My virtual life has just gotten more complicated. It isn't exactly life or death drama, but it does matter to me that my online life be peaceful and project-oriented rather than acrimonious and uninspired. I've tried other ways, and what really makes me feel like getting online is knowing I have something to build, or program, or debug. I talk to other players a lot, but basically, I have to have more to do than just sit in a chat room and babble.
This is why I like MOOs so much (for further explanation of MOOs, buzz by my MOO page). I can build an empire, create a robot, program a puppet who will take input from the room and repeat it in meaningful ways (like an ELIZA). There's always someone to talk to if I'm feeling chatty, but I don't have to wait around. I can recreate Kish, build the city of Tomorrow, or just decorate my room online. Great stuff for a writer. It's like writing a short story every day. I recommend MOOs. But back to my point.
Here's the deal. MOOs have wizards and players. Wizards run the place. They're caretakers, babysitters, programmers, diplomats, and teachers. The players are the people who populate the MOO. Figure about one wizard per hundred players. It's a coveted position. It means you have ultimate power. You can access any part of the database. You can deny access to a player, via newting and toading (yes, you get better if you get newted). It's a terrific responsibility, if you choose to think of it that way. I sure do. I'm a wizard at two MOOs. One of the MOOs I built from the ground up with a friend, and I've learned a hell of a lot of object-oriented programming by doing so (see my ELDERMOO page for the results).
So being a wizard is like making it to upper management, as far as the online virtual reality thing goes. I'm happy enough at NecroMOO, and of course ElderMOO is my ongoing project. Neither MOO is large. This is where it starts getting complicated. RiverMOO, number 3 of all the MOOs in terms of population, has invited me to become a wizard there. Aieee! What an offer! My vanity screams, "Yes, you fool! What an opportunity!" My common sense quietly suggests that I could make a real difference, have a major say-so, on one of the biggest MOOs going (and there are hundreds of the things). My conscience says, "You know you can't be a wizard at Necro and River both. You'd have to give up one." And that's where I start going into a tailspin.
I suppose it's like getting an offer from ConGlomCo. after having settled in comfortably in a small firm. There are pros and cons to both. But my main concern is this: will my boredom at having no real challenges on the small MOO be worse than potential bureaucratic hoohah at the big MOO? I don't know. I want to have my virtual life be fun and happy. I have enough real life baloney to deal with. So I'm pondering the offer, and being amazed that what happens online is as important to my peace of mind and well-being as what I do offline. It matters to me. It really does.
If I take the new offer, I think I'll change my online name. How does Raving Loon sound?