Dissertation: What is the attraction of this Virtual World?

Hi everyone!

I'm at university doing a dissertation about the attraction of Virtual Worlds, and have recently opened an account with Second Life to try and work out what all the fuss is about.
I'll be honest, I'm finding it a little confusing so far!

I was wondering if any Second Life users out there would mind telling me a little about why they play the game?

Thanks!

If you have to ask, I can't explain it.

Sex and Shopping. Sometimes simultaneously.

There's sex in sl???

I hate to think of what you're doing with all those shoes...

Realsam, the big problem you'll find with that question is that at any given moment in-world, there are probably hundreds of people who're all excited about (and working on) their latest idea, but in the future they will only find that it fails. Nobody, yet, is 100% sure about what virtual worlds of this type do or don't allow. Thus, some people are attracted to things that don't really exist even though they wrongly think they do; and conversely some people might not have found what they're attracted to yet even though it's actually possible.

My experience has been that the people who stay in SL for long periods tend to be most attracted by:
* The ability to make their own environment and avatar. This tends to appeal mainly to people who are highly visual, because it's largely visual feedback that they're getting (in other words, if you want to be a ninja on SL, you can only do it by _looking_ like a ninja - you can't actually be "quietly superior", as in the classic appeal of the ninja role in RPGs).

* The ability to socialize in an artistic setting (this can be tricker to find these days, but it can be wonderful if you find it).

* Doing business (although I don't know if you'd want to count this. Obviously someone who is making a profit will stick with SL as long as they're making a profit.)

* Unique social interactions, such as.. um.. avatar sex (sorry, but there's no point denying it..) and certain role-play environments. Generic social interactions, such as clubbing, are popular with the transient population at any given moment in time but don't seem to _retain_ people that well (from what I've observed).

Where? I want to stay far far away from it.

There's shopping in sl???

Fixed it

Media or Information Studies, maybe?

Damn, I took the wrong bloody degree course

I think that this covers the subject comprehensively.

http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/GBSSCI/PHYS/Class/circles/u6l3c.html

Pep (The m factor works inversely for sexual attraction though)

/me splutters.


I'll give you my take on it, Realsam...

Second Life gives me an opportunity to be and do things that I can't be or do in Real Life. It lets me explore life choice decisions...what would my life have been like if I had done so-and-so way back, years ago, instead of the path I actually took?

It lets me be a better me than I can be in Real Life. I can fly and teleport in SL, and breathe underwater. I can fall from a great height and not die, or even skin my knee. I can lift huge objects by the power of my mind alone. Heck, I can make things out of nothing with only a gesture! It lets me be beautiful, and young...perpetually. My avatar doesn't get sick. Here, I am Wonder Woman...we all are.

I can have a rich person's lifestyle here for only a few bucks a month. I can own a mansion, a private island, a private jet. I can wear designer clothes and jewelry that would cost a fortune in the real world. I can play all day...or work at a job merely for the love of it, because I don't have to worry about keeping food on the table.

It lets me meet people from around the world. People with cultures and mindsets and experiences very different from my own. (And the more I meet these people and get to know them, the more I realize that we are much more alike than we are different.)

Second Life has its faults. The only senses we have are sound and sight; no taste or touch or smell. Our avatars are far from being "photorealistic", and so is the world around us (although it's getting better). There's no weather. There's no independent ecology. There's lag, and crashes, and bugs. There are capricious policy changes by the gods, our service provider. It's not a perfect world. But it has promise and opportunities that many people can't find in the world they were born into.

SLURL please

I get to be the me that's more "me" than I am myself in RL. (^_^)

And wear clothing like this without fear of developing a rash. (^_^)y

be inworld more than a few days then answer your own question

That shouldn't be a problem for you , Jethro.

That bug was pretty much fixed, I thought.

Wow how amazingly lazy. Your 'research' through posts on forums.

How about this, get in the game, go around and watch people and see what they are doing in SL rather than just asking what they are doing. People will give you a much more honest answer if you are "just another person" rather than playing up your 'research'.

By the way you are about the 500th 'researcher' I've met in SL. If you want to be lazy about it, just google other people's papers and copy them.

It's not a game. I don't play it.

So with the old "SL is/isn't a game" chestnut out of the way, why am I here? I'll quote from my in-world profile...

Ever read the "Dancers at the End of Time" novels? That's us. Here we are. We can create objects from thin air, reshape the lands, change our gender at a whim, fly as casually as we walk.

I came here to play at something I wasn't, and found it was me all along.

Thanks! There are some really useful answers here.

I'm currently playing SL to try and get my own opinion, but it's very useful to have opinions from others... an argument is always stronger when presented from many sides.

And my course is 3D Digital Design by the way

thanks again.

Woot!!! I was beginning to think we wouldn't have any researchers this week

Tentacle monster sex.

Amen!

Realsam,
Before you toss that statement out as being some random, made up and over exagerated number ... look through these forums for the past couple of months and you will see about 2 "research projects" a week. Given Pat's time in game thats over 200 right there from these forums alone.

Get in game, join a few "research project" groups -- of which there are copious choices --and you can get all the front work you need. No need to cover ground that is already well documented anyway.

/me looks through XStreet for a tentacle monster avatar