Second Life is a 3D community-based game that has some kinky features, particularly conducive to online BDSM role play. I interviewed two players.
At first, I wanted to write about online games that allow you tointeract sexually with other players. So I tried IMVU, a chat with a 3D interface, in which players’ characters move around. I wasn’t very convinced. But you’ll see that later, in a future article.
All of this was all very well, but signing up and a few minutes or hours of use are not enough to get a concrete idea of a game mainly based on interactions between the people who use it.
To better understand what it is like when you have adventures sexual in a 3D community-based game, I therefore decided to turn to accounts from long-term registered users. If the people who responded are part of the BDSM community, originally, I had posted my question in various places, without specifically trying to target them.
Vlad’s take, as he has enjoyed Second Life
I met Vlad on Bdsm.fr. Having been registered on Second Life, the famous 3D virtual world in which registered users are free to develop their character as they please, with no imposed purpose, including, among other possibilities, living a second life… a sexual one, he kindly agreed to answer my questions.
Vlad: Honestly, I’m not really sure what to tell you, I’ve been registered there for four years, I’ve experienced quite a lot.
How do encounters take place? Do you meet people at random there? By area of interest?
Vlad: Second Life is divided into “sims”. In short, sims are worlds, which belong to different owners.
So the owners are players?
Vlad: “Players” isn’t necessarily the right term. Some create sims simply to actually live off them, by selling objects and services, as in everyday life.
We therefore have a search engine that lets you find sims by name. For example, “BDSM French” will certainly lead you to a world BDSM French… So it can be a world created by a BDSM fan, to meet up. Or it can be a world for sellingBDSM objects French. From there, we turn up in those worlds with our avatars, and we can chat, create objects ourselves, exchange them, or use those already in place… It’s worth noting that you can create anything, even an animation, a sound, etc…
Do you need a subscription to create objects?
Vlad: No, everyone can make them. Simply, if you decide to sell them, Linden Labs takes a commission. But you can also make do with what are called “Freebies”, i.e. free objects. There is already a good variety of freebies.
The only issue is that, since everyone can really create whatever they want, sometimes there are quite badly made objects, which can lead to bugs. It is therefore common to encounter a bug whose source you don’t even know. Otherwise, I take the liberty of passing you this link to the Second Life marketplace. You can buy directly from this site, or take a free object as well.
How do you log in?
Vlad: To use Second Life, you need a piece of software called a “viewer”. As Second Life is open source, several viewers are available. Typically, I don’t use an official viewer. I use Phoenix, which in particular allows me to use a plugin called RLV (Restrained Love Viewer). And thanks to that, it is easier to engage in BDSM: they can restrict my chat, teleportation etc…
In what context did you feel like signing up?
Vlad: I’m rather shy and I didn’t want to just jump into BDSM on a whim. Second Life allowed me to have some theory, although there are also quite a few fantasists (that’s what it’s for, too). As a result, I learned a lot, and I had some nice adventures.
How do relationships with other users work? Are they more “one-night” relationships, or are there also ongoing relationships?
Vlad: I would say that things develop more quickly than in everyday life, but it still works out like a normal life. Some people find their happy place by having quick sex (So that can be done in a few minutes, if you look a bit, it’s just that in general the woman played is a guy :) .
But you can also have real beautiful stories. I have a friend who found her RL Master on Second Life, even though it was me who introduced her to SL. I also had the opportunity to meet a Mistress who lived in Spain and moved to France to live with her SL submissive…
And you? Have you ever had a virtual Mistress you followed in this game?
Vlad: For my part, I like to go international. So I’ve had some lovely encounters with Dames from all over. And the best one lasted 6 months (meaning that’s a very long time for an SL relationship, especially as we’d easily see each other for 2h every night), it was with a Romanian Mistress. Who was also a real-life Mistress, and had a submissive on a permanent basis.
That must have taken up a big part of your life…
Vlad: Yes…
Did you have feelings for this Mistress?
Vlad: So I did have feelings, yes. But I ended up leaving her, and it hurt, but then again… I told myself that holding on to Second Life wasn’t a good thing, because in the end, even though it had been strong, I’d never really met her, even though I could have.
Long-distance relationships are never very easy…
Vlad: Now I mostly go there to have fun. Little games, sometimes even fully surreal. Magic, hypnosis… Everything is possible, more so than in real life. The only limit is imagination…
After that, there are several categories, as I said… People who are real-life oriented: they’ll talk on the mic, probably have a real-life relationship, and come mostly just to chat. Or the players / fantasisers who are more after a one-night stand.
When you play there, do you just play, or have you ever masturbated in the real world while doing so? If so, how often?
Vlad: Yes, I’ve masturbated many times. That’s usually when I’m having quick games. I like nice phrases, and on Second Life, nice phrases are a given. Beautiful roleplay, very descriptive.
What turns me on is when a Dame lulls me with her words. If you know how to dominate the mind, you know how to dominate the body.
When it gets more intense, the magic mostly happens in the imagination, right?
Vlad: For me, yes. But, as I said, there’s all sorts of things on Second Life. There are even striptease clubs and professional prostitutes, because Lindens (Second Life’s currency) can be exchanged for dollars and vice versa. That’s why you can find businesses there.
As for graphics, it’s the same, there’s all sorts of things. They’re created by users, and some can be very beautiful.
Including the textures and 3D models of the characters?
Vlad: Yes. Everything. You can change everything, from A to Z. But making a proper character takes a while already. You often recognise a newbie by their look, their hesitant walk (default animation).
But generally, you pay for the best animations / best graphics… In fact, I’d say that getting started on Second Life isn’t easy.
Can you create the animation for your character’s walk yourself?
Vlad: Yes. But creating objects or animations isn’t for everyone. I myself just make do with using them, I don’t know how to create.
Anyway, so, to go back to getting started on Second Life, you need to know that, to access adult content, you have to provide them with some information, including a scan of an ID card. I think the procedure has been simplified, but I’m not certain.
In short, I’d sum it up as: A rough start, but after that it can be pure bliss. You just need a bit of time to adjust. But of course, the different Mistresses / people I’ve come across have guided me well, too.
Opinion of K., who did not enjoy Second Life at all
Not everyone shares this view. On the Doctissimo forum, K., who played Second Life for two years, has quite a bad memory of it.
K.: It’s shit!
Could you, please, elaborate on your answer? Which game is it, and what is your experience of it?
K.: Second Life. It’s ugly, whether in terms of the basic graphics or the animation, badly made, unplayable and expensive.
For a supposed free game, that’s rather paradoxical: the price is rather high if you want something properly put together, and not a sorry mess with hideous graphics. On top of that, under the pretext of SM, it’s packed with people who impose daft rules, which in my opinion are frankly ridiculous. In short, nothing serious, just people playing at it…
Besides, like any free virtual platform, it’s packed with idiots, noobs, who wander around with an ugly avatar and shout “kikoolol!” every third word. Welcome to “My thicko does SM”, eh. Yet, if it had been well moderated, well animated and better coded, Second Life could have been good for the roleplay aspect… But then again, they preferred easy money.
How long did you play it?
K.: I played Second Life for a long time, almost two years, but not for sex, it was for roleplay.
Originally, the principle was rather good: a customisable zone allowing you to play in any roleplay universe, even the most obscure. A roleplay alternative to MMORPGs.
Except that few players master the basics of roleplay. Most write like crap, it’s unreadable. You spend more time looking for people who are not too bad at spelling than playing.
In your opinion, is Second Life really unplayable if you refuse to pay anything at all?
K.: Without any money, you end up with an ugly, grubby avatar. If you want gadgets to play some slightly fun games, or to have a less ugly avatar, you fork out. Actually, you fork out for everything. Not to mention the virtual prostitutes, whose only desire is to make you fork out.
Conclusion… and what next?
Thank you again to Vlad and K. for giving me these interviews.
Following these very mixed opinions, I’m thinking about signing up for Second Life in order to judge it for myself. But that will be in a future article…
Article header illustration: “Sex sells”, Flickr gallery by Bea Serendipity / Ghee, Creative Commons.
