Tim Edwards kindly points me to a new PC Gamer UK feature posted on C&VG, discussing some of the more suspect sexual practices in online world Second Life (text somewhat NSFW, obviously), and with notable timing given recent controversy over explicit content in the world.

Writer Graham Smith explains ruefully: "Sex in Second Life is more than mere mimicry of the real world: it's an entire industry unto itself. Here, in the bottom floor of this mansion by the sea, among the finely coiffed and immaculately undressed, my avatar looks gormless and crude. Designed primarily by hitting the randomise button too many times on the character creation screen and infused with life by clumsy, default animations, I look like an overly-stretched man stumbling with the wandering gait of Frankenstein's monster."

Unfortunately, Smith has some virtual, uhh, performance problems, thanks to some faulty 'add-ons', and concludes: "I can objectively understand how someone might enjoy this, how if they were to commit themselves to the fantasy then perhaps, yes, this could be exciting. But I feel detached, and silly, and self-conscious, and even a little bored. Were I to know this person, have an actual connection to them, then I can imagine this might be fun, an emotive process or an extension of our relationship. But it's not."