Ludo Social Experiences
Alternate title: An interesting evening in virtual space.
I thought having one-off memorable interactions in online games was completely dead. One of my local friends invited us to play VR Chat with them. I decided to get things running early and look into how it’s changed since I last launched several years ago. All of my three saved avatars were toast. I don’t think I’ve ever actually played with a headset either. I jumped into the only connection I had at the time and they linked me to the most popular avatar world (Thanks Bryan!). I spent a very long time looking at some goof avatars. I finally picked the low-poly G-Man model from Half-Life 1. Then the adventure had finally began. I started hopping into different worlds. I got kicked instantly from a few for having a “bad model”. I was also not going to start participating in the roleplaying. It was, however, pretty funny to witness.
Eventually I found the “new servers” tab and started scrolling. I happened upon some really weird locations. Places I cannot name. But there was one that was sticking out to me: McLovin. The whole world was the repeated photo, adjusted to be a perfect headshot, of McLovin from the hit movie Superbad. There were markers to draw with, a screen to play videos on (I put the scene from McLovin on), and a beer pong table with Fogell’s face on it. It said there was one person on it, but when I joined there was nobody to be found. I started playing beer pong with myself until someone joined, a what I assume to be a modern Counter-Strike Counter terrorist. I told them this was not my world. They made odd hand gestures at me. Then they started drawing. Swirling around in circles with a red marker, until they made a tiny red Christmas-tree cocoon. It was mezmorizing.
They gestured at me to try, so I grabbed a green marker and attempted one of my own with a mouse. It was definitely one of the cocoons of all time. We played some beer pong. Real bonding was happening. Then I got invited to their rooftop home. I was welcomed in silently. Then MCR was put on. I watched them play pool for a minute before they scampered off and started grabbing pillows. I explored the home and all it had to offer (to someone without a Patreon code or whatever (I cannot believe that’s even a thing)), spun the dare wheel, jumped off the roof a few times, even found an original beer pong table where I was able to plop all the ping pong balls into the opposing cups without a problem. Then I was found and gestured to follow, to see their creation: a pillow fort. I was so impressed. The pillows were stacked vertically, creating a sort of igloo of cushions. A half sphere of pillows facing the outer windows. I crouched in the corner, typing out my shock and awe. They then proceeded to take out their pistol and shoot all over as they were finally completed with their goal. I was so happy to be a part of this process, to be invited into their space, and to have this cozy corner made with me in mind. An entirely wordless experience. It being very late, I unfortunately said my goodbyes. They gave me a thumbs up. I picked the wave action and promptly fumbled trying to exit the game, until I Alt-F4’d and watched the game gracefully exit. I will definitely never forget this experience. These interactions are happening all of the time, and they can happen to you too.
Thanks, uzi. I’m sorry I didn’t get any screenshots, but I at least got you added to my friends list.
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