Second Life

 

Second Life was an interesting experience because it was quite obvious the game’s programmers tried to make it imitate life as closely as possible.  The 360 degree movement helped create that illusion that you were within this world as your avatar. To me, it did not feel as if the avatar was me, though. She seemed like a distinctly separate entity that I had control of, despite the fact that I had created her with the intention that she would resemble me or my personality in a certain way. What allows a player to become his/her avatar? Is it the control that we have over it, or the fact that we relate to it since we create it to be like us? Furthermore, I could not relate to a character who can climb cliffs and mountains as if its nothing, because that is not realistic. The character also cannot get hurt, even when falling off a bridge, which makes it a little less human since pain is such a crucial part of humanity.

This entry was posted in Contextualization Exercise. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply