« DNF by Year’s End, Or Pay Up
Bone: The Great Cow Race Demo »

April 12th, 2006

Second Life Age-Play Controversy

Posted in MMORPG Print

A couple of days ago, I reported about a trend that has developed in the MMO, Second Life, where females act as cybersex escorts to paying customers. Now News.com has a story about how Second Life is becoming a place for age-play (infantilism/pedophilia roleplay) by creating child-like avatars in the game. It looks like Second Life is fast becoming a haven for desperate perverts everywhere.

But even in the open-minded “Second Life” community, what people consider to be acceptable may have its limits. Some of the virtual world’s biggest fans are shaking their heads over what users call “age play.” This age-based role-playing can take on various forms: It can be as innocuous as people acting out a family dynamic, or as potentially troubling as two adults engaging in sexual role playing, with one of the avatars made to look like a child.

Isn’t it bad enough that nightelves and trolls get frisky outside the Crossroads in World of Warcraft?

These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • Digg
  • del.icio.us
  • StumbleUpon
  • Reddit
  • Slashdot
  • Technorati

6 Responses to “Second Life Age-Play Controversy”

Feed for this Entry

  1. Oh really? Less than 20 residents probably, maybe, possibly, could be suspected of actually graphically acting out sexual acts with child looking avatars and this is your conclusion? You really have no idea what you are talking about. You just want to jump on a preaching bandwagon and because Cnet said so it must be right. So go ahead and exaggerate things. Why don’t you try Second Life first? Really try it, not just go looking for evidence of your crusade.

    meph on 06 12th, 2006

  2. meph: Little defensive there, are we? I did try it, I wasn’t impressed, but other’s milieage may vary.

    Matt on 06 12th, 2006

  3. Aye, just a bit defensive. Second Life is a pioneering program, made by great people and populated by creative artists. Someone had to stand up for the rest of Second Life’s residents. Those who would take offense to the statement that it is “a haven for desperate perverts.” Sorry if I want people, who may search this article in the future, to have a different perspective than the narrow one presented here. It’s fine if the dynamics of the virtual world or the graphics or whatever is not your cuppa, but please don’t make uninformed insinuations.
    Not only is your definition of ageplay wrong, but the words “growing trend” is extreme. I don’t represent any of those residents that choose to use child avatars for sexual acts, but I do get defensive when you paint a picture of SL being some kind of kiddy porn fest for the casual reader.
    Second Life has so much content to offer that is in no way sexual, overtly or covertly, that it is entirely possible to never come in contact with it. Unless of course you are looking for it.

    Additionally, the Crossroads isn’t even close to the frisky female night-elf strippers of Goldshire Inn, kek.

    Harbouring no ill-will-
    meph

    meph on 06 12th, 2006

  4. meph: I see Second Life like a MySpace or AOL, growing real fast due to popularity and ease-of-use. However, just like with MySpce and AOL, there will be a number of disturbed people joining the service. Thus a growing trend, which is inevitable as anything that grows so fast and becomes large will attract unsavory types.

    Fortunately for Second Life, a lot of the trouble MySpace and AOL encountered, can be handed by SL because of its age restrictions.

    Another side-effect of SL being large is the media attention on it. Issues that were known but not widely so are now being scrutinized and reported on. This in turn caused a backlash by the SL community, which you seem to be a part of. However, I don’t think it should be swept under the rug, but rather dealt with. Sure, SL can be fun for some, but let’s not ignore the issues either.

    Matt on 06 12th, 2006

  5. It’s really not an issue Matt. I don’t like a channel on the tv, I don’t go there. And I certainly don’t make an “issue” of it on the net, or some other news format. Let’s not pretend like everyone will “go find out for themselves” because people will just actually take your word for it. I acknowledge there are sexual activities in Second Life, but it is an opinion wether the participants are disturbed. In the sense that Second Life itself is growing you could make the connection that a community of people involved in taboo behaviors is also growing but by no means is it trendy or the “in” thing to do. There is also a growing trend of cyber-punk enthusiasts as SL grows. Why doesn’t anyone report on that? You know the reason, it’s because it’s not exciting, bad news with shock value and dirty laundry is news-worthy. It’s not an issue for me, it’s not an issue for people who keep to themselves (including thier views on the matter), and it’s not an issue for logical adults that can seperate fantasy from reality (as shown by the comments both on Cnet and SL community forums). It is only an issue for those who think a little dirt is worth emphasizing or who feel it is thier duty to police another person’s Second Life.

    meph on 06 12th, 2006

  6. I don’t play Second Life anymore because of the growing number of role playing weirdos.. but I do think that Matt missed the fact that it’s the whole western world that is saturated by “disturbed people”. Second Life is just one more place to look for them.

    Dallas on 08 19th, 2006

Comments are currently closed.

Back to the top