Missing persons report

I was missing an old friend, a friend of my old main who hardly ever logs on anymore. The friend had been gone from SL for months. Last night, I had a problem with my piano, and needed to log in with my main since she's the owner, and lo and behold, an IM just 20 minutes earlier from this friend!

Really felt like the Twilight Zone.


But, I reconnected, my friend's wife just had a new baby, I got to see pics, and pics of his other daughter who's is the most adorable child ever! It was so great to see him and catch up on each other's lives.

I hear that, i'm down to 28.8 speed till the 28th.

i miss my mate Creighton John, i met him my first week of SL and we've learnt alot through eachother. he still logs on but maybe once every 3 or 4 weeks because he's doing work in South Africa now, when we first met he was living in Tassie.

As for the rest, i see alot of people come and go. but i really only have a very small handfull of people i would call friend on SL. I'm not exactly a party animal tho

-Crunch

requoted for truth, and that now Bradley is back i had to say:

Yes. We can take his Ass off the Milk Carton, now.

Not a good idea if you want to sell more milk.

you have NO idea how funny that is to me.

I wonder what type of person does such a cruel thing.

Had a similar thing happen about 12 years ago on IRC...and just recently a group of us were told that one of our friends from many years ago (who had also come to SL) had been killed in a car accident. (The person who told us identified himself as a friend of his, although none of us knew the avatar.)

Three months later, the supposedly deceased person showed up and said his brother was using his account for awhile and it was actually his brother who was killed in the accident. (I don't believe this either based on past history.)

/shakes my head

so if the brother was killed, WHO was saying the original guy was killed? my brain hurts. this is like a time machine riddle or something.

I missed Branduff. An old friend from TSO who suddenly disappeared.

I just waited. About two years later, he was back! "Do you remember me?" he said. Hahaha, as if I could forget him!

He's kind of an off-and-on guy on the game even now. But you know, the metaverse is a small place, and I always figure my old friends will come back. (I also keep the same name "Cocoanut" on all games, so they can more easily find me from game to game.)

coco

I missed Brenda when she left.

We were never close friends but she was always kind to me. I was disappointed in myself for not letting her know she is a very special person to me in SL. (I don't mean short bus special).

Glad you are back!!
"CX"

My brain hurts too...

Basically:

1. There is a group of us who have been together for 12 years on IRC.

2. One person of this group (I'll call him "B" left that group, while we were still on IRC.

3. The group (minus "B" migrated to SL a year ago.

4. About 6 months later, "B" contacted a member of our group ("R", to say he was on SL, but did not want to return to the group.

5. 3 months ago, an avatar none of us had ever seen contacted "R" and said: "I'm a SL friend of "B" and wanted to let you know he was killed in a car accident."

6. This past week, "B" contacted "R" and said: "I wanted to let you know that I let my RL brother play SL using my avatar. He became a friend of (unknown avatar who told "R" that "B" had died). My RL brother was the one who was killed in a car accident, not me.

So the answer to your question is: The unknown avatar was the one who originally said "B" was killed.

~ ~ ~

"B" is a master of manipulation and mind games. He got called on it by some members of our group which is why he left while we were on IRC.

I personally don't think any of the above is true. I think "B" was probably "the unknown avatar" as an alt and was trying to mess with us.

~ ~ ~

Carry on

It's a part of the digital reality -- it is contingent, if you will, on the individual choosing to participate in it. There's always that red x in the upper right hand corner, and things happen to people, both here in SL and in the RL, that can encourage someone to click that red x permanently.

I have had two major "breaks" from SL. The first was after an accident my son was in -- at first I didn't have the time to be here, and then I just got used to not having the time to be here -- that is, my time became filled with other things naturally more or less. After a few months, I came back because I missed the people I had known here.

The second break came when I was running away from an SL relationship that was very unhealthy for me. I just ran as far away from SL as I could, as fast as I could. I didn't know if I would ever come back. But I did, because of one person (not the one I was running from!), and I'm very glad I did, but at the time I left I didn't know whether I would be back or not.

So in my own personal experience, both things in RL and things in SL can encourage one to hit that red x and keep it hit for a while. For me, I have always found my way back because of the people I know here, and the relationships I treasure with them. But I can understand how others who may view SL and their experiences here differently could approach things differently if/when they feel a certain sort of pressure to take a break from SL. We always joke that it's a matter of time until they will return -- but while for many of us (including me) that has certainly been the case, for many others it is not the case, and when they leave, they simply disappear into the darkness for good.

We do know that some disappear purely by choice. Relationships go bad or they just tire of the current group. Sometimes they feel driven to disappear due to drama they caused in or by the circle of friends. Often, it is just RL issues and responsibilities. The thing that these people should remember is that we are all real people in SL. Yes, we do look like cartoon characters, but those characters are driven by real people.

Is the time it would take to drop a notecard or IM too much to ask? Informing even one person in the circle would be enough to get word out that the individual has chosen to leave...not passed away or hurt. It is a simple courtesy.

We will still miss them but at least we will know they are still out there in the world somewhere...

I miss my friend Nina.. One of my first good friends here..

I miss my friend Breeze. I haven't seen her in many many months. One day she just stopped showing up.

I miss Colette Meiji's posts. I always enjoyed them.

I did too. Anyone know if she is still around?

In the year I've been on, more than half of the people I've known well have either dropped out completely or even more strangely, they show up once in a blue moon. It's almost as though they want to rekindle that spark they once had for the game but the magic doesn't happen and they quickly disappear again. About 5 months ago, one particular friend dropped out very suddenly without explanation. A month later he returned to explain that he had some serious RL issues but got them resolved. He acted like everything was back to normal and talked doing a product update, but just a day later, he disappeared again. He was seen online just once more - sitting by himself in the sandbox where he use to be most active. It was almost as though he was saying goodbye to his SL, and while he made a couple of subsequent logins, he ceased all communication and would not respond to any IMs, notecards, or emails. Knowing that SL is a a churn factory, I really never thought much when people moved on, but I think it about now, and maybe it's because we have thoughts about heading in the same direction.

The biggest problem I have is that I am not sure, when someone disappears, whether it is because they weren't really your friend (or they would have told you they were going and why - if you are friends then that is the least you can do, otherwise you are merely acquaintances), or whether they are dead. In the former case I want to feel really angry and annoyed that I have wasted time on someone who doesn't care enough about me to at least allow me to say goodbye, and in the former I would like, as all real people do, to grieve. A dichotomy that can not be resolved? It hurts me that I might think ill of the departed, but concerns me that I might be angry with someone who dos not deserve it.

Pep (Is selective amnesia the answer?)

What works for me is assuming the best until I hear otherwise. Perhaps new found wealth and fame has made real life security measures mandatory, including abandoning vulnerable virtual identities.

Yes I miss Colette too, maybe she will return one day, so many do after a while of recharging their batteries.

I miss Lean Vale. I did not know him very long and know why he quit logging in...but still, I wonder how he is.

My first second life friend was a guy from Israel. He befriended me when I was brand new and still wore the girl next door avatar. Then the war between Israel and Lebanon started. He stopped logging on. I will always wonder if he died in the fighting.

The first name he chose for himself was Chaim, which he said means "peace." Ironic isn't it.

If anybody knows him, if he has changed avatars, will you tell him to say "hello?" If I did or said anything wrong, I am sorry. I did not mean it. We don't have to stay friends. I just want to know that he is ok.

I'm close....maybe I could fill in?



At first I thought..Hey...I don't know you, do I?

quite funny actually i remember seeing your name on the forums quite a while ago and took me a while to realise it was a different person. thought it was odd for him to be on the forums *laughs*

By the way i ran across an eryn sun a few months ago and she was building a replica of moya, i wish i had taken a landmark as i'v not heard from her since, if you ever come across it or some other farscape stuff i would love to hear. (it's actually how i met the other crighton we were chatting about farscape in a newb area)

cheers

-Crunch