I, Avatar: The Culture and Consequences of Having a Second Life

Chapter . Alts, Newbs, and How a Fisherman Gets Fresh Fish

After some nine months or so, a good while after I’d last been in Second Life, I dipped back in for a look. I’d been lounging about in other virtual world systems, trying airplanes and taking on gunslingers, an Orc here, an Elf there. But Second Life still seemed new to me and had a kind of draw the others didn’t because of its flexibility. I’d never seen another virtual world where there was absolutely no narrative metaphor. I’d never seen a princess, Boba Fett, and a poodle-carrying Marine all hanging around together talking about the real U.S. president. I’d never seen such metaphor-free worlds where people just did what they fancied. But that apparently included the thing I’d seen ...