After talking in class this week about MUD's (multi-user dungeons) I started to think about how I could talk about them in my blog. I sat here for about thirty minutes thinking about what my avatar would be like and what I would do with it. After all this time I realized that there is no aspect of MUD's that amuse me, the only fun I would get out of it is acting like a "Mr. Bungle". I mean I wouldn't go as far as making someone eat pubic hairs or violate themselves with a steak knife (from class reading, not my own thoughts) but the only fun I would find would be to go around causing chaos. The users who get so involved in these games that they don't know the difference between real life and virtual reality need a good ass beating. Life is not about sitting on a computer pretending to be someone your not and pretending to do things that you aren't really doing, they have a place in the real world for people who act like that and its called an insane asylum. These people need to get addicted to something more productive, like planting trees or something. The reality is that you can't live your life in html codes, users who "can't get enough" virtual reality need to wake up and smell the coffee because the real world isn't going anywhere.
My apologies if this blog post is just a list of my complaints towards those who display obsessive behavior over MUD's but I just can't seem to wrap my head around this. The only positive thing, and I stress only thing, I can come up with to say about MUD's is that I guess if your having a bad day in the real world you can take a small escape for a little while. That being said, you actually have to have a life in the real world for me to give you any approval for spending large amounts of time in virtual reality.
I totally agree. MUD's just seem like the easy way out. If you don't like your life then you assume another virtual one. It is a cop out. Besides the business aspect of second life (less intrusive than live-chat, saving money on travel), nothing about virtual worlds appeal to me.
ReplyDeleteNow that the straw man has had his "ass beating," a few clarifications:
ReplyDeleteFirst, MUDs have been abandoned for MMORPGs and other graphics based virtual worlds. They're hardly used anymore, unless someone is feeling nostalgic. I'm not sure why everyone is talking about them in the present tense. (A quick Google search shows that the most popular MUD only has 600 users a day, while World of Warcraft, an MMORPG, has 11.5 million users.)
Secondly, one could argue that Facebook is a virtual space. I'd feel safe saying that everyone in our class uses Facebook at least one hour a week. Should people "obsessed" with Facebook "get a life"? Facebook is their escape, after all.
** To avoid any ad hominem attacks, I do not play any MMORPGS - just thought the Facebook/virtual space analogy was worth pointing out.
People do seem tempted to do crazy things in these virtual spaces when they have the anonymity of an avatar covering their real identity. I admit, it is probably more fun to cause chaos in these weird virtual environments than to actually get along with others and say, start a fake business or buy a fake home. The enjoyment factor is important too. If participating in these MUDs allows people a little break in the day (from work?) to have some fun, I can't argue with that.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Mike, it does seem that people feel that they can act a certain way when their identity is not at risk. I wonder if they act this way out of sheer boredom or they know that their malicious acts will not be traced back to them.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Britt. MUDs are NOT used by normal people, even if it allows them a break from their day. When normal people take a break from their day they watch TV, take a nap, or whatever. Abnormal people use a creepy online world to escape their reality. Also, from what I know about World of Warcraft, it is also something I do not support for the same reasons.
ReplyDeleteI disagree that facebook can be consider a form of virtual reality, it is a social networking site. Although it is a mediated medium, you still are not using an avatar to socialize with friends/family. What you do and say on facebook is traced directly back to your identity. The only exception in this case is people who make "fake" profiles, and I'd rather not get in a discussion on those people. People who are "obsessed" with facebook can not be put into the same category as those who can't distinguish the difference between a cyber world and the real one due to over use of MUD's...and these are the people I was referring to in my blog post.
ReplyDeleteFirst -- LOL. Mr. Bungle... you would.
ReplyDeleteSecond -- Along the lines of the Facebook virtual reality argument... I just want to throw in that I've found people to be a lot crazier on MySpace as compared to Facebook because MySpace, when I was using it, was less real-name oriented. Facebook is grounded in reality because it's (assuming) you -- your name, your friends, your network, your pictures. MySpace was more of a free-for-all, because you didn't have to attach reality to it, in the same way you don't have to attach reality with a MUD or MMORPGS.