Second Life is a reflection of the people who use it, and as SL grows there are problems that grow too. Drama is often something that plagues the SL world. At times it seems that everyone is out for themselves, especially when money is involved. Second Life is a game that allows you to be creative, build and sell what you make, but there is also a sore side to it. To some people this is real and a good way to make money, and the level of anonymity means that people do get away with a lot more than they would get away with in real life. Racism, griefing along with others things do happen a lot, unfortunately newcomers are normally blamed for what ever happens due to the fact that SOME newcomers are normally the offenders.
Money and reputation means a lot in Second Life, and a lot of people, communities and others, will play dirty to get what they want. For example, we came across an Roleplay school who went as far as to trick, steal and backstab their way into getting students by trying to get rid of competing schools and communities. Why? Because they are able to charge students that attends their school 400Lindens or 1.90 USD per student. This has caused a riff between other schools and what makes it unbelievable is that they can continue to do this because as soon as problems appear they can simple change their name and start a new. It completely wrecks the harmless eco-system of Second Life, taking what would normally be fun and enjoyable, and turning it into something that ruins lives and makes it uncomfortable for everyone involved.
The same things happen with relationships, because of the level of anonymity in Second Life, some people do come to Second Life for sex and nothing else, but what they seem to forget is that behind every avatar is a real person. There are people who use the ability to make alts (alternative avatars) to carry on affairs even though they are promised to another. Yes, Second Life is just another video game but does not stop the hurt that can be felt by those who are affected by this. An example of this is a guy we came across who would date a woman and if things did not go the way he wanted them to go, he would simply delete the avatar he made and start a new with another avatar.
Second Life isn’t a game to some, it is a way of making money and making a life. No matter what you do in SL, always remember that behind every avatar is another person with feelings,who is here to relax and take time off of their hectic real lives. Treat them with the respect and understanding that you would want them to show you.
Behind every avatar sitting at a keyboard somewhere around the world, is a living breathing human being, a real person with real feelings and emotions. New residents often fail to get this because, well they haven’t worked out the game yet and act out of ignorance . Others without that excuse also act to hurt and harm others, because of the anonymity that SL can provide and that think they can get away with treating people badly, they are the ones to avoid!
Good article Izzie :}
right on the – pardon the pun – money, Izzie…