O, for a Draught of Vintage!

Does alcohol play a factor in how we use sl?

I spent the real morning with a number of people engaged in the work I do. Everything seemed wicked until one girl started to act a little queer. She started to "perform" in a loloppy way and kinda fell over. It was pretty obvious she was rat-faced. Later, she puked it up and came back on a bit happier.

Now, I make no bones about having been an alcoholic when I was a teen and in my early 20s. For two years (from 20 to 22) I never - to my knowledge - drank anything that didnt have some alcohol in it. It was in my morning coffee and there was rum and wine by my bed before I slept. So I'm not a prude about booze. In fact, I still have a great wine cellar and serve booze to my guests. But I am sober now and have been for some time. But drunks really get to me. I dont encourage it. But it's there, innit? Everywhere we go.

Even in sl.

I wonder if anyone has noticed alcohol as a suspected (or confirmed) factor in an avatar's behaviour and words? Or have you been sozzled or smashed and come on line. Have you had days after when you failed to recall what you did in sl until it all came back at you in IMs and notes from friends (and enemies)? Does sl and alcohol mix?

PS. Just as a little game, can you identify the source of my brief quotation that is in the title?

Ode to a nightingale - Keats

PPP ( Thank you Google)

Don't drink - never have. (A sip to be polite at a wedding or two in a lifetime doesn't count.)

Google's cheating. You must now learn "Ode to a Nightingale" and recite it coz it's gorgeous and sexy to your best friend in real

Well - there are animations that make the avy stagger about and fall over, but I guess that is not what you are asking.

For most people SL is all about interacting with other residents and alcohol is a social lubricant in SL just as it is in RL.

Personally, I know when I have had too much when my typo count gets too high.

We have all come across people here whose words and actions show all too clearly that they have had too much. But its SL, so who cares? They cant throw up over my trousers or start throwing punches at anyone who happens to be near them.

PPP ( Sorry PEP, I started a sentence with a conjunction )

Ooooooh. I do love bossy women.

Go offline and wake up your avatar Pep. Coz its you, innit, Pep? YOU are PeterPan Price. Price is a Welsh name as in Pep "The Post" Price.

Didn't you promise to stop this? A few times already?

Pep is educated. He wouldn't have needed to use Google.

I am afraid that my education has deliberately stayed away from chicklit, and I include romantic male poets such as Keats in that category. I am an acolyte of the French Symbolists (Baudelaire, Rimbaud et al) who reacted against the Romantic "heart over head" or "feeling over reason" philosophy, as is probably evident from the tenor of many of my posts.

Pep (Starting a sentence with a conjunction is OK - as long as you do it deliberately and know it should be wrong normally. )

As far as alcohol and SL is concerned, you should remember that alcohol is a depressant, and since most of the inhabitants of sl appear clinically depressed to some degree (unsurprisingly given real world conditions) drinking while online is pouring fuel on the fire.

Of course, it's usually a case of how well you appear to handle it, and timezone lag-induced tiredness affects my typing much more than booze. I have noticed that some forum members occasionally seem to lose what little sense they have when they have over-indulged, but I have personally been impacted more by the mood swings which less social drugs have generated in some of my friends inworld. I just put it down to female hormones initially, but then I noticed that the cycle seemed to be seven days long, coinciding with weekends, rather than the normal monthly one.

Pep (alcohol is a great servant, but a terrible master. )

PS I keep all my logs, to compensate for potential memory lapses.

I completely agree with Pep on this, having clinical depression myself, 10 years ago I dropped from 1 and a half bottles of wine overnight to none within a week of becoming single again, I quickly realised my situation would only get worse if I carried on drinking whilst living alone, now I may drink a third of a bottle of wine about once a week.

A couple of years ago I discovered that getting rat-faced now meant I was very likely to blackout, so even though I had only done that 4 or 5 times a year in the past, now its champagne to start the evening water to finish it off.

I only ever drink tea or coffee when playing SL.

Coffee brings its own dangers. The phrase 'bouncing off the ceiling' takes on a whole new meaning when one has the ability to fly.

I generally avoid the alcohol and SL mix since I once logged in after a particularly wine-fuelled night out. Thought I'd make a slight AV shape tweak. Just a little alteration to face shape. Tiny thing. So really, no need to bother making a back-up of my shape.

Well, the tiny change meant my nose looked a bit wrong, so that needed a tweak too. And the lip position and shape. Hmmm, bum looks a bit big these days too. After about an hour I was done.

I forgot all about it until I logged in the next day, turned my AV round to face the camera and "AAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH".

I dont drink often. I've had the same 12 pack of Corona in my fridge for nearly 2 years (Down to 2 bottles now). That said...

Before Havok4 and the vehicles sims getting messed up, my honey and I used to get a bit tipsy and go ride motorcycles in the vehicle lots. It was a complete scream to use that suspension bridge as a ramp or any of the other things alcohol influenced driving in SL can produce. I DO NOT ADVOCATE REAL DRUNK DRIVING. In fact if anything the driving in SL intoxicated pointed out how little booze it takes to impair ones abilities.

I don't drink and drive either.

Pep (You spill so much - what a waste! )

Lag is due to alcohol.

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