Power Plays

I loved my first job out of college because I literally got paid to play with toys. My colleagues both young and old were all of the same effervescent spirit. Our break-room, which consisted of the latest platform video games, a serious foosball table, and other items to keep our minds off (yet still on work), exhibited the power of play to me.

I had firsthand knowledge that work could be play and vice versa. Writing about the brand new Tonka truck wasn’t really all that arduous, especially since it wasn’t abnormal to make the rip-roaring sounds you may associate to a 6 year old while in my cube conjuring up all the necessary elements of copy. I did think I had my mind around this concept until Julian Dibbell slipped a curveball on me. His Play Money unlocked an entire new world of power plays where the sky is the limit. Dibbell forged relationships with the myriad of participants of the virtual gaming world and concluded that people of all ages and social status played and excelled in these games.

What I find truly interesting was the idea of “cheating” in this world. It seemed to be the general consensus of most players that purchasing a highly-skilled identity wasn’t really cheating, but the idea of having robots who were programmed to build the skill that could transfer both their gold coins and levels on eBay, was demonized.

This virtual world with its own economy, the same shifts of inflation and deflation, mimics our natural economy. Will this be indicative of an entirely new wave of virtual economies? Even the feds are in on it, apparently virtual world illegal gaming has risen concerns. Blogger, Stephanie’s “Poorer Than You” also has some interesting commentary on the tax implications of virtual income made real.

For those of you who Second Life means nothing, I found several great sites to catch us up with the lingo. The Week Magazine has a great Q & A on the topic of second life and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation has put together a great piece, You Only Live Twice.

I love the entrepreneurial spirit these games allow players, but I would be quite concerned if my husband took up this “play”. For those who become addicted to Uber-ing out their virtual identity could easily forget they are living and breathing in the physical world. And at what point is the person playing getting played?

Accolades for Digital Content

While YouTube has announced they will soon honor outstanding achievement awards in best user-generated videos of 2006, blogger Robert Scoble mentions the pre-existing Vloggie awards at South by Southwest.

Vloggie Show blogger, Irina Slutsky: “The Vloggies was the first ever award show to honor and celebrate the achievements and creativity of vloggers and online video creators.”

“When we originally made up the Vloggies, we sought to shed light on the best and brightest of the vlogosphere and back then it was hard for us to get into the gigantic YouTube community. I’m glad YouTube is going to recognize the hard work and talent of those who have been making great videos for a while now.”

I’m wondering when awards for best avatar in Second Life will come about. Now that book publishers are vying for virtual real estate it will also be interesting to see the evolution of the book market. Wiley used the medium to announce and publicize their book, Second Life: The Official Guide, by Michael Rymaszewski, Wagner James Au, Mark Wallace and Catherine Winters. The book even has a forward by Second Life founder, Philip Rosedale. Wiley’s virtual store also sells “digital enhancements for residents’ Avatars—graphic representations of Second Life denizens.”

Brian Crecente’s Kotaku blog he edits also mentions another attempt by publishers to reach more globally in a virtual way: “Bloomberg writes that the virtual Koontz will have his own likeness helped out by two virtual Bantam employees during the reading, one of which will field audience questions and relay them to the author who will answer in his real voice via an audio feed.”

I was clueless about the actual workings of Second Life, but the Australian Broadcasting Corporation has put together a great piece, You Only Live Twice. It synthesizes the heavy players of Second Life and delves into the real-life implications for those who turn virtual dollars into real dollars. My husband, an economist on the hill, has colleagues who were interviewed for this piece to offer tax implications in this virtual world.  

I see a future where we can wear pj’s all day while at our “virtual jobs” and where all of our errands are managed online. We will be a lazy bunch.