Even the most recent of SL residents can’t escape the reality we label ‘drama’ – But what is it, and why is it there at all? Perhaps most importantly, can we really avoid it?
Second Life is saturated with this phenomenon of ‘drama’,and at times it seems impossible to avoid, even without any personal involvement at all! Confused? I used to be. I can remember very clearly bobbing through a welcome area as a noob, all dressed in my very best (and only) pink dotty dress, my hair tied neatly back into a pony tail, fresh pale skin blinding people in the sunlight. The virtual world was opening up before me, and there it was. BAM. A couple were shouting in Local Chat, and everyone around me slowly began taking sides. That was the moment I began to hobble swiftly and uncomfortably down the road I still try to walk today – The one that leads away from the problem. Has this always worked? In a word, no. But why?
Despite how clearly we hear the age old statement, ‘Second Life is not a game’, it often takes many a long year for most of us to really understand what this might mean for us personally. I believe it is a‘community’, originally termed from ‘common’ and ‘unity’. This is, in my opinion, the underlying issue. We do not all share common quests, goals, achievement points and so on. It is a reflection of our reality. Thousands upon thousands of people all with their own lives, relationships, aims and purpose – Just as in ‘real life’, we compete; for real jobs, for real money, for real businesses, real customers, real artwork, even for real love. So many elements often are ‘real’, and so, therefore, are emotions. If we remember this simple fact, most needless drama can be successfully avoided. Most. There are always a few times where drama is beyond reason, perhaps even enjoyed by the people behind it, and fortunately there are some tell tale signs we can look for.
Profile:- You may have noticed an aggressive sounding pick. Key phrases could include, ‘Stay away from my family’, ‘Hurt xyz and I’ll mess you up’, or even professions against drama, ‘Bring drama to me and I’ll report you’, or ‘Drama Queens will get what’s coming’. Possibly signs of someone trying to avoid conflict, but in my experience it’s usually a problem waiting to erupt.

Relationships:- A genuine relationship is a private and personal affair, something we may share with our friends and family – But if you find someone aggressively defending their relationship to every avatar on the block, or passing around personal details or photos of an ex, then yes, unfortunately, drama is often a heartbeat away.


Agent Smith, ‘The Matrix’, 1999
“Did you know that the first Matrix was designed to be a perfect human world? Where none suffered, where everyone would be happy. It was a disaster. No one would accept the program. Entire crops were lost. Some believed we lacked the programming language to describe your perfect world. But I believe that, as a species, human beings define their reality through suffering and misery. The perfect world was a dream that your primitive cerebrum kept trying to wake up from.”
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments will be reviewed and posted within 24 hours. Please note any abusive content or outside promotional links may not be approved.