As sex isn't really a requirement of MMO life, it would follow that fetishes wouldn't be either. Yet, fetishes are seen more that regular, "vanilla" around many MMO worlds. MMOs are places for people to explore new experiences, and fetishes just happen to be an experience many are interested in, but few have the means to jump into in real life.
In the world of robotics, there are three adjectives describe the type of jobs robots are made to replace humans in: "dirty", "dull", and "dangerous". Interestingly enough, these three adjectives could also be used to explain the world of MMO fetish exploration and play. However, most people don't like their enjoyments being described using any of those terms, so we'll use the contractions "wouldn't", "couldn't", and "shouldn't".
"Wouldn't": qDot usually gets motion sick in real life, so Second Life is the only way he can enjoy his spinning bondage wheel fetish
Picture taken at Strokerz, Eros (189, 185), Second Life
"Wouldn't" refers to situations and fetishes people are interested in, but may not want to jump into in real life quite yet. "Couldn't" explains kinks prohibited by either cost, laws of physics, or some other limiting factor that the player cannot achieve. Finally, "Shouldn't", either in the terms of the user's life context (prior relationships, community position, etc...), the bindings of the law (fetishes illegal in the geographic area of the user), or "permanent" (those things which can only be done once...). In this article, we'll explore examples of each of these types, as well as the people that play them.
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