Third Strike

With regards to this week's blog, i shall discuss the experience of 'playing' (well, perhaps role-playing would be a better term but can one role play himself/herself?) Second Life as a whole.



Arendt mentioned the Aristotelian idea of the 'beautiful'. That is the concerning and doing things that are "neither necessary nor merely useful" but rather doing for the sake of the bodily enjoyment. I would also propose that the word 'bodily' not only encompass the physical body but the mental and psychological body. In that case, i would argue that the activity (not the distinction as made by Arendt as i will not be discussing the distinction of work, labour and action; just merely the act of doing) of playing Second Life pretty much encompass the Aristotelian idea of the 'beautiful'. With my experience of Second Life, I can see different people playing it differently but mostly all (those ardent players at least, myself not included, for me, 'playing' Second Life is the Arendt's definition of Work) do it because they enjoy it. Some choose to become another personality altogether, some stay true to their own personality, some go into the virtual world seeking companionship, not unlike going to a new city or new country to make new friends, some go into the virtual world just to design and 'publish' the various skins and models that they have made, showcasing their talent and ability while some just go in with the intention of making money. Some do it as an escape from their physical world (their real life so to speak) while some see it as an extension of their physical world, but most do it because it is 'beautiful'.



Connected to the last sentence is Arendt's idea of the private, the public and the social. However, there are challenges when trying to apply those concepts on virtual worlds such as Second Life. Perhaps virtual worlds should not be seen as analogous to our present physical world but a different entity altogether. Arendt mention the 'seeing and hearing' as what constitutes our reality. However, 'seeing and hearing' has a different dimension in virtual worlds. One don't see the physical and hear the physical but see and hear the representation ( i.e. the avatar) of the physical. If what one saw or heard is secondary to what one and everyone sees and hear, what does that make of the things that one saw or heard via Second Life? In addition, Second Life (or virtual worlds in general) is unique because it messes up the boundaries between private, public and social and meshes them together. It is at once private and public. Private because ultimately the person controlling the avatar is deprived in the physical world as well as in relation to the virtual world. Public because despite the 'privacy' the user's action is immediately visible. The user can participate in the public domain of the virtual despite the lack of a household. Even if the user gets married in Second Life and owns a house in it, ultimately that marriage is not legal and recognized if it is has no physical world relation (that is the couple also gets married in the physical world) and the ownership of the house does not belong to the user as it is ultimately a set of data and the set of data belongs to the company that owns Second Life.



Thus if one were to apply Arendt's concept into the virtual world, one should exercise extreme caution in doing so.

Second Chance (at second life)

So, onto my quest to turn around my negative image of Second Life. Right from the very beginning, when I register for Second Life, I am engaging in (using Caillois' term) mimicry. I had to choose a First name and the system will generate a Last name for me. As a Singaporean Chinese, I immediately have to suspend my disbelief (more about that later) and role play as a 'westerner', if you may, even before I started playing the game. Right from the start when I enter the Second Life world, people are just standing around staring at each other. It is as if either talking is taboo or just waiting for someone to break the ice. Being the reserved and shy person that I am, I did not make the initiative to break that ice and I promptly teleported elsewhere. Yes you fly and teleport everywhere. Well, you can walk but flying around is about the only fun thing in SL.

Since exiting that Tutorial Island, I was thrown into another island. I had no idea what to do or where to go.There were quite a few people around again standing and staring into empty spaces, as if doing their virtual meditation. Again no one is talking to one another. Feeling bored, I search for Singapore under locations and ended up at Temasek. I promptly left the place upon arriving. It is a dead town with no one there (maybe more of the fact that I was there at the rush hour of 5am). I searched for Japan under location (for you see I am studying the language right now, so I think I may want to have a space to practice it) and ended up at Tempura Island. I noticed behind the coordinates of that island (every place is an island, hmm interesting dont you think?) had a “mature” behind it. I check my search properties, I have left Mature unchecked. Hmm... is the game trying to tell me something? Anyway I promptly exited that place again.

I ended up at Help! Island. Things get a little interesting here. I was suddenly approached by a female and she start speaking to me a lot. Except that I dont understand her language. After I apologized and inform her that I cant understand her. She replied with a crisp “ You Hair”. I was taking a back. Firstly I was somehow not my avatar but a blob of white smoke. I cant even change my appearance. I was like the Wisp in WC3. After a little exchange, things start to lag badly for me just as I was in conversation with a few others regarding learning of a new language. And then I lagged out.

Moral of the story? Do not bet your chance (Alea? hahaha) at a Second Life with a laggy computer.

Connecting back to the readings, it seems as if mimicry is the predominant form when engaging in a persistent world. It is obvious that I am trying to role play as a habitat of the Second Life world. I will have to add a point to Caillois's mimicry in the importance of suspension of disbelief on the player's (me) part. To mimic and simulate something, one has to let go of the 'present' reality and embrace the 'alternate' reality. I would argue that ilinx is also present as I myself did spin around and fly round and round, not too different from a child spinning around to achieve that dizzy effect.

Two questions for discussion.

1) Should Ilinx be a separate form from the other 3?

2) It seems to be paidia and ludus are treated as mutually exclusive in Caillois's point of view. However I do see paidia in ludus and vice versa, should they be treated as opposite end of a single spectrum or common factor of a larger system?