I was uneasy when I saw Gwyn's title I'm Bored. No, not you, not after all these years and not after all the things she said and still have to say. Luckily, Gwyneth is just exploring how and why some residents are bored in second life. Though I can count on my fingers the days I haven't log in in last nine months, and though I enjoy second life in more ways than one, I must admit that I found myself bored couple of times.
Maybe it is natural after all the time spent inworld. I don't watch TV nor playing games other than logical quickies to shake my mind in long writing periods. So, my needs for TV and games fun are fulfilled exclusively in second life. But second life is not a TV. Second life is interactive and asks activity from the resident. The way we enjoy TV is completely different.
And sometimes, I just need to be entertained, to be passive consumer whose only interface is one button: next TV program when I dislike the current. Mind you, that one button and occasional volume up/down is a bit different from pie menus, walking and flying arrows, camera moving… left hand on keyboard and other one switching from the mouse to the keyboard and back.
With rare exceptions, second life is fully immersive experience. And being bored doesn't mean that there is nothing to do in second life, there always is and will be. Grid is growing faster than we can follow it. Being bored means I am not in the mood to explore, interact and type. Not in the mood to be active. It is ok sometimes just to be driven. It is something like doing nothing in second life but with somebody else taking care of your fun. Will somebody take me for a ride?
Has this something to do about that new motorbike I just bought? :p
Thinking about it, for me this has to do with loneliness. Whatever the reason, there are times when I log in just to see what happens, looking for something exciting or surprising… I don’t need to tell you that world is divided in two, those who will always dial the phone number to call and those who will always answer those calls, or so we say in Italy. And looks like I belong to the first category. So it is not that surprising that I feel bored when no IMs are cast to me when my f/list is full of “friends” in bold black… Luckily this does not happen in regular basis… :)
Don’t worry — as stated before, I don’t understand the concept of “being bored” really :) For me, it’s just a word in the dictionary; it has no meaning at all :) I believe that “boredom” can come from a mix of “being lonely” and “having too much free time”, two things that I’ve never experienced together.
However, the younger generation might be more prone to “boredom”. You see, as a child, I was encouraged to build my own toys, dress my plushies, make clothes for them, and build cities with Lego blocks. “Playing” was a building activity really. These days, toys play by themselves — you just watch them playing on their own, they’re battery-powered, they don’t require any imagination, just press the button and watch them go. Well, if you never experienced the joys of doing your own toys, what is there for you in your adult life? The answer, of course, is TV — which is not demanding at all, it just broadcasts, it doesn’t interact, it doesn’t require any “talent” or “skill” or “effort”. I can understand under these circumstances that someone that hasn’t ever felt the urge — since childhood — to build things and interact with them might, at some stage, feel that “just watching TV” is really not a good way to spend your time… and thus get “bored”.
Second Life, however, is no fun without interaction — human interaction and interacting with the world you see around you. Thus I believe that the “TV generation” can get quickly “bored” if they don’t feel the need/urge to interact at all. For me, however, this is such a different experience!… there is always someone online, and in the very rare occasions that nobody is online, I immediately start to do something — like writing a script or tweaking an old item I’ve done years ago. Sure, sometimes I’m too tired to think… and then it’s time to explore, or go to see what the latest fashions are :) … and if I’m out of L$, there is always the last choice: jump to the Help Island, help newbies out :) In fact, I think that SL has far too much to offer.
Eidur, btw, I’m part of the group that answers calls… and I have to admit that I hate phone calls anyway!! I know — I’m weird :)
ah Lego blocks… loved them!
And I do hate phone calls, too! Then maybe you’re not so weird. Or we’re just a bunch of weirdos. Dandellion included :p
Now, when Gwyn mentioned toys that play themselves… It is one major generation fuckup. Those are made by previous generation, ours, who had their fun making their own toys. And we never stoped to play that way. Those kids grown and become toy designers. And after all Legos and improvisations, that generation started making toys on batteries. It is not making toys for kids. Making those toys is a play of grown up designers. From this poi8nt of view that can be considered selfish. We’re not making toys for kids to play but because we play while we make them. Kids who are supposed to use those toys are just second-hand users of finished products.
I have the opposite problem. I have too many things happening to get bored.
I think SL mirrors how you live real life in that aspect.
Tou have problem of having not enough time? Oh, I know that feeling too.