Jumping into the world MUD, it was a unique experience when I was in the LambdaMoo house. When playing in this virtual reality, I began to think how liable we are for our actions inside this world. Just because we are behind a computer screen does that really make it ok to be someone you are not? The virtual world reminded me of the game called the SIMS where you can create people and towns. You are in total control of everything that’s happening including traffic flow, natural disasters, and even love making. The game allows you to play God and be in charge of every occurrence. In Julian Dibbell’s article we examine cyberspace rape and analyze how responsible someone should be in cyberspace. This reminded me of how I usually pretend to be someone else when I am online. I usually pretend I am some gangster type person and try to have a lot of fun. When communicating in the virtual world like this, no one should take words seriously. Unless the content comes from accredited agencies such as cnn.com, a lot of things on the internet are actually just scams and erroneous information. The only way we can merger reality with the virtual world is through trust and honesty.
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The title of your blog entry reminded me of the South Park episode about WoW. I don't watch the show much anymore, but that one kept cycling around and I ended up watching it probably three times. But the situation in that particular episode is an example of how people react to a certain type of "bullying" and then get with others who are not happy about it and fight against the "bad guy" who is calling all the disruption to the happy world of online gaming. This is similar to the way that the people in LambdaMOO addressed their problem. The South Park episode also had their own "wizard" which were the developers at Blizzard who were trying to find a a way to get rid of the bad guy. So in both cases, both sides had abandon their main focus for being in the game/MOO in order to bring goodness back into their VR by eliminating unwanted participants by working together.
I agree, a huge part of the appeal behind things like MOOs and games like the SIMS is the ability people have to be something there typically not. "VR" allows us enjoy fantasy and explore our immagination, creativity etc. That being said, the same inhibiting destroying anonymity which allows us to explore our fantasies also realeases us from many social norms. The problem is, many of these now ignored norms serve to guide our interactions with each other. With the loss of these normative guidlines individuals gain greater range in what they can get away with. Hence raping strangers in LambdaMOO, going gangsta in the SIMs or just acting like a sociopath online. Is it wrong? That seems to be a question which, invariably depends on the individual answering it. As professor Barndollar reminded us, what matters in communication systems is the interactions which take place between individuals. Given that, what determines the nature of those interactions is the context within which they take develop. In the case of MOOs the governing context allows for greater freedom in all directions, "good" and "bad".
When I started playing around in the MUD world it also reminded me a lot of The Sims but it reminded me even more of Second Life. They are very alike in that they both allow you to be another person and control their moves as if they were your own. However, there is a huge difference in the graphical interface along with the limitations of the virtual person. This Second Life program is vastly growing with the public because it provides people the opportunity to virtually become someone else. I first discovered it last semester when it was being advertised on one of UT’s websites and thought that it was very interesting so I gave it a try. I gave it only about 5 minutes and got bored so I just stop using it. Well I was shocked when I went home last month and saw that my cousin and Aunt were both on Second Life, and these are two people who use their computers for basic tasks such as internet and email. These virtual worlds appeal to all types of people which is why they are so entertaining and popular to use.
When you talked about the question of if we’re liable if we’re in front of a computer screen, it automatically made me think of the new machinery that doctors have. Today, doctors (or whomever thinks to use it) don’t even have to leave their office while visiting patients around the hospital because there is a little machine that they could control through the halls, like a little robot with a screen and a web camera of their face showing up on the monitor. With it they could ask the questions they need to and to see the patient with the camera that is attached on the monitor. Since they already have most of the physical results that they need from reports and tests from the nurses, most of the time the patient wouldn’t see the doctor flesh to flesh. With this new technology, the reality of RL and Virtual reality blur even more.
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