This sort of story, though not to this extreme myself, is so true of how I have found virtual spaces. I did have a guildmate die of cancer at a very young age. I still know the last things she...
This sort of story, though not to this extreme myself, is so true of how I have found virtual spaces. I did have a guildmate die of cancer at a very young age. I still know the last things she typed to us and her last Facebook post before the next was her official goodbye. I've had a suicidal guildmate I made sure got her husband home. I dated one of my guildmates for a while. I have long time friends from forums and now discord channels.
The virtualness of the space didn't matter, and in fact helped some folks, like Mat, connect in ways they couldn't elsewhere. My partner had an online gaming friend of his who was very sick pass away.
Now he's the one in the wheelchair, getting to spend time with his buddies from 20+ years ago, who are spread around the world, who he'd never still be close with without the internet, and with his son who lives far enough away a visit is a treat.
Perhaps virtual spaces are as close as we can come where people can meet soul to soul, where race, physique, looks, physical disability, wealth and fashion doesn't matter. Where even our awkward...
Perhaps virtual spaces are as close as we can come where people can meet soul to soul, where race, physique, looks, physical disability, wealth and fashion doesn't matter. Where even our awkward mannerisms or nonverbal cues or lack of eye contact won't give us away. Where mostly it's our words and how much we listen and care for another that matters.
This hit hard. I was an immensely lonely child, and I found my first community in my Runescape clan circa 2009. We were all a little odd - - you had to be, to be playing Runescape 8+ hours a day,...
This hit hard. I was an immensely lonely child, and I found my first community in my Runescape clan circa 2009. We were all a little odd - - you had to be, to be playing Runescape 8+ hours a day, but it was the place where I figured out how to interact with other people. I wouldn't be the person I am without that experience, and the many kind and patient people I met in our
clan chat.
I tried my best to return the favor to the folks after me, and I hope I succeeded.
Very moving story. It brought to my mind Orlando, one of the fictional protagonists of Otherland, a massive 4 book long science fiction story by Tad Williams (written in the 90s) about a future in...
Very moving story. It brought to my mind Orlando, one of the fictional protagonists of Otherland, a massive 4 book long science fiction story by Tad Williams (written in the 90s) about a future in which decentralized, fully immersive virtual reality helps people connect and in which wealthy capitalists are trying to repurpose it for their own selfish aims. Orlando was also a teenager without a future and without a life outside VR, and at the time this was a completely new (to me) idea that really made me reconsider the value of online connections.
I may be wrong, but I perceive a certain pushback against this sort of thing by the people/companies currently running virtual spaces. There's probably a lot more hatred and disinformation online than there was twenty five years ago, and if you ally that with the potential for young people to be subjected to other kinds of harm, like bullying, grooming, etc. platform providers may feel like the cost and liability require them to do their best to keep their usage policies vague and hostile, and their moderation procedures opaque so they can be used (or not used) at their own discretion. A company running a platform like World of Warcraft is ultimately interested in maximizing profit, not in providing community for people like Mats. Sometimes the users companies deem to be problem users aren't the ones you think.
This line from VRChat's latest/current community guidelines puts it succintly:
Do not use VRChat as a medical or therapeutic tool, device, or methodology.
They're probably aware that they have thousands of users whose mental health is tied to the community they find in their spaces to some degree, including a disproportionate amount of trans people, people on the spectrum etc. but they want to make damn sure they can remove any of them and disclaim all responsability.
The solutions to this problem are the obvious ones. You need the virtual space to be provided under some kind of benevolent umbrella willing to tackle the challenge head-on (which is always at risk of failing or being enshittified at some point in the future) or you can have true decentralization with all the problems it brings (wouldn't the lack of broad consequences for misbehavior in Orlando's VR result in a much greater number of unpleasant people than what's evident in the story? Probably.)
Moving story but the writing style of the article is driving me crazy. The story/narration is told in the present tense but then virtually every quote from everyone is in the past tense.
Moving story but the writing style of the article is driving me crazy.
The story/narration is told in the present tense but then virtually every quote from everyone is in the past tense.
This sort of story, though not to this extreme myself, is so true of how I have found virtual spaces. I did have a guildmate die of cancer at a very young age. I still know the last things she typed to us and her last Facebook post before the next was her official goodbye. I've had a suicidal guildmate I made sure got her husband home. I dated one of my guildmates for a while. I have long time friends from forums and now discord channels.
The virtualness of the space didn't matter, and in fact helped some folks, like Mat, connect in ways they couldn't elsewhere. My partner had an online gaming friend of his who was very sick pass away.
Now he's the one in the wheelchair, getting to spend time with his buddies from 20+ years ago, who are spread around the world, who he'd never still be close with without the internet, and with his son who lives far enough away a visit is a treat.
Virtual spaces matter so much to so many people.
Perhaps virtual spaces are as close as we can come where people can meet soul to soul, where race, physique, looks, physical disability, wealth and fashion doesn't matter. Where even our awkward mannerisms or nonverbal cues or lack of eye contact won't give us away. Where mostly it's our words and how much we listen and care for another that matters.
This hit hard. I was an immensely lonely child, and I found my first community in my Runescape clan circa 2009. We were all a little odd - - you had to be, to be playing Runescape 8+ hours a day, but it was the place where I figured out how to interact with other people. I wouldn't be the person I am without that experience, and the many kind and patient people I met in our
clan chat.
I tried my best to return the favor to the folks after me, and I hope I succeeded.
2006 for me and avid player of oldschool!
That game is just magical.
Very moving story. It brought to my mind Orlando, one of the fictional protagonists of Otherland, a massive 4 book long science fiction story by Tad Williams (written in the 90s) about a future in which decentralized, fully immersive virtual reality helps people connect and in which wealthy capitalists are trying to repurpose it for their own selfish aims. Orlando was also a teenager without a future and without a life outside VR, and at the time this was a completely new (to me) idea that really made me reconsider the value of online connections.
I may be wrong, but I perceive a certain pushback against this sort of thing by the people/companies currently running virtual spaces. There's probably a lot more hatred and disinformation online than there was twenty five years ago, and if you ally that with the potential for young people to be subjected to other kinds of harm, like bullying, grooming, etc. platform providers may feel like the cost and liability require them to do their best to keep their usage policies vague and hostile, and their moderation procedures opaque so they can be used (or not used) at their own discretion. A company running a platform like World of Warcraft is ultimately interested in maximizing profit, not in providing community for people like Mats. Sometimes the users companies deem to be problem users aren't the ones you think.
This line from VRChat's latest/current community guidelines puts it succintly:
They're probably aware that they have thousands of users whose mental health is tied to the community they find in their spaces to some degree, including a disproportionate amount of trans people, people on the spectrum etc. but they want to make damn sure they can remove any of them and disclaim all responsability.
The solutions to this problem are the obvious ones. You need the virtual space to be provided under some kind of benevolent umbrella willing to tackle the challenge head-on (which is always at risk of failing or being enshittified at some point in the future) or you can have true decentralization with all the problems it brings (wouldn't the lack of broad consequences for misbehavior in Orlando's VR result in a much greater number of unpleasant people than what's evident in the story? Probably.)
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Moving story but the writing style of the article is driving me crazy.
The story/narration is told in the present tense but then virtually every quote from everyone is in the past tense.