From: Jeff.Bone@EBay.Sun.COM (Jeff Bone)
Subject: Identity in VR
Date: Mon, 16 Sep 91 11:15:25 PDT



sr3j+@andrew.cmu.edu (Soren Renner) writes:

>...total anonymity is very limiting, and boring after too long .
>In our opinion, this is a powerful argument against allowing unlimited
>control over personal identity in VR. Without persistence of identity,
>there can be no nontrivial social behavior.

Actually, there are two separate issues here:  transparency of identity
(the ability to determine who the Real Person you are talking to is)
and persistance of identity.

Again, the MUD world serves as a useful reference for understanding this
issue.  In the first few truly "popular" MUDs (TinyMUD, TinyHELL, and
Islandia), "true identity" was generally a closely held secret.  Many
of the participants absolutely refused to reveal who they actually were
or even what sex.  This had the amusing side-effect of producing a
Lesbian subculture on Islandia which was almost entirely composed of RL
males doing virtual gender-switching.

In spite of this anonymity, significant relationships were formed and
pursued though the medium of the network.  In fact, social interaction
is the primary reason Tiny* type MUDs exist.

MUD participants today tend to be far more open about their RL identities.
This was probably caused by two things:  "bleedover" of virtual relationships
and emotion into RL and a growing trend of travelling to visit people in 
RL who one has only met virtually.

As for persistance of identity, I can only agree:  the fact that MUD
participants adopt identities which persist across time and "space"
(different MUDs) validates this.  Even if you don't know who the RL
person at the other end of the wire is you still have the assurance that
you have in fact talked to that particular "character" before.

The worst problem with allowing participant control over virtual identity
is "spoofing".  One participant may maliciously adopt another participant's
identity and proceed to behave in such a way as to alienate others or
trash the spoofed participant's reputation.  In socially-oriented VR such
as Tiny*, behavior, ettiquete, and reputation are the common currency:
such a system relies on the notion of persistant and unspoofable identity.

Just some thoughts.  This is an interesting issue.

JB