Final Project (part due)

It is aparent to see that since I made my first blog that I was creating an identity on the web. The only identities I've ever created were my own! After creating my own 'fake' persona on SecondLife and through the texts and articles in class, I came to my own conclusions about the web and identity.
Its hard to fully understand Dibbles "Play Money" because I never really bought items on sites such as SL. So I'll use what I do know. I have bought things such on site such as eBay, amazon, etc. And I know people who have made livings off of selling off of such sites (my sister). I do believe in Dibbles statement about the internet econmony becoming real life economy. You can practaclly do anything on the internet such as bank statements to receiving your postal mail! You can make enough money (or more) in a year doing a job on the internet then you can in an office. The internet HAS become apart of our economy. As Caldwell says in Dibbles book, "This is another world, the internet has really affected the world like nobody has understood yet. There's gonna be greater impact, people are gonna be spending more time on their computers...." That I believe, has been happening more and more throughout the years. The internet is FULL of trading sites and sites such as SL that people do make money playing. So whats the problem? The problem is not that we haven't adjusted to the internet, the internet has not yet adjusted to us. There are no 'laws' while your on the internet (Megans Law, cyber killings). So if there are no laws, why not be able to sell items you made on SL and make a profit? Dibble raises a similar question when talking about Blacksnow vs. Mystic, "Should virtual economies be subjected to fiscal regulation? Should the law accord MMO developers all the freedoms of creative authors or hold them accountable as governing bodies?" p 199. Dibble himself was 'baffled'. As I went through SL I realized there are MANY people selling different things, clothes, houses, cars, horses and avatars. SecondLife has obviously made laws for buying and selling. Has the IRS looked at them? Dibble started listing his makings online so the IRS knew that things were done the way they were supose to. They asked him questions such as "Were virtual trades taxable as barter? Was loot wrested from the corpse of a fallen orc as taxable as cars won on game shows?" Dibble went as far as asking a agent from the IRS questions about his game. Are all of the site the sell and trade such as this? If not should it be if this is what our economy is going to, possibably someday, rely on? I cannot answer theses questions but as our world changes and as does technology, they will need to be answered.
As for my experiences on Secondlife, they have been interesting and actually fun. I have visited many islands and experienced talking to people from china to austrailia. The internet seems to be a HUGE connection to everywhere around the world. Its also fast and easy. Which can also be easy to connect to people from anywhere. I have thought about putting money on it and seeing if I could make and sell something myself, but to me thats not something I would spend my money on. I don't think I would be good at something like that. After all, not even Dibble ended up making millions. He also lost more then he gained (in my opinion). Overall, if you can create a bogus identity online, why can't you make an honest living making money online? Just as Stelarc said about technology becoming more and more advanced that we need to keep up with. I believe that also has to do with real life and internet life economies can someday become one.

Final Project (part uno)

The avatars first met on a New England island, our class spent sometime there but we investigated the place more in-depth. A few things that I enjoyed on this island were the different houses you could go into. One house was for sale and when we went inside we picked up a radio station that followed us throughout the island. There were also places to dance, boats to go on and stores to explore. This island was very well developed. It had many benches, fountains, plants and things that made it appear like a real location. We enjoyed this island and the radio station.

The next island we visited was the World Trade Center in New York City. The virtual site of 9/11 was almost as chilling as the real thing. There were many groups to join and things to “pick-up” here. This location took a long time to load on the computers and was not as developed as New England. There were more people here than any of the other islands that we visited. It is an intense thought that people have re-created this site on second life and that people want to visit and explore this place.

The third island in SL we visited was the romantic city of Paris. The first site when teleported in is the Eiffel Tower. We were lucky enough to go at night to see it lit up beautifully. The tower was located close to a piazza where there is shop that resembled (from what I have seen and learned about Paris) a fashion Main Street. High end fashion stores and also European avatar bodies you can purchase. This was kind of weird to see eye colors and body parts. Most interactions that were available to avatars were romantic ones. Holding hands, piggy back ride, kiss. There was also a picnic area to lounge close to the beach. Overall, Paris was replicated well and the romantic aspect that makes Paris so popular was defiantly there.

Hawaii Maui is where we decided to have our event. One of the reasons why we chose this island is its many activities to do. The first thing I noticed was its large and colorful dance floor. There were 2 fires to sit around and one has a guitar for group sing-a-longs. On a dock, there were killer whales and jet skis to ride. Surf boards and rafts lined the beach for lounging. Over the hill there’s a Farris wheel, unfortunately you needed money to ride it. One of the things that made me think of Hawaii was its many rainbows and big waves. It was one of the most beautiful islands I've visited in SL.

We came upon Royston Vasey when looking for Las Vegas. We were going to use the area for our event, until the place changed. The island is used for weddings in SL. When we initially visited there were 3 different areas for the weddings. The first was in a beautiful garden with flickering fire flies and rainbows. It had a little chapel and seats for guests. There were places to take pictures with your wedding party and a reception area. The reception area had a romantic seating for the wedding couple and even a cake to eat! The second was a Las Vegas style wedding. A tiny white chapel and different types of weddings to choose from. The outside looks like the strip in Las Vegas, but there are not many things to do, it just scenery. The last area is in the sky and is hard to get to. It looks like a wedding in heaven. All of them had reception areas, isles to walk down, and places for guests to sit. Most of the interactions were dancing, wedding pictures and simple wedding activities, e.g. walking down the isle. There were a couple little houses for honeymoons also. The second time we arrived (a week later) the only place that didn't change was Las Vegas. And it was also snowing. We decided there wasn't much to do there anyway, other than have a wedding, and no one was planning on that.

Las Vegas Island literally looked exactly like the strip in actual Las Vegas. All the hotels were there and exact replicas of its counterpart in Las Vegas, NV. We walked up and down the streets and saw New York, New York, Paris, The Bellagio, the fountains and Excalibur. There were no people anywhere in Las Vegas, which is very different from actual Las Vegas. They might want to put people on the streets trying to sell cards, to make it look a little more authentic. We went into Excalibur and walked up the ramps like the actual hotel. However, there was some glitch in the system and we fell to the pearly gates and Royston Vasey. These locations were great islands to stumble upon.

Four people attended our event. When we all met the first thing we did was go dancing. We all stood around for awhile, until we figured out exactly how to dance. After the novelty of slow dancing with each other wore off, we headed to the water. At the water you could touch boxes and get your age, height and weather. You could also go surfing, jet skiing, wind surfing and ride a dolphin. Everyone did this and one Avatar even sat on the water. This island was a lot of fun and there was a lot of activities for free. Also There were many people on this island, however the majority of them were employees for the island. Overall the event went well, but the site started to have glitches and two of the avatars got “stuck” and had to reboot while playing in the water.We also attended another of our classmates event and it was fun. Second life is very entertaining if there are other people to explore with. The only complaint that we have about the Web site, is that there needs to a better way to locate people in second life. Overall the exploration of the islands and our event was fun and a success. We enjoyed exploring second life and finding out more about the virtual world.

Hey guys, Jennie and I's beach party at Hawaii Maui will be tomorrow after class, AFTER Jen and Erins event! Come dance, ride jet skis and surf! Hope to see you there!