The Wages of Play, Part II: Social Devolution

Second Life residents attempt to crash the Off the Wagon sim

Well, Pat the Rat's film finally came back from the lab, and except for a few tequila-stained shots, the Herald is happy to present an even more in-depth look at the weekend's events. From dance contests to game development, conspiracies to goldfish, a good time was had by most, and there may even have been some work that got done (shudder). The Herald staff combed the conferences for leads, and came back with a surprisingly creative roster of stories, many of which will appear here as soon as we finish tweaking the facts to suit our purposes. In the meantime, we present the pictorial proof of whatever it is we eventually have to say:

Pathfinder Linden (right) shells out his last L$ to pick up some AnsheChung.com swag

Herald Editor Urizenus Sklar interrogates Betsy Book over the recent Ludium cheating scandal

Second Life and Tiny Life: Herald Editorial Director Walker Spaight (left) and LambdaMOO sex-crime reporter Dr. Bombay have each other on /ignore

Herald freelancer Seldon Metropolitan, whose report is expected shortly

Game development at the New York Law School
Perhaps not surprisingly, the weekend featured its share of impromptu RL game development, including a Dance Dance Revolution contest that ended tied between two light-on-their-feet teams:

VW pundit James Grimmelmann with the Queen of State of Play, Beth Noveck

Jade Lily (left) with Hamlet Linden. (Judges were at first uncertain whether Jade and Hammie's entry didn't qualify for the mixed doubles tournament due to a disparity between Jade's SL and RL avatars.)

Judge SNOOPYbrown Zamboni holds court at the New York Law School

A meeting of the virtual minds: Cyberspace visionary Howard Rheingold (left) and MUD1 creator Richard Bartle

More moments from the Herald after-party:

Cory basks in the inextinguishable glow of Howard Rheingold

Capitalist running dogs Anshe Chung and Prokofy Neva plotting Grid-wide domination

Philip (left), surprised to find himself unable to ban Prok (right) from the party

EVE Online lead designer Kjartan Emilsson (right) bore up bravely under your correspondent's interrogations

Game development at the Tribeca Grand
You just can't stop those game developers. Despite the scandal that rocked the recent Ludium event, the Herald suite became the site of yet another game development competition. The winning entry was a turn-based multiplayer shooter called Tequila Gear Liquid XVII, in which players competed in deathmatch elimination rounds that left none of them standing.

Philip Linden's TGL entry

SNOOPYbrown Zamboni takes over after Philip is eliminated

Herald Publisher Urizenus Sklar clearly had the winning entry, but was robbed again by collusion among the judges

Official "winner" of the goldfish prize, Cory Linden

Editor's note: Though the goldfish survived having its water replaced with Sambuca, Cory's demonstration of conflagration techniques learned in a former career resulted in an unfortunate loss of marine life. Pat the Rat's camera was unable to capture the brilliance of the explosion itself, but here we present Cory's goldfish in its last moments, just before he pitches the cigarette in that ended it all. May the goldfish rest in peace.

Comments

[RB]

Is Prok a man or a woman? i can't really tell. =D

- RB.

[Lordfly Digeridoo]

Maybe the funniest captions ever for photos.

I can't believe the Lindens party that hard. I REALLY have to make it to the next SLCC :)

Although I won't participate in TGL... Tequila is bad news all around, as evidenced.

[Prokofy Neva]

Um, I think you'll have to ask the dwarf twins from the Faulklands that question, RB.

[Kitra]

Wow shock they are all getting wasted in the boys club again. One suprize Anshe is a woman and doesn't look like much of a hooker. Nice swag for sale.

[Athel Richelieu]

Can't believe Prokofy Neva is a woman, and Anshe Chung really is an asian princess lol.

[SL Resident]

Haha, Jade Lily looks like such a tool in real life.

[Hiro Pendragon]

It's heartwarming to see so many smiles come out of the convention. :)

Great pics!

[Prokofy Neva]

It does get tiresome to point these facts out, but I'm Prokofy Neva, and Prokofy Neva is male. This is the Metaverse, dammit.

[Jade Lily]

Indeed, ye cowardly resident. Cameras hate me. :)

[seldon metropolitan]

wow, you got the absolute most out of it pic ever of me....

jade was totally non-toolish in person.

my report is forthcoming once the vodka drains out of that part of my brain.

[Aimee Weber]

I think Jade looks really cute in the photo!

[Walker Spaight]

I didn't get the impression you were out of it, Seldon. Seemed to me you were drinking in the atmosphere (among other things) in preparation for the expose you're planning to write, hehehe, and muahahahahaaaa...

Jade's no tool. No one who showed up to the SLCC was a tool. All of them were brave enough to put a real human face and name to avatars we'd previously known only as anonymous SL residents. That's what made the thing so great.

[Prokofy Neva]

"All of them were brave enough.." Thank you, Walker. I know personally, I'm going to take weeks and weeks and MONTHS of shit from all kinds of asswipes who now want to comment on my RL pictures. I see them all stacking up on my blog. What little vicious fucktards. The Metaverse was invented precisely to get away from people like them.

For my money, all the so-called liberals and cool people who pride themselves on being tolerant of GLBT, even those who are the GLB themselves, really stop at the "T" to become hateful and intolerant and often show their true faces then.

[Cory Ondrejka]

Sheesh, Uri, are you really one to throw stones? No goldfish were harmed in the making of this movie and I wasn't the one trying to burn down Bloomington -- in reckless disregard of the fire marshall, I might add!

[Walker Spaight]

Um, that was me tossing the marshmallow captions at you, Cory. Uri's still recovering on the Herald yacht.

[Aimee Weber]

Prok I wouldn't worry too much about comments about your RL pictures. The only nasty talk I have seen so far has been what YOU said describing the convention attendees:

"geeks -- people with no lives lol. Lots and lots of really overweight, unattractive women, and geekily dressed women, and lots and lots of either tall and overweight and permanently semi-drunk men, or tiny little geek guys with really wispy beards."

Juro commented on how you fit your own description. Otherwise it looks like everybody has been fairly civil.

[RB]

So Prok is a guy in SL but a woman in RL? or are both SL and RL male? Not sure what he/she ment by that second last post.

- RB.

[jauani]

"prokofy neva" is a virtual identity, and is male. the player behind the avatar is a woman. this distinction is important in this case, because "prokofy" is to a great extent a roleplayed character. the woman behind the man reportedly being much more palatable.

[Prokofy Neva]

Aimee, thanks for sharing. We SO missed you. I hear you had "previous engagements" so I guess what we have to conclude is that WE HAVE NO LIVES AND YOU DO LMFAO ROFL.

What I did was describe the scene that these pictures describe. Was there something *different* between my words and these pictures? I didn't say anything that was *wrong*. I described the scene in words. I know it hurts, but there it is, it *is* the truth. It's not a personal attack, it's just a collective description. It is THE CASE. It is helpful to understand these basic features of the world -- peoples' RL selves aren't these attractive models -- as powerful motivations for driving people to be in them, stay in them, live in them.

Maybe they only thing that is exaggerated is the "lots and lots" part because there weren't more than 160 of us or something, it's just in that hot, overcrowded, room filled with wet, steaming rain-covered people and greasy food, it just seemed like LOTS.

RB, if you have to ask, well, you're just not getting it dude. I just can't hold your hand through the whole experience. And like I said, speak to those Faulkland dwarf twins. Pathfinder and Maxx may have dumped me in a bar; they didn't : )

heheheh. The Herald can't be *everywhere*.

[Jade Lily]

"peoples' RL selves aren't these attractive models..."

unless you're referring to digi vox's mun. yowza! :D

[Hiro Pendragon]

What's wrong with geek guys with whispy beards, anyway? ^^

[Joe Public]

well, they do say politics is show business for ugly people...(which I interpret to equally include ugly on the inside - character development being the true indicator of lifetime advancement).

[RB]

That's a woman? Could pass for either side in that pic. no deliberate offence prok. Also we know how you write very long posts here frequently, does this translate to talking in RL too? " Prok " always has alot to say after all.

Uri's avatar is *almost* a copy of him IRL. only a few things are different.

- RB.

[Prokofy Neva]

I don't find anything wrong with overweight women or geeky guys with wispy beards, they bother me not in the slightest, they are more than fine. I'm proud to number myself among them. I'm simply reporting on them. It's others that get all bent out of shape at the statement of the obvious because they believe it to be a slur. They need to examine their assumptions.

No, Juani, you're wrong. I'm Prokofy. And Prokofy is male. SL is my second life. It's not a role-playing game. I don't "role play" like I'm some sort of elf or wizard or something in World of Warcraft. You don't get it, and you think, in your cramped provincial mind, that everyone is like you, just creating a female av so that you have something hot to look at while you are staring at the screen waiting for your land to sell and chattting in IMs. Feh.

[Simone]

YAY JOE! Well said :D

And chubby or not, female or not, unshaven or not, these pics tell the story of a bunch of people having a really great time and I wish I could have attended too! :)

[urizenus]

My avatar is indeed the spitting image of me, right down to the penis subincision I got while living with the Walbiri tribe in central australia.

On the Second Lifers themselves, I will say they are a more attractive bunch than any other random collection of individuals -- say at the grocery store, at motor vehicles, and certainly at a philosophy conference. They are also more interesting than the average collection of individuals at the grocery store, motor vehicles, and ... well wrt philosophers its about a tie, or would be if we didn't count the dwarf twins from the Falkland Islands. Even Prok enjoyed *them*.

[whatever]

I find it absolutely hilarious that people constantly make fun of prok for being female irl and having a male av. Yet people like Torley and Jade who are male irl and have female avs don't get any guff. In fact people like Torley, who obviously has issues, are worshipped. Pretty fucking hypocritical, but alas that is how most of SL is.

[Milo]

Whatever, people. Everyone there was beautiful.

[Antje]

I think that "reporting" about people's looks and connecting that "look" to certain "types" of individuals is ridiculously non-sequitur, and that it reeks of self loathing.

What the hell does it have to do with anything? As Urizenus pointed out, this could hold "true" for any random group of individuals.

Just another example of her generalised maliciousness, which is only outdone by her direct attack campaigns on individual SL residents.

"Really! I don't understand why I take so much heat for all the horrible, misanthropic things I say!"

I really enjoyed the pics, thanks SLH!

[jauani]

>> SL is my second life. It’s not a role-playing game. <<
???
ok, i get it! you are prokoky! but who is the woman in those pictures???

[Stephane Zugzwang]

One thing that comes out in the pictures and was very real at the conference is the incredible energy of this crowd, and the sense of belonging we all shared.

Somebody likened it to a family reunion. The people in NY felt like they were all sharing something special and precious enough to travel to the conference. It was intriguing and heartwarming. I wonder if we were a representative sample of people who have spent time in SL or a special fringe group.

Oh, Prok, we DO have lives out of SL too :), most of the guys I met here at least.

[Jade Lily]

@whatever: That's because Prok, whether intentional or not, provokes people. I think he would agree to that at least. Prok asks the tough questions. Torley is liked because she just tries to get along with people and understand everyone's point of view. It has nothing to do with the gender bending, and therefore is not hypocritical.

[Prokofy Neva]

By his ironic little quip, Jauani seems to want to say that if you say you have a Second Life that isn't some dopey little role-playing fantasy, then you've made some comment on your Lack of First Life. Not true. Second Life is a legitimate seque-way of First Life. The Metaverse is going to change everything. Ted Castranova's SOP talk about how we'd all be talking about this in 25 years is indicative. In 25 years, transgendered avs will be no more shocking than transgendered human beings, as we saw at SOP, though in both SL and RL, it's the voice technology you hope they will improve for this to happen LOL.

People just can't stand a report on the overall look of the group and they'll do anything to deny it and burn the messenger. Uri tries to duck this by saying it's just random people at a bus stop. That's just not the case. This was a different slice. BTW, while I regrettably didn't get to see Uri's RL penile incision, his RL av was neither fat nor wispy-bearded but another geeky egghead thing -- balding -- which he has elevated to a point of pride in his SL and RL avs. Bald power! In fact, having *no head hair at all* on your RL av like Phoenix or Pathfinder was the ULTIMATE COOL THING kinda like

Antje can never stop flying in and buzzing and needling me lol. Is this an "issues" issue? I'll bet it is. The point is, geeks are geeks. This world is made by geeks. It's Geekworld. A few others who don't fit the stereotype are in Geekworld, but then they actually leverage their non-geeky looks to acquire more influence. Reporting this isn't about self-hatred, it's just about commenting on what is there for all to see. Your furious reaction to it shows your issues, not mine.

BTW, Stephane doesn't fit the mold, but then, he's French lol. Sitting in front of your computers with a Big Mac and a 40 isn't the national past-time in France yet that it is here lol.

[Prokofy Neva]

Yes, of course you have lives, Stephane, but...are they as fun? LOL And don't you wish you could spend more time doing your second than your first sometimes especially when you are working on a project? What the future will bring is a more seamless transition between the two.

[boo parks]

lol how stupid can this dam game get?

[jauani]

actually, that's not what i mean to say at all. my comment was cut, probably due to my punctuation, so here it is again:

"SL is my second life. It’s not a role-playing game."

ok i get that you are prokofy, and prokofy is male. however, who is the woman in the pictures? the two are not independant. SL is entirely superimposed on FL, and the woman in the photo has introduced herself to the community as the physical world support for "prokofy neva." you may want to argue that prokofy neva "just is," but you'll have to excuse the majority of people who would not share that opinion, and would argue that prokofy neva is a role played identity. your statements that i quote demonstrate this in that they are implicitely contradictory of each other.

[urizenus]

Bald is teh seXXXy.

[Prokofy Neva]

Jauani, your notions of people are very cramped and limited. Like I said, I'm Prokofy Neva. Prokofy Neva is male. If you don't like this, if you can't understand this, if it just raises too many dissonant notes for you, then stay in the universe and use the metaverse as a chatroom, I dunno.

On one level, given your nasty track-record for name-calling, teasing, and harassing, why should I be trying to explain anything this nuanced and delicated to you? It's throwing pearls before swine. On another level, I know that your notion of SL is just that it is "role-playing" or "puppetry" -- you put a female avatar in front of you on the game console because it's less boring and more "hot" to look at while you wait for your land to sell or chat in IMs with your pals the way you might on YM or AIM.

But I look at it as a much richer and deeper experience. I don't know where to begin to explain it to you. Nor do I wish to, because you aren't my friend.

[Prokofy Neva]

Yes, indeedy, Uri, not only does bald sexxorz, bald plus kilt -- especially that kind of khaki-black material kilt with lots of hardware and chains -- that's going to be the new cool look.

[boo parks]

how gay u all are

[Dildo Baggins]

"Yes, indeedy, Uri, not only does bald sexxorz, bald plus kilt – especially that kind of khaki-black material kilt with lots of hardware and chains – that’s going to be the new cool look."

mmmm...I gets me a massiVe wOOdy jest think about a bald proky in a black heavy metal kilt with one of them outline leather bras flashing his nipple ring encrusted man boobs....

[Antje]

I dont "buzz" or "needle" you Prok.

I simply point out the obvious flaws in your "logic".

You endlessly stereotype. It's really quite tacky and classless. It serves no real purpose, save to expose you for what you are, a xenophobic asshat.

You can caterwaul on and on about Prokofy being a "he" all you like. I for one am not going to buy into your fake description.

Prokofy Neva is an avatar made of pixels, operated by a control freak, netspeak using (Oh! How we long to fit in!), insecure, stringy haired, overfed old woman, who thinks she has it all figured out, and is going to save the metaverse from a myriad of self invented bogeymen.

There is no Prokofy Neva. There is no Jauani Wu. There is no spoon.

[Prokofy Neva]

Hehehe I'm clutching my sides in laughter over that one Antje. It's good to have stuff like that on the record because it shows the anatomy of the personal attack, the deep well of hatred and discontent and fury that is the person of Antje. I'm going to borrow a page from Hiro Pendragon, my sworn enemy on this one: Who says there's anything wrong with caterwauling old overfed ladies with stringy hair lol? Hey, they are teh sexxxy like Uri says ROFL. Fortunately, the Metaverse is going to be a VERY BIG place!!!

[Antje]

You don't get it. I was exemplifying your attrocious, stereotyping behavior.

Not surprised you don't get it to be perfectly honest. You can't see past the end of your own nose.

shrug.

[Mr. F]

Jeez, what a bunch of dorks.

[Antoine]

I feel you should be yourself and not judge others for your insecuritys and beliefs. If someone is fat and overweight, LET THEM BE FAT AND OVERWEIGHT! We are all human and all came here the same way so dont judge people by there alias or there RL pictures.

[No Sides -- Just Me.]

"Simply put, Prokofy is running away from her first life and trying to live out whatever she has missed. She lives out her dreams on SL, controlling others. Why? She has no control in her first life. "

Why is she a guy in her SL? Because she can, dammit! Who gives a rats ass if Joe Blow's AV is a chick? No one, because 'she' is 'hot'. But if a woman controls a male AV, then she's a freak and/or dyke. Get over it people, it's second life. We have very little freedom in the real world, let people do what they want.

I don't like taking sides, but this one time I'll have to take Prokofy's side. Let her be!

[jauani]

my points are not concerned with gender, but with identity. there is the role played virtual world identity and there is the real world identity. the transgender nature of the virtual identity is inconsequential to my point. infact i have often roleplayed a transgender virtual identity.

[Dildo Baggins]

YEESSSSSS!!!

If someone is fat and overweight and an annoying fucktard with their head up their arse, LET THEM BE FAT AND OVERWEIGHT AND AN ANNOYING FUCKTARD WITH THEIR HEAD UP THEIR OWN ARSE!

[Antoine]

That last post was by Profoky I think......... ;o