Red Light Center Exposed — Part 4: Bringing It Home

by Jessica Holyoke on 28/05/08 at 1:52 pm

Red Light Center neko confused by SL interface, pay-as-you-go and lag a concern for Goreans
The Herald explores worlds beyond Second Life

by Jessica Holyoke, virtual world explorer

Jessi_in_rlc

I’m standing in a virtual world, populated by people who like virtual sex or at least virtual relationships. The question in my mind is, why aren’t they in Second LIfe? I asked that question of a few residents.

The first asked, what is Second Life? And I responded with the standard sales pitches. He asked, how much does it cost? And I said its free. Then he asked if you can do the same things that you could in RLC and I said, name a fetish. Luckily he said golden showers.

If you go to the sex places on SL, its quite easy to find animations and pose balls for someone to pee on you or for you to pee on them. I’m just glad he didn’t say ear sex. So I told him about all the possible animations and stations where peeing is involved. He was impressed, but I don’t know if he came over.

The only neko girl I met mentioned that she went to SL because she was a furry, something frowned upon and not supported by RLC, but she couldn’t figure out the interface. I volunteered to take her back to SL to help her out.

I took her to a sandbox and unloaded on her many many freebie boxes. When I left her, she was having a great time experimenting with her avatar. But when I tried to IM her later to see how she was doing, I never heard from her and I never saw her online again.

You might remember from Part 3 about my meeting Goreans in RLC. I saw a Master by himself one day and I introduced myself in a way that identified myself in a similar way. We got to talking and I asked about why he wasn’t on SL if he liked Gor? After going through the same, its free, and you can do so much with it. He downloaded the program and met me in world.

I helped show him around the many locales of SL Gor as well as the higher end clothing and weapons stores. One of the things he mentioned while we were shopping for clothes and hair for him is the big difference between RLC and SL. RLC is subscription based. For $20 per month, all the clothes are included. SL is pay as you go. It was easy to spend more than that for everything a new resident may want or need. (Yes there are always freebies, but to look good, you have to spend a bit more.)

Eventually, I showed him the sex differences. Including the fun of giving him a few pene that I keep on hand for "relations." (more than one penis). Again, in RLC, everything is included. I showed him the sex bed menus and the xcite equipment, and after a bit, he was able to use it. The drop down menus are not the same as RLC’s down the side choices, but they do allow for more variation.

One day, I was showing him around and he mentioned how exceptionally laggy SL was in comparison to RLC. I mentioned that there is no pre-rendering in SL so that drags down the computer. And that didn’t even start on the meters, HUD’s and other things running that would lag.

From time to time, I see him still on line. It sort of proves the point that you are more likely to stay if you come into SL with a goal.

6 Responses to “Red Light Center Exposed — Part 4: Bringing It Home”

  1. Gwyneth Llewelyn

    May 28th, 2008

    LOL Jessica, now that’s surreal… logging in to a virtual world targeted only for online sex, and getting people from there to join SL. M Linden will be so proud of you!

    Beware, though, RLC might ban you for illegitimate advertising for the competition… hehe

  2. anon

    May 28th, 2008

    >The only neko girl I met mentioned that she went to SL because she was a furry

    does not compute

  3. LAWL

    May 29th, 2008

    “>The only neko girl I met mentioned that she went to SL because she was a furry

    does not compute”

    LOL

    get a new calculator then, yours is broken

  4. Aya Pelous

    May 29th, 2008

    Should have taken pictures.

  5. TsarPacci_KDP

    May 30th, 2008

    I am a leader in RLC of a group called The Kingdom of Desire and Pain _KDP_. My name there is TsarPacci_KDP. I have been in RLC for 6 months now and enjoy it but wanted to see what SL was all about. There is a huge difference between the two. As SL has no limitations in what you want to be and do, RLC does.

    I like both for their own separate reasons. RLC simple to use and understand, fast loading of different rooms and the concentration of people are easier to find. SL allows unlimited imagination. Allows for what ever your desires are.

    I have been in SL for about 6 weeks and I am still having a hard time learning how everything work, But I see every day something new and exciting. If I had to give up one over the other, I would give up RLC. Once you make the investment in SL your investment is done you can be a free member and have all the fun you want. Now in SL I own land and building a house. I do need to pay month taxes on that, put that is my choice.

  6. Liana

    Aug 18th, 2008

    I used to go to RLC, then i went to a place called moove.
    RLC i was never fond of the limitations.
    Moove was graphicly unimpressive but used peer 2 peer which was awesome, a 9$ monthly fee and you dont pay for land on a server, but moove and RLC have things in common that SL is better at, graphics.

    If RLC or moove ever got graphicly better i would probebly leave SL, the lag is so anoying, losing clothes and other items is a pain, if i want to close one account and open another i lose everything, RLC and moove do not have that problem.

    But because SL is so much better graphicly and is so much more open and free, im going to be ther for some time to come.

    But SL watch out, as soon as someone makes something better and less restrictive, you will have to say bye bye to a lot of people.

    Id pay the monthly fee, but unless SL has a place for me already and i dont have to find land and buy it myself and pay taxes, im not worried about the monthly fee, ill just buy Ls with money when i need it for something.

    My point is this though, SL is much prettier.. and that is one of the main things that keep people there.. anyone else catches on then i see things changing.

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