For as long as civilization began, there was always a minority group challenging unjust laws. Sanctioned slavery is a thing of the past in America. Segregation in America was also put to an end for the most part and in modern times, the war against injustice rages.
All of the heinous practices above did not last for long in the U.S and rightly so. If such practices continue in other countries, such countries face fierce condemnation. Despite our hate for barbaric practices, one such RP encompasses all of the above which we’ve fought against.
“Why would people want to segregate and enslave themselves? Why would anyone want to enslave others,” is certainly the type of questions that would run through an observer’s mind-after putting down the pitch forks and trolling a couple of Gorean sims.
Gor is pretty damned controversial with one side proclaiming it as fantasy and the best RP in SL. Meanwhile the other side considers Gor misogynist and a prelude to you ending up in a garbage bag under Achkille’s basement. I hold no opinion on Gor other than the fact that Gor appears to be the last thing I’d ever want to try in SL. Since that’s the case, Gor will be my first foray in trying out stupid shit that people like-with an open mind of course!
After waiting 10 days for Search to finally load Gor info centers, I find myself at the Gorean Hub owned by Fabien. The behavior was typical of any SL infohub but it was tame compared to what I’m used to. In a sea of avatars and IMs broken due to lag, I finally ask the crowd for any Note cards since I sure as hell couldn’t find any hanging on the walls.
I was immediately buried under a truckload of Notecards and cordial IMs apologizing for the general behavior of the location and asking me WHY I’d be interested in Gor in the first place. Why not? The info center MUST be packed for a reason.
I was eventually led away by a “Free Woman,” and taken to a Gorean Welcome Center to get a better idea of Gor. I got stripped down to just my heart boxers and a barrel being that my old western get-up was not suitable for Gor. After much interviewing from this Free Woman, we both concluded that taking on the caste of a Scribe was best suited for me.
Gor is apparently caste-driven and big on order so I couldn’t be a bad ass writer that also smashed skulls in with my mighty hammer. *raises his hammer and lightning strikes in the background* My beautiful barrel and awesome heart boxers were not suitable for Gor either. Unfortunately, I was asked to pick up a Free Man’s newbie kit and found myself draped in something I would not be caught dead in.
Now looking like a sad runner-up for Zeus, I was given a short tour of a Gorean sim the Free Woman plays at while answering many questions along the way. Having no knowledge of Gor, I was even already offered a writer’s position for their RP newspaper! I was also offered to play as her child from a Companionship to explain my ignorance on Gor in RP. A Companionship is something like a business marriage for making babies and lasts a year. That’s three real life months for RP. Both offers had to be turned down as it’d only hurt their RP more to jump into roles with no prior commitment to the sim.
At the end of the tour and bidding the nice Free Woman farewell, I rip off my newbie toga as if it caught on fire. I immediately head to Vigo to grab something blue for a scribe since castes are color-coded.
Once I de-newbified myself for Gor, I wake between comas trying to read all 91 motherfucking Note cards summarizing the Gor Novels by John Norman. While I am still sane, many of the Gorean laws cause snickering and snark. Here are a few I’ll share:
4. It is illegal to take any maps of a city out of that city or for someone outside of the city to make their own map of the city.
So much for tourism.
12. Anyone who enters a city without permission is punishable by impalement.
Man, Gor really hates tourists.
20. Patents and copyrights are available in a city but their power extends only as far as the city walls.
Luckily Second Life creators don’t live on Gor.
As the day concludes, I am left surprised at how Gor did not immediately leave me a first impression of it being a cesspool crawling with twerps who’ve never laid hands on a woman in their real lives. I’ve lost count of how many seasoned Gor role players have stated that the novels are horribly written. I can believe that based on the summaries I’m struggling to finish yet Gor is very popular in SL and frequently praised as the best RP SL has to offer. One would also think the conditions of Gor would be quite oppressive yet people volunteer themselves to the roles in droves.
I hope I find out why the hell that is so as I experience something I never thought I’d bother with. Is Gor all it’s hyped up to be or will I end up in Achkille’s basement? *skims another Note card and falls back into a coma again*
