Virtual or Alternate Reality?

mandu

Stalker
Joined
Jun 8, 2007
Posts
2,188
Location
Canada
Society
Victory
Avatar Name
Mandu Mojo Marconi
Video games have come a long, long way from Pong and Pac Man. My generation, being the first to grow up with video games, has witnessed an ever increasing degree of complexity, sophistication and maturity. The advent of virtual reality and MMORPGs has allowed the sophistication to soar to new heights. On the cutting edge of this sophistication is the Real Cash Economy (RCE) genre of MMOs. When real money is at stake, matters automatically become more serious. Real cash, and strong social interactions is, in my opinion, making Entropia Universe more than a virtual reality, an Alternate Reality perhaps.

In a widely publicized transaction, Jon "NEVERDIE" Jacobs purchased a virtual space resort for $100,000 USD, the most expensive virtual product ever purchased. Jon Jacobs makes a good living in Entropia Universe now, starting with this initial investment. He is not the only one. A few skilled and/or lucky individual compliment their real salaries or make their living in Entropia Universe. There is more to life than money though.

The social connections that are made in today's MMOs can be just as serious. Many users call their team mates or society mates friends with the full meaning of the word. They rely on each other, trust each other, enter into business ventures with each other. Online forums are full of posts regarding real life meetings brining together people who had only met each others avatars. Some romances have even been started via Entropia Universe. These aspects have made online worlds more and more real, but one new addition to Entropia Universe moved me in a way that I had never felt looking at a computer screen before.

In early 2005, MindArk added an area to Entropia called Memorial Island. A golden statue and shrine was set up in memory of Tina "Island Girl" Leiu.



She was a young woman who was an active Entopia player whose lifes was cut short. This lose was felt by a large percentage of the relatively small community that made up EU. Memorial Island remaind unchanged until a few weeks ago and Version 9.3 of Entropia Unverse. A new addition was added to Memorial Island.

[br]Click to enlarge[/br]

The above is a memorial for Kaitlynn Rose Douglas, the young child of two Entropia Universe players. Upon vewing these memorials, especially the later, I felt greif, compassion and humility. The memorials are surprisingly affective. I was compelled to write my condolences immediatley after viewing these. I was struck by the notion that the bonds formed in these worlds moves people to share almost everything with the other participants.

When Mandu Mojo Marconi first set foot on Calypso, I would never have expected to be moved to tears by my experiences on a virtual world. I encourage all participants to visit these memorial. Stand there, looking through the eyes of your avatar and ask yourself:

What could be more real than this?
 
Back
Top