There are copious YouTubers who stream "Let's Play Sims 4" videos and there's a small but passionate group of YouTubers who stream "Let's Play Second Life" videos, but this is a first for me: A YouTuber who streams "Let's Play Sims 4" videos through her Second Life avatar. (Watch above to see what I mean.)
"I’ve been working the last couple of months to create a platform (blog/YouTube) to experience both SL and learn about gaming through the lens of this online personality," explains YouTuber Meela Vanderbuilt. "My interest in gaming and even virtual platforms is so starkly opposite my RL career/life, so it’s just been fun to mix my interests and experience in content creation with SL... as Meela anyway!"
She does see quite a lot of overlap between how she plays Second Life over the last 7 years, and how she plays Sims 4 now:
" When I first came to SL," as she puts it, "I was very focused on role play (retro 1950s role play to be exact). Over the years, however, my general interests changed along with SL. After I stopped actively role playing I really just wanted to explore all that I could in Second Life, beyond shopping and sim hopping. I really got into business and also loved all the different things you could experience – flying, sailing, road tripping around the grid, vacations, etc. So Meela became a character always seeking adventure or some serious relaxation – especially because all of my businesses were really making SL feel like a job.
"The Sims is still fairly new to me but I am still playing out the type of story I used to love to role play in Second Life, but I get a bunch of NPCs to do it with! Which can be a lot easier and less time consuming than trying to coordinate with other residents. Hopefully, I can develop a fun storyline through The Sims… similar to the types of storylines I used to develop through role play in SL. Although right before diving into The Sims, I realized I was trying to make my Second Life more like The Sims – using HUDs like BeYou and SML. So, I do think the gameplay can be pretty similar."
Follow her on YouTube here. As the Second Life community has shifted more of its focus on social roleplay, it's not surprising to see the gameplay for SL and The Sims look more and more familiar.
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