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<TITLE>Re: [iDC] SL, MIIM, knowledge and capital</TITLE>
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<FONT FACE="Arial"><SPAN STYLE='font-size:12.0px'>Hi Mez<BR>
<BR>
The key points you raise that link to those I was making concern user identity and economy.<BR>
<BR>
I wasn’t aware of the Linden ban on gambling – but it makes sense. It is illegal in most countries. I know it is legal in some US states but then not in others. Personally I think gambling is an activity where people, who should know better (but don’t) or those who are vulnerable, are exploited by others. As such it is in my view improper behaviour by one human to another. However, banning things is not the best method for controlling them. There are other methods.<BR>
<BR>
My view is that the entire capitalist system is a form of gambling. Not only because excess value is produced through speculation and slight of hand but mainly because it depends on the exploitation of one group by another. In my ideal world I would ban these things – if I thought banning them would work. As Stalin proved, it doesn’t. Russia still has religion (I’d ban that too).<BR>
<BR>
Anyway, the point is that for many people the ethical framework that underpins SL is completely intolerable, whether they be, for example, a strict muslim, a feminist-seperatist, a luddite or a socialist. When the Linden Dollar was created is when SL became fundamentally problematic. SL employs a top-down design model for determining how people interact and that is where it’s problems begin. That is why I am arguing it doesn’t have a future. Something similar but with a bottom-up design model is far more likely to be acceptable and useful to a broader range of people as an infrastructure for mass virtual interaction. <BR>
<BR>
I didn’t know about the SL bestiality ban. People are interesting, aren’t they...<BR>
<BR>
Regards<BR>
<BR>
Simon<BR>
<BR>
Simon Biggs<BR>
Research Professor<BR>
<FONT COLOR="#FE7700">edinburgh college of art<BR>
</FONT>s.biggs@<FONT COLOR="#FE7700">eca</FONT>.ac.uk<BR>
www.<FONT COLOR="#FE7700">eca</FONT>.ac.uk<BR>
www.<FONT COLOR="#FD7600">eca</FONT>.ac.uk/circle/<BR>
<BR>
simon@littlepig.org.uk<BR>
www.littlepig.org.uk<BR>
AIM/Skype: simonbiggsuk<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<HR ALIGN=CENTER SIZE="3" WIDTH="95%"><B>From: </B>mez breeze <netwurker@gmail.com><BR>
<B>Date: </B>Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:01:20 +1000<BR>
<B>To: </B>Simon Biggs <s.biggs@eca.ac.uk><BR>
<B>Cc: </B>idc <idc@mailman.thing.net><BR>
<B>Subject: </B>Re: [iDC] SL, MIIM, knowledge and capital<BR>
<BR>
Occasionally I break my IDC silence to engage beyond lurkerdom.<BR>
Consider this a re-hello from me. I'm the founding editor of<BR>
_Augmentology 1[L]0[L]1_, a: "...working manual discussing the<BR>
formation and evolution of synthetic environments". Thought I'd leap<BR>
in here with a blast-from-the-[2007]past in relation to Simon's post<BR>
regarding MIIMs....<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
On Mon, Jun 29, 2009 at 7:17 PM, Simon Biggs<s.biggs@eca.ac.uk> wrote:<BR>
> I think SL is an extremely interesting model which portends the development<BR>
> of further examples of massively immersive interaction media (let’s call it<BR>
> MIIM - I find the MMORPG concept, with its focus on games and role playing,<BR>
> limited – I do neither in SL). Somebody asked me the other day whether I<BR>
> thought SL is the future. I replied that I didn’t but that it was a<BR>
> prototype of what could become the future. If I think MIIM has a future then<BR>
> why don’t I think SL has one too?<BR>
<BR>
Hi Simon,<BR>
<BR>
You raise extremely focused points in regards to the conceptualisation<BR>
of "massively immersive" platforms. I attempted to tackle this topic a<BR>
few years back on the empyre list - as the points are still relevant<BR>
so I'll slab it here for you [and other IDCer's]:<BR>
<BR>
"# To: soft_skinned_space <empyre@lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au><BR>
# Subject: [-empyre-] charavatars + fauxtectures: SL limitations<BR>
# From: "mez breeze" <netwurker@gmail.com><BR>
# Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2007 11:22:31 +1000<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
hey all.<BR>
<BR>
here are some notes from a piece i'm working on for my next<BR>
Twitter_Theory project 2 do with engagement within networked<BR>
alternative environments such as Second Life [SL] and World of<BR>
Warcraft [WoW]. I'm a dedicated WoW player + have been for a few years<BR>
now whereas my involvement in SL has been fairly minimal [more about<BR>
that later].<BR>
<BR>
b4 i start to launch in2 a few ideas regarding MMOEs [Massive<BR>
Multiplayer Online Environments] + in SL in particular, i'd like to<BR>
explain 3 terms|concepts i've developed in relation to MMOE<BR>
participation:<BR>
<BR>
1. the 1st is the idea of an player-entity as _charavatar_: ie a mix<BR>
of a fictionalised character concept that actualises in terms of a<BR>
projected persona [ie a mechanical|visual shell that houses ego (via<BR>
imagined transmission)], character encoding [in the code page|charset<BR>
sense], and the willing suspension of disbelief required 4 seamless<BR>
avatar adoption. the notion of a charavatar lends a validity 2<BR>
in_world MMOE experiences rather than the mainstream ideal of<BR>
avatar-as-basic-ego-projection via a similar psychological skin.<BR>
<BR>
2. the notion that a MMOE's functional architecture [including server<BR>
setup + performance, actual manifestation of the world's<BR>
descriptors|modifiers|engines used, usability, scalability +<BR>
reliability of it's "reality" flow] can be rethought as _fauxtecture_.<BR>
<BR>
3. a fundamental shift in relation 2 personality + identity<BR>
constructions across networked channels such as social networks +<BR>
MMOE's [i've recently completed an article for furtherfield which<BR>
details participants in these cross_profile systems are now<BR>
_versionals_:<BR>
<BR>
"In digitized social networks there is no place for psychologically<BR>
defined notions of personality as a cohesive, definable whole.<BR>
Identity manifests through notational distributions found in multiple<BR>
profiles across various platforms. Ego-mediated variables are replaced<BR>
with actuated identity markers defined by the ability to establish<BR>
links to others likewise devoid of any traditional geophysical<BR>
baggage. For these articulated identities [now known as versionals]<BR>
connection is the vital point of communication; not the content, not<BR>
the geophysical inflection, not the biologically-saturated ties linked<BR>
to survival, competition, and traditional concrete community building.<BR>
This method of clustered distribution provokes a type of reality lag<BR>
found in capitalistic and ideologically frameworked nations; those<BR>
devoted to maintaining established notions of individuals definable by<BR>
consumerism and Darwinian drives, monetary wealth,<BR>
institution-adherence, and paranoid-inducing security."]<BR>
<BR>
in SL in particular i've noticed many charavatar's seem unable 2 find<BR>
an initial reasonable engagement|interaction lvl, with the result that<BR>
participation hovers between a type of frustrated passivity +<BR>
non_existence after 1st forays in2 the world [continued participation<BR>
rates are low + drop-off rates high].<BR>
<BR>
as others have alluded 2 onlist, i c this problem as resulting from a<BR>
combination of variables that stem essentially from the overarching SL<BR>
fauxtecture being economically driven + geophysically emulated at base<BR>
lvl + the corresponding intrusion of 1st-world corporates attempting<BR>
to capitalize on this. Linden Labs have recently made fundamental SL<BR>
changes [due 2 rising conservative disquiet] by censoring|altering<BR>
fundamental aspects of SL functioning, such as:<BR>
<BR>
a) the ban on gambling:<BR>
<a href="http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/07/25/wagering-in-second-life-new-policy/">http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/07/25/wagering-in-second-life-new-policy/</a><BR>
+<BR>
b) outlawing certain types of sexual behaviours [eg furry_sex_play<BR>
deemed bestiality]:<BR>
<a href="http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/2007/06/censoring_sexua.html">http://terranova.blogs.com/terra_nova/2007/06/censoring_sexua.html</a><BR>
<BR>
this artificial god_like intervention in2 operating MMOE_mechanics has<BR>
provoked corresponding detrimental domino effects + spawned SL<BR>
Bubble/Impending Hype Crash talk:<BR>
<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/jitters-in-second-life-as-bank-shuts-doors/2007/08/10/1186530581488.html">http://www.smh.com.au/news/web/jitters-in-second-life-as-bank-shuts-doors/2007/08/10/1186530581488.html</a><BR>
<a href="http://conversationstarter.hbsp.com/2007/07/the_demise_of_second_life.html">http://conversationstarter.hbsp.com/2007/07/the_demise_of_second_life.html</a><BR>
<a href="http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/magazine/15-08/ff_sheep">http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/magazine/15-08/ff_sheep</a><BR>
<BR>
my concern is the precedence this sets in terms of future conceptions<BR>
of alternative reality platforms. although these changes _shouldn't_<BR>
have obvious detrimental effects concerning artists|griefers<BR>
endeavours|experiments, my concern is that as SL's underpinings are<BR>
created along a capitalistic|cartesian axis, the effect on grassroot<BR>
MMOE charavatar's ability 2 maintain an allegiance|adherence 2 the<BR>
world + the communities formed there will influence this range of<BR>
experimentation [cross-terra(plat)forming seems the most interesting<BR>
angle 2 pursue instead]. SL artists|code.performers risk becoming<BR>
ghettoised, with less manipulation of teleprescence/glitches/gaps or<BR>
worse, their actions being channelled thru stratified, Linden<BR>
Lab-restricted categories as the fauxtecture crumbles in2<BR>
geophysically-governed detrius - a sign of frozen output. tiering may<BR>
even promote a voyeur experience that echos passive<BR>
relays|documentation rather than current|'live' MMOE participation.<BR>
<BR>
this [in part] has influenced my creative decision 2 play|express<BR>
within technically sophisticated MMOE environments like WoW + combine<BR>
this with soc_net experimentation. WoW is a commercial venture +<BR>
unashamedly so...on the other hand, SL gives an illusion of functional<BR>
freedom that is becoming increasingly restrictive. i'm reluctant 2 let<BR>
my own x.pressions become exclusive via platform_tethering + thus<BR>
operate more as clusters|mashups of versional output [ref: description<BR>
above]. 4 eg, my recent combo of Twitter+WoW channelling called<BR>
_Twittermixing_ which remixed prefound identity marker texts from live<BR>
charavatar actions in World of Warcraft with aggregated Twitter<BR>
streaming.<BR>
<BR>
chunks,<BR>
mez"<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
-- <BR>
Reality Engineer><BR>
Synthetic Environment Strategist><BR>
Game[r + ] Theorist.<BR>
::<a href="http://unhub.com/netwurker">http://unhub.com/netwurker</a> ::<BR>
</SPAN></FONT>
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