Home Versus the Real World: Which is Better?
by Viennese, HSM guest contributor
There you have it: the ultimate question anyone could ever possibly ask of any social game.
And that’s just what Home is, right? Just a social game. Really quite meaningless in the grand scale of all things too scary to think about, right? I mean, the real life aspect of this question must be the victor even before the battle begins. But I think differently, and this is why.
I’ve been using Home from the very beginning of the closed beta, and I’ve owned a PS3 from the launch date. I was even a part of the Hub beta. Which is a way of saying that I know my Home world, and every single person in it that I talk with on a daily basis. Each friend had to earn my trust in a way that no one else has had to — because where’s the certainty that they’re not crazy stalkers just waiting for young blood? So, all of my Home friends have earned my trust in many different ways; some, by pushing me forward to make something of my young life. Others, by helping me stand strong when I was ready to fall and sleep every hurtful thing away. Most of my Home or SEN friends know things about my life that in some cases my own flesh and blood doesn’t. But as I said before, I trust these people with my life, and my Home avatar. But I couldn’t say the same for the people I live with, the people I study with, or the people I grew up with.
As a semi-young person, I still need guidance from people, be it my mother or teachers. But, as a younger person, I also need to feel that I can tell these people anything — and in this day and age, that is often not the case. I cannot trust my closest friends with my deepest secrets; because I know that one little thing could push them too far and the words will fly out. I don’t trust the people I care about to not hurt me any way, shape or form, because sadly it happens too often to the young, misguided and often stupid.
HSM contributor tbaby, real and virtual
So, in a lot of ways, my personal experiences have influenced the way I view Home and everything in it. In Home, I can be a beautiful blonde swimwear model wearing bunny ears, or a secret agent dressed head to toe in black with a lemur tail sticking out. I can be anything I want to be, and not what anyone else thinks I should be. In Home, I can come out my shell and let people in, knowing that I’ll be accepted for who I am and not how I act or dress.
Because, on Home, the only thing that truly matters is a person’s heart.
And that simple lone thing groups people together in a way nothing else can. Someone can find their best friend in the most unlikely places, be it two females talking endlessly about shoes at the Mall, or two males checking out the wildlife at the Hidden Hideaway, or even one male and one female discussing the latest games within the Hub. Where I’m going with this is that even in the most unlikely of places, the unlikeliest of people could find somewhere they belong. And I find that that doesn’t happen as often or easily in the real world, although it should.
In real life, our parents shape us, and pray to anything that listens that we’ll grow up and are happy, free, and loved. And even though I’m not a parent myself, I understand this need that someone would feel. After all, you’ve spent the last eighteen or more years of your life checking that this person is still breathing whilst they sleep, and that everything about them is special even if they’re completely ordinary, just because it’s your child.
But in Home, it’s down to you, alone, to put the many things taught to you from day one into practice. Because without basic manners and an even temperament, you will annoy and anger people rather quickly. But why does this matter? You can always hop between servers and places to find people more willing for your apparent lack of social discipline. So again it comes down to your parents or caregiver to get you ready for that world, even if it’s virtual. Because being respectful and showing that you can be friendly is the one thing that matters to everyone in a virtual world — no matter your background, wallet size, race or where you live. But in the real world, socioeconomic status, gender, ethnicity, race and the rest still play a huge part in peoples’ viewpoints of others — not in all cases, I’ll admit, but more than there should be. Home is, perhaps, a far more egalitarian society than anything we will ever experience in the real world.
In many ways, I honestly believe the Home world is better than the real world. You can be anyone and anything you want to be; freedom of choice and speech really co-exist in Home. Granted, in the real world, you can touch and see, hear and even possibly taste those people closest to you. So there is no clear-cut winner; there’s bad and good points for both parties.
But I will say this: though you might not dress as a robotic cat with your friends on Home, you certainly can’t in the real world. And if you can’t have the strength or courage to touch the people you love the most in the real world, you never will in Home.
March 14th, 2012 by Viennese | 4 comments
Viennese is a young woman from England who fell in-love with North America HOME. It is here she spends all her free time playing with friends (and admiring their avatars.) She spends her time on HOME having fun and helping friends find items in stores. Her passion is reviewing new and old fashions. Currently she is studying business at her local college. For the short times she isn't on HOME, Viennese is a storywriter, a blogger, a poet and all-around writer.
Wow,great article. Bravo!
Very nice article Viennese. I loved the way you compared the two realities that we as Home users all live in. I have many good friends in Home but only a few I can consider the same in real life. I hope you continue to write for us you have a very unique perspective on things and I look forward to your next piece.
Thank you very much Burbie, I really feel as though I gave bothsides the true justice that each deserves. Your view and comment means a lot.
Good read, indeed
Always enjoy learning about other Home users’ views of Home life and what it means to them.