Sometimes I use the store-alt to "get away", and go exploring without the burden of a very full contact list. The store alt is a female avatar with a beautiful green skin - without being a pixie or a faery or another mythological creature. Immersionist that I am, when using the store-alt for exploring, it is easy to slip into the character, to be her, to feel like her.
Yesterday I explored a sim from the Showcase, when a 5 day old "Resident" account approached me.
Newb: Your skin is green.
Me: Well spotted.
Newb: I have to ask, why did you make your skin green?
Me: I was born that way.
Newb: rofl. You have a
dryad avatar then. Or an
Ent avatar?
Me: I am a human. Born with green skin. Don't tell me you have never seen a green skinned human before?
Newb: lololol
This person has probably never heard about immersionists and augmentists before. he was cracking up, thinking I was some kind of nutcase. But the conversation left me baffled. For me, it is natural to BE one with the avatar. When I take the green Lady out, I AM the green Lady. For him, it's like a clothing layer. Today I use the Dryad avatar, tomorrow the robot avatar, and for the weekend I take a bodybuilder.
I wonder hwo had the nicer experience? The green girl, walking wide eyed through a beautiful, futuristic and enchanted landscape? Or the guy who tries out this funny video game where you can meet nutters from all over.
Of course I am biased. For me, SL is about the immersion. SL is a magical country, and enchanted realm. I know it is not for many others. It's a game with lame graphics and no specific goal. Is there a right, or a wrong?
It makes me wonder if immersionists are an endangered species. In my early SL days I barely heard questions for one's age or location. These days it seems one of the first questions new contacts ask. The ASL-question defines you in the real world. Why do we need this RL anchor in a virtual environment? What benefit do I have from knowing that the person I am speaking with is 38 and from New Hampshire, when I am far more fascinated with the detailed mechanics of her android shape.
Are these the ramblings of an outdated oldbie? Or are we losing the magic?
My friend Chav Paderborn often has some funny, dorky or eclectic ideas. Her new dabbling is taking a below-the-belt swing against the latest fashion of breedable pets. In a humorous way she built a stall selling breedable prims, along with outrageous food bills and the promise of super rare items. Everybody who has heard about breedable pets - even hardcore breeders I talked to - could not help but chuckle about this piece of art.
