SL or RL? If you could choose?

I would love to live in SL, but I would miss those closest to me and that would be the only thing holding me back.

My reasons for being uncertain ... I am sure there are a lot of people in SL who are of a similar outlook.

A large part of the attraction of SL for me is that I don't have any responsibilities, there is nothing I need to do there, I can do exactly as I please. I can only do that however because my RL is willing to pump in money whenever I need it. SL would become much less attractive if I needed to work in order to enjoy the luxuries of having land, a ridiculously large wardrobe by my RL's standards, and so on.

Yes, it would be nice to have the "superpowers" SL gives, to be able to fly, to make anything I wanted just by rezzing cubes from thin air and playing with them, to be indestructible, untiring, able to TP. I might choose those over the feel of the wind, the sound of the sea (and definitely for the sound of the construction outside my window right now), the smell of a wet woodland, at least some of the time. But what really matters is people, and I'll take whichever life contains the people I most love.

The best thing in my SL is my partner, who I met there. To be with her all the time would be worth giving up RL, so right now I would choose SL. For the past 2 weeks, while she has been visiting me in RL, I've barely given SL a thought. In a few months I will be giving up most of my RL, to become part of hers, and we will have taken the best thing we've found in SL and made it real.

Well put Jillian. I agree. I spent a lot more time in SL before I moved IRL a month ago. My situation was such that I had little going on in the way of a social venue....and my work schedule was minimum.....so I entertained myself with SL. Now that I've moved....I am living with my sister until we close on our new house (fiance still in Iraq so I have had to coordinate this entire move)......and there is a LOT more going IRL leaving me very little free time for SL. I don't miss it, the way an addict would miss a fix......I love my life and I am so psyched to get in my new house (10 days, wooohoo).....But I still enjoy getting in world when I can because like Jillian so aptly stated....it's entertainment. When I go in world I am relaxed and temporarily disconnected from any of the pressures of my RL. But, I absolutely choose RL over SL. (tho I do wish that decorating my new house were as easy IRL as it is in SL! lol)

So you've done this before then? Where's the "door"?



Dammit, now I need breakfast. My head hurts.



Hey! My bippy ain't sweet.

The Grid ain't "done" nor do I ever think it will be...who knows what it will turn into in the next few years...so as far as "permanently" I would strongly suggest "no".

I can't even wrap my brain around this one enough to imagine "being in" SL. Most Residents seem to think they're "in" it when they log in already. You need to get animations just to dance... nobody eats, so there's no decent restaurants...ARs ain't usually responded to, so Anarchy (by the tenants, not "chaos" would be the sociological norm, which is kinda working to tell you the truth, anyway...

There would be a lot to miss, like; I like rain. The Grid can't handle weather, so LL took it out before SL opened. Fish have to be man made, so do all other "fauna".

I'm gettin' a headache. *goes to read a Wolverine comic*

I would love to feel the spray of the waves in Livingtree on my face, and run my hands through the sands of home. I'd love to spells the trees and grasses of Serenite, and enjoy a sunset, first hand, just about anywhere within this shared world of ours. I also know its not possible.

My RL is okay. I don't like the Borin' place none, but I've a roof over my head an people who love me. I have a number of cool RL successes to my name. I really cannot complain too much about it.

If it were possible, would I? Ya, for a day, maybe two. See my familiar stomping grounds, enjoy a kid's life from a first-person perspective, and so on. But I would not want to stay there.

Mari

... how do you know?

Imogen said in the OP that you could just visit. Are you guys seriously saying that you wouldn't blow an afternoon in SL if you could? Granted, I would never trade my entire RL for SL, even when things are bad in RL, but if you could blow off a lazy Saturday afternoon by swapping my RL for SL just to see what it's like, I can't imagine not doing it!

Looking at some of the other responses to this thread ... it vastly depends on how one takes SL, I think.

I do not view SL as entertainment like TV or a book. I have relationships in SL that are important to me. The people I meet in SL are not characters in a novel or actors in a TV show, they are real to me, in the context of the virtual space. So while I would not leave my RL for my SL in toto, nevertheless I do not look at SL as mere "entertainment".

One of the challenges of SL (and one of the things that makes it diverse as well) is that people approach SL very, very differently. This has an impact on the entire SL experience, of course, but it also goes to the heart of the kind of response one might give to Imogen's question.

SL? Forever?

in a heartbeat.....f**k the real world.

What if I could not find my way back to rl?
What if my assest server went down and TP's were not working and I could not TP into RL?

hmm......

probably not

if you were in SL full time, and could feel pain and be hungry, etc... you'd be rained on by griefers of all types and there'd be no safe haven from horny newbs. plus, what if you couldn't locate the right poseball for your "special needs"?

Even though I have a decent RL, I would love to live in SL. Maybe just for a few weeks at first to see what it was like, but I'm pretty sure I'd want to move permanently.

A lot of people seem to assume that AVs can't taste or smell or feel things, but I don't assume that at all.

Grace

At first I would jump back and forth between SL and RL. Some times I need some kind of excape from my RL restrictions (such as almost no cash and transport), especaly when things get rough for me.

If my RL bottoms out with no hope of recovery, the perminant switch will be better. Until then I semi-good with what I have, both sides have their limits; I just have more of them in RL.

While in SL, I will need to find stuff to do, but things will be interesting from that persective instead of the normal one of using a computer to enter SL.

hahaha I put my avatar in his jammies every night and tuck him in. In the morning I get him up and give him a cup of coffee while I catch up on the news and e-mail. Its the only RP I really do in SL. LOL

FaTeke

I would move to SL forever.
With only slight remorse.

My RL is terrible.
I have no friends in RL. No social life at all.
I have a job I hate and work with people who make my life hell.
I come home and my family is ripping itself apart.
Both work and home are negative, heavy, unpleasant places.

SL is home for me.

In here I have many friends.
I have an active social life that is fulfilling in ways I could never imagine in RL.
I can work or not as I chose.

In every way that counts for me SL wins.

FaTeke

i have a pretty great life in reality.

but, i'd step into SL in a second! i could find some real peace on my island home in SL that's for sure!

being able to TP would be pretty great too.
yeah, i'd go for it. my wife would be there, so that would help round it all out.

For a few hours, on occasion, quite possibly. Would likely do it several times a week, in fact.

For a day, on rare occasions, Maybe.

Longer than that? No.

For me, my loved ones couldn't/wouldn't follow. And if I have to choose between RL and some fantasy, the fantasy loses. No contest.

But if I could cross over for a short period, and return safely? Yeah, that would be fun on ocasion.

I would very much so take some nice long vacations in SL.. My RL is pretty good, but to be able to fly, live on my lovely island, and best of all be with my SL wife..

For those who say you could not feel the wind, or touch your lovers face. How do know? If you were really there, not seperated by a monitor and keyboard I would think you could feel, touch, taste, smell.. You would no longer need poseballs, you would control your avatar directly not though some clunky mouse/keyboard.

This has always been an interesting question for me.. Not only would I go into such a world to visit, but how would it be? I think it would be like in the Matix movies or many of the cyberpunk novels.. While "there" it would be real, your essence would be in the virtual world and all senses would be alive.

Given that I would go.. Maybe not stay, but who knows, my son visits the teen grid from time to time, and soon will be old enough to visit me in the main grid.. He is the only one I would really miss from the Real World anyway.

So for those of you who said no because you could not touch, taste, smell or feel.... well what if you could? What if all of your senses worked?

If the other missing senses were supported (taste, touch, smell)...well, I would be packing my bags to emigrate.

I fi had no children, i would step through the Looking Glass without a 2nd thought and would never look back.

No mental illnesses in a digital world

I would step through without a second thought if it was temporary. I love my SL friends and my SL life as much as I love my RL friends and RL life. I wouldn't want to have to give one up to have another but to be able to crossover on occasion would be fun.

I would take the plunge as well, with very little second thoughts. Like FaTeke...my RL doesnt hold much for me. I have no social life, mainly due to shyness and the aversion of going out alone. I dont have many in SL either but I love the wandering... I could have a lot more shoes too.

I have to admit Lizz, that I think this is what I imagined, being able to have the human senses.... but to those who didn't assume this, I can see why not. Interesting thoughts.

imogen

I would not want to leave RL permanantly to enter SL, but I'd love to be able to go in-world and come back out at will. If it were a one time deal, I'd probably plan a week's worth of vacation around it.

--Hugsy