[MUD-Dev] UO rants

[Dave Rickey]

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Merillat <harik at chaos.ao.net>
To: mud-dev at kanga.nu <mud-dev at kanga.nu>
Date: Friday, August 25, 2000 11:28 AM
Subject: Re: [MUD-Dev] UO rants
>> You believe that virtual communities are different than real life
>> communities.  What you're missing is that a virtual community is simply
>
>He's correct.  VCs resemble no RL community known to man.  It's a brave
>new world.
>
>> a primitive vehicle for a real life community (real people are involved).
>> Understanding human nature is required before understanding a virtual
>> community of people possessing human nature. The scholars of the past
>> 2000 years have a significant leg up on you in understanding human
nature.
>
>... have no understanding whatsoever of human nature when exposed to
>an environment where actions have no concequences.   In fact, they were
>unable to stop rampant abuses by various groups who had no concequences
>to speak of.
>
    I *really* hate that "virtual" in front of "community".  It's *not* a
second class community.  It's not "not real".  A community is simply a
common illusion in the first place, you can have towns of 20,000 that are
tight-knit communities and densely packed 200-unit apartment complexes that
*aren't*.  They have only an incidental connection with geography under any
circumstances.

    If people act like they are members of a community, a community exists.
Period.  Focusing on how "virtual communities" differ from "real
communities" keeps us from really seeing what they have in common, and that
they are in fact, both equally real.  Virtual vs. Real is a false dichotomy,
in 20 years few will understand why anybody ever felt the need to
differentiate "real life" and "online" relationships.

--Dave Rickey




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