The Alphaville Herald

Interview with virtual erotica publisher, Marilyn Murphy

by Alphaville Herald on 01/08/04 at 6:39 pm

Marilyn Murphy is the publisher and force of nature behind Players Magazine in Second Life. After I contacted her about the possibility of an interview she summoned me to her mansion where I was greeted by a scripted message bot called ?son of man.? I found Ms. Murphy holding court, with two lovely and intelligent subs (Nathalie and Sara) at her call. After Nathalie regaled us with recitations of passages from William Blake’s Book of Urizen, Marilyn and I sat down to chat, with Sara kneeling at her side. Our discussion ranged from Marilyn?s history in SL, to the mechanics of publishing a virtual skin magazine, to they ways in which Players deliberately evokes the Playboy aesthetic. Why does she imitate Playboy when there are so many other possibilities? Read on to find out?

son of man: Hello Urizenus Sklar. Welcome to the Players Magazine Mansion.
son of man: Please come in and look around.
Marilyn Murphy: may i call u uri??
You: yup!
You: pleasure to meet you
Sara Bauer: Hi Uri
You: hey sara
Nathalie Jensen: Pleasure to meet Urizen , lord of rationality
Nathalie Jensen: …eternals, I hear your call gladly…
Nathalie Jensen: dictate your swift winged words of wisdom…
You: haha someone has been reading William Blake!
You: anyway Marilyn, any chance I can interview you for the Second Life Herald?
Marilyn Murphy: uri have you done any background on me?? do u already know anything about me
You: nope, lol
Marilyn Murphy: okay? then yes
Marilyn Murphy: ha ha
Nathalie Jensen: Mistress, can I take an hour off ? or is it more convenient later
Marilyn Murphy: no do it now hun
Marilyn Murphy: go have fun
Nathalie Jensen: thanks
You: congrats on your sub
Marilyn Murphy: she is special
Marilyn Murphy: sara
Sara Bauer: yes?
Marilyn Murphy: kneel hun
Marilyn Murphy: you forget urself
Sara Bauer: yes mistress

Sara (on knees) attends while Marilyn talks to Uri

Marilyn Murphy: so where were we uri
You: if now is a good time we should find a place to talk.
Marilyn Murphy: okay
Marilyn Murphy: just stay with me sara u can go later
Sara Bauer: yes mistress
You: Ok, Marilyn, maybe we’ll start with some context setting historical questions..
You: is SL the first MMORPG you have been in?
Marilyn Murphy: yes
You: when did you join?
Marilyn Murphy: i came here from solitaire
You: when was that?
Marilyn Murphy: 7/23/03
You: were you in the bdsm lifestyle before you got here?
Marilyn Murphy: oh you mean d/s no not at all
You: so you discovered it here?
Marilyn Murphy: yes
Marilyn Murphy: about january i actually studied and learned what it was about// still learning of course// before that i had been approached quite a bit to be domme due to my gaming practices
You: is that before or after you started Players?
Marilyn Murphy: i started Players in january
Marilyn Murphy: i had closed my club and retired, retirement did not suit me
You: What kind of club did you run earlier?
Marilyn Murphy: i ran the first successful exotic dance club in the game
Marilyn Murphy: club vogue
You: For my readers, what is an exotic dance club in SL?
Marilyn Murphy: they call them strip clubs now// its very different from the club i ran tho
You: there must not have been many dance animations then
Marilyn Murphy: no, i worked out two routines using the limited ones available, and had set music i danced to
You: did you have many dancers?
Marilyn Murphy: about 6
You: Why did you decide to start publishing Players?
Marilyn Murphy: ha ha, i was bored, and i read in the forums that no publication had made a go of it in sl// seemed that they were trying to publish how to guides and tech manuals and wondering why they did not sell
You: hahah
Marilyn Murphy: and i thought, doh…. uh.. what would sell
Marilyn Murphy: ha ha
You: did you have any experience in publishing?
Marilyn Murphy: none. Total experiment.
You: ok, so did you do this on your own or did you pull together some friends to help you?
Marilyn Murphy: well I hunted down people i knew and brow beat them into writing
You: hahaha
Marilyn Murphy: i did have a 1/3 partner on the first issue, but there were problems, and i took it solo after that
You: ok…In the Second Life Herald I speculated that this was the first erotic magazine of/for avatars. As far as you know is that true?
Marilyn Murphy: without a doubt
You: so Erogenous Zone came later?
Marilyn Murphy: yus
You: any other competition in SL now?
Marilyn Murphy: ha ha, i dont feel that i have any competition now
You: haha, *attempted* competition
Marilyn Murphy: someone runs to me and says did u hear they are putting out a new magazine…etc…etc… i hear that 6 times a month
You: lol
Marilyn Murphy: and i think i have seen like two others out personally for sale
You: ok, now how do you find people to be centerfolds or models or whatever we want to call them
Marilyn Murphy: i am approached by many
Marilyn Murphy: i will scout for it also
Marilyn Murphy: i like to find them on my own really
You: You look for talent in clubs?
Marilyn Murphy: no
Marilyn Murphy: just anywhere
You: do they get paid?
Marilyn Murphy: no
Marilyn Murphy: the first 3 issues did
You: they do it for fame?
Marilyn Murphy: no i dont think so
Marilyn Murphy: its fun
You: so they do it just for fun, yeah
Marilyn Murphy: yes
Marilyn Murphy: i do get turned down
Marilyn Murphy: it has happened
Marilyn Murphy: aimee weber wont do it, launa fauna wont, sigh, my holy grails
You: what does a copy of the magazine cost now?
Marilyn Murphy: 85 lindens
You: can you say anything about sales? Like how many copies you sell per issue?
Marilyn Murphy: i sell enuff to meet expenses
You: Well, what are the expenses?
You: not the numbers, but what costs do you run into
Marilyn Murphy: uploading photos, for every layout i upload over 20 pics, then i pay for articles
You: how much do you pay for articles?
Marilyn Murphy: depends on the article
You: do you pay by word?
Marilyn Murphy: nope
Marilyn Murphy: ha ha
You: ok, now I’ve only seen edition 6, and I sort of had the impression that its content was very much like that of a r/l mens magazine. is that just a function of the issue I saw?
Marilyn Murphy: they are playboy for sl
Marilyn Murphy: this mansion is the playboy mansion for sl
You: ok, so that is the intension. It’s a little surprising that you don’t have much content aimed at the bdsm lifestyle
Marilyn Murphy: i dont understand why that would be surprising i guess
You: well, there is a large community in the lifestyle here…
You: and you are a member…
You: and it seems that given the opportunity to start fresh you might do something different rather than something so similar to Playboy format
Marilyn Murphy: nope
You: well ok, why
Marilyn Murphy: it is not broken
You: so don’t fix it?
Marilyn Murphy: yus
You: Have you thought about releasing other magazines? — starting a publishing empire?
Marilyn Murphy: this is way more already than i really want// the work load is staggering, each model i publish in the magazine takes about 4 hours to shoot, edit and go over then file and name.
Marilyn Murphy: and that?s not dealing with writers
You: on average how many hours a day do you spend on the magazine?
Marilyn Murphy: go deal with writers for a day
Marilyn Murphy: oh, some days i just don?t do anything
You: but if you averaged it out over a month…
Marilyn Murphy: its like, okay i know i have a deadline i set
Marilyn Murphy: and because i am not getting some stuff i need i know its going to be missed
Marilyn Murphy: and i rush like mad to at least get the photography done
Marilyn Murphy: so for a week i work all day every day on it
Marilyn Murphy: then i chase writers when i am done with mine
Marilyn Murphy: then i publish
You: How does the distribution in game work?
Marilyn Murphy: i have friends who let me display in their stores,
Marilyn Murphy: and i go put up displays
You: How many distribution stands do you think you have?
Marilyn Murphy: about 25 i think
You: can you say whether your sales are in the hundreds of copies?
Marilyn Murphy: i can
You: ok… now when I posted a couple centerfolds on the Herald I got some comments…
You: some people say… this is sick. others say, this is silly. Any reaction to those reactions?
Marilyn Murphy: those people are not my customers
You: you don’t know, maybe they are, lol
Marilyn Murphy: could be
Marilyn Murphy: its fun
Marilyn Murphy: the bottom line is its fun, profit be damned
You: but let’s face it, for some people it?s not just cute, but is a masturbatory aid, no?
Marilyn Murphy: if they choose to use it in that fashion i am sure the girls would be very flattered
You: well have you thought about the differences between your erotica and Playboy? is there a difference?
Marilyn Murphy: none
You: no difference?
Marilyn Murphy: i pose girls in a tasteful way, i never show sex acts, its very mild porn, i don?t even think of it as porn,.. its not porn to me, its displaying talent, the ability to make an attractive female avatar with the tools provided, and i display that beauty at its best
You: well ok, but now some people will object like this: why use your talent to recapitulate the playboy aesthetic of women as childlike innocents? why not do something new different edgier?
Marilyn Murphy: ha ha, look, detractors complain about anything, you cant walk across the street without someone thinking u walk funny, let em say what they will, the girls who pose tell me its a lot of fun, its fun for me, and what are we here for???