Discover Gorean University
I wanted to tell you about a place I’ve known for a very long time, but which I really discovered recently, thanks to Lyra; and for anyone here who’s never heard of that first name, Lyra is my play partner on SL and my Mistress on Gor. You’ll find her on my profile and, yes, I adore her. And Lyra has a particular trait – especially compared to me: in the Gor SL universe, she has plenty of friends, from the most casual role-playing communities to the most orthodox BTB lovers and lifestylers. In fact, in the community of people who love the world of Gor, Lyra appreciates everyone, provided that everyone is open-minded, caring and tolerant.
And so, among her long-time friends are the creators of Gorean University! So, I knew about it. That’s the “university” part. Just as I knew Port Haifa and I know Gorean Campus, I had visited Gorean University many times, which as its name suggests, has an edutainment function: to offer courses and training to discover the world of Gor and all the roles you can play in it, to learn more and to cultivate yourself enough to improve your experience as a participant.
The only thing is, as I was limited to French-speaking sims and communities for a very long time, and didn’t speak English well enough to follow the courses and lectures, well, my curiosity pretty much stopped there.
Gorean University is a very old sim… I mean, the place and the organization are 16 years old, older than my age as a Second Life player! It was born of a simple idea: a player who was discovering Gor and saw the richness (and complexity) of her role as a kajira in the world of Gor wanted to share her experience, to help other players who wanted to get started in the world of Gorean roleplay. She spoke to her Gor master about it… and the sim was born!
As for me, I make do with a blog and encyclopedic articles; as for them, they have several sims, a web-radio, classrooms, conference rooms, a sim with a decor that reproduces the different environments and cultures of Gor’s world, and a main space with Gorean roleplaying sims and stores, to discover, get started and find your own community! Part of the sim is even dedicated to more private spaces and will soon host a small village for an RP community. More on that soon.
Even though attendance at Gor’s roleplay sims has dropped (in fact, it’s just that Second Life isn’t as successful a medium as it used to be, and there are far fewer people there now), Gorean University has never closed its doors. So, sure, there aren’t tons of people in the open classes during the week, or the Sunday evening debates. But those classes and debates are open! They’re interactive, so anyone can come along, listen, learn and take part! On weekdays, there are, I’d say two, or three? Mainly on Monday (6:30 pm SLT) and Thursday (noon SLT), but on other weekdays too! And the Sunday evening debate, which is often fascinating, and where a few slaves (including me when I’m there) dance to music (very nice!) between the different moments of the debate… where we participate! Yeah, they’re debates: just because I’m playing a slave doesn’t mean I have to keep my mouth shut! When I was talking about open-mindedness, benevolence and tolerance earlier, you know? Well, that’s exactly it!
So I can only encourage you to come and discover. All you have to do is join the Gorean University group, here on SURL! You’ll get all the info and announcements! As for the sim, the codes of conduct demand a minimum of respect and politeness: you’ll come across people who stay in role constantly, others who don’t. I can walk around in urban clothes as well as in Kajira, depending on what’s going on (I’m not going to turn up in dance club clothes in the middle of a lecture or a debate on Gor, blurting out: “Hi mates!” for example!). The rule is really that of respecting Gor etiquette, depending on the context, but, above all, an ethic of respect, politeness and benevolence. Yeah, exactly what I love!
Besides, Gorean University needs you, just as you need it. A master is nothing without his slave, a school nothing without its students… and the reverse is totally true! You can come, find out about courses and roleplay training in the world of Gor, take part in free classes and debates, learn, meet, understand and build relationships. Without you, there would be no classes. But without Gorean University, there’s no place where people can devote whole evenings to helping, advising and welcoming you. So join the group, and come along! You’ve got nothing to lose but a little time, if you don’t like it!
Oh, yes, and I promised the leader of the sim that I’d say what’s wrong, because I never give an opinion without being objectively critical on these points: we need to redo the decor! I find the sim’s reception area lacking in activity information panels and arrows to direct people to important places, and the decor has aged, it’s very old Second Life, and really deserves a nice modern polish and a bit of clearer reorganization. But frankly, it’s no big deal! There’s no lag and you don’t get lost either!
Link for Gorean University group : secondlife:///app/group/aee97ae8-331a-347a-ccb1-f0e383013854/about
Gorean University landmark : http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Serendipity%20Falls/14/85/25
Contact admins/owners : Black Ort, io Cloud
So there you have it: come along and I’ll be delighted to meet you and welcome you !!
PS: uh, to my great surprise, and I thank them infinitely for their trust, I’ve become a member of the staff, and therefore one of the moderators of Gorean University. So don’t hesitate to contact me in-game (Psychee Soulstar) !
