My adventure began one night back in late 2004 when I asked my online friends why they had been ending their gaming night early lately, Second Life. Second Life? Was this a dig trying to tell me they had other things important in life other than playing endless rounds of Counter Strike Source and Soldier of Fortune 2. What was it that made my hard core first person shooter friends put down their weapons? Well I decided to find out.
After downloading the client I made my avatar and I was ready to start my new life. I skipped the Orientation Island and travelled to my friends where I was given outfits and hairstyles (prims) to start me off. After an hour into my new life I came to the realisation I needed to make some money. With a job offer and a guaranteed income to live out my days comfortably, I was now an exotic dancer.
With my regulars growing and tips adding up I could now afford the outfits, hair and skins that not only looked better but would also mesh correctly with my avatar. With my new prims I was ready to move on up in the world and leave the little establishment that gave me my big break. Before I knew it I was hired by several larger establishments with VIP area's and private rooms.
In real life my partner had now joined Second Life. He was enjoying playing around in the sand boxes creating weapons with colourful particle effects, but this wasn't enough. The price of speciality prims needed was costly so we decided to join forces and eventually I began to moonlight as an escort with my real life partner being my second life bodyguard.
I kept my regulars who now bought me gifts and gave me money just to spend time with them. I would have dates and sit in luxury palaces just for company. The life of an exotic dancer was coming to an end and the second reality of a private escort had begun. My bodyguard could now afford the prims and write speciality scripts to force all players in the area to be ejected from the game.
Being stuck with endless dates and obligations, mass IM's as I logged in didn't seem fun any more. I had made what I found fun and exciting about the game the thing that led me to give it all up. With my partner having pimped me out and using my hard earned cash to flourish in his endeavours with his Second Life, I found that my Second Life was now more boring than my own.
And as with all real life adventures my second life adventure had to come to an end also. While I enjoyed my time chatting to what I believed to be middle aged men part of me can't help but wonder, was I really chatting to who they said they were?
