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mitigatedchaos · 7 months

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As for myself, I never backpacked through Asia, and of course I've never done a medical residency, either.

I was a Second Life content creator around 2008-2012, which is itself pretty rare.

In Second Life, especially in those years, there wasn't a clean division between "playing the game" and "making the world," and there wasn't a clean division between "content creators" (including businesses) and "players." And the whole thing was funded mostly by privately leased plots of virtual land as server space.

Back in 2007, under liberal technological optimism, there was still this sense that everyone would own and learn to properly operate their own PC, which is to say a 'real' computer like a desktop or laptop, rather than an 'appliance' computer like a smartphone or tablet. Though the platform was privately held, Second Life embodied this thinking.

And so it possessed this immense feeling of power and control. You could click on a rock and drag it around. If you had good device operator skills, you could search out and purchase a supply of copiable rocks and assemble a little volcano lair and exotic beach house on a sandy beach as your home.

At first, almost all items were assembled within the game, and only textures made externally. Gradually this shifted to the use of external 3D modelling tools such as Blender, but for a time, this meant that much of the act of product creation was in the world, as in people would be logged in making the product in front of you and you could chat with them while they did so.

And of course, this world attracted people that for some reason were willing to lean to this kind of detached embodiment. Some were queer, or trans, or neurodivergent. Some were of ill health, or crippled. Others were in some sense very 'in their own heads,' or just well-adapted to simulated or virtual-reality environments. (Does that sound like Tumblr? It's probably not a coincidence.)

It was a world with a very different axis. Your appearance was a function of your aesthetic taste, your device operator skill to search out and assemble and compose an outfit, and only a modest amount of money. Someone with a very high-grade appearance would also be someone that's decently good with computers. For those with programming aptitude, their gadgets or products around them (or for sale at their store), would illustrate it.

And for creators, there was overlap between the ability to 3D model a car, and the ability to 3D model clothing. A creator could be a maker of tanks and also have their own fashion line - or even unique personal outfits. (Even hobbyists with more modest abilities would customize and kitbash - and creators would sometimes set things up specifically so that they could do so.)

There was a sense of whimsy. Cultural norms, too, though of course all massively-multiplayer systems will develop their own etiquette. (Gender could be fluid - the same player might have a stock of both male and female bodies and outfits depending on the context in which they were to be used and the message they wanted to send.)

The problem with Second Life is that you cannot live there.

Yes, it's a low-dimensionality construct like all video games. It lacks scent, and temperature, and touch. Its avatars have far fewer bones than a human body does, and of course, no organs. Its low dimensionality is why it can be changed and molded like clay, into fantastical forms that could never exist in real life.

But more importantly, children live in real life. And if you're injured or sick and can't get up, someone needs to come retrieve you in real life.

The platform turned out to be relatively useless for major corporations and universities. It didn't transform the economy and add trillions to the GDP, and virtual land didn't become the wave of the future - although digital currency did, for a while.

Instead, this failed vision of the future created a flourishing of creativity and human connection, and as time passes, it's becoming clear that the reason is because it was so earnest and very much the thing that it was. (There is value in things which are not perfect, but which are very much themselves, and are good at being the thing that they are.)

On the financial side, it was still operating at a profit when I checked the numbers several years ago. As part of its portfolio, the company seems to have leveraged digital currency operations based on their built-up competency in that sector - as in payment processing, not cryptocurrency.

And what do people write about Second Life now, in 2023? Well, they write about the fashion. About the continuing culture of small-time creators, allowed to work within the framework that was created for them all those years ago. About the platform remaining a steady source of background income for people with jobs in the games industry, notorious for its high turnover.

#私 #second life #argumate btfo

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hal-kan96 · 5 months

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感情の底をゆらゆらと漂っているような感覚が全てを支配する。好きなものもさえ感じられなくなって動力源が消えてゆく。消えてなくなりたい。

#真夜中のキャッチコピー #言葉 #私

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drawing-usagi · 3 months

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❗❗PLEASE READ BIG ANNOUNCEMENT❗❗

#usagi #new account #please read #drawing #art #mental health #support #メンタルヘルス #絵 #美術 #me #私

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mako-neexu · 6 months

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軽食～～ (ポッキーとラムネも食べるよww

#私

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glowing-peony · 1 year

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Mood : just wanna stay in bed and watch movies

家でまったりしたいな、、、💤

#me #girl #myself #写真 #selfie #tattoos #私 #セルフィー #女

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emihiria · 9 months

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ハンサムなキノコ🍄

#me #私

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namiki-is-always-here · 11 months

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好きな人が好きって言ってくれる自分が好き

#自撮り #私

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eintraum-in-einemtraum · 8 months

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Where I usually paint.

#ich #I #me #私 #アーティスト #german artist #artist

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zwei-fuechse-zum-polarmeer · 9 months

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Not looking like complete shit today.

#ich #i #私

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vickinonikki · 2 years

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今日はちょっと病気です。頭が痛いです。寝たい

#私

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jonnyha · 2 years

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#俺 #me #myself & #I . リマインダー、#自分を大事に… Reminder, prioritise #oneself . During my few days out, due to c19, I had a few questions asked... //You want to make sure your colleagues aren't working when they are sick, why are you? //Do you think anyone would even appreciate what you are doing? //Who's pushing you? Or are you pushing yourself? //Why? . #我 #私 #僕 #漢字 #kanji #漢字 #書道 #shodou #書法 #書遊 #毛筆 #墨 #習字 #日本文化 #筆文字 #文字 #和文化 #オレ #インスタ書道部 #書道好きな人と繋がりたい https://www.instagram.com/p/CiCj-zprdjq/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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calexfotobook · 1 year

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What time is it now ? ⏰. . Time control our lives ? Or do we control the time ? That’s the real question! . #selfportrait . . #goodmood . . #livingonmyown #peruvian #latinos #photograoherinjapan #photographers #広島カメラマン #広島カメラマンアレックス #アレックスフォトグラファー #peruanosenelmundo #今日のポートレート #私 #セルフィー #vsco #portraitphotography #mobilephotography #外国人 (en 広島市 Hiroshima-Shi) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpXJbK9P4TG/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=