This is interesting: Wife catches husband having virtual carnal bliss (2nd offense) with home wrecker in Second Life - calls in lawyers. First offense was with a virtual whore, but fences mended with the promise that he would not stray off-world again....the man's not much of a heartbreaking threat in the real world, an unemployed 40 year old geek, so I'm assuming it's a given he hasn't been pinched otherwise:
Well, the wife catches him again, but this time, it's with a real (somewhat real...non pro anyhow) virtual woman named Modesty McDonnell.
Yes, that's our hero on the right with his svelte mistress .
Husband and wife split (they met originally on Second Life as well), and this virtual alias Dave Barmy, and nubile new fling, get married on set, with plans to do the real-deal once his divorce comes through.
All kidding aside, I've spent enough time in Second Life to understand how easily it is for someone to unmask and show their true personality. Like the novelist Pirandello's reference to the many masks we wear in our daily lives, Second Life allows you to shed most of these self restrictions. It doesn't matter if you're fat, thin, ugly, beautiful, lumpy, bumpy, normal, or obtuse. You can make your avatar, pretty much anything you want. Dave Barmy is a pretty good looking man in comparison to the organic version.
So the question comes to mind, is cheating on Second Life really cheating? I go to, as I always do in these circumstances, to my wife to ask her how she would react to finding me humping an avatar in cyberspace. Her first reaction was to demand if I was being serious, and if people actually did this; or if this was one of my many school boy fantasy/pranks. When I explained the technical aspects on how this was accomplished, she came back with some very sane understanding: it's a question of intimacy. The actually arcade like action of performing the sex act in a virtual world isn't much different than the pursuing your favorite adult site. Sharing intimacy with a stranger is the real problem. This would be the same online as it would be face-to-face, or over the phone. Makes sense....game over gentlemen.
Just for fun, here is a pic of the original Second Life prostitute:
Pretty hot, but ultimately not what's going to make your partner rage unless they have some tight control issues. Get talking to a three toed wart hog on Second Life, and sharing intimate details....different story :)
I think this brings into focus the blurring of the lines in video games. If I saw my husband shoot somebody in a video game, I wouldn't give it a second thought. However, if there were relationships involved... that would set my real world alarm bells going off!
Posted by: daisy chakra | April 17, 2011 at 01:27 PM