Space alien, vampire, Gorean, good fairy, bad fairy, cyberpunk, sex worker, and...er, "other" -- there are as many roles to play in Second Life as ideas to be had.

Well, it's the beginning of another month, which means the beginning of another theme here at ITG; and the theme for this month is "Third Life," or those within Second Life who then roleplay an additional type of character while there, such as a vampire, animal or elf. Now, let me admit right off the bat, that I didn't coin the phrase "Third Life" myself; that honor belongs to a writer named Simon from the UK, who writes a great 'coolhunting' blog called An Idea A Day, who I think was actually kind of making fun of Second Life a bit when first coming up with the term. I thought, though, that it'd be a good term to use sincerely as well, in relation to this series on roleplaying that I had already been planning, because the phrase is quite apt; that no matter how 'immersive a virtual reality' some say the grid is, the fact is that you do have to do a bit of roleplaying just to get into the right spirit there, no matter who you are.

A core part of the Second Life experience, in fact, no matter what specific reason you're there, is to as much as possible focus your entire consciousness into the cartoonish interface presented on your computer screen; to make this clearly artificial universe as much of your valid "reality" as possible, to the point of forgetting that you're actually communicating through keyboard commands within a CGI environment. When all is said and done, this is the key difference between those who become regular users of the software and those who don't; one either has that first night where the grid quite literally sucks them in, making them understand why people get so attached, or they never have that night, and quit SL quickly thereafter still wondering what the hell the big deal is.

For those who don't know, the first half-million or so residents of the grid (that ones who made Second Life famous to begin with) for the most part took the term "second life" quite seriously; most of them saw and still see the grid as a way to get completely away from the limitations in their real lives if they want, and to refashion a brand-new immersive, 24-hour life in whatever mold comes to mind. (And of course with the opportunity to shed that life and start over whenever they want; or to live different kinds of lives at different times; or to own alternate avatars [or 'alts'] and live several different lives at once.) Such roleplaying opportunities are still seen as a very serious right by most long-time residents, a core part of the 'gameplay' experience there, and there are still lots and lots of resources all over the grid for those who want to do such a thing themselves.

Now, the important thing to always remember about RPers in Second Life, and what this month's series of articles will be dedicated to, is that people are RPing for all kinds of different reasons, besides just the obvious one of escaping dreary parts of their real lives, which admittedly does happen in some cases. There are some residents, for example, who enjoy living out a life physically impossible in the real world; as a vampire, for example, or a race of warriors from a popular series of fantasy novels called Goreans. There are some like me, for example, who enjoy the opportunity to roleplay as the opposite gender, sometimes for the simple pleasure of seeing if we can get away with it. There are sexual dominants and submissives in real life, who are in positions where they can't act on their desires; SL and avatar roleplay can sometimes be their only outlet for their particular fetishes. Or, sometimes one is a writer or other creative professional, and is using the opportunity to do "deep research" about a particular type of character.

What I hope to be doing regularly this month is visiting a variety of these communities, across a wide spectrum of themes, sizes and goals; I hope to do interviews as well with those who live at or maintain such communities, to see why they do it. I hope to combine this with the other side of immersive roleplaying; of the corporate and artistic opportunities for full-scale "Alternative Reality Games" (or ARGs), much like the recent "Lost Experience" game this summer that took place simultaneously on the web and in the real world. If I get the opportunity, I'd also like to add some interviews with so-called "rogue" roleplayers; those who don't wish to formally join a community for whatever reason, but still enjoy having an elaborate backstory and specific wardrobe for their avatar. And finally, as a way of concentrating on some details, I'll be doing an in-depth look at the celebrated 14-sim 'steampunk' community of Caledon -- photo essays, a look at their steam-powered public transportation system, an interview with famed weapons maker and 'full-time roleplayer' Ordinal Malaprop, a number of shopping reports, and more.

So, you see what all this means -- I need tips! At any time throughout December that you'd like to send along a recommendation for a place to check out or person to talk to, please feel free to do so either via comments here at the blog, or directly by email at inthegrid [at] gmail.com. (Don't forget that I'm logged into the grid most evenings as well, generally from 8:30 to 10:00pm SLT.) The more places, people and organizations you all can clue me into, the richer this month's series of articles will be, so I do hope that you'll take an active part in getting some interesting people a little extra publicity for their projects. I hope you'll enjoy this upcoming series, and please feel free to let your opinion be known throughout the month.