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Second Lives: A Journey Through Virtual Worlds
Every day, millions of people abandon reality for virtual worlds — building houses, making and selling works of art, getting married. On ebay, people sell virtual clothes and rent virtual cars. Tim Guest takes us into the bizarre culture of virtual lives.
368 pages, Paperback
First published April 24, 2007
4 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
About the author
Tim Guest
9 books10 followersTim Guest (c. 1974 — 2009) was a journalist and the bestselling author of My Life in Orange: Growing Up with the Guru, about his childhood on communes around the world. Guest’s articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, New Scientist, and Vogue.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 12, 2009
It is a 4 star book for those interested in virtual lives. I read it to get some kind of perspective on my sons (15 and 17) seeming addiction to cyber world game playing. If you have no vested interest, the rating is misleading. I must say that the author presents a compelling case that virtual is the future. That the kids addiction is just a sign of things to come. That we who are not online in a virtual world are behind the 8 ball. I see it as "its entertainment'. That it is one more activity begging for my most precious commodity. Time. Maybe when my duties are not divided between raising kids, working, reading, socializing, housework, and sleeping, I'll find time to spend endless hours in a virtual world.B
But I did come away with both empathy and alarm at the prospect of my kids spending so much time online. I will take the plunge and set up an account on World of Warcraft if for nothing else than to meet them on their own turf. And since the main focus of the book is the world of Second Life for over 18 only..to be prepared for their "graduation".
Kids who spend endless hours online lose social skills needed to make way in the "real' word. Kids who spend endless hours online are more imaginative, have better problem solving skills, and are less likely to be depressed. So its 6 on one hand and half dozen on the other. Why not find out for yourself?
If you do, what will you give up to play a game as a virtual "other"? The time spent reading books? Dealing with "real world" problems and relationships..the author posits that this is an alternative not until recently available and that it is an attractive one at that.
If this is my last review, you know what happened.
But I did come away with both empathy and alarm at the prospect of my kids spending so much time online. I will take the plunge and set up an account on World of Warcraft if for nothing else than to meet them on their own turf. And since the main focus of the book is the world of Second Life for over 18 only..to be prepared for their "graduation".
Kids who spend endless hours online lose social skills needed to make way in the "real' word. Kids who spend endless hours online are more imaginative, have better problem solving skills, and are less likely to be depressed. So its 6 on one hand and half dozen on the other. Why not find out for yourself?
If you do, what will you give up to play a game as a virtual "other"? The time spent reading books? Dealing with "real world" problems and relationships..the author posits that this is an alternative not until recently available and that it is an attractive one at that.
If this is my last review, you know what happened.
May 12, 2008
I bought this book in hardcover as part of my ongoing facination with virtual worlds even though i do not play second life. The best parts of the book was where the author was a good jounalist telling me about a group of patients with a severe disablity who play second life as an escape from their wheelchairs. The worst part of the book was when the author whined about his relationshsips, his stolen laptop, his sucky childhood, etc etc. There was still some good info in there but I do prefer my journalists stay out of the story.
April 6, 2013
In this book, Tim Guest writes about his experiences in virtual worlds like Second Life, his interviews with people who take part in virtual worlds, the different ways virtual worlds get used, and more. It's not a systematic exploration of topics pertaining to virtual worlds, but it's often interesting. My favorite parts of this book were Guest's interviews and anything that discussed some of the creative ways virtual worlds have been used.
Guest spoke with people at Linden Labs (the creators of Second Life), a Korean man who is the king of kings in Lineage II, a few people who managed to make money in virtual worlds in ways that would be clearly illegal if they were done in the real world (replicating virtual gold, for example) but aren't always so clearly illegal when done in virtual worlds, the man behind a virtual mafia don, and more. Many of these people were fascinating, and I found myself wishing that Guest would talk less about himself and more about these other people.
Although I realize that Guest's discussions about his own background were outnumbered by his discussions about everything else, it got to the point where I was a little annoyed about reading, yet again, about Guest's perpetual money problems, his bad luck, his girlfriend, and his mother (who was apparently in a cult, had a guru, and whose interests meant that her son grew up in a commune). Guest's own life and experiences color how he views virtual worlds - I thought it was particularly interesting how his experiences in the commune led him to see Linden Labs as something like a cult - but I picked this book up to read about virtual worlds, not about Guest, and I sometimes felt that Guest was getting a little repetitious when bringing himself up.
In addition to Guest's interviews, I also enjoyed reading about the various ways people have used virtual worlds. There are many people who might hear about virtual worlds like Second Life, EverQuest, and others and believe them to be just about entertainment, but they often get used and created for other reasons. People find love, make lasting friendships, and have experiences that they couldn't possibly have in the real world (the best example of this is Wilde Cunningham, a Second Life resident played by a group of nine men and women with cerebral palsy).
Real world reporters have given a lot of attention to those who manage to make a living in virtual worlds, and Guest discusses that as well, mentioning Anshe Chung (an incredibly wealthy avatar in Second Life, one of the many games where virtual currency can be turned into real world currency and back again) and others. However, he tries to balance his discussion by saying that very few residents of Second Life (and, presumably, other virtual worlds) actually make enough money to live off of in the real world. Later on in the book, Guest writes about virtual worlds that have been created for training purposes, such as virtual worlds used by the military to train people in tactics and strategy or to train people to more effectively evaluate situations (if players mess up in a virtual world, no one dies and they can try again until they get better, whereas similar mistakes in the real world are less forgiving).
In addition to some of the more positive ways virtual worlds get used by their players, Guest also writes about other ways players use these worlds. There are griefers, people who play these games simply to harass and aggravate other players - these players may view their style of playing as entertainment, but the targets of griefing often do not agree with them. There are virtual mafiosi - the activities of these people depend upon the game being played, but in Second Life, for example, they might be hired to make certain players violate the game's terms of service, thereby getting their accounts suspended. There's also the virtual sex trade - at one point, to get an idea of one aspect of Second Life's sex trade, Guest uses a Second Life avatar to hire a virtual hooker.
I started reading this book shortly after finishing The Second Life Herald: The Virtual Tabloid That Witnessed the Dawn of the Metaverse by Peter Ludlow and Mark Wallace, and I couldn't help but compare the two. Although I occasionally felt that Ludlow and Wallace's writing was a little confusing, I enjoyed their book more than I did Guest's. Like Guest, Ludlow sometimes wrote about himself, and he often wrote about his personal experiences in virtual worlds, but when Ludlow did this it was rarely repetitive and usually added something to the reader's knowledge of virtual worlds. Also, when Guest begins his book, he is in awe of virtual worlds, and this awe never goes away - he loves writing, again and again, about how someone in Second Life can pull a building out of his or her pocket, or fly, or jump off tall buildings for entertainment. This may sound like a good thing, but, as with Guest's writings about himself, it can get a little repetitive. It also makes Guest seem like a perpetual outsider when it comes to virtual worlds, despite the home he decided to purchase inside one. Ludlow, on the other hand, manages to be both an insider and an outsider, trying to stay objective as he investigates his stories, but investigating them as though the virtual world were any other place.
I imagine that some readers will prefer one style of writing over another, and, for me, Ludlow and Wallace's book was a better read. Both books cover many of the same topics and involve interviews with some of the same type of people (Linden Labs people, griefers, people involved in the virtual sex trade, etc.), but often one book covers certain topics better than the other.
Overall, Guest's book was nice, with some very interesting moments (I loved the interviews with Wilde Cunningham and Kyu Nam Choi, Lineage II's king of kings).
(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
Guest spoke with people at Linden Labs (the creators of Second Life), a Korean man who is the king of kings in Lineage II, a few people who managed to make money in virtual worlds in ways that would be clearly illegal if they were done in the real world (replicating virtual gold, for example) but aren't always so clearly illegal when done in virtual worlds, the man behind a virtual mafia don, and more. Many of these people were fascinating, and I found myself wishing that Guest would talk less about himself and more about these other people.
Although I realize that Guest's discussions about his own background were outnumbered by his discussions about everything else, it got to the point where I was a little annoyed about reading, yet again, about Guest's perpetual money problems, his bad luck, his girlfriend, and his mother (who was apparently in a cult, had a guru, and whose interests meant that her son grew up in a commune). Guest's own life and experiences color how he views virtual worlds - I thought it was particularly interesting how his experiences in the commune led him to see Linden Labs as something like a cult - but I picked this book up to read about virtual worlds, not about Guest, and I sometimes felt that Guest was getting a little repetitious when bringing himself up.
In addition to Guest's interviews, I also enjoyed reading about the various ways people have used virtual worlds. There are many people who might hear about virtual worlds like Second Life, EverQuest, and others and believe them to be just about entertainment, but they often get used and created for other reasons. People find love, make lasting friendships, and have experiences that they couldn't possibly have in the real world (the best example of this is Wilde Cunningham, a Second Life resident played by a group of nine men and women with cerebral palsy).
Real world reporters have given a lot of attention to those who manage to make a living in virtual worlds, and Guest discusses that as well, mentioning Anshe Chung (an incredibly wealthy avatar in Second Life, one of the many games where virtual currency can be turned into real world currency and back again) and others. However, he tries to balance his discussion by saying that very few residents of Second Life (and, presumably, other virtual worlds) actually make enough money to live off of in the real world. Later on in the book, Guest writes about virtual worlds that have been created for training purposes, such as virtual worlds used by the military to train people in tactics and strategy or to train people to more effectively evaluate situations (if players mess up in a virtual world, no one dies and they can try again until they get better, whereas similar mistakes in the real world are less forgiving).
In addition to some of the more positive ways virtual worlds get used by their players, Guest also writes about other ways players use these worlds. There are griefers, people who play these games simply to harass and aggravate other players - these players may view their style of playing as entertainment, but the targets of griefing often do not agree with them. There are virtual mafiosi - the activities of these people depend upon the game being played, but in Second Life, for example, they might be hired to make certain players violate the game's terms of service, thereby getting their accounts suspended. There's also the virtual sex trade - at one point, to get an idea of one aspect of Second Life's sex trade, Guest uses a Second Life avatar to hire a virtual hooker.
I started reading this book shortly after finishing The Second Life Herald: The Virtual Tabloid That Witnessed the Dawn of the Metaverse by Peter Ludlow and Mark Wallace, and I couldn't help but compare the two. Although I occasionally felt that Ludlow and Wallace's writing was a little confusing, I enjoyed their book more than I did Guest's. Like Guest, Ludlow sometimes wrote about himself, and he often wrote about his personal experiences in virtual worlds, but when Ludlow did this it was rarely repetitive and usually added something to the reader's knowledge of virtual worlds. Also, when Guest begins his book, he is in awe of virtual worlds, and this awe never goes away - he loves writing, again and again, about how someone in Second Life can pull a building out of his or her pocket, or fly, or jump off tall buildings for entertainment. This may sound like a good thing, but, as with Guest's writings about himself, it can get a little repetitive. It also makes Guest seem like a perpetual outsider when it comes to virtual worlds, despite the home he decided to purchase inside one. Ludlow, on the other hand, manages to be both an insider and an outsider, trying to stay objective as he investigates his stories, but investigating them as though the virtual world were any other place.
I imagine that some readers will prefer one style of writing over another, and, for me, Ludlow and Wallace's book was a better read. Both books cover many of the same topics and involve interviews with some of the same type of people (Linden Labs people, griefers, people involved in the virtual sex trade, etc.), but often one book covers certain topics better than the other.
Overall, Guest's book was nice, with some very interesting moments (I loved the interviews with Wilde Cunningham and Kyu Nam Choi, Lineage II's king of kings).
(Original review, with read-alikes and watch-alikes, posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
September 22, 2008
This was both a fascinating and frustrating read. As someone interested in and active within virtual worlds, it was great to read about how places like Second Life are having such a positive impact in disabled communities. The story of Wilde and their shared avatar was touching and full of hope for a future where virtual worlds become more mainstream and allow the communication barriers created by physical and mental disability to be broke down or bridged completely. It was also fascinating to read about the relationship that South Korea has to virtual reality, and about the positive and negative effects of virtual social interactions (from having coffee to sex work) on the psyche.
I also liked that the book presented time spent in virtual reality as a healthier, more interactive and engaged alternative to watching TV. My friends easily spend more time watching hours and hours of TV each week than I do playing trivia, chatting or designing (aka actively working my brain, interacting with other people, being creative) in Second Life, yet they make fun of me and are convinced I'm doing something unhealthy. Parking your brain in front an idiot box is socially acceptable, but virtual worlds are still a weird frontier that most people are wary of -- it's nice to read a book that bucks this way of thinking.
With that said, it was the fact that I'm interested in the subject matter that allowed me to stomach Tim Guest as a writer -- I found myself sneering at him on a regular basis. He's wishy-washy and weak and just kind of an ass, all too ready to equate virtual reality with his childhood experiences within a hippie cult. There is an amateurish quality to both his writing and the way he blundered around in virtual worlds. And I wasn't as interested in the virtual mafia as he was, and I zoned out a little during the chapter on griefing.
Like I said, a fascinating and frustrating read.
I also liked that the book presented time spent in virtual reality as a healthier, more interactive and engaged alternative to watching TV. My friends easily spend more time watching hours and hours of TV each week than I do playing trivia, chatting or designing (aka actively working my brain, interacting with other people, being creative) in Second Life, yet they make fun of me and are convinced I'm doing something unhealthy. Parking your brain in front an idiot box is socially acceptable, but virtual worlds are still a weird frontier that most people are wary of -- it's nice to read a book that bucks this way of thinking.
With that said, it was the fact that I'm interested in the subject matter that allowed me to stomach Tim Guest as a writer -- I found myself sneering at him on a regular basis. He's wishy-washy and weak and just kind of an ass, all too ready to equate virtual reality with his childhood experiences within a hippie cult. There is an amateurish quality to both his writing and the way he blundered around in virtual worlds. And I wasn't as interested in the virtual mafia as he was, and I zoned out a little during the chapter on griefing.
Like I said, a fascinating and frustrating read.
Read
May 27, 2010Struck me as ever-so apocalyptic. Wonderful section on Korea and the "King of the World." Interesting stuff on virtual romance and sex. Real World economies; real world crime, all in a virtual space (mainly "Second Life"). "Dreams" connected.
Great conclusion.
Important book on possible work on roleplaying.
Great conclusion.
Important book on possible work on roleplaying.
August 2, 2011
The book's reportage on virtual worlds is fascinating; the flowery literary prose "linking" the chapters, documenting the author's interest and his musings on the real world appeal, is decidedly less so. Too much of the author's personality in what would have made a far more interesting series of magazine articles.
September 1, 2007
As a Second Life resident, I wanted to love this book. It's not that it's bad as such, just a bit too much padding. Would have been better as a much shorter book or maybe a series of articles.
Still, worth looking at if you're interested in finding out more about SL
Still, worth looking at if you're interested in finding out more about SL
June 15, 2008
Fascinating. I had no idea. People are paying real money for stuff that doesn't really exist. I was intrigued enough to sign up for a free Second Lives account, but am not navigating through it very well.
May 22, 2008
it helps me alot to guide me as newbie in Second Life.
October 24, 2010
I read this three years after it was published and it feels totally dated. The world he paints did not happen and the tone of the author was a little too excited, a little too vested.
December 11, 2010
It certainly opened my eyes to a world I didn't really know existed at the time although the book itself did drag a little in places. Not bad have read worse.
July 22, 2015
a fun trip with the author through the fast growing phenomenon of virtual cyberspace worlds and its many forms, problems and possibilities in relation to human existence
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews