Slashdot Mirror
The Call Girl Character Class
An anonymous reader writes "And you thought stuff like WoW was addictive before? 1UP has posted a story from CGW about the new character class in MMOs: call girl. They interviewed girls who make up to thousands of dollars a week as escorts in the MMO Second Life. The article even sheds light on virtual pimps and a gentleman's club that takes a cut of the action. Said one of the escorts interviewed, 'Based on my personal convictions, which most people would find beyond offensive, I do not set boundaries in Second Life. I'll do anything, and I'll probably do it better than the client expects.'"
Why not - it's just a job, like lawyer, politician, etc. In each case you can fine some high-class ones; and many people with noo class.
virtual money for a virtual "escort"... kids these days. pimps and hookers can use this to hone their skills before going out and doing the real thing
I'm sure there are plenty of call-girls out there who're classier than the average lawyer or politician.
I read the article last friday and was shocked because it wasn't a joke!
I've recently started playing an MMORPG that's very roleplay-oriented and I have a lot of fun interacting with all the different stories each character has but I find that some folks take the game WAY to seriously. I don't know, I'm firmly and happily planted in the real world and I escape to the virtual one for a bit of entertaining psychodrama at the price of a few hours of my nights.
I'd love to whip out the old cliche "it's just a game" but it would be an oversimplification of the situation but the article shoots the argument down.
There are folks that participate in online gaming as a means of escape - life is hell and they want another chance elsewhere and they live these lives online.
Boy, psychiatrists and psycologists are making a fortune these days!
Ash nazg durbatuluk, ash nazg gimbatul Ash nazg thrakatuluk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul
Tom DeLay? Is that you modding my previous comment "Flamebait?"
American politicians ARE whores: They accept campaign contributions for favor in execution of their office. If that isn't the definition of a whore, I don't know what is. Certainly, though, it isn't Flamebait.
Who did what now?
Not level grinding games like WoW or Everquest.
An MMORPG is not like a single player RPG. You will never be the farm boy/girl who saves the kingdom and marries the princess. You can't be the hero in an epic story that changes the fate of an entire continent.
An MMORPG is instead about living a live in an alternate universe.
Those who complain that some people are using Second Live to escape their real live are idiots.
Because of cause that is why people play games especially computer games. You don't think Michael Schumacher plays F1 games do you? WW2 veterans do not play Medal of Honor (or if they do find it boring and unrealistic to the extreme) and so on. People with exciting lives do not watch TV and do not play games. That is something for the rest of us to do. TV/Computers games, the opium of the masses.
An MMORPG is a second live for escaping your normal live. How deep and in what way depends on the person. To some just "levelling" up, raiding dungeons and looting stuff is all they want.
Others want more but it is a rare game that gives them the possibilty.
I played Star Wars Galaxies (Before combat upgrade made me leave) and later Everquest 2 (anyone feeling the need to recommend other MMORPG's please check wether they can be paid without a credit card first) and after that Guild Wars.
The last two don't hold a candle in respects to "role" playing.
I probably don't mean the same thing with roleplaying as most people. I am not talking about those people that roleplay a scout or a wizard in Everquest. Or those that roleplay rebel scum or a imperial scriptkiddie. (Oh be honest, have you ever met a mature imperial?)
No, I mean those who went beyond the title of their character sheet and roleplayed a trader or a explorer or a outfitter.
I played a trader, I liked exploring the planets and this often led me to unvisited shops wich usually had some stock going unsold. Easy to buy it and then resell it at hotspots for a slight margin. Food and drinks (buffs in swg) were espcially good. Few players had the dedication to prepare by stocking up before a mission so typical SWG fare was.
Player1: "All ready to go to the most lethal planet in the galaxy to go hunt the most lethal critter known?"
Player2: "Yeah yeah yeah lets go already enough time delaying"
Player1: "Okay we arrived, lets move out to the first lair"
Player2: "Give me some brandy I ran out"
Player1 + 3-9: "we are all on our last bottle too"
Cue my little character stocking the bazaars at the out of the way destinations with quality, pricey but quality brandy. Oh and in 1 bottle portions so as not to overtax those who spend all their money on a overpriced weapon.
It was in a way a lot of fun. Others I knew got a kick out of constantly checking what resources were being dropped. One guy seemed to be very good at finding players for missions. If you were missing a doc or a bio engineer etc for a raid, he could find someone willing to join.
In short the game allowed you to play more then just the "hero" prototypes.
If you ever wonder why SWG fans bemoan the New Game Experience it is because they removed the freedoms to play those other characters.
SWG was a girl heavy game with a lot of them having a sideline in dressmaking. I was better dressed in game then in real life.
So to me, hookers and pimps and johns in a MMO game doesn't sound bad at all. Not because of the sex but because these people found a way to play the game wich goes beyond what is in the manual.
Anyway it is nothing new. The sims online had an article about an underaged hooker.
A good MMORPG will be more then just grinding levels and raiding dungeons. Not that there is anything wrong with that but DDO to be fair can be seen as nothing mo
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
The MPAA rates much harder on sexual situations than violent ones. Can have hundreds of people killed, still get PG-13, but get a couple too many boobies showing, rated R. Male nudity, pretty much Adults Only, or release unrated. The theory i've heard is "people know the violence is fake, but the sex can be more easily confused with real life, therefore influencing unwanted behavior". Lets say we pretend this is true, there's something about a bare breast that makes people unable to see that it's a construction on not reality, where do virtual worlds fit in? We've already seen the uproar with Hot Coffee and GTA. Here you're in the same environment (so no confusion reality vs. game), seeing a highly pixellated "woman" and that's immoral. But the violence in the game gets a rating sticker and is ok.
Not asking for an answer, just confused...