Since it's release last week, Google Lively has been getting a decent amount of attention for being a bit "too lively." At any given time a handful of rooms on the constantly updating popular rooms list are sexual in nature. Some example: "Bears: Gay bears and cubs. Hairy men,” “Pussy room. Let’s talk about…sex,” “Europe Sex Friends: Have Fun and Meetings in Real Life.” At first glance it would appear that Lively--which is little more than a 3D chat program--has already become a cybersex haven.
Heading into Lively for cybersex reveals another story, however. I write a weekly cybersex advice column for The Village Voice, so I'm often exploring new locales for internet trysts. Having heard about Lively's liveliness, I was excited to settle in with the new world this past weekend. To my disappointment, despite trying a number of rooms and a number of chat partners, I could never get a proper session of cybersex going.
Heading into Lively for cybersex reveals another story, however. I write a weekly cybersex advice column for The Village Voice, so I'm often exploring new locales for internet trysts. Having heard about Lively's liveliness, I was excited to settle in with the new world this past weekend. To my disappointment, despite trying a number of rooms and a number of chat partners, I could never get a proper session of cybersex going.
I don't blame my potential partners--who, in keeping with the generally frenetic air in Lively's rooms, had little to no attention spans. I don't blame the embedded videos, which were awkward to watch instead of sexy. I don't even blame the fact that finding a partner who spoke English was next to impossible. Instead I blame the game's chat program, which makes private chat such a pain that it would drive any cybersex enthusiast running.
Lively's lack of liveliness brings up an interesting question: what elements of a virtual world make it more or less conducive to cybersex? Emergent sex will pop up in any game that gives players even minimal freedom of speech. Still, some worlds lend themselves to it--like Second Life, where chat is uncensored, building pose balls is easy enough, and finding a private space is as simple as wandering into 95% of the world, which can often feel abandoned. Other worlds, like Club Penguin, have all but eliminated sex by carefully controlling communication and imagery.
Though Lively offers its users a good deal of freedom (at least in what they say; there's no nudity in the game), it seems to have quelled its potential sexiness with an annoying chat system. Then again, maybe other people are suffering through. Have any Terra Nova readers or writers have sex on Lively yet?
