The trouble is that given an inch some people take a mile and that's what happened in The Sims Online
Below taken from BBC News 17th September 2004
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3645552.stm
"That impact, however, has worried some who fear the idea of a virtual life leads people to neglect their physical lives, or worse, gives people licence to escape real life laws and social constraints.
Last year, the darker side of Sims life was revealed by philosophy professor Peter Ludlow.
As a resident of Alphaville, the biggest city in Sims spin-off The Sims Online, he revealed the criminal elements and seedier activities that had bled into the "game", including the Sims Mafioso, prostitution, and thieves.
This shadier side of virtual life is something that concerns, but also interests Wright.
"It makes the game more interesting. It is pretty playful and harmless," he said.
"It is something our society is grappling with. There is a whole generation of kids who have real and virtual communities, which is almost alien to the generation above.
"We need to learn to live with it as a society." "
So is Will Wright right in 2019?
