Original Comment by: Dave Allen
OK, I'm going to get in trouble because I'll make some guesses based on generalizations about human behavior, as opposed to specific behavior of specific humans in specific human worlds. First of all, my train of ideas really depends on just how much of a "game" any given virtual world is. Second Life doesn't sound like a "game," per se.
Except of course, that based on my cursory examination of it, the economic aspects of it seem to be just as important as the creative aspects. And because economic transactions are a kind of game, at least according to applications of game theory. If I'm stating the obvious, I apologize; I'm just trying to get my mental ducks in a row.
If we are talking about Second Life in particular, it seems like the tried-n-true method of evaluating status is being applied: conspicuous wealth in the form of gaudy homes and constructs paid for with real or Linden (sp?) dollars.
But if there was a virtual world in which there weren't "dollars," then I imagine that the status continuum would take on its other typical form: a range in the ability to get people to do stuff for you. Or "power." In a world in which the primary transactions are sexual, I'm sure you can imagine some of the forms that power would take.
And there's also fame, of course. But fame is usually exchanged for wealth (like athletes' endorsement contracts) or power (entourages, groupies, and so on) so it's not really an economic end in and of itself.
I guess something to consider is that these worlds exist as subsets of "the real world." And they will always do so until people can download their consciousnesses into virtual worlds exclusively. And it seems like a lot of people in the more mature (by which I mean longest in existence) are making a living out of turning virtual status into real money (itself a consensual hallucination). Selling avatars, end-level characters, "gold-farming," etc., all translate into money now, right?
When a new MMOX (I'm trying to come up with a generic acronym here--Massive Multi-person Online Experience? meh.) comes out, I suppose there will be a halcyon period before the zero-sum economic model that governs all human transaction at some level rears its ugly head. But it does seem inevitable.
But that's the state of things as they are right now.
What if we hypothesize a sort of paradisical egalitarian erotic world (please!). Setting aside the question of who is paying for the servers and programming and so on, for the sake of the example. Let's call it "World of Porncraft," and say there are 5.5 million members, all of whom have paid the same amount.
You can "look" however you want, you can "live" wherever you want (in terms of virtual real estate.) Therefore, wealth (virtual or real) won't have an application here. And let's just say that over time everybody's avatar is equally attractive in conventional terms. And so how will people decide who to have sex with? I think people will look for exclusive experiences. I don't necessarily mean fetishy stuff. I guess I mean things like the erotic equivalent of "easter eggs" or "unlockable hidden characters." Stuff that if you KNOW about it, or how to get to it, your insider knowledge will make you cooler than other people. And so people will want to trade you favors in exchange for access to these experiences. And if the developers, content providers, and admins don't provide this exclusive material, the users will make it up.
At some point, there will be experience pimps, erotic guilds and gangs, exclusive clubs with rigorous entrance rquirements, and so on.
Here's a specific hypothetical example within my hypothetical virtual world. It's not a GREAT example, because I'm probably too square to think of a really bawdy example.
Let's say there's someone who has spent a great deal of time developing an avatar of Marilyn Monroe, AND more importantly, can realistically portray MM in an erotic encounter. If word got around that this was an experience not to be missed, what would MM demand as a favor for her...eh...favors? And if she got together with some other similar experts (kind of like LA Confidential, I guess) and they needed someone to handle the details of transactions, payments, collecting debts, and so on. What would happen?
At some point, there will be experience pimps, erotic guilds and gangs, exclusive clubs with rigorous entrance rquirements, and so on.
I dunno, just a thought.
(not an attack, just pointing-out the irony)