The Oldbie Project – Stroker Serpentine

By DrFran Babcock

I know what you’re thinking, but you are wrong. This is The Oldbie Project, and not an exposé tabloid article.

If you remember, the purpose of the Oldbie Project is to explore the lived experience of being a newbie in Second Life™, and Stroker’s rez day is November 8^th, 2003. I would have never asked for an interview, except that my few encounters with “the man who brought sex to Second Life™” were always pleasant.

On July 27^th of this year I came upon an interesting stream in the Second Life Universe forums. (http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/general-sl-discussion/85577-will-real-slim-shady.html ) Poster eku Zhong tantalized the forum regulars by asking: Guess who’s back? The answer, of course, was Stroker Serpentine. If you are unaware of the history of all that preceded this return, you can read the links at the end of this interview, but I will not go into those now, as they do not pertain to The Oldbie Project. 

What was striking, was that Stroker was back, and he had gotten four sims to create his Strokerz Toyz.  The sims opened with a rez day party I attended, during which Stroker was afk when I visited. Following that, there was a hunt and opening on the sims. Regardless of your feelings about sex in Second Life™ a visit to Strokerz Toyz is a must, if only to see the fascinating build that Stroker has created. Stroker was always a believer in the creative force of Second Life™, and the power we all have to make the world we want. Therefore, the sims are a joy to behold, and it is evident that a lot of work and planning went into their construction.

Enough procrastination, here are Stroker’s very short responses to my questions. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to see that he was being reticent, but there is still value in his answers, and they repeat themes that have been stated previously in this series:

SL Newser:  How did you find out about Second Life™?

Stroker:  All my friends in an adult 2-D world called "Seducity" were migrating one by one. The thought of creating my own content intrigued me.

SL Newser:  What are your earliest memories of Second Life™?

Stroker:  Naked people arbitrarily falling from their sky platforms.

SL Newser:  What kept you logging back in during the early days?

Stroker:  Naked people arbitrarily falling from their sky platforms!

SL Newser:  What are your fondest memories of the early days?

SL Newser:  Naked people arbitrarily falling from their sky platforms!

SL Newser:  What are your funniest memories of the early days?

Stroker:  How embarrassed the people were that fell from their sky platforms...naked.

SL Newser:  Did you fall in love in Second Life™?

Stroker:  I fell in love with the people of Second Life. Their diversity, nationalities and creativity.

Stroker:  Who was your favorite Linden?

Stroker:  Bub Linden. He was a riot!

SL Newser:  What were your favorite activities?

Stroker:  Creating and selling content and using the proceeds to buy sex slaves! Muahaha!

SL Newser:  Do you still log in? If not, why not? If yes, what keeps you coming?

Stroker:  I log on most everyday. My partner SensualMami is the sun on my face. She is my muse. 

SL Newser:  What would you like the world to know about Second Life™?

Stroker:  It’s not *all* about sex. There's also art, games, clubs and amazing residents from all corners of the world.

The take-away from all this is that Stroker is back, and we can all wait and watch and see what unfolds.

Links:

Wired Magazine: http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/commentary/sexdrive/2007/03/sex_drive0330

New World Notes – legal stuff

http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2011/02/stroker-second-life-content-lawsuit-settled.html

Second Life Wikia:

http://secondlife.wikia.com/wiki/Stroker_Serpentine

DrFran Babcock

Are You an Internet Addict? Comment!

If you are reading this, you are a likely Second Life (SL) addict. Take this quick SL addiction quiz (based upon netaddiction.com)

Q1) Do you think about SL when offline?
Q2) Have you tried to cut back or quit SL? Many times?
Q3) Do you often use SL longer than expected?
Q4) Has SL affected your job or Real Life (RL) relationships?
Q5) Do you become irritated when someone RL interrupts your SL?
Q6) Are you addicted to nicotine, drugs, alcohol, or cybersex?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, you really should take the Internet addiction self test at: http://netaddiction.com/resources/internet_addiction_test.htm

How big is this problem? According to NetAddiction.com and Google statistics, 39,000,000 Americans are Internet addicts, about 1 in 8. And over 400,000,000 Internet addicts in China, Korea, and Taiwan combined, about 3 in 10 people. Woah! That's a lot! And more than half suffer from other addictions!

Experts say Internet addicts "use the fantasy world of the Internet to psychologically escape..." That's a dead ringer for Second Life! OMG!

This Canadian documentary shows the lives of two Second Life addicts. One lady destroys her family life because she is always online, and the other moved in with her Second Life biker BF. Bikers are more fun! lol http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/2008-2009/strangers_in_paradise/

Personally, I know of several divorces and other RL problems of SL addicted users. These problems are obviously more widespread than we can know. What are your experiences? Please Comment!

On yet another addictive night of fun in SL... Pictures= 1 shows a super-fun party at Dumplings country music club in SL http://slurl.com/secondlife/Esterhal/79/110/38

Picture 2 is incredible SL comedian Lauren Weyland shown onstage with the lovely Wytchwhisper, the co-host of The Weekly Look and one of the stars of YAYCats! Catch Lauren's shows 4:30pm slt most Tuesdays and Wednesdays at Lauren's Place http://slurl.com/secondlife/Cookie/128/237/22

Story originally published on CNN.

Any1 Gnoid