Wherein Stypica talks about the Daily Grind getting in the way of the MMORPG Grind and growing a Second Skin.

After a trip to Vegas for the weekend and tearing apart my wife's iMac when it refused to boot up (blown caps - with as prevalent as they are - why does Fry's Electronics *not* carry 6.3v 1800uF capacitors?! ::grumble::) I have not had a chance to play a new game this week. I am, however really jonesing for some EQ2 or WoW time. Heck anything some of my friends might play, so I can enjoy the social aspects of these games.

Speaking of, CigDangle opened my eyes to a new documentary premiering at the SXSW 2008 film festival, March 7-15 in Austin, Texas. From the website

Second Skin takes an intimate, disturbing look at three sets of computer gamers whose
lives have been transformed by the emerging genre of computer games called Massively
Multiplayer Online games (MMOs). World of Warcraft, Second Life, and Everquest allow
millions of users to simultaneously interact in virtual spaces.
Second Skin introduces us to couples who have fallen in love without ever meeting,
disabled players whose lives have been given new purpose, those struggling with
addiction, Chinese gold-farming sweatshop workers, wealthy entrepreneurs and
legendary guild leaders--all living within a world that doesn't quite exist.
Second Skin focuses on a couple who met in a virtual world, an addict whose life was
ruined by MMOs, and a group of MMO gamers who spend most of their lives inside
virtual worlds.

I'm pretty interested in seeing this movie. Long before I was into MMOs I was a regular visitor of IRC. I spent long hours talking to people I'd never met, developing friendships and wasting a whole lot of time. I've seen relationships formed, destroyed and forever changed by IRC, and have watched as people led completely make-believe lives in a chat channel. I feel that MMOs are a natural extension of the chat rooms, allowing even more freedoms, and possibly being more addictive in nature.

For good or bad, humans are social creatures, and we will use the tools available to us to build relationships.

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