thiefdroid

Week 5 Update:
One common way of how information is able to spread between users in Second Life is through verbal communication. The voice chat feature in the game enables players to talk to one another without using the default messaging system. News, rules, and alerts may not be centralized through this method, however, they become more prominent in written forms of communication. During my experience while playing Second Life, I found that people who use the voice chat feature have most likely talked about their lives and other unimportant random things.

The intended/unintended audience is obvious; players who are not a part of the conversation or community can be considered as an "unintended audience"-- they're not meant to be included in the conversation/situation. 

The power of media versus the word of mouth in Second Life are one of the most interesting things to ponder about for this week's prompt. The power of media in Second Life isn't as distinguished as the power of mouth. An important (and most used) asset of Second Life is to communication therefore, the power of word is much more effective in this matter. 


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Week 4 Update:
Although that I'd like to think that Second Life does not place any expectations in regards to society's standards, I do believe that at a certain time during Second Life's "golden days", certain bodies were glorified. After roaming around through the freebies map, I did see body meshes that would strike controversy today. As of today, society accepts all sorts of body types. During Second Life's "golden days", these body meshes would probably be considered as ideal body types.

I started the game off with my character as a floating head with floating hands. I do remember trying to get into some game and getting banned whilst trying to enter, but that probably wasn't the reason why. As I continued to play the game, I never really sought out to use the body meshes for my character. He's definitely scrawny and punk looking, but what makes him sticks out are his black wings. My character may not seem to fit in with a good handful of avatars that uses body meshes, but at the same time I really don't care, and I don't think anybody else does either. I never had to face any sort of conflict based on my character's appearance. I guess nowadays the way how your avatar looks in this game wouldn't matter at all.


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Sculpture Center:
During my trip to the SculptureCenter, I was able to experience the "Before Project: Video Sculpture 1974-1995" exhibit. During my experience, every single sculpture in this exhibit was built out of old televisions. With regards to this, I really enjoyed my entire time there because the exhibit pertains to my personal taste and aesthetics. Two examples that I've chosen (unfortunately, I'm unable to post them here) is a video and image of the lenses placed in front of sculptures. In the video, the lenses reframe the sculpture by making it seem like the stacked TVs have more noise/static. In the image, the lenses reframe the sculpture by making it seem like the castle is in a different environment/setting. All in all, experiencing the world through different lens creates an understanding of perceiving and generally developing alternatives.


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Week 3 Update:
As opposed to the real world, Second Life refrains from following actual physics and laws. With this in mind, characters are allowed to fly, own a pair of wings, and do the unimaginable. It is also interesting to note how Second Life does not seem to have any social norms, people are free to express themselves however they'd like. It's ironic how much I can complain about Second Life as I came to the realization of how this virtual world can be seen as something idealistic.


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Week 2 Update:
I still find Second Life's interface non-user friendly, I wish I could do something about it. Other than that, I do remember getting instantly banned from a map for no reason? I tried re-visiting it, but my avatar won't budge past a few seconds after loading. Unlike the first week, I did end up interacting with a few users. I was expecting those interactions to be a bit eccentric but they went pretty well. 


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Week 1 Update:
I made a video instead, enjoy.
https://youtu.be/jMwIhhMYTUg

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