Part II

Aesthetics in Relationships as Learned Experiences

• The setting or context of our conversations and experiences are relevant to relationship building, albeit work, home or on the dance floor at a SL club.

Aesthetics in Relationships

Light a few candles on the dinner table, or head for a nice romantic restaurant. So why should setting or context be alien to other experiences, online or offline?

Certain settings matter, depending on the goals/emotives to be achieved/expressed.

“Want to rip a rug and live in tiger ragtime? We also have fairies at the bottom of our garden?”

McLuhan, 1951, p. 85

CONTEXTUAL GOALS

Romance/Adventure

Open/InclusiveStimulating,Interactive

Meditative, Silly EmotivesRomance/Expressiveness

Color, DesignUniquenessInvitingMusic

McLuhan’s 1st Law: Extension

Extension/Enhancement: Technology extends our social or physical characteristics? What does SL as a medium or technology amplify or enhance about your personality? Your senses? About your life? About your abilities?

Marriage: Social Extension

RE: Lucas Arts' Star Wars Galaxies

“More expected, though, is the RL couple who also pairs off in the game…There are many husband and wives who play MMORGPS together.” 

Torrone, 2004

Marriage: Social Extension

Marriage: Social Extension

Marriage of Lady Quaddra & Lord Garthan – in EverQuest and RL Vegas

Marriage: Social Extension

• You Tube has become a unique archive for some of these virtual marriages, with this link documenting the cherished union.

Article: http://videogames.yahoo.com/feature/happily-everquest-after/525578

Marriage: Social Extension

couples who play together stay together

Marriage: Social Extension

Scuba & Polly Marriage in SL, 2007

http://youtube.com/watch?v=QVimvY-Mtwo

“It's hard to say whether Bert and Alle are representative of the typical Second Life couple. Both are convinced that their marriage is no more than an enjoyable progression of their game playing in Second Life.” (Eales, 2007)

Romance: Defined as Adventure

• “medieval tale based on legend, chivalric love and adventure, or the supernatural”

• “prose narrative treating imaginary characters involved in events remote in time or place and usually heroic, adventurous, or mysterious.”

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

Romantic Encounters

• Wikipedia states, “The story of the medieval romance focuses not upon love and sentiment, but upon adventure.”

• Might this to Second Life: The quest for romance is the search for adventure.

Three Top Spots• Caribbean Breezes Jazz Club: Come dance

somewhere warm and tropical, with one of the largest pirate ships in SL, and many little private areas for chatting

• Midsomer Isle: A romantic themed garden with streams, greenery, and lots of secluded areas; perfect for a stroll or sitting together for a chat

• Starry Starry Night: Enjoy art in a romantic setting at the van Gogh interactive museum

For More Romantic Encounters…

• Natalia Zelmanov's Second Life Diary

• A mermaid's adventures in Second Life.

“The next voice you hear? The shape of things to come? McLuhan, 1951, p. 90

Blah, Blah, Blah“Voice makes it much harder to become something that one isn't - to become someone else in-world…the addition of voice destroys much of what makes SL so attractive - or at least, that is my initial impression “..When I'm in a voice conversation with someone in-world, my first instinct is to think "why aren't I just on the phone to this person - I know exactly who they are" - the SL aspect becomes irrelevant. Worse in fact - it gets in the way.” (Fossett, 2007)

References

• Wildermuth & Vogl-Baur, 2002, 2007• Anderson & Emmers-Sommer, 2006• Eales, 2007• Fossett, 2007• McLuhan 1951, 1964 & 1988 (w/Eric)• Nei, 2001• Torrone, 2004

• See paper for complete citation information.