That awkward moment when you realize you’ve never seen the face behind the avatar of anyone you’ve had a conversation with in Second Life. You all did such an incredible job! This is great!
i was hoping to get a real deep dive into this!! i imagine many people who love to role play in games such as the sims would love being able to do similar RP with people in a game!
@@mark_reviews-reddit its awesome more people are interested in it. ive been working on sharing different aspects of SL so this was definitely awesome to participate in
Hey, just wanted to say, I've been a second life creator for 8 years now, and a player for 15. I make a living selling the mentioned accessories, clothing, and furniture people buy in-world. This is the first piece of journalism about second life from an outside perspective that was actually respectful and well researched. I've been loving your channel's videos, the journalism you do is top notch, and this is the sort of journalism we need in general going forward, because so many news outlets and more importantly law makers often just do not understand what's actually going on in these virtual worlds, which like you tend to highlight -- involve real people, having real interactions, making real money for their very real work. Hopefully with work from people like you we can get better awareness about how people actually engage and work in online spaces like this, so we can in turn work to better protect them like in the case of your journalism about roblox and entropia.
I met a guy who makes and sells furniture for SL - I couldn't believe it is an actual job, but it is going to be much more common with all the different virtual worlds and more people getting into VR.
I completely agree. We've always been laughed at by the press. And now Zuckerberg is pretending that the digital culture we developed over 16 years is his new idea, and the press is all over him.
@@SuzD0n I guess you could take it positively and say that your time is coming. As a tech guy who's not interested in virtual life stuff, if I have to bet, I would say that the hole meta stuff is going to be a flop. But, there is still a big (too big for my sake) chance that I'm wrong, and if I am, I think there is a really big opportunity for virtual life content creator like you with a huge amount of experiences only a very few persons have.
@@SolomonsNightmare Thank you. Can confirm, the SL economy is thriving: which, sadly, will be the main draw for a lot of metaverse projects. My worry is that people will make a mental association between the metaverse and Zuck and his shitty business practices, which will lead to even more stigma for our community (The Register have been calling us 'Sadville' for years). The media focus on Meta is already drowning out other metaverse projects, some people think it is entirely a facebook project. SL is a tech dinosaur: frozen code and an inefficient and often seedy environment, where all the avatars look like insta influencers and porn stars. Not hard to see why it gets sidelined - but it offers a creativity and a social experience like nothing else. It really is entirely what you make of it. I would love to see future projects build on what Bowie World, Activeworlds and SL created, but it has to be done right - and it won't be done right by 'meta'.
Interesting that quinns takes his respect for the real work that goes into these virtual worlds and calls out roblox for circumventing all child labor laws with their roblox metaverse
This deep-dive into a game I never cared about and a virtual industry I didn't even know existed has proved absolutely fascinating. Thanks for the video!
At some point then we need to talk about preservation of digital media. 100 years down the line (if we still GA E technology/exist) there should be a way to access content or media when the platforms are gone. In the console gaming space, the only way to access most older generation games (especially Nintendo and PS) is illegally. If a major patch changes something or a game is delisted there isn't much you can do.
@@kaleighconnery-grigg7709 Not even towards the end, he was loving it as soon as they were talking about programming the bot and he went all: "Hell yeah, I'll sympathise with your virtual brothel management concerns as much as you want."
I keep reading this as "inside second life's second most expensive brothel". Like you didn't want to pay for Quinns to go to the *most* expensive one...
As someone who's played second life for a little over 15 years, they are indeed hilarious. I never really understood it but it really is a small amount of players overall that have body shapes like that. You really do find all types. You even get some that are more hyper than that! With tiny heads!
I never will cease to be amazed by Second Life as a whole. While I've never played it myself, I've always love peering into how it's a perfect example of everything the internet is, just taken to the extreme, and sometimes, it's natural conclusion. More Second Life videos, on any topic, by you guys would definitely be a fun addition to the channel.
I think this video managed the topic really well, only its a bit of a shame that the less risque parts of SL get so overlooked. There are a lot of people in SL who don't need the pixel-sex stuff and just enjoy community roleplay, where they can take a job, rent a house and get to know their neighbours. There are tonnes of artists and sims (expanses of land) that have shops, parks, cinemas, restaraunts - you name it, SL has it. Not taking away from the fact that there is a lot of sex in SL if that is what you are looking for, but there is so much more than that.
Sometimes I forget that Second Life still exists for months on end, and then something like this comes along. XD Seems to be very of the moment, given we're going through a pandemic and people may be seeking socially distant ways to meet... Certain needs. I wonder if the interest in the normal-type neighbourhood for girlfriend experience roleplay would actually be on the increase, given people may well be missing some fairly mundane experiences that are harder to come by (*ahem*) at the moment?
Good point and good question. There is a lot more going on at the moment. SL seemed to be dying a bit up until last year, when they made some updates that were very significant. Now that we are in the Covid 19 situation, it seems much busier in general and is going through a little bit of a boom. I made an alt recently, just to see what being a noob is like nowadays, and I noticed that there were a lot more new avatars around where you rez for the first time. Last time I saw it like that was about 4-5 years ago
The video makes a great point of people paying for sex services and just wanting someone to talk to or play a game with. There's always going to be a market for human connection and I think platforms like this open up ways for people not to feel alone during or not during a pandemic.
@@vullord666 Oh yeah. I know of a decent amount of sex workers that a pretty sizable percentage of their work is emotional work. Just talking or something like that. The one lady mentioned playing games on Steam with some of her clients. I'd be shocked if some people don't bring a couple of tables or laptops or an Xbox or Playstation to some appointments because they just want to play games with someone.
I love the contrast of your face and body language when she's telling you "sometimes clients won't text back because they're taking care of the business irl" vs when she's telling you "sometimes people end in real relationships"
Was telling a friend this, but the fact that this is someone like Quinns being "charmingly British" about the subject just makes this so much more entertaining. X)
This is such an incredible video and it was so interesting to learn about this. I really enjoyed how respectfully sex work was discussed, it was very refreshing to see it talked about in an uplifting light rather than ridiculed. Thank you! :-)
This was great to watch. It's funny because last year I got to meet several sex workers and talk to them about their work. The reality is often a lot more sedate about sex work than we expect. Like we're brought up on this idea of it being seedy or criminal, a big taboo, but sex workers are just people doing a job. I'm so glad you folks were able to explore this is a very careful and considerate manner. Sex workers get a lot of flack and harassment from folk,often losing income or dealing with arseholes. I'm glad there's a place like Second Life, weird as it might be for people who don't even realise it still exists, which facilitates and allows this stuff. My only critique would've been to get an interview with someone who uses/used the Monarchy services or someone else. Just to get a more rounded idea of what sex work on Second Life is like, but what you made was still great. Well done to everyone involved, and many thanks to the people interviewed : )
Yeah, there's also this idea that people who do sex work are desperate or being exploited - and of course there are cases of people performing survival sex work or who are trafficked - but all of the sex workers I know love what they do, and find that it offers them a lot of freedom in many ways. I think there's a lot of puritanism and this idea that sex is somehow sacred, or that it's "selling your body" or "selling your dignity," when really people have meaningless casual sex all the time, a manual labourer or even an office worker sells their body just as much, and I've worked jobs far more undignified than sex work seems. I'm glad that videos like this that treat sex work as just a normal thing with no moralistic judgement are on the increase.
These people are not sex workers in this game. Sex work is litteraly involving the body, this is a virtual avatar. It's not the same or involves the same risks and headaches.
@@Mrblobbybobby There is a comic book "Paying for it" and a manga "My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness" where the authors share their real life experience with paying for sex.
around 10:30 "...call you **out** for punctuation", just for meaning / context if you missed a word. I do love the flavour of enthusiasm and curiosity that Quinns adds to his work. (also I see the irony in me pointing out a mistake about people calling out mistakes... aghhh)
That's interesting, it's a game I've seen ads for but never cared about and a virtual industry I didn't know existed, but it was absolutely fascinating to watch. Great job on this, and a big thanks to Meela and the various other girls for being willing to share their world with us.
It was such a nice feeling seeing that the owner was a women. There is just something so much nicer in seeing women who make their avatars look like that vrs men who request it/make characters who look like that for them to oogal at in one direction. It's nice and refreshing.
this is such a stellar little mini doc, and does such a great job of highlighting a lot of the positives of sex and sex work in SL. there is definitely a stigma, but it can be freeing to have a safe environment to experiment. i credit SL as helping me fully realize my gender identity, as it gave me a space to be someone i couldn't yet be in real life. to feel that happiness and fulfillment and safety in just seeing my avatar and people using masculine pronouns when talking with me just helped solidify my real life identity, while also being safe from any real life repercussions. well done! well well done!
So... Did anyone tell you to Shut Up and Sit Down while you were there? And the more interesting question, did the interviewees charge for their time or did they take it as an advertising opportunity?
Blimey when I was at school there would be a ripple of excitement when someone found abandoned jazz mags in a hedge. We do indeed live in an age of wonders.
This was such a well-done and respectfully done documentary. I had no idea that the sex work industry has already seen so much expansion into the meta verse. As a former real-life sex worker myself, it makes me happy.
Not only a question Quinns never thought he'd ask but also a line I'd never imagined I'd hear - "How does semen work in second life?". That has made my day!! But seriously a great video looking into something I didn't even know existed
As someone who's played VRChat for 2000 hours, remembering that Second Life sex work is still a thing has the same energy as remembering that some people still indeed listen to analog radio.
Also, I would have never thought that sex work could involve figuring out an API. There's going to be a day where the oldest job in the world will require you to do code review. What a world we live in...
It's a very interesting look into Second Life and how this video went deep on what Second Life doesn't show as much.. Like getting a peek behind the the velvet rope and behind the curtain off section of the club so to speak... Very cool and interesting though.
I played for about a year in 2007 and really got into SL, met a lot of cool people, learned how to code and 3D model.. Fun times. I'm not going to say I'm surprised sex work in SL is surprising, but I definitely hadn't considered it. Seems like there's a lot of potential there. I wonder how many coders, texture artists, animation riggers, and 3D modelers are making a living off SL sex work. Really fascinating topic, thanks for making this video.
i've never heard of this club but they sound pretty cool. I used to be a sex worker in Second Life & worked in a number of furry clubs (the Ark and IYC being the primary clubs I worked in but there were a few others). It can be a lot of fun though of course you get your share of assholes. Still-I've found people in Second Life are far more sex-positive and kind than people in real life tend to be. I think it's because SL is just weird enough you get a lot of LGBT and open-minded folks using it as a means to meet & hang out with like-minded folks. As far as people being open-minded maybe it's because I only hang out with open-minded people but most of my friends know I used to do that kind of thing and are cool with it. Then again a number of them and I used to cyber-chat on a frequent basis lol. I just love being creative & writing erotica so my roleplay was kind of an extension of that.
With it being as difficult and risky to be a sex worker as I've herd due to the criminalisation, it's great that there are avenues like this as well. I can also imagine that someone like me, who doesn't feel like she has the body to do it, but still wants to be able to be able do things beyond chat could get that from 2ndlife. (I'm not a sex worker, but I sometimes do rp's and instructive stuff for fun).
Heh I became an SL pole dancer for a little while. Not gonna lie: I spent a lot of that time camming in on my avatar thinking how great she looked, compared to reality.
Great coverage of one of our very well respected SL vblogger Meela's commercial business, really great fun, your poor avi needs a good makeover, the poor thing doesn't do the RL you justice. May I ask what microphone you're using there in the video?
This was entertaining but also really humanizing! I'd always sort of viewed Second Life, and especially Second Life's nsfw side, as a bit of a curiosity, but this video really demystified it. The fact someone managed to pay for a real world surgery with the money they made from erotic video game roleplay is kind of incredible
I tried 2nd life once for a half hour after reading an article saying people could play and make money. I was immediately so confused and never played again!
Yeah, it has a bit of an interface problem, I think. I've wondered sometimes about what that kind of barrier to entry does for a game, if people are more invested when learning to use the interface feels like an accomplishment.
This is such a beautiful look into second life 18+ work without making it look carnal and disgusting! You can be just as professional as you are in real life. I love the curiosity and the pride Meela takes in her work. The girls are beautiful, the club is beautiful, this documentary is amazing❤❤
There is so much more to Second Life than sex stuff. There are art galleries, charities, live music, people recreating William Shakespeare 's theater and performing his plays. I could go on and on. I always tell people that everything in the real world, good and bad, you can find in Second Life except drugs and STDs. In Second Life I have walked through a recreation of Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night. His painting made so that the buildings in it and sky are life size and from one vantage point looks just like the painting and then you can fly or walk right through the gigantic frame and into it.
SUPER interesting. Clubs like this have been popping up in the game I play, but there's a strict no real-money trading rule, so it's all in game currency (as far as I know).
I knew second life existed and thought it was no more than a copy of the Sims but I certainly didn’t know that there was a brothel made in the game. Interesting documentary and an eye-opener. No clip brought me here!
Although Meela has suggested comparing the Sims to Second Life, they function almost as polar opposites. In the Sims, you have to cater to needs constantly and gameplay is very task and goal oriented. In Second Life, you just *are*. You have no requirements to simply enjoy the place.
