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

And much drama abounds

[jandrese]

This is new on Slashdot, but it's been around in SL for some time now. The only problem: some of the dealers were a bit shady and as a result there are big hundred post long flamewars on the forums about the whole concept. It's basically just an RP thing, 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.

The whole thing sounds dumb to me, but hey, SL is a big RP environment and if people want to RP being pregnant and having a baby, that's not my concern.

Re:And much drama abounds

[kabir]

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.

Yeah, 'cause nothing makes people want kids more than virtual pregnancy... certainly not seeing all the happy families at the park, or sheer biological drive to procreate, or constant societal pressure to reproduce. Nah, it's those pernicious video game pregnancy kits that make people want babies.

*sigh*

If anybody can explain to me why so many folks seem to be terrified of homosexuality even though it has roughly zero impact on their lives I'd appreciate it. I'm confused. While you're at it I really don't get the whole video-games-are-the-devil thing either.

Re:And much drama abounds

[SatanicPuppy]

I'm a big believer in #4. The right uses them as a big scary enemy to keep their voting block in line, attributing to them dark motives, and evil agendas, and basically dehumanizing the hell out of them.

If there were no homosexuals, they'd pick a race or a sex, or a religion, but the propaganda would be the same. It's a way of playing on the baser instincts of man that politicians and religious leaders have been using to their advantage for as long as there have been politicians and religious leaders.

The logical next step

[TubeSteak]

is to create an online Social Services.

After all, who's going to arrest parents that abuse their online children?

All it needs...

[Zephyros]

...is an alarm that goes off at night, forcing you to log in and take care of it.

huh?

[MyLongNickName]

I looked up the definition of pregnancy, and found something about intercourse. What is this strange concept? I think it has to do with a city in Pennsylvania, but fail to see the connection. Can anyone help?

Why yes, I do use Linux exclusively. Why do you ask?

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.