Virtual Reality Games

Virtual reality games are big. They are all the rage across age groups and social strata. Old and young, shy or extroverted, popular or not in the “in crowd” – virtual reality games allow everyone to have a “second life” online.

Consider Kay

Kay Underhill regularly blogs about her Second Life experiences. In the real world Kay has just graduated from college and is looking for a job. This is extremely thorny because Kay has difficulties in social situations.

But what happens with her “second life”? In the Second Life world Kay lives out her dreams. She is a popular clothing designer and runs a successful virtual business. She is in charge of over 10 employees and goes out regularly to party with friends.

Which one is the real Kay - the shy, introverted college graduate or the fashionable and fun party girl and successful businesswomen? According to Second Life experts they both are. Kay has built her avatar, virtual representation, in Second Life based on what she hopes her life will someday be.

Consider the Masses

Kay is only one in a million. Second Life, the hottest virtual reality world online today, boasts over 1 million active users. At any one time, say Second Life experts, there are over 25,000 users online. This number could be multiplied several times; there are users having several second life accounts “alts or alternates” but not many of them are advanced users who like to play with multiple avatars at the same time using different computers or running multiple viewers. In Second Life, most avatars are fully functional and managed by one real person but you can also find “bots”, pre-programmed robots and “zombies” without any movement or activity.

People come to virtual worlds for different reasons. Some come to work, some to play, some come to find friends sharing common interests and some to sit back, relax and enjoy virtual life. Your virtual existence can be based on reality or can be a total fantasy.

There are many different approaches people take when joining a virtual reality game like second life. Some use the virtual world as an extension of their own real world. Others like Kay try to accomplish virtually their own real life dreams. Some are looking for a complete change, and do things that would never dare to do in their own real life, and others just look for fantasy and are not interested much in reality.

Taking the First Step

If you are new to virtual reality worlds Second Life makes it easy. They have many quick and easy tutorials that will walk you through getting started. The first thing any new user must do is open an account and choose their basic avatar. Once this step is completed you will be able to customize your basic avatar in-world. Your avatar is your representative in the virtual world and you will use it to navigate the world and communicate with other users.

Virtual reality worlds, like Second Life, usually offer several different membership options. Second Life offers a free membership and a paid, premium membership. You can do many things with the free membership and it is perfect for most users. The paid membership is necessary to buy land from Linden Lab and comes with other perks like a 300 Linden dollar (Second Life currency) weekly stipend.

Second Lifers sometimes find it hard to separate their real lives from virtual reality games. Be careful the fun and excitement of living your dreams doesn’t consume you and generates a harmful addiction. Remember, virtual reality games are fun but they are virtual. Your real life always should come first!