Monday, November 2, 2009

Where has everyone gone?

I'm coming up on my 3rd rez-day this month and could not help but to reflect on my experiences in Second Life during the last 3 years. Today my mind wandered to the people I have met and began to wonder where have so many of them gone? There have been several people that I knew very well and considered my closest friends in SL and they have disappeared from existence. It's really so sad to me that these people are gone. Although I wonder if it is them I miss or rather the peaceful intimacy that I experienced with each of them.

Take for example, Andrew...I met him at a wall of freebie textures. He was one of my first friends. He encouraged me to build and to set up shop. He'd make little trinkets for me like wings scripted with a caging device. He began to spend more time in his RL and eventually we spent less time together. Tonight I took a peek at his profile, which led me to a dead xstreetsl.com link. I looked a little further and discovered that he's been wiped from SL. Gone.

White taught me to build. He had an amazing way with prims and I was lucky to have him as a teacher. He also encouraged me to make silks and put them out in a store. It was because of him that I opened up my silk shop. I enjoyed the time he and I spent together building...hours of prim torture can be enjoyable when done with friends. And he too is gone.

And Wolf was always a good friend to me. He listened intently and made brilliant suggestions when I was having difficulties in SL and RL. He always greeted me warmly and showed his appreciation for me. Eventually he became overwhelmed with women constantly vying for his attention. But then again, that's what happens when one runs a fetish club. It was too much for him and he removed himself from SL. Another one gone.

There are maybe a handful more of people that I knew better than most and today you would barely be able to find a trace of them. I suspect that some of them are living lives as an alt. And if that is the case I can't help but to be put off that they are out there and can see me, while I will never know what became of them.

I scratch my head as I ponder where these people have gone. Have I run them off? Do other people in SL have a history filled with voids where avatars used to be? Why is it that my friends not only leave me, but they leave their avatars behind as well. Is it me? It's them, right?

where has everyone gone?

3 comments:

Briddy said...

I'm right here! *taps on screen*

2nd Brand said...

Sad, it is..

Lacie Babenco said...

I just stumbled on this - it's so very true and probably one of the most common experiences all of us in SL have had. The transitions and moves in time always seem to be so quick but at other times, quietly change things without our realizing it.

Just like you, there are people in my list that were so close and so social and fun to be with. Most are gone, a few remain but I scratch my head at the ones there that never message me. They are on, we are friends, I may message them to test if they are on.

But they don't and I've trimmed my list down but sometimes do look at names in the calling cards. Looking back and seeing some who helped shape who I am in SL. Many of the creative souls did get burned out and others just disappeared or moved on or whatever.

To me, the saddest part is not knowing what happened. So many just leave, never to be heard from again.