Vside

vSide is an online 3D environment, something like “Second Life”, which I found and started playing on it after creating an account for it. I will try to explain briefly how this game is played.

You are able to choose one of the three major offered cities: Raijuku, New Venezia and LaGenoaAires.

Next you can choose one of the places, like the ones above in the picture. In each one of these you can do different things such as listen to broadcast music, “buy” clothes and accessories, watch video-clips and basically hang around with other people.


You can change the way you look by choosing some of the optional features for your avatar.

This is a screenshot of a shop.


In the left in the image, you can see the title and details of the song being played. In the middle you can transport to locations, check your friend-list, customize your avatar and shop. You can also define your mood, perform one of the available actions in specific ways like dance, show expressions and generally enchant your conversations.


In this screenshot you can see my character dancing and talking with other individuals in the game.
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For me online games in general, such as vSide or Second Life, can be referred to altogether as the game of pretending. Having played other mmo-games before, where I was given many roles by the game creators, I felt like being far away from reality. Once I was a soldier, another time a hero, a fighter, an elf and lots of other magical things. Having a mission though, credits to collect and levels to complete, make people have fun while playing, which is the main reason I was addicted to them. They actually include competition and the potential to become a better player in addition to interacting with other people, which is the only thing virtual reality games provide. What I really want to say is that I don’t really realise how you can get addicted to virtual reality games, like “Second Life” since I don’t see the real fun in them, which basically should be the main aim of a game.
Mmo-games were not such a realistic thing, but that doesn’t knock you down until you stop playing for a while to interact with your reality, since you become one with your character and forget about yourself and your surroundings. You basically become addicted. The game offers you a whole new world: the scenery of it, your alternative self, magic and interaction with people playing the game, only, from all over the world. I was one of the people who would ditch school or real people, to play the game or talk to my online “friends”.
To justify other people’s addiction, I would like to say that you don’t have any burden of consequences, guilt or any weight on your shoulders. This is because you don’t know who anyone really is and you can show any state of mind without having to deal with any consequences that may arise in the aftermath of tomorrow. You can sit and talk to someone and express yourself fully without having to worry about their feelings or the impression they make about you, since you will never face them.
For my better understanding of the game, as I was experimenting with vSide, I thought it would be fun for me to play a role that had absolutely nothing to do with my real self. I was swearing people, calling them games, annoyed them and basically acted like a jackass. I also played an extremely kind character, a racist, a homophobic and another time a homosexual. I could even mimic celebrities. I was only trying to prove that pretending at any level was possible and really easy and because this was a virtual reality I did not have any regrets afterwards.
I saw a video once saying that games should be treated as a mental illness, because they are addictive. From far away you cannot understand the attraction but once you start playing you begin to understand why they are so popular. I believe that on the other hand, they give people the opportunity to express their alter egos, as they might not have the potential to do in real life. The games provide you a medium in which you can create a character based on your thoughts, dream and fantasies. Personally I’d rather play actual games, which have a scenario or a plot and basically the old-fashioned games based on science fiction and extreme situations.