatars would divulge about their real lives. Again you can see the opportunity for sampling error, subjects that might withhold information or lie to appease interviewers.

//Kentucky Capalini: so is this your place [11:28] Kasandra Martynov: yes it is [11:29] Kasandra Martynov: myself and Mariposa Menges Own this establishment [11:29] Kentucky Capalini: its reallyi nice [11:29] Kasandra Martynov: thank you [11:29] Kentucky Capalini: so im a student at the university of kentucky [11:29] Kentucky Capalini: i have been using sl for over a year and now im enrolled in a class that usses it as a study tool [11:29] Kasandra Martynov: I see [11:30] Kentucky Capalini: i have a few questions if thats ok [11:30] Kasandra Martynov: yes that's fine [11:30] Kentucky Capalini: how much money do you spend on management of this club [11:31] Kentucky Capalini: How many hours a week do you spend in second life? [11:31] Kasandra Martynov: wel, that all varies [11:31] Kasandra Martynov: but a round about number would be... [11:31] Kasandra Martynov: one moment [11:31] Kentucky Capalini: ok [11:32] Kasandra Martynov: around 20k a week [11:32] Kentucky Capalini: in lindens? [11:32] Kasandra Martynov: aand, I am here 10+ hours a week [11:32] Kasandra Martynov: mmhmm [11:32] Kasandra Martynov: in lindens [11:33] Kentucky Capalini: and how does this go along with your first life? are any of your virtual friends actual friends in real life [11:33] Kasandra Martynov: yes, I have a few friends in game that I knew in RL prior to joining the game [11:34] Kentucky Capalini: Does SL have any harmful sideeffects in your reallife? [11:34] Kentucky Capalini: or are the two completly seperate [11:35] Kasandra Martynov: no, not really, I do know it does effect some people. but usually those people are using this game for a crutch from their RL.. But for me it's a past time, and I am fully aware that this is a game.. [11:35] Kasandra Martynov: so no bad side effects for me [11:36] Kentucky Capalini: what are your future plans for sl? [11:36] Kasandra Martynov: I don't really have any, i take it day by day and enjoy it, [11:36] Kentucky Capalini: Do you own other properties? [11:36] Kasandra Martynov: one of ht reasons I play SL rather than most other games, is becasue I can do what I want, with no realy goal [11:36] Kasandra Martynov: I do, I own a few islands [11:36] Kasandra Martynov: I rent them out [11:37] Kentucky Capalini: are they all sex sims, or residential areas? [11:37] Kasandra Martynov: residential only [11:37] Kentucky Capalini: how much income can you make from renting? [11:37] Kasandra Martynov: I make about 50Us dollars a week [11:37] Kasandra Martynov: give or take [11:38] Kentucky Capalini: cool you are the first person ive interviewed that is actually making money [11:38] Kasandra Martynov: I don't really do it for financial gain, just enoght to play without putting in my own money [11:38] Kasandra Martynov: lol [11:38] Kentucky Capalini: ive done 50 interviews and nobody iis turning a profit [11:38] Kasandra Martynov: talk to high lined clothing designers, and builders [11:38] Kasandra Martynov: like, Emilia redgrave, she actually is making quite a profit [11:38] Kasandra Martynov: I dont know her very well, but I have met her.. [11:39] Kasandra Martynov: redgraves, is her store [11:39] Kentucky Capalini: oh ive heard of that [11:39] Kasandra Martynov: she actually makes al lher money off SL [11:39] Kasandra Martynov: so I hear [11:39] Kentucky Capalini: thats impressive [11:39] Kasandra Martynov: mmhm [11:39] Kasandra Martynov: really to make a profit in sl you need a large sum of money for starters, [11:39] Kentucky Capalini: do you have any advice where i should go to get some better than the usal research material [11:40] Kasandra Martynov: like buying sims etc// //[11:40] Kasandra Martynov: hmmm, Umm, depends, really, if u are looking to find successful people in sl, look for very popular clothing lines, and builders, I know a guy that charges 50K minimum to build houses and such [11:41] Kentucky Capalini: is his name oz? [11:41] Kasandra Martynov: nope it's Wally Sperber [11:41] Kentucky Capalini: are you married in SL? [11:42] Kasandra Martynov: nope [11:42] Kentucky Capalini: do you know anybody that is married in SL [11:42] Kasandra Martynov: oh of course, [11:42] Kasandra Martynov: lol, almost everyone in sl has been married or is married, lol [11:42] Kentucky Capalini: in real llife or second life? [11:43] Kasandra Martynov: both actually [11:43] Kasandra Martynov: scott bader,aphius rotaru,married friend of mine u can contact [11:43] Kentucky Capalini: Do you think the real life married ppl live vicariously in SL because they dont like their real life? [11:43] Kasandra Martynov: oh actually I have an intersting couple for you [11:44] Kasandra Martynov: yes, I would agree to that definately [11:44] Kasandra Martynov: sl is about fantasy, and if u fantasize about having a realtionship in sl and you are marred in RL, then u must e unhappy with yoru rl rela [11:45] Kasandra Martynov: I'm a psychology major myself, and I see it all the time [11:45] Kentucky Capalini: i agree [11:45] Kentucky Capalini: im a poli sci major [11:46] Kasandra Martynov: garyth barzane, and rhiannon broek, they are an intersting couple [11:46] Kentucky Capalini: so you are a gay woman in SL are you actually gay in reallife as well? [11:46] Kasandra Martynov: I havent talked to them in a while, but i heard rhian divorced her rl husband and married garyth in rl as well as sl.. [11:46] Kasandra Martynov: lol, I'm not gay babes..lol [11:46] Kasandra Martynov: y do u say that? [11:46] Kentucky Capalini: question thats all [11:47] Kentucky Capalini: i thought this was a lesbian bar thats why [11:47] Kasandra Martynov: ooh no no no, it's a ladies club, only males dancers.... so only woman vips [11:47] Kentucky Capalini: ohhh ok [11:47] Kasandra Martynov: hehe [11:47] Kentucky Capalini: sorry no offense intended [11:47] Kasandra Martynov: actually my avatar has no real sexuality, it's not part of my sl fantasy.. [11:47] Kasandra Martynov: it's alright, in rl I am bisexual, u didnt offend me [11:48] Kentucky Capalini: so your avatar is asexual? [11:48] Kasandra Martynov: basically [11:48] Kasandra Martynov: I have no interst in the sexual scene of sl, I flirt and have fun, but beyond that I am off limits sexually [11:48] Kentucky Capalini: hmm thats interesting [11:48] Kasandra Martynov: but that may be becasue I am happily married in rl [11:49] Kentucky Capalini: so how does your husband feel about the entire SL experience [11:49] Kasandra Martynov: he thinks it's kinda dumb actually, says it's a girls game. i even made him an avi, but he doesnt play... he's a WOW kinda guy [11:49] Kasandra Martynov: lol [11:49] Kasandra Martynov: he really wnts me to make more money, rather than make some and spend it back in the game [11:49] Kentucky Capalini: Hes a wow guy thats interesting but thinks SL is for girls [11:49] Kentucky Capalini: thats great [11:50] Kasandra Martynov: well he says other than dressing up and shopping sl is boring [11:50] Kasandra Martynov: that he wants to win the game, not just walk around with teh naked newbs etc [11:50] Kasandra Martynov: lol [11:50] Kentucky Capalini: the naked nebs are pretty annoying [11:50] Kasandra Martynov: yes they are [11:51] Kasandra Martynov: but it's part of SL, lol [11:51] Kentucky Capalini: Can i im the ppl you told me about tonigh? [11:51] Kasandra Martynov: sure hon, let them know I sent yea [11:52] Kentucky Capalini: the married ppl to interview them? your interview has been so much better and inciteful than anybody ive met so far [11:52] Kentucky Capalini: very helpful//
 * Page 8 Research Continues**
 * One of my more successful interviews, this lady owes a women only sex club:**


 * Page 9**
 * More research info from journal**

//March 2008// //One married stay at home mom from Lexington I stumbled upon, is in love with a man that she regularly meets in SL. They have never met in real life but have a house together in SL, her real husband has no idea of the double life she leads and confessed that he would be livid if he knew about it. She also admits that her constant loneliness drives her to spend five hours a day in SL to get some adult interaction. I think it might be of note that I found her poolside behind an adult toy store, her avatar well dressed with an expensive skin. She had to disconnect after the interview because her husband was coming home. She gave me a good interview and seemed willing to tell Atlanta, Boomhaur and myself about her reasons for being such a dedicated SL user.

A few hours later we found an even more interesting person to interview. She was dressed like mid 90's Pam Anderson and happened to be a SL entrepreneur. We found this person in another adult toy store, running around with various weirdos. She sent us a teleport to her house, which turned out to be a mansion where her friends stay. We asked her the same rounds of questions that all interview subjects were asked. The biggest difference was that she would not divulge hardly any information about her real life. From what we gathered, she was Danish, and spent at least 8 hours a day in-world. Her real life girlfriend is also one of her 1,500 plus SL friends. They live together in real life and are in a monogamous relationship, but in SL they are in relationships with other people. They both design clothing and sex for sale in SL, along with owning two simulators covering a reported 136,000 square meters of the grid. She admitted that she spends around $750 a month of real life money to support her virtual lifestyle, and pay land maintenance fees. She wouldnt divulge much information about her reasons why she has been so involved with SL over the past four years. As an experienced user, she says the early days of the grid were more prosperous than whats been happening lately. Her toys and clothes were much more profitable in years past, but the recent flood of retail stores across the grid have driven her margins down. This is a prime example of people selling virtual intellectual property, and not being able to control who copies what, and in turn hurts the virtual economy. Even though a creator may mark their items no modify, no transfer, no copy; these designs are bootlegged and sold off at a reduced rate by others. There is no guarantee that what you work hard to create will not be ripped off by others and sold in a sim halfway across the grid.//



Prostitution on the Grid**
 * Page 10

On the Grid a person who has not had sex in SL is called an //E-virgin//, and when someone types that, its usually followed by a round of laughter from the nearby nerds.

This is what I learned about hookers in Second Life:

Once transported into the world of Second Life one can instantly see that this is a virtual community that is almost completely //ran// on sex. The virtual world allows one to operate in a society without the modalities of constraint that exist n the real world. When people become their avatar they can recreate themselves in an image they wish were possible in the real world. An avatar is often an extension of the game user. People will behave differently and in world take on personalities that most likely reflect who they wish they were, versus who they actually are. Fight Club is a great example for comparison. The narrarator is actually the other characters in the book that do things he himself feels restrained by society. The narrarators boring and mundane life is improved when he meets the other actors in the book. His multi-personality is reveled in the end after the audience realizes he has been living vicariously through a projected image of himself. The author’s bland life was made more interesting with the introduction of new people which were at first seen as very different to himself. A person who may not have the most exciting sex life in the real world could become a true “player” in Second Life. By projecting themselves as better looking, rich, or incredible with the opposite sex, a player can take on a persona more preferable to the life they actually lead. My group the A-team took the sex culture in Second Life to task with our group project. We immersed ourselves into Second Life and often referred to one another in the classroom setting by our avatar’s names. Our group consisted of 6 people, 5 males and 1 female. We spent the earlier weeks of class exploring the grid and learning how to use basic avatar functions. All of the people in our group designed their avatar after their actual looks, with limited deviance. I think it is important to note early on that almost everyone in our group converted real money into Lindens to purchase things we wanted in-world. Atlanta and I spent most of our money buying clothes and skin, to better our avatar’s appearance. We noticed an immediate difference in the way people responded to us. Second Life users with expensive avatars are considered more dedicated and popular users. It is worth mentioning that there are at least two kinds of Second Life users, those that use default avatars are more casual users. They might occasionally log on to explore or play around, but generally don’t belong to any social groups or own property. The other type of player is a more advanced user. They spend real money to buy clothes, and accessories, and often buy or rent property. The more serious users often spend hours a day online and have a larger network of friends. The students in our group fall into the first of the two categories, using Second Life solely to accomplish their homework. Atlanta and myself fall somewhere in the middle. We did convert money into Lindens, but fell short of actually buying land. As our group divided up into smaller groups of two or even one students doing research, Atlanta and I did most of our work together.

We spent several hours per week working on our journals and exploring seedy places on the grid. Doing research to explore the sex culture came in many forms. Walking around and talking to people was somewhat effective, but to really do quality work and figure out “why” would take some more effort. We decided to conduct interviews with people who were working in the sex industry. We met club owners, lingerie designers, high-priced call girls, and even street walking hookers. Everyone we met was different with their opinions about responsible sex in Second Life. Most people were married in real life, had been using second life for some time most without the knowledge of their significant other. Most intervewees believed that if their real life significant other knew they were having sexual relationships with people in-world they would be upset. A surprisingly large portion of women avatars interviewed were stay at home moms, and suburbanite housewives. They reported they spent most of their days alone and secluded from other adults, and used Second Life as a social networking tool. My first experience with an actual prostitute in Second Life happened completely by chance. I was exploring one of the downtown urban areas of the mainland and saw a couple of scantily clad, expensive avatars standing around on the sidewalk outside a bar. I approached them to say hello, and their response was “You looking for some company?” I responded with “sure” and only then knew what kind of company they wanted to provide. At first I thought it was a joke, until I did some snooping around. Upstairs above the bar was a few shabby apartments where the hookers would take their johns. Mattresses and rats crawled around, the bass from the music below could be heard in the hallways. It convincingly looked like something from a movie about poor urban life. You could hear hookers turning tricks behind closed doors and on the mini-map two green dots were visible inside the rooms. The green dots represent people on the maps of Second Life. I asked the working girl why she chose the worlds oldest profession in a virtual society and her reply was “I have to pay the rent”. Turns out, more than one Second Life user is using prostitution to earn money to buy things for their avatar. While our society makes prostitution illegal in 49 states and several other countries, some simulators allow, or even facilitate prostitution because it draws traffic to the owners property. Advertisers will put up sales posters and kiosks in high traffic areas to get avatars to spend money. Any monetary transaction is a 2 click process. One of the business models of Second Life, is to create a simulator using real money, then dreaw users to it so they can make a return on their investment. Land developers spend real money on monthly maintenance fees to Linden Labs for hosting of their virtual community. You have to build or have someone build any structures, landscape, or bodies of water. Getting players to spend money on things you own, and the desire of the player to better their avatar are the forces that drive the virtual market. Populating a region with prostitutes is a good way to guarantee a return on your investment. I think it would be disrespectful to assume that all the working girls in Second Life are would-be hookers. Dance clubs with strippers are a large draw for a crowd. A virtual strip club is a constantly populated place. The dancers are usually highly decorated with nice hair, better skins that are atomically correct, and nicer shoes and clothes. The virtual strip club works similar to a real strip club. Girls are dancing on a stage with poles, and dance for a few songs before switching areas of the bar. Posters, shops and kiosks display items like shoes, clothes, genitalia, on the walls of most establishments. The comparison to other avatars and the constant commercial environment is hopefully enough lead to get players to spend money bettering themselves to look as realistic as possible. One of the people I interviewed during the second week of research tried to play me. She found me logged on the day after the interview and made friendly to start report. I teleported to her location where she attempted to solicit me, automatically assuming I had made up the story about school research on sex. She asked if I had any money and said “she wasn’t cheap”. Immediately I thought cheap comes in many forms. The desire to improve a person’s avatar allegedly will lead them to do things they would never do in the real world. Or perhaps subconsciously people want to be bad and do things they might only dream about in first person. Society and the way people exist and co-exist is mirrored in Second Life. We as a people try to advance ourselves to climb as high as we can on the socio-economic ladder of society. Within new technology there comes opportunity for those who not only understand but can manipulate their immediate surroundings. They do more than exist, they stand out. To create a more powerful person in a cut and paste society, we learn to cut and paste at the expert level. Strip clubs like the Perfumed Garden front as a strip club while having a fully live cathouse in skyboxes above the club. Inside you’ll find a small stage with intimate seating and two girls pole dancing on stage. A vending machine by the door sells bronze, silver, and gold passes to get 1 on 1 time with one of the girls. The passes range from $300 Lindens for a couch dance. And as much as $3000 for an hour in a skybox for anything you want with voice chat. It is noted on the gold pass that you must check with the girl to see if voice chat is available. This brings up one of the biggest questions about the people in Second Life. How do you know your talking to an actual woman? There is really no way to verify people are the sex they claim to be unless you actually know the person. Of all the people I interviewed, each of them claimed to be actual sex of their avatar. Most of the women in Second Life can’t be easily verified unless their profile gives their Facebook or Myspace page, and even then its questionable. So before you give in to solicitation by some sparkling vixen, remember that it could be an ageing middle-aged man from the Midwest wearing high heels. How a person present themselves is fascinating, avatars can range from wild animals, cat people, and she devils. The new form of communication Second Life allows every users starts out the same. People become so involved with Second Life as they want to be. Transferring money into Lindens is pretty simple and will allow a user to get skins and shapes of any kind and change their look instantly. One mistress Atlanta and I interviewed owns two large social sex simulators with clubs, and stores. She admittingly spends $700 euros a month in land management fees, and construction development of her hotels, brothels, and sex stores. Her roommate in real life was a Second Life user as well, and designs avatar costumes that sells in the stores they own together. They work with a cash flow of 100,000 Lindens per month of items bought and sold on their property. They also date each other in real life but in Second Life live completely apart and are in virtual committed relationships with other people. They say that most of the girls who work for them only turn tricks until they make enough money to buy whatever it is they want their avatar to be socioeconomically. They want a better skin, house, or hair (and let me tell you good hair is expensive). The working girls sit around and solicit guest via private message. Two people can talk privately together and not even have to be in the same room. Most business is done via private message. Solicitations from people in the more seedy party of the grid are almost expected. Of course exploring sex sites will draw attention from those looking to make a quick buck. Sometimes they offer you a teleport to somewhere with you like a private residence, or a skybox getaway. The seclusion is preferable to avoid bystanders interrupting or people teleporting into the room on you. Escort services are also popular in regions. Posters advertise escorts of every fetish, you can IM them and they will give you instructions. One poster advertises identical twins to call on you. Anything you might think of and several things you probably never imagined are available on the grid.



By looking at the sex culture in Second Life we can draw paralells to the books we have read in class this semester and how they better explain societies and cultures of the world. Shock Doctrine looked at the breaking down of social norms and creating a new environment to let the free market control the new society.


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