Have you ever played a game of Mao?

You may have learned it under any number of different names but I first played it as “Mao.” It is a card game in which “the only rule you can be told is this one” – which means that you start the game with no idea what the rules are and have to figure them out by playing the game. Myst has the same basic frame – you are plopped down into a world and through inductive logic figure out puzzles, games, navigation, and ultimately pieces of a complex narrative. When I first entered SL I didn’t quite realize that despite its rather bucolic suburban appearance it was in reality one big game of Mao. Like many – I picked a name that sounded cool – with little thought to meaning or effect – and then set out to construct and dress an avatar by selecting from the many many clothing styles, communities, and choices. While I understood the meaning of these things in a personal way, I gave very little thought to what they might mean to others.

While SL is not a game in the sense that Myst is a game – it is a world structured on a number of game-like rules – many, if not all of which you learn by playing. This is a highly charged semiotic space in which the idea of “natural signs” like smoke indicating fire, rain clouds signifying rain, anatomical parts signifying “male” or “female” do not exist. This is one of the reasons I don’t like the talk feature – it brings a “natural” sign into an artificial world. Without question - SL is a completely intentional world regardless of whether people that enter that world understand this or not. As stated in an earlier blog, I opted for a steampunk look for a number of reasons but gave very little thought to how that would be read by others. Reinforcing this I found that when I first started showing up at rock clubs to dance I heard “we don’t get your type in her very often” on more than one occasion.

“My type”? How do you know my type? Assuming that the visual projected by hair, clothes, skin, animations, etc has anything to do with the user behind the avi seems like frightful leap of faith. Although I do find that the folks that populate these dance clubs (classic rock, country, techno, indie, funk) look very much like I would expect their RL counterparts to look. Why this is the case – I have no idea – fitting in, following an unspoken dress or rule code, just for the hell of it? This is perhaps a side issue – but I have encountered very few black avatars in SL – at least until I teleported to a club to hear some funk.

But this speaks to one of the central issues I see in SL – that in a highly charged semiotic wonderland of intentional signs I find that I do often take those signs for some kind of “reality” or “truth” – virtual or otherwise. I find that I am more likely to strike up a conversation with an avatar based on the way they look – which is not too far off from how I interact with people in real life. An attractive looking male or female just appears far more inviting and less threatening than someone that looks skanky or thuggish. Now I realize that the clothing, hairstyles, tats, attitude, etc in RL are just as intentional as those in SL – but they are generally images that are committed to for a period of time. SL presents what can be called “virtual truths” (for this idea I need to credit Tamar who has commented on this blog). The beauty of a virtual truth is that it is not only an imaginary truth but that it is a temporary truth – easily changed from one moment to the next (which is such a wonderful postmodern/poststructuralist idea.) This point was brought home to me when I ran into someone familiar in SL but who looked radically different from the last time I had seen them. So – it seems that just as virtual truths can change from moment to moment so can the rules of the game – which are never explicit – but always intentional.

The other night I found myself in a familiar club – dancing to some classic rock with a few SL friends – and off to the side of the dance floor was a naked female avatar – complete with all of the various anatomically correct female parts that you can buy in SL - tied to a large “wooden” X. I must admit I didn’t even notice at first – naked or partially naked avis seem run-of-the-mill. But, engaging in a conversation about this with my friends I found that they were somewhat put out by this display – it not being “appropriate” for this particular club. I have to admit if I went bar hopping in RL and entered a place with a live naked female tied to a wooden X I might be taken aback – but in a world populated with folks that can literally change their appearance with one mouse click – who cares? After some rather strong suggestions that this activity should stop the avatar was set free and spent the rest of the night dancing with his/her mistress (who did indulge my IMs and answered some very basic questions about the activity – my main question being what do you do when your avatar is tied up – do you just go get some coffee or something?).

This encounter really made me think about the Mao-like properties of this world. Ostensibly SL is a place where anyone can go to do or say anything they want. I know that folks can be banned from places and that they can transgress the spoken or unspoken Linden laws – but by-in-large it is a free play zone – provided you find someone else that wants to play the same game. But isn’t this what happens in RL? I suppose the disappointing thing about SL is that more and more I find people replicating the same issues, problems, and frustrations of RL in an imaginary world as if Agent Smith from The Matrix had us pegged correctly. If we can’t engage in a fantasy space with intentionally created characters and act any way we want anywhere we go then why enter that space at all? My hope in entering a virtual world is that I am taken out of my RL habits and concerns. This is one of the appealing things for me about Myst - I am forced to meet the game on its own terms since it does not have to meet me on mine. I have yet to find this kind of engagement in SL, but of course this may mean that I have just not found the right people or the right spaces yet - or maybe I have and they were just tied up. As truths change the game continues and in lieu of an image of the bound naked avi I leave with a pic of Derridada getting funky.