The Alphaville Herald

30 Responses to “Naturelle Santos”

1. 

   Queenie Extraordinaire
   

   Dec 16th, 2006
   

   What a beauty!! Not just her gorgeous exotic looks but as a person as well! I have had the pleasure of meeting and working with Naturelle in the modeling world and let me tell you, she is one to watch!!

   Thrilled to see that Mari back to her Post 6 features too! Top-notch as always
   ~Q~
2. 

   Urizenus
   

   Dec 16th, 2006
   

   I think this is Marilyn’s best shoot so far, which is saying a lot. But one thing I was interested in here was Naturelle’s integration of Myspace with her Second Life. Is that a common thing to do? I guess on reflection it seems like the obvious thing to do, but I was wondering how widespread the practice was — integrating Myspace friendship webs with one’s Second Life social life.
3. 

   Petey
   

   Dec 16th, 2006
   

   MySpace profiles for Second Life avatars.

   There is a fork in the road of the Internet. Some use it to augment their life, and some choose to replace their lives with fantastical ones.

   If Second Life hadn’t already proven it, the fact that there are now people utilizing social networking services for their false selves certainly signals y’all are traveling down the latter path.

   And if you cock an ear to the wind behind you, you might be able to hear my voice, echoing shrilly in the wind:

   “YOU’RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!”
4. 

   marilyn murphy
   

   Dec 16th, 2006
   

   well, petey.

   what your describing i think is over use of the internet to satisfy something missing in ones life or internet addiction or something. blah, blah.
   yes i meet this type. obviously you have. i dont think they are overruning the place nor do i think its as damning as alcohol addiction or even television addiction.
   yes you target a sub class of internet users and warn them. most dont fit that description tho.
   why you chose this particular column to bring up this subject is sort of peculiar.
   Naturelle is a very open and interesting person with a huge real life. her opening a channel to her myspace is just letting her meet more people. reading any more into it than that is just not neccesary.
5. 

   Petey
   

   Dec 16th, 2006
   

   With alcoholics, the phrase “hide inside a bottle” is metaphorical.

   People really do hide in Second Life. Anyone who buys into the mental model that Second Life is anything more than a video game is fundamentally irrational. I have some modicum of respect for Anshe, because she’s been able to profit off of the need of others to establish themselves in a virtual world.

   Baku gets a lot of crap because people in Baku don’t take Second Life seriously–because it’s all a big game to them. I think they’re the only ones who have it right. These are people who explore the creative and fantastical opportunities Second Life offers without losing sight of the fact that *it is a video game*.

   A huge real life? Correct me if I’m wrong–she is not actually a model, is she? Her entire “modelling career” is entirely in Second Life, right?
6. 

   marilyn murphy
   

   Dec 16th, 2006
   

   i think you’re simply confusing a share of suspension of dis-belief with addictive and unhealthy behavior. there are always the snobbish who look down their noses at those who wish to let loose and enjoy the fantasy. they sit back and gather a feeling of superiority from pointing out its just a game and you other people are taking it to seriously so you are fools and we are not.
   to carry your point to its obvious conclusion now, you are unable to buy or sell anything in second life, you cannot play any mmorpgs, your not able to read novels and identify with the characters, after all they are just words on a page. you cannot identify with or enjoy any characters in any movie because after all its all fake emotion and actors made many months prior to your viewing. forget about enjoying a live play, omigod!
   unfortunately for you, entertainment, in most forms, asks us to allow a bit of fantasy into our lives.
7. 

   Petey
   

   Dec 16th, 2006
   

   It’s interesting that you presume a writer incapable of enjoying the written word, or someone who works for a comedy website incapable of enjoying entertainment.

   There is a fine line between escaping into fantasy and slipping into delusion. The first is a temporary distraction from the iniquities of life. The second is a surrender.

   All I’m asking is that you consider the possibility that not only pretending to be a model, but inserting that fictional creation into a space designed for human interaction, is a large enough suspension of disbelief to qualify for the latter.

   I’m not categorically opposed to Second Life. I’m categorically opposed to those who do not suspend their disbelief, but who surrender to it.
8. 

   Artemis Fate
   

   Dec 16th, 2006
   

   I think the idea is, don’t take Second Life seriously, take the people IN second life seriously, whether or not Second Life is a game or a “virtual platform” the people in Second Life are real enough.

   That aside, Naturelle has a very pretty av.
9. 

   Petey
   

   Dec 16th, 2006
   

   Yeah, I recognize there are real people on the end of it.

   But it’s hard for me to take crazy people seriously. Not saying you’re crazy. But the Herald covered my story where the Linden Labs employee babyfur threatened me.

   He’s crazy.

   Naturelle has a beautiful avatar. That’s a work of art and whoever did it has excellent aesthetes. I’ve never seen nipple rings that looked so nice.

   That said, I think that the fact that “she” has a mySpace account is a symptom of that surrendering to fantasy that I spoke of earlier.
10. 

    Urizenus
    

    Dec 16th, 2006
    

    I don’t know if the Myspace account is in the name of Naturelle or her typist. If it is in the name of the typist, then this is kind of moot. If Naturelle has the Myspace account then I’m inclined to say so what? There is no law that says your RP has to end at the borders of Second Life. Avatars are portable, and can move from TSO to Second Life and can even post “in avatar” on blogs like the Second Life Herald. Is Myspace now sacred ground where avatars may not tread?
11. 

    Artemis Fate
    

    Dec 16th, 2006
    

    Well certainly whether or not you want to take a person like Captain Loaded-pants seriously is more of a character judgement than it has anything to do with whether SecondLife or all the people in general seriously.

    I didn’t actually look at her Myspace thing until just now. It’s not entirely uncommon for people to have SL blogs, and it seemed to me based on the definitions that she was refering to her real life more than her second life, though using her second life avatar for photos. But that was after a very quick skimming because after reading the long list of sexual conquests i’d had enough.

    The song was pretty though.
12. 

    Petey
    

    Dec 16th, 2006
    

    Uri–

    Your RP? Roleplay?

    Yes it does have to end, Uri. Roleplaying outside of the game is not “roleplaying.” It is “delusional.”

    Avatars are portable? In the sense that they are recognized as being assigned to an actual person on the other end of the computer network. We need avatars, presumably, because we can’t inject our physical selves into virtual reality. Posting “in avatar” on the Herald is kind of questionable, but everyone realizes that the Herald is kind of a gimmick. It only pertains to Second Life, and if it wasn’t required to exist outside of SL by the technological requirements or cultural convenience of the game I doubt it would.

    On the other hand, injecting a false person into a social networking system like mySpace–which convention suggests should be used to facilitate and augment real life relationships–shows that the person in question believes their in-world character to have some sort of legitimacy outside of the game.

    It would be just as crazy as, say, a Star Wars fan creating a mySpace account for Luke Skywalker because they enjoyed roleplaying as Luke Skywalker in LARP parties. LARPing is a bit sad, but at least it is generally limited to the constraints of the game. But pretending that you’re something you’re not is a fundamentally loony proposition, indicative of an irrational disconnect between perception and reality. This is why I laugh when Prokofy claims, in a Second Cast podcast, that “I think I really do look like my Second Life avatar.”

    Artemis:

    It’s one thing to have a blog commenting on your experiences in Second Life. That’s a little quirky, but not weird–it’s like a fiction fan commenting on the experience of a particularly good book he or she read.

    But as you seem to have noticed, that mySpace is not a comment *on* an experience, it is a indulgence *in* that experience within a medium that has no logical association with Second Life.
13. 

    Urizenus
    

    Dec 16th, 2006
    

    >Roleplaying outside of the game is not “roleplaying.” It is “delusional.”

    But you presume that the game can’t extend to myspace or wherever. I don’t see any law that says this must be so, nor do I see that you are a trained mental health professional in a position to tell someone who extends the reach of their avatar that they are delusional. I can’t imagine that *any* serious mental health professional would say such a thing, and if they did I would be very interested to see one single study that supported their claim.

    The other thing is that our second life avatars are not the only avatars we put forth as we go about our business in this world (including cyberspace). Each of us have lots of avatars, or if you prefer guises or modes of presentation. There is a great distance between playing a role online and elsewhere in life on the one hand, and being delusional on the other. Delusional is when your dog and your TV start talking to you, it isn’t when you put a picture of your avi on myspace.
14. 

    marilyn murphy
    

    Dec 17th, 2006
    

    well, i think im gonna put my avi on myspace just so pompous self important individuals who are prepared to accuse others of mental instability can talk about me.
    it doesnt matter what they say when they talk about me, just so long as they talk about me.

    side note… miss usa is about to be dethroned for bad behavior. watch her career blossom and be much more noteworthy than it would have if she had quietly finished her reign.
15. 

    Petey
    

    Dec 17th, 2006
    

    Uri–

    Yeah, I assume that the game can’t extend to mySpace, because mySpace =! Second Life.

    Now, if you met someone through Second Life, enjoyed their conversation, and decided to friend them on mySpace as a way of maintaining contact, I think that’s fine. My problem is when your character in Second Life extends beyond the game, because then it *isn’t* roleplaying within a game anymore. Then it’s roleplaying in other environs, and those environs, in aggregate, constitute a confusion of identity.

    It’s like being an actor who is never able to break out of character.

    I appreciate this dialogue, by the way. We may not agree, but I’m glad we’re civil, and I enjoy the discourse. Trust me, not all goons who have negative opinions of certain applications or incarnations of Second Life culture are spiteful beings.

    Marilyn–

    You’ve every right to do whatever you wish, but I reserve the right to find your behavior ridiculous, and as long as you perform it in a public forum I can make comments about it in public
16. 

    Urizenus
    

    Dec 17th, 2006
    

    Petey I still don’t get why you think my game can’t be played in Second Life + myspace. There are natural limits to where I take Uri (I don’t take him into the classroom for example), but the idea that Myspace is off limits strikes me as arbitrary in the extreme. Joseph Jaffe and I talked about whether Uri or PL should appear on his podcast. That wasn’t a discussion about whether I should chose to be delusional — it was a discussion about the reach of the avatar. In the end PL did the interview, but Uri phoned in with a comment.
17. 

    evatal
    

    Dec 17th, 2006
    

    > injecting a false person into a social networking system like mySpace–which convention suggests should be used to facilitate and augment real life relationships–shows that the person in question believes their in-world character to have some sort of legitimacy outside of the game.<

    I thought I’d inject my two cents here where no one asked for them: I think that the idea that most interactions in social networking systems (like myspace) though they may pose as ‘real’ or ‘actual’ or even just ‘not roleplaying’ are, in effect, a kind of roleplaying. Just like any roleplaying which is rewarding and fun for more than a week, non-game social networks like myspace, youtube, etc. allow us to present ourselves in a particular way. Sometimes, this means deleting bits of ourselves we don’t like (like the shape of our bodies below our chest, or our stutter, or our real names, or our usual shyness). Sometimes it means experimenting with entirely different surface identities (like avatars, or character play). I am not convinced that there is a hard-and-fast line between presenting an avatar and a fake name, and presenting a super-hot picture of your boobs and all a bunch of fakey interaction with people you don’t know very well or at all. I think that our old friend Henry Jenkins might claim that we’re doing essentially the same thing in both cases, just in different ways. And I think that what we’re doing is playing with the construction of our identity(ies) and seeing what kinds of responses we get.

    So, to respond more directly Petey, I’m not sure that it’s reasonable to claim any of the following: a) that avatars are ‘false persons’ or, b)people on myspace are ‘real persons’ or, c)that role-playing (of any kind or to any extent) necessarily gets in the way of ‘facilitating and augmenting real life relationships’. (I also think that perhaps you’ve an oversimplified picture of the vastness in kind of facfic, since *plenty* of role-playing goes on there!)

    I suppose that this turned out to be more like a buck fifty than two cents. =-)
18. 

    evatal
    

    Dec 17th, 2006
    

    Oh and a big chunk of myspace, youtube and secondlife is now used to promote ‘reallife’ business, and so these platforms just act as super-cool and oh-so-hip advertising; of course these people aren’t roleplaying in the same ways I was rambling about above, they’re just selling themselves straightforwardly. -et-
19. 

    Naturelle Santos
    

    Dec 17th, 2006
    

    On first I’m sorry for my poor english, it’s not my first language so please forgive my mistakes.
    Sayed this, I’m so glad about what my articule caused, I’d never expected it, thanks all. I bet with Marilyn when she sayes “it doesnt matter what they say when they talk about me, just so long as they talk about me”, of course I’d prefer if they sayes something nice, anyway I can’t find nothing so bad and offensive in this discussion.
    But really I don’t understand if the problem is about who is behind an avatar or if the fact that this avatar shouldn’t go outside SL or if SL is a game or something more.
    I can just talk about my SL approach, for sure it’s not the rule, I imagine any of us there will have a different relationship with it. Well, as I told in the articule, SL for me is a wonderful platform to get in touch with people, in part it’s real life and in part it’s a game, to play it I need an avatar, and I made it in the way I feel (must be sincere, a little more breast:). Behind that avatar I’m real, with my feelings, my mind, my passions, who knows me can tell it. I give to my avatar my personality and my real background because it’s me and I think to be a person enough interesting to do it, of course keeping my personal real life private.
    If the discussion is about the fact that in real life I could be a sexy beautiful black girl or not, I don’t want to convince nobody, I dont feel this need, I just need to be honest with myself on first so then I can be with everyone else, I have some really good and intimate friends here and I’d couldnt to take them in trick, I spend too much time with them. And, really, I’m so boring by people that doesn’t accept the fact that a woman, if nice, couldn’t has any skill, that I stopped to be worried with it by long time.
    You’re right Petey, I’m not a model in real life, I don’t pretend to be and I’d never would be, I dont like that world, I do it here because dont need to use drugs, to be “nice” with someone or to be anhoressic, I just can live the best side of it.
    About the myspace page… why I couldn’t have it? I dont use someone other name Petey (Luke Skywalker or so on) I use mine, I take care of my page myself Urizenus, I have the possibility to add my (real) favourite music, my colours, make my profile visible to more people and bring part of them to Second Life world, most of people I keep in contact there have no idea about what SL is and, anyway they treat me as a person, not an avatar. Sure, I confess Artemis, in my real life I had less then 15 sexual partners as I wrote in my page, but, please, look at the substance of the issue. Don’t tell me that you prefer that boring profiles without any kind of informations or pics on it.
    To conclude, I just want to say “take it easy” guys, the problems are outside here, the real world is so brutal and violent and here we have a “parallel world” where people from different countries, ethnicity, religions come with a big will to communicate, doesnt matter if they’re beautiful, ugly, furs, myspaced or anything else. If it gives joy to them…
20. 

    Petey
    

    Dec 17th, 2006
    

    Sorry Uri, I remain unconvinced. But at least we can have this discourse…I can’t talk to Prokofy anymore, since she just deletes any of my comments anytime they’re posted, regardless of their tone or content
21. 

    marilyn murphy
    

    Dec 17th, 2006
    

    naturelle, your so cool. yours is a case where the avatar indeed reflects the beauty of ones soul.
22. 

    Tony Giaccone
    

    Dec 17th, 2006
    

    Wait, let me get this right, you’re complaining that an avatar in secondn life has a myspace page, because the second life character is fictional.. and what percent of myspace is fictional? I’d bet somewhere between 25 and 45% of myspace is for made up characters.. in real life, how is that different?
23. 

    Zulema
    

    Dec 18th, 2006
    

    I really feel I need to add something to the discussion here, especially in favour of Naturelle and everybody else that feels of Second Life like here. You could easily say I’m not a neutral person, because I also use my avatar name to post here. But then again, who uses his/her real name to post on a forum?

    I just wanted to talk about the fact that people use their avatar for a myspace profile, or for whatever they feel like using it. It’s so easy to say that roleplaying must remain within the boundaries of the software where it originated (whether that is Second Life or any other MMORPG). I believe that everything that relies on human interactions on the web (MySpace, datingsites, chatboxes, …) can be considered as some kind of roleplay. You show just an (ideal) image of yourself or the way you want yourself to be. Even in real life, in relationship to other people, most of us show only a part of theirselves. Why is it then that an avatar in Second Life can’t be just a part of someone’s personality?

    I was so lucky to get to know Naturelle in Second Life and we got very close. I do realise we never met in real life, and maybe she can be totally different then what I imagine her to be. But even if she has only 50% of the sincerety she has in Second Life, I am convinced she’s a very beautiful person.

    And I must agree with her if she considers Second Life to be more than just a computergame. I truely believe that Second Life is always what you want to make of it. For me a game has always its boundaries, whether it’s because of the story or because of its possibilities. But when I log in to Second Life I know I’ll get in contact with many different people from all over the world. Some are just there for the game element, others are there like me, to get to know people and discuss about many different subjects. I must admit that Second Life is much more attractive than other platforms, just because of the roleplaying and game element. But I don’t know any other possibility to go to a beach in the morning (when it’s cold in my own little country) and drink coffee (real or virtual) and talk with 5 or 6 people that are many thousands of kilometers separated from eachother. It’s been a wonderful experience…

    One more thing I really need to say: I’m convinced that some people now will say that I’m just living a fantasy, that it’s crazy what I’m saying here and that I don’t know the difference between reality and imagination. But isn’t it wonderful to see what imagination can lead to? And for you who think that I don’t know what I’m talking about, I’m not just somebody who sits behind a computer to pass time. I have my own internet business, which is still growing. It’s not a big company or so, but it gives me a good and stable income. And I have experienced the growth of the internet since 1997… Believe me, I really know the difference between fiction and reality.
24. 

    Bob Evans
    

    Dec 20th, 2006
    

    So, I’m I beating off to a man, or a furry, or a diaper-wearing neckbeard who gets off while choking himself with a pink feather boa?
25. 

    Urizenus
    

    Dec 20th, 2006
    

    Of course you are Bob, this is the metaverse! Isn’t it romantic? Excuse me now, I have to go buy some lotion.
26. 

    Alex Fitzsimmons
    

    Dec 21st, 2006
    

    My, what a collection of interesting comments. It makes me wonder what kinds of comments I’m going to draw when I do this little Post 6 Grrrl thing myself. Oh, Naturelle — nice av. =)
27. 

    zak
    

    Apr 23rd, 2007
    

    http://www.interactiveanddesign.com
28. 

    SuezanneC Baskerville in SL, SuezanneCB in Hipihi
    

    Sep 22nd, 2007
    

    The idea that there’s something wrong, odd, peculiar, or suggestive of being delusional, etc., about getting a myspace account for your Second Life avatar strikes me as being rather silly.

    Here’s my myspace url: http://www.myspace.com/suezannecbaskerville . Not much of a myspace page, is it?

    I have a facebook account too: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=763254988 .

    I have several blogs, a wordpress one, a blogspot one, a Window Live Spaces one, one on Cnet Asia, umm, let’s see…. one on Metaversed …. I have several web pages too, all under the name SuezanneC Baskeville or some variation therof. I’m in Hipihi as SuezanneCB, in Kaneva as Suezanne and SuezanneC, I’m Suezanne in Multiverse, SuezanneC Baskerville in Tabula Rasa, Suezanne in Taikodom. I’m in LinkedIn as SuezanneC Baskerville.

    I’m in Mashables http://my.mashable.com/suezannecbaskerville

    I can’t really remember everywhere I’m Sue Baskerville at.

    Fortunately for the rest of the world, I don’t have enough to say to fill up all these places with words.
29. 

    sohan
    

    Nov 3rd, 2007
    

    Hi,

    I visited your site and liked the contents so would like to propose linkexchange partnership with your site. As you probably already know, link popularity is a major factor in getting a site noticed by the search engines and getting traffic onto that site.An additional link would help both you and us to get more traffic.

    If you accept this link exchange partnership then place the under mentioned details in your link page:

    1. Title: Speed Dating Singles Events
    Description: Speed Dating Singles Events

    Reciprocal Link :- http://www.speeddatinginc.com/dating-guide.html

    2. Title: Best Online Dating Services
    Description: Best Online Dating Services

    Reciprocal Link :- http://www.speeddatinginc.com/dating-guide.html

    And Let me know when our links are live, send over your information and I’llgladly place your link to our above site within 12 hrs.Looking forward to hear from you soon.

    Thanking You!

    Link Exchange Manager
    Best Regardas,
    sohan
    sohan.super@gmail.com
30. 

    shriram sharma
    

    May 28th, 2008
    

    The idea that there’s something wrong, odd, peculiar, or suggestive of being delusional, etc., about getting a myspace account for your Second Life avatar strikes me as being rather silly…

Leave a Reply