Well, it turns out I’ve made my debut overseas instead of here in the U.S. I’m referring to my debut as a quotable source for the topic of sex in virtual space. So, I guess I’ll have to wait a bit longer before I begin to take America by storm — and ultimately take over the planet, as has been my plan from the outset, with this cybersex thing just sheer subterfuge.

Game Today, which is published by the news site De Telegraaf in the Netherlands, has posted a piece dealing with sex in Second Life; the story seems to be spun around virtual escorts. The piece is published in Dutch, so you can feed the URL into a site like this one from AltaVista if you wanted to check out a rough English translation. And when I say rough, I mean rough. In fact, my comments — and the entire post, for that matter — still read more or less like gibberish even post-translation.

Snippet:

Also Noche Kandora, in the virtual world improve as Cheri mosquito net barrel confessed, do report of the sexual side of Second life, but then with another angle. On its site, Apogeevr.com, they it has mainly concerning adult interpersoonlijke relations and everything what at comes there look at. “I have been interested in how users handle each other in virtual surroundings and the resemblances and differ between that and relations in the real world. Especially the differences are interesting! Thus enormously much manifest themselves of those relations in Second life as cyberseksueel. I think that the security and anonymity which this way’n virtual world with itself brings with us the threshold concerning to help ours deepest like to express.”

As you might have noticed, one of my quotes is even followed by an exclamation point, which I did not use in my e-mailed responses to the journalist. I mean, I am enthusiastic about cybersex, but I am not manic. It is a choppy translation, although I did get a kick out of this phraseology: “I have been interested in how users handle each other in virtual surroundings …” Hmm. I guess you can say that.

One more snippet:

Sex is possible therefore, however, work in a game, although Second life are of course far from a standard game. “I do not consider it once as a game. It is a virtual world, where you can see clearly what our still to wait state in interpersoonlijk and commercial area outside the real world,” thus Kandora.

Yes, thus Kandora.

So that’s the extent of my comments in that piece. But I thought I would post my verbatim responses (with the journalist’s consent) to four of the questions I was asked during the interview. I mean, I went through the trouble of answering these and I want to see them posted, goddamn it. Actually, the main reason I am posting this is I thought it was pertinent. Also, I may very well use some of it for my About page. I don’t expect to routinely post interview transcripts.

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** When did you start your ’second life’ and when was it that you became sexually active in the ‘game’?
I first logged into Second Life in September 2005. After spending the next several weeks getting acquainted with the interface and becoming acclimated to the in-world environment, I began growing curious about cybersexual interaction. I did not lose my virtual virginity until January 2006, so I think I may have been somewhat of a late bloomer, considering the prevalence of sex in Second Life and the relatively relaxed attitudes about it among users — although SL is not merely one big orgy.

I am guessing that a lot of SL newbies have their first cybersexual encounter rather early on in comparison to me. But for me personally, it took a while for a few reasons, including the fact that inhabitants pretty much have to grope around on their own to learn about engaging sexually in Second Life, due chiefly to the fact that sex is not a standard part of the SL interface. Rather, it is an emergent behavioral component of the in-world experience. Another reason is simply because I did not have the spare time to interact in SL as often as I would have liked, so getting savvy about 3-D cybersex and finding a partner was a relatively slow process.

** Why did you start a blog about your virtual sexual life?
Apogeevr.com initially had a broader scope: in the beginning, it focused on virtual reality in general. But I ultimately decided to dedicate Apogeevr.com exclusively to simulated sex and avatar relationships in Second Life. I do blog about my own virtual erotic encounters in Second Life, but it would be inaccurate to say that the blog is solely about me — or the virtual me. Apogeevr.com’s goal is to cover the more expansive spectrum of adult relationships in SL.

Part of my motivation for maintaining Apogeevr.com is that I am genuinely interested in user behavior in virtual environments, and the ways in which it compares with how we conduct ourselves in the physical world. There are similarities that pique my interest, such as how genuine human emotions can come into play when users engage with one another romantically in a virtual environment. But the differences are perhaps more striking and fascinating. And it seems that a good number of them — the ones that I personally find riveting, anyway — tend to manifest themselves in the context of cybersexual interaction, based on what I’ve observed. (Note the shameless, repetitive plugging of Apogeevr.com… OK, back to my verbatim responses.)

For example, I think a place like Second Life can be more conducive to the exploration and expression of our more primal urges because of the sense of safety and anonymity that an online 3-D environment can provide. In this regard, some people are simply more human in virtual space as compared with out in the physical world, as incongruous as that may sound. People are much more apt to self-edit and curb their baser urges in real life, even in consensual situations where they would have the leeway to indulge in such behavior.

So if you’re someone who likes to study and write about the more unfettered forms of lust and human expression, which I do, I think being inside a virtual environment like Second Life provides a great vantage point, since in a lot of instances, one is granted a more candid glimpse of true human nature. In addition, maintaining Apogeevr.com is fun, as is Second Life.

** Of course, Second Life isn’t really a standard game, but would you say that sex adds to the gameplay? Or does gameplay add to the sex?
Firstly, I would like to point out that I do not consider Second Life to be a game. I consider it a virtual world — albeit a primitive one due to the industry-wide technological strides that still need to made in terms of rendering these sorts of environments. Nevertheless, I do in fact see it as a virtual world, reflecting a dawning medium for human interaction and commerce.

And since I consider Second Life a virtual world — and one with a huge social component — I believe that cybersex does add to the experience. In fact, I think the sex component is crucial. This is particularly the case because Second Life, just as its very name suggests, functions in many regards as a synthetic parallel to the physical world, I think. So, why should a parallel of real life be without sex? I mean, the personality extensions that are manifested inside the virtual space of Second Life are not without their sexual needs and desires.

** Do you play games other than Second Life, and if so, which (both sexually themed and not)? If not, why not?
Like I said, I do not consider Second Life to be a game. Also, I am not a gamer. I do not play video games or computer games.

May 31st, 2006
Categories: Sex in Second Life, Media Coverage . Author: Noche

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