Chinese MMORPG King of the World implemented an interesting way of gender verification (via SLinsider and Pacific Epoch:
Aurora stipulates that only female gamers can play female characters in the game, and it requires gamers who chose female characters to prove their biological sex with a webcam.
ROFL
I won't comment the stupidity of a decision which is Monty Python's version of Linden Lab's identity verification. Many interesting questions arises:
what would they do if a male dressed up, put makeup on and acted female(ish) on camera, blaiming "her" masculine features on hormonal dysfunction? would they demand to see what is under the skirt? Xp by TigroSpottystripes Katsu
So basically somewhere in China is an entire server full of pictures of genitals? by Hollywood Ron
Maybe it is available on… let's say… www.nakedroleplayer.com? At least it is an interesting business model and an additional income :)
Seriously, it happened to me once, that a male avatar, with who I played that night, ask me in the morning if my human is a female? I will never forgive myself missing the opportunity to induce him a nice homophobic nightmare, when he so much craves for one. But, excluding that guy who first shoot then ask questions, so many people are obsessed with genders of our humans. I understand if somebody never go over that line of understanding that different people have different approach to their avatars in virtual worlds, but forcing anybody to show in front of the web-cam and prove anything sounds too harsh for my ears.
Though, maybe there is some logic in that move. Nobody succeeded in that statistic, but it seems that, in second life at least, there is significantly more females than males. So, to preserve natural equilibrium, authorities came to this excellent idea of forcing male humans to have male avatars and atomic girls are welcome to help them in the quest of getting enough males in the world. I mean, how to play King of the World in an amazonian society? :)
I really needed a good laugh this morning, thaaanx ! After the laugh, I’m ready to shave myself and go to this next shopping mall so I can finally buy my own webcam ! Awwww… just hope they enjoy my pics !!!
“Monty Python’s version of Linden Lab’s identity verification” ROFL!
Would it be useful for age identification as well? *smoothens her (few) wrinkles*
STUPIDITY: “is the quality or condition of lacking intelligence, as opposed to being merely ignorant or uneducated. This quality can be attributed to both an individual or a person’s actions, words or beliefs. The term can thus also refer to poor use of judgement or insensitivity to nuances in a person who is otherwise intelligent. Despite attempts at measuring intelligence, such as IQ tests, it is difficult to objectively determine intelligence with any reliability.”
But if you have read dK’s story about “King of the World”’s gender verification system, you now have a nice example of “what” stupdity can bring even in the metaverse…
I still find it funny that people get all worried about the gender of the RL person they will never meet.
I can appreciate age verification, but sex verification is over the line. I’m not about to buy a webcam to prove anything to anyone, period.
If you have nagging doubts
about someone,
put them to bed,
metaphorically speaking,
of course.
So what will they implement next? You can only have a white-skinned avatar if you can prove with your webcam, that under natural light, your skin colour is pale? And age? If I’m over 60 I need to choose an arthritic avatar and can’t play a lovely 18-year-old avatar? What about hair colour, do I need to dye my hair red first before being allowed to play a redhead? And do I have to send my ID and be only allowed to pick a nickname similar to my real name?
The list is endless and absolutely insane to implement. Also, how do you prove on a webcam that you’re homosexual/heterosexual, or an adept of some religion, or lifestyle, whatever? Do BDSM fans need to submit some movies on their sexual behaviour at home to be allowed to wear leather and use whips? If I smoke iRL, am I allowed to have a ciggie in that virtual world too?
Well, I guess that this is all nonsense which doesn’t have a place in our society. I pity the Chinese, though, this goes beyond repression and into the realm of public humiliation…
Thank you all for the comments.
Yes, it is funny and terrifying at the same time. Especially when we get to the question: what is next?
But, what is really weird in this story about king of the World is that it is MMORPG. It is ROLE PLAYING GAME! Game! Role-playing! Which part of that confronts to playing a role?
I agree with Gwendolyn on this one: So what will they implement next? You can only have a white-skinned avatar if you can prove with your webcam, that under natural light, your skin colour is pale? And age? If I’m over 60 I need to choose an arthritic avatar and can’t play a lovely 18-year-old avatar? What about hair colour, do I need to dye my hair red first before being allowed to play a redhead? And do I have to send my ID and be only allowed to pick a nickname similar to my real name?
I also know for sure one of my male friends would be willing to prove for the webcam that I am male, if I insisted on having a male account/a good laugh. :p
ahhhh… and even a friend who will contribute a cat to prove I am a furry, if needed.
I agree when I joined and had enough LL doing the Dance?Sex routine I improved my AV. The result instand sex offers.
Then in one CLub I had sez with anumber of the patron. Then the Manager (after having sex) asked me to leave for being underage.
So getting back to the point if you dont want sex dont if you do its your Av colour matching another.
I can see as is hinted furries,Gor, The other RP games being banned and only allowed to act our RLives out.
Which, is really why, we are in SL to be like RL…NOT.
dandelion yes its a RP Game…
Ever since I heard about Second Life I’ve been waiting for either CSI or Law and Order to run an episode focusing on the online phenomena. When SVU aired on Tuesday October 2nd, with an episode that touched on sex for money, via the internet and avatars, they weren’t far off what is actually happening on Second Life.
From people who play there, screen shots and more, Second Life does indeed provide a system where people are charged for internet sex with avatars, and that Second Life money can be exchanged for real money. So, in all honesty, it is a situation that was begging to be used in a crime related drama.
As I watched the episode unfold, with a woman kidnapped in real life because of events within the game (Called Another Universe in the episode) I had to wonder if the owners of Second Life were cringing.
Now, I’ll be honest. I’ve stepped into Second Life all but twice. My lap top can’t handle the graphics and it didn’t hold any real interest for me. I’m an old time rpg player, and if I’m going to do online rpg’s it will be text based html chat ones, or message board based because, quite frankly, to me they’re more interesting. But what little I did see in Second Life made it very clear that Another Universe was based, heavily, on that system. Right down to being able to custom build your own avatar, land and the virtual sex involved. Another article I wrote for AC also mentioned a woman, running in the Belgium elections this year, offered sex for votes, or rather oral sex for votes, and one of the options of getting that service had been via Second Life.
Before anyone jumps me for this, I’m well aware that Second Life has attempted to put in controls to prevent minors from entering the areas of the game/system where adult interaction takes place by using credit cards, passports and other means of checking age. But this doesn’t stop the very situation that was portrayed in SVU. No, I don’t mean the real life kidnapping. I mean an avatar made up to be a 14 year old girl, selling herself for sex in an online sex club.
Am I the only one who cringed as the kidnapped girl’s friend explained what they were doing and brushed it off as not doing anything wrong? Before someone says ‘hey what about age play’ the big difference with age play in real life is you can see, first hand, that the person pretending to be 14, or 16, or whatever, is really a lot older. You know, without a shadow of a doubt they are really an adult. In the virtual world there is no such assurance. Perhaps it’s just the Mum in me that is cringing at the problems this could present. And no, I’m not calling out for more rules about the net.
The storyline is a warning, as many of SVU’s and Law and Orders in general have been in the past. And, as a whole, it was a compelling story as it was written in order to horrify and shock watchers as to just what can happen on the net. It worked well, for me, and that’s with a woman who has chatted on the net since 1998 and does own a html chat site that is currently being worked on to go back online.
Will it make people stop and think about some of the characters they portray online in games such as Second Life? Sad to say, I doubt it. The very people this story might have been aimed at were unlikely to have been watching the episode to begin with. So although it was an entertaining and well thought out episode, if the creators of SVU were looking for more of a social impact (which they have been known to do before) I’m sad to say this will have missed the mark. At best it will have a few people up in arms. Some people, like myself, sat cringing and shaking our heads, and others who will go “So what, it’s just a game.”
I haven’t watched the episode you talk about though I am aware it was broadcasted. Sure that credit cards and IDV won’t stop any possible crime connected to SL, virtual worlds and internet. We all know that is impossible. We also know that crimes are not related to minors only. You dismiss kidnaping possibility too easy. Just take a look at the story about RL murder that happened around chatting site. There is another one, a bit older, when one friend killed the other for a virtual sabre. I think it happened in China and connected to SL, but I cannot be sure, it was before my entrance to the world.
As about two grownups ageplaying, i already said quite a lot. What grownups are playing is their own business as long as all the persons involved are adults and consentual.
I see you are stressing the social role of a TV show. I hope you see the same (or preferably bigger) opportunity for social impact in virtual worlds. These days, we usualy see on-line worlds as a problem more than a potential (way to) solution.
Things like this support my theory, over 90% of people are complete idiots.
Why should my avatar be of the same sex as my RL me? So that someone wanting to flirt with me (RL me) would know from the start whether I’m of the proper sex. Well, if you want to flirt with real me, then come to RL and flirt, and if you like my avatar and want to flirt with it… just go on, you can see to which sex it belongs.
I don’t see a problem there.
Maybe the problem is elsewhere… if you are selling female pads (those that make “one of those days fabulous”), and you offer it to the female avatar behind which there’s RL male, makes completely futile effort. So you cannot identify your target anymore.
Or, there’s more to it?
Well, for the marketing purposes only solution is to have RL gender switch box somewhere in the profile page, and that field to be accessible via the script. Marketing fights its battles with massive force aiming huge populations at once. Identifying each of us by examining the look of the avatar is not much of help.
So, I guess that you are right, 90% of people are complete idiots.