Spring Break
Second Life isn't primary life
Issue date: 11/17/08 Section: Opinion
With the divorce rate in America being as high as 50 percent, what's adding one more element to the list that causes people to separate from one another?
Second Life, a 3-D virtual world created by those that live in it, was revealed to the masses in 2003. Since then, a whirlwind of highly amusing stories has resulted from this avatar hysteria and is not at all above attracting the attention of college students.
Recently, a British couple that met in a chat room the same year Second Life was created, got divorced (not surprisingly). The reason: Ann Taylor, 28, caught her husband in the act of avatar cheating. How dare he? According to Taylor, with her avatar cheating intuition she found out that her 40-year-old husband David Pollard was having sex with a virtual prostitute.
"I went mad - I was so hurt. I just couldn't believe what he'd done," Taylor said to the media. She looked at the computer and saw his avatar having sex with this woman, and deemed it cheating not only in Second Life, but in real life as well.
It is tough to believe that the world has come to this. It appears that people are getting more and more caught up in stupidity. It's bad enough that this woman married a guy she met in a chat room - not to say that this is a bad idea for every couple - but then to call it quits because of a little avatar pleasure is ridiculous.
Obviously, there were more problems in the relationship than just the Second Life situation. Realistically, no one breaks up a marriage because of online antics unless deception and cheating have been a problem in the real world.
This woman went as far as hiring a private detective to track down her husband's activities and found him guilty of absolutely nothing in real life, but stated that she had her suspicions about what he was doing in Second Life.
Someone needs a reality check. Blaming virtual games like Second Life for the problems in your real life is a "no-no." Be real and up front with yourself about why a relationship or any other part of your life has gone down the toilet. Taylor has since moved on to another trustworthy significant other. And guess where she met him? In the online role-playing game "World of Warcraft."
Second Life, a 3-D virtual world created by those that live in it, was revealed to the masses in 2003. Since then, a whirlwind of highly amusing stories has resulted from this avatar hysteria and is not at all above attracting the attention of college students.
Recently, a British couple that met in a chat room the same year Second Life was created, got divorced (not surprisingly). The reason: Ann Taylor, 28, caught her husband in the act of avatar cheating. How dare he? According to Taylor, with her avatar cheating intuition she found out that her 40-year-old husband David Pollard was having sex with a virtual prostitute.
"I went mad - I was so hurt. I just couldn't believe what he'd done," Taylor said to the media. She looked at the computer and saw his avatar having sex with this woman, and deemed it cheating not only in Second Life, but in real life as well.
It is tough to believe that the world has come to this. It appears that people are getting more and more caught up in stupidity. It's bad enough that this woman married a guy she met in a chat room - not to say that this is a bad idea for every couple - but then to call it quits because of a little avatar pleasure is ridiculous.
Obviously, there were more problems in the relationship than just the Second Life situation. Realistically, no one breaks up a marriage because of online antics unless deception and cheating have been a problem in the real world.
This woman went as far as hiring a private detective to track down her husband's activities and found him guilty of absolutely nothing in real life, but stated that she had her suspicions about what he was doing in Second Life.
Someone needs a reality check. Blaming virtual games like Second Life for the problems in your real life is a "no-no." Be real and up front with yourself about why a relationship or any other part of your life has gone down the toilet. Taylor has since moved on to another trustworthy significant other. And guess where she met him? In the online role-playing game "World of Warcraft."
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