Revolt of the Alt Avatar

I like threads like this that make me chuckle. It was a nice start to my day

/me still doesn't have an alt...

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
I'm schizophrenic,
and so am I.

I have an alt also, I created her for those times when i want Absolute Privacy. I've found i Do act, and react differently when i use her, her Manner of dress, and attitude is definately a departure from my Primary Av, But Both are extensions of Different aspects of My personality (That is the definition of an avatar anyway).

Ok, The OP wanted a Test Body, one in which work could be done, but lets face it, there is very little Visually appealing about the Ruth, or her Male counterpart after a while OPs own aesthetic sense will demand that a Little "redecorating" should be done to make #2 More comfortable to look at while working. During that redecorating, some personality is Bound to come out. Even a workshop will reflect the personality of the person who works there.

Angel.

Here is a question, what if a person was a schizophrenic in RL and is playing SL with
multiple alts.

I wonder what the professional opinion from the mental health community would be of that?

In a different slant, if one of this person's alts reveals info about one of the RL person's
multiple personalities but not their primary is that a TOS violation?

haha

Well, me, *I* like Regan better than Beebo

(Assuming that's the alt.)

On the other hand-- you guys were talking about a woman named Regan in a movie.....

There was this play written by some guy in England back around 1600 or thereabouts, in which a character named Regan did *really evil things* to her father all over land ownership. I'd look out.

-Rob

I do have a really nice custom skin that I made myself, but the occasional clothing I've purchased has been for use in screenshots, and normally I'm just wearing the clothing and hair I've had since I started. Usually this matters not at all to me, but the other other day when I stopped by my store for a minute, a customer did a double-take and exclaimed "you are wearing newbie clothes!"

Small nitpicking point... Schizophrenia is *not* multiple personality disorder. I think that particular misconception was created by the popular media.

There is, in SL, a fantastic place where you, through your avatar, can experience what schizophrenia is actually like. You wear a badge and walk through a building in mouselook and it is a very compelling and somewhat disturbing experience. It was built by some research group who work with sufferers in RL and is supposedly a very accurate representation of what the condition is like.

I do wonder though in what ways multiple personality disorder could come into play while using SL...would SL help or hurt? Could having an avatar, or more than one avatar, cause the disorder to worsen or could it help, by letting the different personalities be more distinct and identifiable? If only I knew anything about psychiatry, I could get a grant

-Atashi

My alt mysteriously became my second life...funny how that works.

I did this the other way round - I am MEEE in SL but my RL agent has handed control of MEE over to another RL-er occasionally, under supervision - not for chatting or interaction but just for looking round places I've built. I hasten to add that my password was NOT divulged to the other RL-er!

Following on from this topic, is it permissible for 2 alts of the same RL-er to form a group?

Yes. Just hope they invite you to be part of it.

I think some of you are confusing schizophrenia and bipolar disorder with what used to be called multiple personality disorder. One is a psychotic disorder and the other is a type of depression while multiple personality is a Disassociative Identity Disorder. With that said I need to mention Paranoia which is a delusional disorder. Of course I don't have that.

Awhile back I thought it would be cool to create some alts to carry on the more mundane aspects of Second Life such as digging holes in the ground and building stuff. I gave them ok skins and clothes and turned them loose and almost forgot about them until one of the bolder ones IM'd me with a list of demands which included first rate skins and clothes. Apparently they had held a meeting, without my knowledge, and decided upon their list of demands.

My question is can they really do this? Aren't they somehow in violation of the ToS?

The hell you say!

Well I stared with a premium char then made 2 alts to zip around & play so the main could have privacy while building & working with only a handfull of people on the mains friends list.

Now my main is still my main but my RL main has become an alt, and I conisidering deleting my RL alt so I can have more SL alts and perhaps turn one of my SL alts into my new RL main

Hi Atashi, I should imagine that like most other aspects of cause and treatment you can't make a blanket decision as to whether SL is beneficial or aggravating to a particular condition.
The cases would need consideration individually. Take for instance two people not suffering from this condition. One might relish in the freedom that having a second avatar presents them. The other might find it anathema to be anything but what they are. Similarly then those suffering would range from those facing and coming to terms with the situation against those who would would try to fight it with possibly dangerous consequences.

Sorry for dredging up an older post but nothing today has gripped my attention

Oh and btw ... my alt became a Linden and had me ejected.

You made me laugh out loud with this one. Thanks - a nice chuckle on a cold and snowy Monday morning.

Re. the rest, I am very certain you are correct.. every one of us are unique (those of us with alts are twice as unique!) and the situation is going to be different for every one of us.

My own alt though has been relegated to the form of an inanimate object, so as to limit its personality as much as possible. It's just a 'tool' and enough challenge keeping it that way. Personally I know I wouldn't do well trying to juggle two distinct personalities, I have enough difficulties managing just one.

-Atashi.

*laughs* Oh.... Reagan dear, you're not at all alone.

Ceera started out as an alt in another RP forum. I already had a very different, strongly defined character there, but needed another character for a roleplay - just someone to add to the story line. Over the course of a year or so, Ceera ended up with a better-defined and more 'real' character than my main one - mostly because by the time I made her, I had learned a LOT about how to play and define a more believable character in roleplay scenes.

By the time I joined SL, Ceera may as well have been my main character. She *was* my primary in SL, and still is. Though I also made an account for my previous main character in SL, that one hardly ever plays here.

I've got a few other alts in SL that started as "just a tool" - a second character to show me what was going on at ground level while I was building in the sky, or to assist in placing couples pose balls while building. Some of those now have a better wardrobe and more avatar forms than Ceera has, and they definitely each have their own "personality".

But to me, that is part of the magic and fun of roleplaying - the art of crafting characters so believable and detailed that two of them can be logged in at once, and a dear friend who doesn't know they are both "me" could interact with them literally for years, not knowing that they are really the same Player at the keyboard. It isn't schitzophrenia or multiple personalities - it's acting at its best, where you get to define the roles and the character and play the part - Writer, actor and director of your own real-time production.

Did you guys know there is a way to make it so you can have alts online at the same time as your primary? I just found this out the other day

Yep just trying to workout how to get rid of my RL and keep my SL main & alts, can I transfer my WoW or CoH characters here too?

Yes. Depending on the roleplay scenario, I may have 2 or even three accounts active at once, interacting with the others in the RP, as well as with each other.

I've also found this very handy as a builder. I can leave an alt in one location to function as a 'remote camera' and see the build from multiple angles at once. Or have them stand in a specific location on the ground, map them, and use the red "beacon" column of light to precisely locate someplace over that point, high in the sky.

Regan that is a lovely story. Thank you.

Okay, I'll bite -- how does one log in as one's main and one's alt at once? I made an alt for the same sort of reasons (trying on clothes and shoes I build) but had not realized that two-in-one-place-at-one-time was possible!

For the record, Regan and I have worked out a very amiable dynamic.

Regan's formal business as a home builder has been mothballed (no traffic, no sales, but lots of experience) and she is now putting all her energies into landscaping our group property. She gets the horse, the dogs, the birds, the plants and if I expand my shape business, Regan will design and contruct the new storefront.

Meanwhile, I'm concentrating on the shape business, so I get to buy all the pretty clothes and skins and anything related to avatar decoration.

We share our friends, our land and our house (or we will, once Regan gets us one). I may demand a horse of my own someday, but for now I'm content to TP up to my skybox to do work and let Regan play with the land.

All's well that ends well.

What I think is interesting is that Oryx has dared to be a much different person than I am; she has started her own business doing creative stuff, nearly always stays out of other people's conflicts, and just generally works her ass off. She's got land, a house, a garden, and is basically a very stable person.

I wonder, if SL is around in 30 years, will our avatars ever develop their own Artificial Intelligence, based on years and years of experiences and 'memories' in their little computer synapses? It makes me want to treat Oryx with respect....LOL

I think that anyone who gets involved enough in SL to really get into their avatar and his/her personality either has an amazing ability to compartmentalize, an incredible imagination, or a few wires crossed upstairs... I know which one I am!