The Call Girl Character Class 108
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.'"
Has to be said... (Score:5, Funny)
Aight. I put on my robe and wizard hat. [adamchance.com]
"Hard like a rhino..."
- Vanilla Ice
Re:Has to be said... (Score:1)
Re:Has to be said... (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:Has to be said... (Score:3, Insightful)
Lawyers and Politicians with Mod points? (Score:2, Insightful)
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.
Re:Lawyers and Politicians with Mod points? (Score:1)
Re:Has to be said... (Score:2)
Re:Has to be said... (Score:2)
Yeah, what could be classier than letting an obese stranger stick his dick in your arse then sucking it whilst squeezing his balls?
Re:Has to be said... (Score:2)
Unless someone made "Single Female Lawyer : The Game" ?
Re:Has to be said... (Score:2)
That was one of the funniest things I've read in a long time...
Re:Has to be said... (Score:2)
You should really include a link to the entry at bash.org [bash.org], which includes the continuation of the encounter. It's the followup that makes it a classic.
Re:Has to be said... (Score:2)
Re:Has to be said... (Score:1)
Re:Has to be said... (Score:2)
Re:Has to be said... (Score:1)
Re:Has to be said... (Score:2)
WoW oh WoW! (Score:1)
Re:WoW oh WoW! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:WoW oh WoW! (Score:1)
Like real life? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Like real life? (Score:2)
Solomon
geez (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:geez (Score:2)
Re:geez (Score:2)
But the way these MMO games have been going, won't it soon be real money, to buy virtual money to then pay for virtual sex which the people will then be able to exchange for real money?
How long before people start getting rolled/ripped off by virtual hookers, but actaully losing real money?
Could you then get arrested for virtual solicitation? (of a virtual m
Re:geez (Score:4, Informative)
Re:geez (Score:2)
The trick is on the supply side: All of the Linden Dollars listed there are in fact being sold by other players. Players can try to see their Lindens for whatever they think someone will buy them for, but by default the game always buys the cheapest one
Re:geez (Score:2)
There are also third-party sites that do currency exchange (including in-game ATMs - object scripts can communicate with external services). The fee for the LL Currency Exchange is US$0.30 plus 3.5%.
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Drugged-up prostitutes in the metaverse too? (Score:3, Funny)
[amazon.com]? No, I haven't read that one. Snow Crash is pretty good, though.
Re:Drugged-up prostitutes in the metaverse too? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Drugged-up prostitutes in the metaverse too? (Score:2)
It has to be said, (Score:1, Troll)
I agree (Score:1, Troll)
Re:It has to be said, (Score:5, Funny)
Re:It has to be said, (Score:1)
Thank You! (Score:2)
I did hear one guy talk about reading it three or four times and discovering "depth" in it. Come on! You should not have to read a book 3-4 times before you discover depth in it. It just wasn't that good.
Re:Thank You! (Score:2)
I completely disagree. I think you should be able to read a truly great book as many times as you want; each time interpreting the book entirely differently due to the influence of the previous readings on you. A book that you can read twice is good, a book that you can read three times is better, but a book that works on many many levels, that changes the reader's very self is better still.
I thought Snow Crash was an amazing
Re:Thank You! (Score:2)
My original comment was not clear enough; my impression was that the fellow, of whom I spoke, did not find depth in the book until he had read it three or four times. It is like he made it his mission to find something worthwhile in the book...because it had garnered so much attention from the geek crowd; eventually he discovered what he was looking for (or convinced himself that it was there). I guess I just
Re:Thank You! (Score:2)
It's easy enough to pick the holes in LotR or Neuromancer. The difference is that they were the first of their kind. Snow Crash was revolutionary in getting away from the tired old cyberpunk schtick that had been filling the shelves for the previous decade or so. It also had a view of a future society which was truly new, whilst still being rooted in how the US runs today, and that takes some doing.
It wasn't intended to be a deep insightful arthouse novel with all that multi-layer
Re:Thank You! (Score:1)
I loved it back then, I still think fairly highly of it now. His other writings are even better
Re:Drugged-up prostitutes in the metaverse too? (Score:1)
Hmm (Score:1)
So, the people who pay these call girls, how do they even know they're girls? I'm guessing the don't care. The article says these call girls make $5000+ a week sometimes, all virtual - crazy.
Re:Hmm (Score:1)
Re:Hmm (Score:2)
Re:Hmm (Score:1)
Re:Hmm (Score:2)
Re:Hmm (Score:2)
Granted, advertising isn't easy in SL, but if a group of them are getting ripped off by virtual pimps, it would be trivial for them to just leave and start their own place.
Re:Hmm (Score:2, Informative)
Math (Score:2, Informative)
18.20 time 2 is 36.40 an hour. Lets figure on a 40 hour week or about 2080 hours per year. That's $75.712.00 The more you work the more you make.
I also don't know what the exchange rates and fees are. I also don't know if there is taxes involved. (income tax for one.) These girls are making a little less than strippers but have 0 physical risk.
Just some math
JACEM
Re:Math (Score:1)
Re:Math (Score:1)
I also relized that I did not take into account the 20% that the club keeps and the 3.8% the SL keeps.
I want to oun one of these clubs!
later
JACEM
Re:Hmm (Score:1)
JACEM
Seriously, I Don't Get It (Score:2)
Re:Seriously, I Don't Get It (Score:5, Informative)
Some people make sets of animations that allow for almost every possible sexual position with almost as many partners as you want at one time. Some are even advanced enough to where you can sit on an animation object and switch between animations from a menu select system.
If pixel-slapping is your thing, then SL is probably one of the only "on-the-market" products that lets you have the freedom to do these things, among others.
Re:Seriously, I Don't Get It (Score:5, Interesting)
Specifically, your avatar can have the current animation be set and changed by an object, either by giving that object permission, or by sitting on it. A standard way of doing such things is to have "pose balls" or similar (e.g. a "sit" on a couch, or a bed, and it then gets to animate you). There are lots of combo pose balls where one person "sits" on one, the other on the other, and it puts both avatars into a posed position, typically sexual.
Since objects can also communicate, and can be controlled by a player (under control of a script), this allows for as complex interaction between two avatars as you can think of. Either or both can select how they want to act or respond, and a script can select the appropriate synchronized animations to do the appropriate interaction.
ALL avatar motion is controlled by such animations, such as normal sitting, standing, flying, jumping, walking, running, falling. You can also trigger animations on yourself, it isn't only through objects. Besides animations, you can also trigger sounds (which can also be uploaded).
Combined with the ability to upload skin details and attach objects to your body (and said objects can now move as well, e.g. twitching tails, flapping wings), and reshape body details (male or female), the possibilities seem fairly unbounded. Certainly for someone who gets off on phone sex, something like this can add a whole new element.
There also seems to be a big market in selling skins, pose balls, animations and sounds to implement all of this, i.e. the support structure behind the sex trade. Gambling also seems to be big in SL; think of it, you could script a slot machine that allowed anyone to copy it, they run it, and it automatically gives you (the programmer) a cut of the action, without even having to put up any money (and payouts come out of the account of the person who is running the machine, not you). You can do that without needing to actually pay ANY real money, just with the basic free account, and if your slot machine becomes popular, you'll start getting game money rolling in, which you can then trade for real money.
Re:Seriously, I Don't Get It (Score:2)
Granted, it looks pretty dumb most of the time, but even the somewhat dumb looks are better than absolutely text only experiances in IRC, at least to some people. SL is far from perfect, but thu
Slutzilla? (Score:2)
Yeah, but who guarantees that D34dly's cyber-girlfriend [nyud.net] is a girl in real life?
Re:Slutzilla? (Score:2)
It's not like having cybersex with a girl who, as it turns out, is actually a guy is going to turn you gay or something.
Re:Seriously, I Don't Get It (Score:1)
JACEM
Re:Seriously, I Don't Get It (Score:1)
-Grey [wellingtongrey.net]
Soon enough... (Score:1)
MMTDs? (Score:4, Funny)
With virtual hookers, at least it's only your *computer* that'll get a virus...
Re:MMTDs? (Score:1)
Re:MMTDs? (Score:2)
Blow your mind.
At least its true (Score:2)
would you expect anything else from a game mimicking real life ?
Although I find it strange and wouldnt use that service, I have to admit if those people find satisfaction using those services, so be it, good for them.
Strange world, this virtual one (Score:4, Insightful)
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!
Re: Life is a game anyway (Score:2)
How is it weird some people prefer to fill their daily gaming with role playing games? It's not escaping, it's just a different type of a game.
If MMO players get what they're searching for from MMO games, sounds like a great deal to me. Probably saves a lot on the shrink bills too.
Re: Life is a game anyway (Score:2)
Real life is real and it is not a game based on chance.
The RPG genre (of which MMOs are the newest incarnations) are not real and they are a game based on chance.
A few crude examples:
- When you drive to work every day do you roll a d% to see if you make it there alive?
- When you eat a sandwich, do you roll a fortitude save to not get poisoned?
- Do you buy tons of flour, yeast, sugar and salt to grind your way to making a perfect roast? (I loved that cartoon, wish
Re: Life is a game anyway (Score:2)
Re: Life is a game anyway (Score:2)
No, the rolling of the d6 is part of the action.
- When you eat a sandwich, do you roll a fortitude save to not get poisoned?
Again, the die roll is part of the action if you eat a sandwich you found on the street. Though most people avoid the die roll by making it from their own raw materials, hunted from the shop.
- Do you buy tons of flour, yeast, sugar and salt to grind your way to making a perfect roast?
Yes, if t
Blog coverage - mmorgy.com (Score:3, Informative)
Great! Real roleplaying (Score:4, Insightful)
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
Re:Great! Real roleplaying (Score:2, Insightful)
It's not quite as exciting as all that. When there's not a manual, and there's the ability to customise your appearance and animations almost infinitely (sticking to a humanoid theme), sex will emerge. Just like real life, tbh.
Re:Great! Real roleplaying (Score:2)
In the case of EQ2 at least there are plenty of players who's primary role is crafting and selling.
The difference is the service (Score:2)
That is not what I did. I bought bulk from out of the way places then distributed them to key spot and sold them in small portions.
So I provided two services. I helped people avoid having to buy 20 of something wich they could not afford. AND I put it in locations they were
Re:Great! Real roleplaying (Score:2)
My brother is a professional basketball player. The game he spends most time playing by a long shot is NBA 2k6. I know you'd think that after a day of *real* F1, Schumacher might not want to sit down to some virtual driving, but he's an F1 driver because it's an interest of his and I'd bet that he'd also find it interesting playing F1 games.
Re:Great! Real roleplaying (Score:1)
I was actually pretty surprised to hear this; I never would have thought that racing games were that close to real tracks, but I believe Carl Edwards said that he played EA's NASCAR game to learn breaking points at Pocono (which he won the first time he raced there). I guess the sims can be pretty realistic in that respect, not unlike a flight sim giving real pilots some good info.
Some, especially at
Re:Great! Real roleplaying (Score:2)
You know how there's a certain amount of disdain for people who watch TV all day, or fill their evenings from 6-11pm with the nightly news and dramas? People who waste their lives away with MMOs get the same thing. Cut back on the gaming, and work to make real life more exciting and rewarding. I'm not talking about people who can play for two hours and then go do something else. I mean those who are substituting WoW or Second Life for real life.
Chinese Gold Diggers? (Score:1)
Re:Chinese Gold Diggers? (Score:2)
It's not like this "hot" chinese girl is actually in the room with you. Interactions like this are all typed words on the screen. People have been doing it on MU*'s for years (and just not charging for it)
But since it's all text, you really can't do anything if they don't have a decent grasp on the English language. It'd be like getting phone sex from someone who speaks another language; yeah, they sound hot, but for all you know they are describin
sexuality and morality (Score:5, Insightful)
Not asking for an answer, just confused...
Re:sexuality and morality (Score:3, Interesting)
Which I find quite logical (but I'm French).
I suspect that the USA are like this due to religion (blech).
Re:Fantasies? (Score:3, Funny)
"The Aristocats"
Searching for Call Girls? (Score:1)
I wonder what exactly this is supposed to match, or why it is so interesting.