Socializing - Forums or 3D worlds?

Which do you prefer?

I used to dislike forums. But as time goes on, I find myself preferring them over 3D environments. Forums are a much more pure form of communication. We can share our ideas with 100's of people with just a single message. They're also not as demanding as real-time chat, especially when those annoying Instant Messages start coming in!. Ugh!

I also like the fact that people on forums aren't roleplaying. Some roleplaying is obvious and fun, other forms of roleplay are much more subtle and border upon deciet.

Is the future going to be 2D after all?


Do you prefer forums?. If so, why?

I don't really roleplay much.
I like bit of both depends. I couldn't just deal with just forums though if that was only way to communicate. I have been in similar enviroments where the only way you could communicate was email and forums and it sucked.
Sometimes though inworld communications are diffcult. It is nice to have alternative.

Completely with you 2K. I am anti social at the best of times, so forums allow me to express (force) my opinion at my convenience. I am the same with phones, hate talking on the phone and avoid it all cost both personally and professionally, always use email when I can. 3D worlds are good for a lot of things but not socialising in my opinion as just like rl, people are constantly interupting me. As I mentioned above....very anti social!

Yep. I avoid phones too

But I do like people. But only one at a time!. I dislike crowds. Which is odd really, because a forum can be considered a form of crowd. Which I quite like!.

Umm...

I'm with Porky on this. I hate phones too. Forums are a much more patient way of socialising than 3D world I think. For instance, a post on a forum is to the group more often than a single person. So, an answer is also to the group and when you suddenly twig with that 'must write this' moment, out you come with it.

The 3D world is much more person-to-person I find and whilst you're wrestling with your avatar and moving your camera etc, you're franticly switching windows to type that answer .. to then IM it to someone in the next sim who hasn't a clue what you're on about!

A thread is much easier to follow .. and the text window easier to edit LOL

I know the feeling!. That's probably what drove me to forums in the end. I found myself spending more time entering text into a 2D instant message window, rather than talking one on one with somebody in a 3D world.

Oh, and the forums are much prettier than a dull gray IM window.

There is available ingame now a 'chatbot' perhaps you can force your opinions on it.. although you would probably mute it, because it can interupt or even argue....

Seems like some comonalities in this thread I too dislike the telephone (and I detest voicemail), I try and do all my business communication through email.

Re. socializing via forum vs in-world... I don't really come to the forum to 'hang out' and socialize. I come to the forum to learn, ask questions, answer questions if I can, and generally find out what's going on. When I want to 'hang out' and just chat, I go in-world.

I do tend to be a shy quiet person in RL and would never go 'clubbing', but I enjoy the socializing at clubs/parties in SL. I like the chat, IM, and the fact that I control the volume of the music I hear -- can even turn it off and just read the chat and IMs and listen to something else if I don't like the stream.

-Atashi

Just as you would not use a telephone to write a letter, nor a pencil to attempt a real time conversation with multiple individuals in a pencil-conference, 3D medium and 2D medium each serve their specific purpose.

I have been privy to several different methods of chat interface; this one happens to be extremely clunky. Some chats, for example, interject private messages directly into the normal chat stream, albeit in a different color, or indented, or whispered, or some other method to identify it as non-spacial chat. Responding in the same chat window, was efficient, and convenient, not to mention intuitive.

This chat interface, with a separate interface for private messages, and tabbed at that, so that the tabs disappear occasionally from view, is not what most would call intuitive.

Roleplay is deceitful? "Role" - An actor's portrayal of someone other than themselves, and "Play"-Pretending to be someone in the framework of a game or playful activity

Is that not by definition.... accepted to be fantastical, non-representative of reality, fanciful, imaginary. Some might call fiction decietful, I suppose, but are they not simply then deluding themselves?

yes!! a big Y - E - S!!! LOL

This forum isn't for general discussion; there are many Resident Sites where this discussion is appropriate — Resident Answers is for Resident-to-Resident help. I'll close this thread..

How do you identify a question as acceptable for RA?
Is it specific to SL?
Is it a question with an answer that is helpful for SL?