Another Perfect World

Description: Online virtual worlds have the potential to create a utopian paradise, a technological Eden, not possible in our real world. World of Warcraft, EVE, Lineage, Metaplace, UWorld, and Second Life all provide users with fantastic alternate realities that transcend day-to-day existence. These 3D games represent the last public spaces, environments where people can explore thoughts and push boundaries. The games are about the players and the digital worlds that they create and govern-places where they build democracies from dictatorships, enforce systems of justice, organize revolutions, and re-invent morality. The Internet’s alternate universes began with endless promise for experimentation and creativity, but are increasingly mirrors of our corporeal reality. Corporate investments and compliance with international laws ensure that creativity knows bounds. Avatar murder, cyber terrorism, and virtual crime guarantee that invention be policed. Total freedom remains an elusive dream that not even the virtual world can offer.