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Èb[pLÒJ®& Ì,áý`mdMÔ

A Comparison of Virtual Worlds

I first arrived in Heritage Key and I appeared as a mentally unstable scientist. I had the classic lab goggles on with a shinny all black lab coat. Instantly realizing that Second Life has more opportunities and realistic graphics than Heritage Key, for users to change one’s avatar to appear as anything and go to any place one wishes. Unlike Second Life, Heritage Key is much less detailed and individualistic, for it is used more for academic purposes than for entertainment.
ÇÁÿ»þËÔµûß3ÃP_[C &…ñ㬺ÿËMðŽcůü*øsñ«âLJ5O\øSâ<‚/ xËKð׏‡Ú–³eµðŽgø«.³$vÚ—c·Ž¾:þÛ:¯ˆt¹ãømmð¦ÇÁÞ;ñýñÖüC¦x®Ã᭏öol/ø?ÃßM&µe¢ø¿áŽ¹sá?Ù÷â&£ñA½ð· k>:Ò´'½V†¡ø#]þÞÖ<t-/Wø¡ ë—:§‚;«ZÝÛØêwbÚÂ䤷ý¼>"ÜËâ»–ø!£Ùø_Á×t[Å—>6ñ ²¸ÿAâ=]j]7ö]"A¦ø[Å>+ð߇Mv<{¢\xßá•·Ž›â?4ð›iiðÓOžÒMWñÖ©¬[ëYßxjþMæ½ÒìðÕ••ž…ªÛøëâG‡,üU¢Èºý¤zH”Ÿµÿ
Second Life has taught me that I would need to change my avatar’s appearance if I wanted to fit in with the crowd and take my role as an archeologist seriously for my project. After changing my avatar’s appearance from a mentally unstable scientist to a female an archeologist, but before I could reach the Valley of the Kings, I had to climb in a hot air balloon. The hot air balloon was how I would arrive to my destination, and once there I was now ready to allow my curiosity take over and explore the Valley of the Kings.

My first impression of the Valley of the Kings was that the place looked desolate, for all I saw was sand and an archeologist’s camp site. Instantly I became disappointed that I would not be able to explore more than this. I also became disappointed that the graphics were not as clear as Second Life, and I feel that this prevented me from having a “hidden valley” moment.PŠ[=OÄ°Âe x†ËK7òÛk¾ЮtÐ Oj?±WÇ›Sâ폈

The Language Barrier

â7ïÙ¿þŒGãwþò‚€øûöoÿ£øÝÿ‡cÀŸü þ#~ý›ÿèÄ~7áØð'ÿ((ÿˆß¿fÿú1ßøv< ÿÊ?â7ïÙ¿þŒGãwþò‚€øûöoÿ£øÝÿ‡cÀŸü þ#~ý›ÿèÄ~7áØð'ÿ((ÿˆß¿fÿú1ßøv< ÿÊ?â7ïÙ¿þŒGãwþò‚€øûöoÿ£øÝÿ‡cÀŸü þ#~ý›ÿèÄ~7áØð'ÿ((ÿˆß¿fÿú1ßøv< ÿÊ?â7ïÙ¿þŒGãwþò‚€øûöoÿ£øÝÿ‡cÀŸü þ#~ý›ÿèÄ~7áØð'ÿ((ÿˆß¿fÿú1ßøv< ÿÊ?â7ïÙ¿þŒGãwþò‚€øûöoÿ£øÝÿ‡cÀŸü þ#~ý›ÿèÄ~7áØð'ÿ((ÿˆß¿fÿú1ßøv< ÿÊ?â7ïÙ¿þŒGãwþò‚€øûöoÿ£øÝÿ‡cÀŸü þ#~ý›ÿèÄ~7áØð'ÿ((ÿˆß¿fÿú1ßøv< ÿÊ?â7ïÙ¿þŒGãwþò‚€øûöoÿ£øÝÿ‡cÀŸü þ#~ý›ÿèÄ~7áØð'ÿ((ÿˆß¿fÿú1ßøv< ÿÊSecond Life has had much success in both the academic and business, but is best known for its use as online entertainment. How could such a popular online program need improvement, especially as a communications technology? Though I am considered a “newbie” in the SL world and have only used the program for academic purposes, I have encountered multiple problems with the language barrier. When using either the voice application or the local chat application, I cannot carry on a conversion with another avatar who does not speak English. I was exploring an island that had been designed for users to experience the Roman Empire during Julius Caesar, and wanted to talk to other avatars about the island. After multiple attempts to carry on a conversation, I gave up because I could not keep going to an online translator to try and understand the Greek that the locals spoke on the island, while replying back in correct Greek. I specially remember when an avatar I will call John, became upset and angry when I could not answer his question since I did not understand Greek. I knew John was getting upset with me for keeping him waiting such a long time to reply back, so John abruptly ended the conversation and purposely ran into me. Now I am more hesitant to start a conversation on an island that most likely does not have English speaking avatars, since I do not want to offend anyone. â7ïÙ¿þŒGãwþò‚€øûöoÿ£øÝÿ‡cÀŸü þ#~ý›ÿèÄ~7áØð'ÿ((ÿˆß¿fÿú1ßøv< ÿÊ?â7ïÙ¿þŒGãwþò‚€øûöoÿ£øÝÿ‡cÀŸü þ#~ý›ÿèÄ~7áØð'ÿ((I praise SL for having such diverse users from around the world. Because of the diversity, I am curious to explore foreign places and talk with the locals to find out about the place and their perspective of the island. If Second Life could add an auto correcting translator to the local chat application or the voice application, users would be able to expand their knowledge, by communicating with avatars from foreign countries.

A Proactive Approach

When reading Edgar Allan Poe’s twisted story called “The Fall of the House of Usher”, I feel a sense of guilt and frustration. These feelings arise can be due to the fact that I have no control over the situation, for I am merely a reader. Though I have read the story many times in high school, I still have these feelings. If I could actually be a participant in Poe’s story, I would communicate and be more open with Roderick Usher about my feelings and thoughts. I would feel comfortable openly communicating my thoughts and opinion since there is a history and “Its proprietor, Roderick Usher, had been one of my boon companions in boyhood” (91). Unlike the narrator, he chose to keep his unsettling feelings hidden from Roderick, and this could have changed the story completely.

ëÊø¿«skáuÑ¥¼øom¬ü=¸ûNƒ­kžñ¹øáÆðG‹µ­?ÎÔÈàŸÛÁº·í¥hú—Á¯MãÍ{Æ^"ø}ñŸMÔ<+kã;ÃÐsý®üàß´m§Ýx—ZðÔz¿ì»¨ë¨ñ•€¿ñ~Ÿ®[è_-åŒ@µßø(ΣáøƒÁéð¯Oñ}î•ãÿñ7ÀÞ/ñ•ß‡>xoÅžðo„õ­f?‡Ú&¥ˆüOâ3OýŸ>3_ôh½Ï‡ßÁv~h5;‹MPÓ´ýc_Õ
Roderick has been described as “The once occasional huskiness of his tone was heard no more; and a tremulous quaver, as if of extreme terror, habitually characterized his utterance” (103). With a more proactive and open approach, I would ask right away what is Roderick’s problem and if there is anything I could do to help. Communicating about his internal problems, I feel as though I have more control over the situation and this could maybe help Roderick realize that he did bury his sister alive. Throughout the entire story, Roderick’s mental state can be clearly seen, and it even starts to impact the narrator’s mental stability. For “I felt creeping upon me, by slow yet certain degrees, the wild influence of his own fantastic yet impressive superstitions” (103). If Roderick realized what he did sooner, Madeline could have been saved. As the narrator finishes reading the novel, he finally understands that Roderick has been hearing sounds coming from her tomb, and by this time it is too late. I believe the proactive and open approach I would have taken could have saved Roderick’s sanity, along with Madeline’s life. §H¹ö¡êÓx=7

No Boundaries but No People

Second Life has been an eye opening experience for me, because it allows me to believe this virtual world has endless amount of opportunities. Whenever discussing Second Life in class, I always learn about a new dynamic someone has created. For example, Dr. Essid updates the class on the different events he attends, such as meetings and concerts. The most astounding piece of work that demonstrates Second Life’s unending possibilities could easily be the video by “Robbie Dingo”, which illustrates his version of “Starry Night” by Van Gogh. In the four minute video, he captures the amount of effort and time put into construction of his 3D account of “Starry Night”. Unfortunately I cannot relate Dr. Essid’s stories of meeting and interacting with people outside our classroom of students. Although I use Second Life on a regular basis, I have only seen two other avatars that are not in my class. One of the avatars continued to follow and harass me until muting him, while the other claimed to be a college professor. I recognized that the “college professor” identity had been a fake identity, by the false information and facts he gave me about England during the medieval ages. After only seeing two non English 103 student avatars, forces me to ask why I have not seen other avatars in Second Life if it has an endless amount of possibilities with a reputation of being universally well known.

At first, I did not realize the extremely small amount of avatars when on the University of Richmond island, because needed to learn the basic rules and control keys before going to a different island. Once I had the basics down, I immediately wanted to explore different islands on Second Life and talk to other people, just like the people Dr. Essid talks about in class. Believing that the time I logged on could explain why Second Life felt so desolate to me. The solution consisted of getting on Second Life at different times of day for an entire week, but still I felt alone in the virtual world. From the multiple stories by Dr. Essid, I perceived Second Life to be a thriving virtual world with a large over crowded population, but I currently have a perception of Second Life as a boundless virtual world with a limited number of avatars.