True Pixel Love

*Laughs with Shadow* LOL you're funny...

*Laughs with Shadow & throws you some plasma cleaner*

Well put.

Communication outside the game is so vital, and you know the person is serious if they actually want to pursue that avenue with you. In-game worlds have a habit of making drama exist where it doesn't need to. I think that is part of the draw for some people.

I think Jesus had this problem. Imagine that guy with a laptop and an SL account.

Light this made me smile without sarcasm...I must be slipping.

Shadow

brilliant observation Colette, but one clarification, experience and maturity can allow a person to ride the endorphins but not lose track of the fact that all females are psycho, hehe, just kidding, yeah, we are all flawed and SL really does allow us to appear far more perfect than anyone could possibly be, setting up for a rude awakening when the real world creeps in, but there is a reason why two people click in SL and if you can concentrate on that reason while the castles in the sky are burning, my guess is that a relationship can continue, stronger than ever, giving up on that person and starting the process over is not the answer.

oh man, I could sooooo put some juicy examples of this here. yeah, SL is my first experience into this genre and I have never seen such a concentrated amount of drama. It must be an emotional need to create this drama.

I believe it is possible for two people who are single to find true happiness in a game. I met my rl fiance in sl. As for people who are already married, I don't see how they could live a life of both relationships. I think afterawhile it will take a toll where they spend more time online then in rl with their spouse.

This is true in most cases but I am proud that my partner and I are one of the exceptions to this. There are others as well who have been together like us almost two years. That is a lifetime in sl.

So have faith!

I think part of the draw for online relationships can be attributed to the following:

1) The person's RL personality and/or demeanor and/or looks led them to not make many connections romantically. Now suddenly, it's less about how they look and carry themselves and almost like jacking into each other's brains. The attraction quotient changes online. Not to mention online avatars complicating the matter further, because in sl, your online avie can look like anything.

2) It allows people in established relationships, that they are happy with, to feel "young" (i.e. single) again. It can help remind them that they are still attractive to more than one person, and therefore attractive. They feel safe flirting online, whereas they may not go out to a bar or party and flirt.

3) Some people are drawn to the intensity of online relationships. That whole week is a month stuff. Some people love that intense sucked in feeling you can get with an online relationship.

Just my thoughts

As part of the small community of SL'ers who have made a RL connection through SL, I have an interesting stand on this issue. In March, I left my RL fiance to pursue a relationship with my SL husband. Finally realizing that I was unhappy in my current situation, I did what was best for myself and my ex. Falling in love with my SL husband outside of the game was far from planned, I assure you, but it did happen. And I hold no regrets. Joining SL was the best thing I could have ever done for me...that almost sounds pitiful, but it opened up a whole new world for me. So here I am, 4 months later and more than 1000 miles from the only home I ever knew, banking everything on a feeling that started over chat text and animated hugs. It is sad to see so many people wrapped up in the romance and sexual side of SL. But it might be what they need...honestly: who are we to judge? I admit to cheating on my ex and I take all blame for our relationship failing. I credit SL for providing the world in which my boyfriend and I were able to meet. So I guess I'm trying to say that it DOES happen...some connections made in game result in strong friendships and maybe more. As for all those who change partners every week, maybe they are just hunting for something they won't find on a game. My advice (not that it matters ) would be to stop looking, evaluate your RL, make YOU happy...then and only then will you be able to open yourself to the possiblities of love.

Jennyfur and I are married in RL, but not partnered in SL. We don't want to jinx it, or throw off the bell curve average of the 10-day long SL marriage.



-Flip

is 10 day the actual average of partnersips? Just Curious?

hehehehe... its probably not, but it seems that way. There are some serious, long term relationships I know of, but they are ... BY FAR ... the exception.

-Flip

We met in SL on 4th July 2003,
Started dating 30 August 2003,
Wed in SL 20th November 2003

Met in RL June 2004,

Engaged to be married and still together. Only truely happy when together in RL.

Waiting to move to USA to get Wed.

It can work and it can last

XOXOX Hunny

PS: No Flipper, That was for Pituca, not you

Which is totally fine. But does that give you permission to sit in judgement of other people's lives? If someone plays in SL with their spouse's permission -- or even participation -- how exactly is that cheating? I thought cheating usually involved some measure of deceit?

I think Second Life tends to blur the line between reality and fantasy in many ways. For many folks it's not healthy, but for most of us there isn't really a problem here.

I thought this was funny -- stumbled on it just poking around the site trying to figure out when the servers are coming back up. Here is the Lindens' official response to SL marriages:

Second Life Partnership Agreement

I followed that link and almost divorced Pituca !!

They should make it harder than a simple checkbox

Pandia and I have been together almost a year, we have been married in game since Feb. She is married in RL and her RL husband was my best man. She has always made it clear that her RL relationship comes first and I promised her from the very beginning that I would never do anything to endanger that. I am cool with it and it works for us. Some people are mature and smart enough to separate a RL relationship with an online one.

In case you were wondering, no, there are no kinky threesoms or whatever. They are very respectful with each other. It works for us but YMMV.

*cough* uh.. yeh. that was me & willow.. we were making fun of this skin i bought that had a bunch of dots on the crotch. & she decided to put it in her profile.. thus.. giving me a bad rep throughout sl.

o & me & willow arent together, no. just good friends.

You mean i'm nothing to you!

*sobs*

I've been with my sweetie for over a year now and if ever it was to end he certainly would be extremely difficult to replace. I think honestly it is not the fact that someone follows a pattern of being infatuated and then it wearing off and they find someone new, I think people just don't get to know eachother long enough before they leap into the next. It's so easy to get hit on anywhere you go. Hell, if I tp somewhere and am at a telehub waiting for things to rez, if there is a guy standing there I can almost guarentee he will hit on me..and I'm not being cocky either as I'm sure it happens to EVERY girl who is rezzing lol. But...the game can be pretty lonely when you see everyone matched up with someone..or if you're new and don't know anyone yet.its very easy to be swept off your feet and before you know it in a SL relationship. I think what breaks most of these SL relationships up is immaturity levels. Sorry to say, not trying to offend anyone either but I really just think the people who bounce from one person to the next are just in it for the game not the actual person behind the AV...however..when you do meet someone and it is not only the AV that you love but the person behind the AV..it can be something really special and who knows..maybe one day it will happen to you so don't knock it

Have a blessed day!

O.o Me and my Car (Piggyback ride) Grey Just leave it at SL,
Course I've left dating in Real life untill my kids ask where their father is,

It may sound cruel or unatural but its as unlazy as I get,

Haveing Two little girls is handful enough without me haveing to worry about court orders and their fathers and CSI Miami busting into my liveing room telling me I've been useing hamburgers for a popcicle couch,

In the end,

Love sucks!
But I can bear it a little while longer,

Its crazy, though I root for the guys mostly in the partnership position,
When they get thrown away for the flavor of the week or they smarten up and leave some snakes, (Noteing not everyone is a snake)

Either way Pixel love is nothing but text and images flashing 10000 times in front of our eyes, Same as Real Love,

I don't believe it's about people being "smart enough to seperate RL from online" as much as it is about each consenting adult and what their boundaries are; what the rules of engagement are that they have set.

I congratulate you being with your partner for such a long time and kudos to the 3 of you being able to all enjoy each other and take pleasure in sharing of yourselves.

I want a partner in SL.. but all the females I adore are either straight or attached. And the only males I'm *really* attracted to are gay, and if they were straight I'd have an issue because I'm married RL and while I can get with women, I know my hubby would be weird about me being "partnered" to a guy. hehe. But I think Oz Spade and I made a promise to partner in 5 years if we hadn't partnered with anyone else yet. For the sanity of the SL world, I hope that doesn't have to come to pass.

It's always nice to see success stories creep up from the regular hooplah. Love can't be anticipated, it's just something that happens.

Embrace it ... for those of us who haven't found it yet!