"Advanced" use of virtual worlds? (Re: [MUD-Dev] MMORPGs & MUDs)

[Jeff Cole]

From: Matt Mihaly

> Not at all. I like roleplaying actually, but I treat it a bit
> differently. I don't do the accent thing because that just reminds
> people that it's fake. It's a big slap in the face, to me, that
> says "Hey look, none of what I'm doing is actually me. I'm just
> pretending." It cheapens the interaction with me. It's the
> difference between having sex with a hooker, who is roleplaying
> and pretending to have the emotions, and having sex with someone
> whose emotions are genuine. The knowledge of the latter is very
> powerful in terms of enjoying my interaction with the person.  

You have the gift for arguing the absurd, but in the end it's
semantic rather than substantive.  Your argument begs the question
because it assumes that roleplaying is fake.

I will take your word for it (as your paragraph implies a basis for
comparison) that hookers do indeed roleplay emotions as I have no
first-hand experience upon which to argue otherwise.  But, again, I
would argue that your disappointment with hookers is steeped more in
your expectations rather than in the ladie's ability to roleplay.

> Well, say I'm playing a female character named Edith who is really
> into crochet and is mortally offended by any mention of sex. I,
> Matt, am not a female (I checked), not into crochet (Quilting
> forever! Death to crochet.), and am not mortally offended by
> anything.

Again, absurd.  To the extent that you would roleplay a character
with which you do not identify, sure, the interaction might be
strained and come off as "fake."  Such qualities, however, do not
inhere in roleplaying.  Do not confuse roleplaying with the
roleplayer.

> So when someone mentions sex around me, and I'm roleplaying, I'm
> trying as best as possible to act in a manner consistent with the
> roleplaying. This requires me to run around acting in ways that
> have nothing to do with Matt's emotional state of being, because
> Matt isn't feeling any of the outrage that Edith is. It's all
> faked, and from the point of view of someone who is playing WITH
> Edith, I would generally prefer to know that I'm dealing with a
> person, not a character. I want to know that the emotions are
> real, and that I'm connecting with a real person, not an invented
> persona.  

That you rely on polar opposites (love/hookers, Matt/Edith) to
illustrate your point suggests your argument does not well apply
except in the extreme.

Yrs. Affcty,
Jeff Cole

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