Comments on: The Essence of (Virtual) Life

By: LostRainbow

LostRainbow — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 02:12:17 +0000

I agree that Home is an extension of our real selves. I created an avitar and i feel she looks alot like a younger version of me. I also gave her a thinner body, like my dream body. LOL. I designed her to be the me i wanted to be. I have made friendships that are very real to me and without these virtual worlds like Home and others, i would have never met these wonderful people I call friends. Great read!

By: Kid Fleetfoot

Kid Fleetfoot — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 23:25:26 +0000

Oh forget it.

It’s time not team and to put aside my dreams not no put aside my dreams.
I’m not gonna’ do none of that stuff. I’m just gonna’ play and I ain’t coming back till I have to sleep.

There! Problem solved as to typing.

By: Kid Fleetfoot

Kid Fleetfoot — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 23:20:13 +0000

Novels, movies, music, comic books, virtual worlds, children playing cops & robbers or dress up, all can bring our thoughts into another world at least for a short team.

However, it’s when we enter the world of make believe and don’t come back that we’re in trouble.

I’ve decided no put aside my dreams of being a programmer and instead I’ll buy some crayons and create a comic book super hero.

By: Burbie52

Burbie52 — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 09:57:20 +0000

Great read Ted as always. Games have always been an extension of our “real” selves in a way, especially for those of us who love and play RPG games. When you are playing in Skyrim or any game that allows yo to create your character from scratch, like Home, you are adding a piece of yourself into it, how could you not as you are literally “creating” the avatar. As such it is us and we are it so the lines of reality get blurred a bit, at least they do if you are in Home for the right reasons and not just to play around with other peoples feelings and lives.
Since we put a piece of ourselves in each avatar we create they do take on life in a way, though not one that will usually effect our real one much, unless of course we fall in love. That is true in both real and virtual life, and that is what makes Home or any social MMO different from traditional “games”.

By: Gary160974

Gary160974 — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 07:59:47 +0000

I can agree it’s part of life but it’s like anything it’s ok in the correct proportions. Movies and books cleverly put products in place so you go out and buy them. Online MMOs rely on more addictive elements like social responsibilities, the need to be as good as you can and mundane tasks to achieve limited rewards. Take the recent granzella event, to play it is great to be top of leader board after 2 weeks you would have to put your life on hold for 2 weeks to win a limited reward. That’s where the problems lie because they try to get you addicted but you could lose the thing they are trying to get you addicted to away at any point. If you got true friends on home make sure you have multiple ways to contact them. I witnessed the panic of a loss of a friend during the psn outage. We have all probably witnessed people’s blurred reality with online relationships. It is life with real people but to others it’s a game to played with. Watch the trolling home vids on you tube

By: KrazyFace

KrazyFace — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 07:51:45 +0000

GAAHH! You’re twistin’ mah mellon again maaaan! LOL! Love it Ted, love it!

I had a friend watch me using Home once, he kept asking me “are those other things REAL people!?” as if, maybe the next time he asked the question he’d get a different answer, one he could understand.

A.I has always been something we’ve wanted to create at a human level for decades, I’m not 100% sure why though. Like Blade Runner’s clones, how would we justify treating them equally -- WOULD we!?

As humans we have a habit of putting life and character into even inanimate objects, and we do it naturally, at a very young age. In Home we embody our doppelgangers or our alternates, and react to situations based on the visual cue they give us. But role-playing then becomes something entirely different. Would (could!?) A.I manage such a thing? Maybe time will tell, and when that comes, we can ask Dolly 5.1 if she really is dreaming of electric farmers…