Pregnancy In Second Life

An anonymous reader writes "SF Weekly newspaper sent a (male) writer to get pregnant in Second Life, to find out how it works. The article is the first installment in a three-part series." From the piece: "For $3,500 in Lindens (about $12 US), I could buy the pregnancy kit and get knocked up. I had the cash, so I made up my mind: without much fanfare -- without a partner or even a nurse and a turkey baster -- I bought the kit and got started. I tacked on a body shape that bumped out my stomach to a late-first-trimester size, making me a little more kettle-shaped. Then I switched on the UPA, or 'ULTIMATE Pregnancy Attachment' (emphasis theirs)."

Comments

DID YOU READ THE SUMMARY?

[way2trivial]

the hookers are also in second life. same as the pregnancies.

interesting

[minus_273]

never played second life, are you allowed to kill people? how are e-abortions treated?

Re:interesting

[A Cheese Danish]

Yes, you can "kill" people with the right weapon, but the land your avatar is over has to have damage enabled in order for it to have any effect. Even then, when you die, it means you get teleported to your set home point. That's it. No loss of anything for death.

As far as e-abortions, the babies as I know them are fashioned out of prims (the building blocks of SL) and scripted to make certain motions or sayings, kinda like an advanced dolly that pees, cries, poops its diaper or whatever else the creator designed into it. Tossing these things is akin to tosing any other object in SL. In other words, like taking out the garbage.

Also on that note, I've known a couple of people go through the whole pregnancy thing. Some do it because they are unable to have chlidren in real life. Some do it to bring their partner closer. Some do it for companionship. Some do it for fun. One person I knew was pregnant for a month, and then abruptly went back to normal. Their response was that they had broken up with their partner and had no more reason to have a baby.

It's all RP though. Take it for what you will.

Re:interesting

[jcostantino]

One person I knew was pregnant for a month, and then abruptly went back to normal. Their response was that they had broken up with their partner and had no more reason to have a baby.

Ouch, better in a simulation than in real life.

I gave SL a try a few years ago when it was in beta, it was neat, I did stuff... The only problem (at least then, I suppose it still is now) was that EVERYONE was out making a buck trying to sell you a book or some other stupid crap. It's like the entire game's pretense was its economy and everything else was second to it.

I've been playing Animal Crossing on my DS and was really into it, I was upgrading my house, collect things to sell and buy more stuff, communicate with my neighbors... and then I realized that was the stuff I was already doing in real life. Then I kind of shelved AC and went back to games that weren't blurring the line between "fun" and "toil."

Re:And much drama abounds

[Guppy06]

"although some people are apparently worried out of their mind that same sex couples will have virtual babies and get a taste for the real thing."

Does that mean that the ol' flour bag trick done by most high schools encourages teen pregnancy?

Re:And much drama abounds

[jandrese]

I wouldn't be surprised to hear that argument. I mean this is no doubt the same camp that believes that Sex Ed promotes promiscuity and that the only thing schools should do is hand out a pamphlet that says "Sex is evil, don't think about it until you're married."