When and how did you discover Second Life? – 2005 i found out about it from a friend. i had no credit card so i couldn’t sign up, so i watched him wander around furry sims when i hung out at his house… i finally signed up in 2006 when they opened registration to everyone.
Did you know about virtual worlds before or was this your first experience with them? – yes, i had already experienced them a little before second life came into existance. there was some weird virtual world that a friend of mine in high school loved. i cannot remember the name of it now, just that non-paying members were forced to use a penguin avatar.
Has Second Life met your expectations? – met and exceeded my original expectations.
If you could teleport back to the first ten minutes of your avatar’s slife, what would you tell yourself? – nothing. i love everything that has happened in my second life, even the bad stuff. i have gained much from my time here and i don’t want to change that.
How long did it take you to master avatar flying and driving vehicles inworld? – flying took about a month to figure out, driving vehicles i still suck at all these years later!
Do you have a mystery alt? – i have 2.
Is your SL avatar a reflection of you, or someone you wished you could be? – my avatar is a representation of what i call my “soul” she is all the things i love, both about myself, and others, and story characters. she is my super hero.
Is there an individual you met in SL that inspired you in your RL? How? – there’s a lot of those! many people who encouraged me to be more confident in myself and what i can do, people who pushed me to try harder which made me also try harder in real life.
Do you feel it is easier to create stronger bonds/relationships with people you meet inworld as opposed to the real world? – for me personally its a lot easier to create bonds and relationships in a virtual world. i am not hindered by my inability to drive and i don’t have to find a baby sitter to hang out with people in second life and get to know them. in the real world i have a hard time finding and making friends, and equally i struggle with maintaining friendships because i just cannot go hang out with them.
Did you ever imagine or believe people could fall in love with someone they never met before Second Life? – honestly i personally never thought emotions could be properly expressed over a long distance. i always felt like people just became infatuated with the personality another person displayed. then i met lucas and i did fall in love, and i felt it, it really shocked me. it turned my whole world upside down. ending that relationship was more painful than anything i have ended in the real world as well.
How has your perspective of dating changed (or not) since you started playing second life? – i was open to long distance relationships before second life, now i think they are a horrible thing to put yourself though. kudos to those who can endure it.
How has your perspective of employment changed (or not) since you started playing second life? – its not really.
Name three things in both your lives that overlap each other significantly. – friendship, and social stuff..and i can’t think of a third, not much overlaps anymore…
If you could live your life more immersively in a virtual world, would you? (Kind of like the Matrix) – HELL NO! i want no part of being physically connected to a computer. when tech moves towards that i will probably just go live in a cave.
How do you think behavior changes for people if they’re inworld vs in real world? Why do you think that is? – as with all formats that encourage anonymity, people can be asshats, and they are more likely to voice their shitty opinions because they feel like there is no repercussions.
How has second life consumerism changed your perception of spending habits, the value of money, the need to be “bleeding edge” with fashion? – it hasn’t really, i’ve never been bleeding edge anything, and i’ve always been kinda miserly… none of that has changed.
Do you think virtual worlds like SL drive and redefine human interaction or do they narrow and limit it? – they definitely drive it, and open up new ways to interact with others.
If technology progressed tomorrow to allow you to send emotions to people the way you’d send text or voice messages, would it enrich your SL experience or infringe on it? – it would destroy my experience.. i have enough emotions, i don’t need more…
Name three skills you attribute to having learned or honed in second life alone. – advertisement writing, photoshop, blender
If your grand kids googled your Second Life Avatar’s name, would they be intrigued, disgusted, proud or something else? – i think they would probably look at me a little funny…