Thats A Wrap... My Reaction to Virtual World

What did I learn from having a virtual world experience?? I learned that playing in a virtual world and having a cybernetic identity can be very time consuming. Maintaining these “lives” and playing in a world can be disconcerting to others. I also learned that a lot of people in class do not understand or see why other people play on the Internet. People who interact on the internet through mediums other than Facebook and Myspace are not seen as very sociable people. They are seen as socially inept or insecure.

I disagree with these views, but I saw and heard a lot of people voicing these opinions. I think that virtual worlds are more like movies and books. Virtual worlds are just another path way to escapism and entertainment. Virtual worlds are a nice way to social network with people you know have some kind of common interests or else you and them would not be playing the same game or in the same world together. I do not think that people understand this aspect of virtual world living entirely. I do not understand it and I have about eleven online identities. I also do not think that people who decide to change some if not all aspects of their identities online are totally accepted. These are the people that others see as the most insecure.


Since I played Pixie Hollow as a Sparrow Man, I attempted to see if questions of my self- perception could be answered. I wasn’t very secure with my sexuality going into this assignment. I did not exactly learn a lot about myself from playing this particular game. I played as a Garden talent. Garden talent fairy quests suck. I definitely do not have a cybernetic green thumb. Playing as a Sparrow Man was not all bad. I liked seeing what it was like to be a marginalized part of Pixie Hollow. It was kind of interesting just to have a different game experience. I usually played as a girl and as a Fairy. Gender does not matter in Pixie Hollow. Male objectives are the same as female objectives. Girls can do whatever boys can do. It only matters when it comes to shopping, go figure. I discovered, rather had my thoughts about my own sexuality confirmed.


The virtual world experience of Pixie Hollow also taught me that Disney is not as gender specific as people think. Pixie Hollow and Disney Fairies really are a liberal brand of Disney. Disney, I have always seen as teaching “boys do this stuff… blah blah blah” and “girls do this stuff… blah blah blah, and boy stuff is not to over cross with the girl stuff, or girl stuff with boy stuff.” Disney Fairies and Pixie Hollow showed me “boys and girls stuff and activities can be similar if not the same.” This experience has opened my eyes about Disney’s approach to gender and class, since there are no socio economic classes in Pixie Hollow. Disney doesn’t really address sexuality for good reason. Pixie Hollow isn’t made or designed for sexually active people and Fairies and Sparrow Men are not sexually produced, non-issue. Pixie Hollow was a good world for a me as a person to play and have as my virtual world.

Identity is Everything

There is a reason I have saved my identity blog for last of the mandatory entries. The reason is simple: Identity is Everything. Not just in real world, but also in cyber worlds.

• Identity is everything about a person:
  Gender
  Profession
  o Sexuality
  o Beliefs and Values
  o Religion
  o Race
  o Ethnicity
  o Physical Appearance: short, tall, skinny, fat, genetic attributes
  o Education
  o Skills and Handicaps/Weaknesses
  o Friends & Family
  
  

In a cyber world a person’s and I do say person since there have to be a person behind the creation of an avatar’s identity, any way back on topic. At the heart of all virtual avatar identities are the games they are played in. Before a player even begins to think about their avatar, they first have to choose a game or a world they want to play in.

• An avatar’s identity is a culmination of the player’s choices about:
  • Game being Played
  • Gender
  • Physical Appearance/ Genetic Attributes
  • Race
  • Skills, Talents and Weaknesses
  • Avatar’s Name
  • Language
  • Sexuality
  • Avatar Isolation
  Do you have to play as an individual or as part of a group
  

All of these factors and choices a player has to make about their avatar build and create their avatar’s identity.

The game the player chooses is the single most important factor in an avatar’s identity. Different virtual worlds offer different experiences for players. Pixie Hollow/Disney Fairies gives players a very positive, bright, colorful fantasy world. Barbie World lets girls all of ages be what they have always wanted to be on some level, a Barbie doll. Players shop, shop, shop ‘till they drop and live in a world of pink and pink accessories. Second Life offers a no holds bar do whatever you want, be whoever you want, good or bad experience to its players. World of Warcraft gives its players a fantasy mystical world, full of creatures, monsters and quests of slaying and raising mayhem. World of Warcraft also encourages the formation of guilds and out of game player interactions.

Cyber identities can influence and reshape “real world” identities. The way a person approaches and experiences a virtual world sometimes goes out of world. Even things said and experienced within a game can impact a player. Players develop relationships with other players that they do not want to depend on a game to maintain, so they exchange personal information and have real world relationships. As these real world relationships develop, a person’s beliefs, values, sexuality among other things can change or develop based on communication within the new relationship.

Playing Disney Fairies/Pixie Hollow as a man has led me to question some things about myself. I did know/expect that to happen, but it did. So a player’s avatar can change a person’s identity.

If a person is questioning or uncertain about who they are or want to be, the internet and virtual worlds are a perfect place for them to find themselves.

Question: If you could make the real world into any virtual world for one day, which world would you choose? Why this world?

Pick Your Talent, Pick Your Race

In Pixie Hollow, race is not determined by color. Race is determined by which talent guild player decides for their avatar. Talent guilds determine just about everything about a Fairy or Sparrow Man. Talent guilds are used to determine skill , types of talent quests, waist sashes, wing color, and supervising fairy.

• Rosetta is the fairy in charge of the Garden Talent Guild

My avatar Quinn Citrusvine’s is a Garden Talent Sparrow Man

• Silvermist is in charge of the Water Talent Guild
  
  
  
  
  
• Fawn works with the Animal Talent Guild

• Tinker Bell is in charge of the Tinker or Pots and Pans Talent Guild

• Iradessa is in charge of the Light Talent Guild
  
  

There are other guilds in the game, such as Baking, Music, Dust Keeping, and Painting, but these guilds are not avatar options for players to choose. An interesting thing about an avatar’s talent guild, the player chooses their fairy/sparrow man’s talent AFTER they have designed the physical appearance of the avatar. In Pixie Hollow, color/ethnicity has NOTHING to do with race or talent of a Fairy or Sparrow Man.

The Disney Fairies themselves represent a variety of ethnicities.
• Silvermist- the Water Talent Fairy looks very Asian and is voiced by Lucy Lu in the Tinker Bell films.
• Rosetta- Garden Talent Fairy is representative of an American Southern Be

• • Iradessa- Light Talent Fairy is an African American or Black Fairy
  • Fawn- Animal Talent Fairy is a Hispanic/Latino Fairy.
  • Tinker Bell- Tinker Talent Fairy is a Euro- Caucasian American Fairy.
  • Terrence- A Dust Keeping Talent Fairy is a Euro- Caucasian American Sparrow Man.
  

In the game however, all different ethnicities can and do join the different talent guild races. If you play the game long enough, you do not see a lot of African American fairies. “Ethnic”
fairies and sparrow men are not prevalent forces or presences in Pixie Hollow.

Pixie Hollow is segregated on some level by race. All members of a talent guild live together.
• Garden Talent fairies and sparrow men live in Springtime Square

Treetop Bend, Cherryblossom Heights, Springtime Orchard and Newberry Thicket.
Spring time weather is perfect for practicing and maintaining personal gardens and gardens for the Mainland- the human world.

• Water Talent Fairies and Sparrow Men live in Dewdrop Vale and Palm Tree Coast areas, close to the water.
• Light Talent Fairies and Sparrow Men live in Sunflower Gully. The gully has lots of exposure to both day and night light crystals.
• Pots and Kettle Fairies also known as the Tinkers are in Cottonpuff Field, home of Tinkers Nook.
• Animal Fairies live in Maple Tree Hill, which is close to Winter Woods where they work with hibernating animals.
• Havendash Square serves as Town Square in Pixie Hollow. This is where everybody comes for news and updates.


Question: Why Would a Fantasy World, Not Just Pixie Hollow, Need to or Desire to Be Segregated?

I Got A Cyber Sex Change & All I Got Was This Blog

Greetings,
As we all know for my virtual world experience I underwent a cyber sex change and created a Sparrow Man avatar rather than a Fairy avatar. Questions have been raised in class and I would like to answer them.

• Why would somebody do this?
• Aren't they lying to themselves and other players?
• Do you feel confused about your real life identity, sex, & sexuality after doing this?
• Will this change your self- perception?

Question 1: I had a cyber sex change because I really wanted to see and live a life as a man. It is an opportunity I, unless I save up the large amount of money to undergo surgery and have the desire for surgery, will probably never have again. I have been questioning my sex for a while, especially after meeting and making transgendered friends, both of them being male. I saw myself being more of a man than a woman. This realization made a lot more things about me make sense. Back to the topic at hand....

Virtual worlds allow for identity experimentation of all kinds. Poor people being rich, overweight people being skinny, men being women, women being men, different careers and professions. I wanted to experiment with my sex, gender and sexuality, so I took the chance I was given and I'm taking a risk by admitting it this way. But after all this is for a New Media class, so let’s just go with it. Call me an abomination, unnatural, a freak, whatever you desire; I've probably heard it all before anyway.


Question 2: Do I think I am lying to myself? No. I don't know the truth about myself, so how can I lie to myself? To lie, you have to have a clear sense of the truth and the want to deny it for a personal gain. I know that biologically I am female. Denying that fact would bring me all kinds of hell and pain so there is no personal gain to be had. Mentally, I feel like a man. I've had so many of my female friends say to me in PUBLIC... "Melissa, you'd make the perfect boyfriend. I'd date you if I could." So this blurs my whole perception of myself. Mentally I am a guy, biologically girl.

Do I think I am lying to other players? No. Pixie Hollow does not allow personal questions to be asked ever. All text is game related and Pixie Hollow related. All text messages are set, nothing can be changed. There is no outside game interaction with other players. I can't lie about something they can't ask about.


Question 3: My experiment isn't over yet so I don't know yet what the ramifications will be to my actual identity, sex, and sexuality. I do know that my sexual identity confusion cannot get any worse than it was before I started my virtual life as a man. After this class, I may just keep my male avatar alive and continue to play as him.

Life as a virtual man has seemed easier and more relaxed, more natural. My sexuality is another story. In the real world, it has been up in the air lately. I have been "straight" and know that it does not work for me. Maybe it's one too many bad boyfriends or maybe its nature, you can decide for yourself.


Question 4: I am very, VERY much hoping that my cyber sex change changes my self- perception and identity. I am hoping that this virtual world experience will give me some sense of clarity and understanding about myself that I did not have before this class. I cannot answer this question until class is over.


Thank you for your time and effort to read this.

I Think You’re Flitterific… Sexuality in Pixie Hollow

As in all virtual world experiences, players know that their own avatar is not the product of sexual reproduction, Pixie Hollow is no exception. Pixie is an exception when it comes to the visibility of sexual organs. Fairies in Pixie Hollow all have moderate chests. Breasts are nothing, but have a presence in Pixie Hollow. The same go for male penis bulge and Sparrow Men. Sparrow men are for all intensive purposes completely impotent. Sparrow Men also can’t/ do not show their pectoral or abdominal muscles. Sparrow Men are buff and tough, but can’t display their masculine bodies. Fairies, however display their feminine bodies all the time in Pixie Hollow. Fairies are allowed and have clothes designed to show long, slender legs, and their tops are tailored to show some of their stomach and abdominal area.

Fairies and Sparrow Men as fantasy creatures are not born through sexual reproduction. Fairies and Sparrow Men are birthed from a baby’s first laugh. The magical energy within the laugh travels to Pixie Hollow with the assistance of fast flying talented fairies. Sex and sexual activities are not possible in Pixie Hollow. Avatars cannot even hug each other, let alone “get it on,” in one of their assigned houses. Fairies and Sparrow Men even if controlled by the same player cannot live together in the Pixie Hollow virtual world. Fairies and Sparrow Men can be friends with each other. They just can’t be friends with benefits.

The closest sexual related activity that is possible in Pixie Hollow is flirting. Fairies and Sparrow Men can flirt with each other. Sparrow Men with Fairies, Sparrow Men with other Sparrow Men, and also Fairies with Fairies, all potential relationship combinations can flirt with each other. This means that there can be both homosexual and lesbian Sparrow Men and Fairies represented, if the player has that intention. If the player does not have intention, these messages are seen as “friendly conversation.” Flirting occurs through whisper chat. Avatars can send suggestive smiley faces to each other: winking, hearts, flowers, cakes, cookies, and rainbows. Sending an actual flirtatious text whisper becomes more difficult. Messages such as “You’re flitterific,” “Come fly with me…” are not considered flirts. These messages are found under the “friendly” whispers section. There is no free typing in Pixie Hollow. All messages are Disney and Pixie Hollow approved.

When a player flies their avatar in Pixie Hollow, their dust trail is represented by their talent guild color: green, blue yellow, orange and pink. My avatar Quinn Citrusvine, is a garden talent Sparrow Man. His wings leave behind pink pixie dust. To an outsider not familiar with this some may assume that my Sparrow Man and/or I am a gay man. To players of the game, the pink pixie dust simply means that I am a garden talented Sparrow Man.

Question: Is sexuality fairly reprsented in Pixie Hollow or not??

Fairy or Sparrow Man: Gender in Pixie Hallow

In Pixie Hallow, there are 2 gender options for players. Fairy is the female option. Sparrow Man is the male option. Fairies are small, dainty, and fly faster. Sparrow Men are taller, bulkier, and rigid. Fairies are able to be posed by their human player into all sorts of cute and obvious feminine positions. Sparrow Men cannot be posed. These avatars stay rigid in a militaristic up right pose. The only position other than the “fly” position is a “sit” position. This position is available to every Fairy and Sparrow Man.

Gender in Pixie Hallow is best expressed through the avatar clothing. Fairies or the females wear skirts, pointy toed shoes, and accessories. Fairies can go into Sparrow Men shops but cannot buy anything. Sparrow Men can go into the Fairy shops but cannot buy anything either.
Clothing color is another indicator of gender in Pixie Hallow. Fairies wear clear “girl” colors- bright colors, pinks, purples, and whites. Sparrow Men wear blacks, reds, browns, and neutral colors. Fairies wear jewelry, head bands, and elaborate talent guild sashes.

Sparrow Men cannot wear these things. Sparrow Men cannot shop in fairy accessory shops. Sparrow Men accessories include hats, glasses and ties. Quite a different selection and regardless of whether or not you have the money to buy them, there are no cross dressing or accessorizing Fairies or Sparrow Men in Pixie Hallow. After an avatar, Fairy or Sparrow Man is introduced into Pixie Hallow their first outfit indicates their gender. Fairies no matter what their talent, wear a white dandelion fluff dress with a talent guild colored sash around their waist. Sparrow Men on the other hand, wear an entirely leafy green outfit with a similar sash around their waist as well. The green and the white colored ensembles clearly distinguish the Sparrow Men from the Fairies.

Fairies are considered the dominant gender in Pixie Hallow. All of the talent guild representatives: Tinkerbell, Rosetta, Fawn, Iradessa, and Silvermist, who are in charge of running quests for players’ avatars, are fairies. These are also the most known fairies. In Pixie Hallow, the supreme ruler is Queen Clarion. There is no king in Pixie Hallow, just Queen Clarion. The highest position a Sparrow Man can hold in Pixie Hallow is as a Minister of a Season. Currently there are 2 Sparrow Men ministers. The ministers of spring and fall are both Sparrow Men. There are some fairly well known Sparrow Men in Pixie Hallow such as Terrence who is a dust-keeping fairy, as well as Clank and Bobble who are both tinker fairies. All of these sparrow men have one thing in common. They are all connected to Tinkerbell. Clank and Bobble work with Tinkerbell in Tinker’s Nook, and Terrence has a well known romantic crush on Tinkerbell. Sparrow Men are not known because of who they are as individuals in Pixie Hallow, they are known by the Fairies they associate with either in their talent guild or romantically.

Question: Do you think that girls who play Pixie Hallow will accept this female dominant society and try to make the real world more or less like it in the future?

Quinn Citrusvine's Arrival Day Ceremony

Quinn Citrusvine

Quinn Citrusvine was born from an American boy's first laugh the night he was born. The laugh had such energy behind it that the fast flying talented fairies barely had to do any work to make sure the laugh got to the second star to the right and on to Neverland. Quinn landed at The Pixie Dust Tree in the leaf of an orange tree, this was a hint at his talent. When Terrence poured the first cup of pixie dust over Quinn... the orange leave transformed into a fairy wearing a white tshirt and shorts. Queen Clarion arrived and The Arrival Day Ceremony continuned with The Queen's dusting of Quinns wings allowing him to fly.

The talent guild selection began. Rosetta a garden fairy presented a fresh rose bloom, Silvermist a water fairy a fresh dewdrop ment for a spider's web, Tinkerbell placed a new pot, Fawn an animal talent ed fairy a Blue Jay's egg, Terrence a dust keeper fairy a tea cup used to measure pixie dust, Ireadesa a light fairy a rainbow tube, and Vidia a fast flying fairy a mini tornado.

Fairies from all talents were anxious to see which talent guild Quinn would join. Quinn walked around and felt pulled towards Rosetta's rose bud. The rose bud lit up and Quinn joined the Garden Fairies. Knowing his talent allowed the Queen to name Quinn Citrusvine. Rosetta welcomed Quinn into the Garden fairies, and that was Quinn's Arrival Day Ceremony.