When I first logged in after downloading the client, I felt weird. There I was in the form of a 3D cartoon person, running around by hitting the arrow keys on my keyboard. I could change my hair, my clothes, my race, everything that contributed to my virtual appearance. It was the Spring of 2008, so the concept of virtual worlds was not new at all. Well, to me, it was…and I loved it. It gave me a certain sense of being able to stay private. I wasn’t hiding my personality, but I know that I didn’t have to share it either if I didn’t want to.

I went to a place called the Welcome Center. It was crowded and full of volunteers whose task was to teach newbies. I saw avatars dancing around, hugging, kissing, and juggling with colorful balls. People were chatting and laughing by typing LOL. I had to look that up. Although I got some surprising offers (“wanna fuck?”), the atmosphere was delightful. I joined the conversation in local chat, and soon I figured out the rules and options. Yeah, the main feature, which was virtual sex, costs money. Getting to specific places or rooms and private messaging were also only available for VIP members. What can I say? I’m glad I’m not a cat because my curiosity would have killed me. I upgraded the next day. When a male approached me in a private message and tried to seduce me, I gave in. I giggled the whole time while our clumsy avatars were enjoying themselves.

During this time, I had been living with my husband in a long-distance relationship. I told him about Utherverse. I must have been convincing because he joined immediately. I’m telling you, it had changed our relationship. No, I’m not talking about virtual sex…okay, not only. Even just sitting next to each other in a virtual park where pink and yellow butterflies were fluttering around made us flutter too. More importantly, we joined a community that we didn’t have in reality. I lived on the other side of the big pond.  We didn’t have mutual friends. Virtuality had become a reality. We formed friendships with people who had similar things in common. Soon we also developed a sense of seeing red flags. The fake profiles. Spammers and players who got a thrill out of lying and hurting others who called them friends. They didn’t care about the fact that there was a real person attached to each avatar. Hearts broke, and profiles got banned all the time.

A few months later, we both joined the group of volunteers who helped new members. In November, we got married on a pretty little beach in the presence of our friends. I freaking loved Utherverse!

Months had passed, and the world changed. The community fell apart once Utherverse introduced the Zabys (apartments) and other properties we could buy and decorate. Private clubs were born, and the people left our beloved public places for them. Cliques and families formed rapidly. It got even “worse” when we got permission to be creators…creators of outfits, tattoos, hairs, and whatnot. Everything expanded, we were like kids in a candy store. That’s when members had started earning money, and again, that affected the societies inside of Utherverse.

After I moved to the other side of the Earth to finally live with my husband, he quit. He lost interest because to him, Utherverse was only a tool that allowed him to be with me. I stayed. My creative mind was terribly hungry. I tried many options from designing clothes to decorating my apartment. I was also volunteering that filled another kind of hunger: teaching and helping others. But…my enthusiasm faded eventually. Without a community, I wasn’t able to feel the vibe I fell in love with. So after 4 years, the frequency of my visits drastically decreased. I let my VIP membership run out, and I only logged in a couple of times a year. In 2020, something brought me back. Something called COVID-19.