*sips beer*, *sigh*, "So how you been, buddy?"
"Fine, you?", casts line, "plunk!", *Icelandic belch*

Thanks to multi-person online role-playing games such as Everquest, you can even meet at that fishing hole as a scantily-clad sparkling blue elf dressed in tooth floss-like garb or as a muscle-bound barbarian wearing nothing but a kilt. Ah, the internet! The only problem with Everquest is that while people still have their private naughty sex chats, that's about as far as things can go. There are rules, there are restrictions and everything is moderated.

Imagine now, if you will, a different fantasy game. There are still monsters to battle and quests to fulfill, but the fantasies are not limited. This is a no-holds barred land where sexual taboo doesn't exist. In this game, a BDSM scene would be just fine. And if you've had a sort of Viking yearning to rape and pillage that little town on the coast, that's your prerogative.

Patric Lagny, the developer for Sociolotron, wants to break the barriers the Everquest sets for its players. "I see it as an environment where you should be able to do anything you want. It goes beyond the real and gives people the opportunity to do things you couldn't in reality."

Players are warned up front that they will meet characters such as Lord Foucault, a rapist. "My character ... does it for a few reasons. He does it for power and is motivated by opportunity. If he sees a girl that interests him and he can have sex with her, he does."

In an age where videogames are breaking barriers all the time, this does seem like the obvious next step. Grand Theft Auto, for example, is a worldwide smash hit. This is a game in which the player is encouraged to help the mob, shoot people, run drugs, steal cars and have quickies with working girls in the back of the car to regain health. Why is this game so popular? Because previously, such adult-themed content was taboo in the gaming world.

The obvious argument against games like this is, "It's irresponsible to encourage violence and immorality because the player will be tempted to re-enact it in reality." People will get hurt, violence ensues, yadda yadda.

Yet there is still no proof that anyone who has played GrandTheft Auto then exercised violence in reality. It's a video game, and it allows the player to live out an extraordinary and totally fictional existence. This is just a fantasy, and no one is running out into the streets jacking cars because they did it in a game, nor is anyone seeking to run errands for the Sopranos or Yakuza in reality. I know that I've enjoyed many a nightly romp in Mario Kart, yet I still have not given in to any whims to throw banana peels out my window under the tires of my fellow commuters. Well, at least not banana peels.

Rape is a very serious matter, yet for the people out there who have rape fantasies, either as the rapist or the victim, Sociolotron provides a safe and purely fictional role-playing environment for these and many other fantasy encounters. Additionally, even if you are not the former or the latter, maybe you'd just like to be in a more adult and exciting environment where you never know what's going to happen next.

For players who to want to explore an unrestricted environment and have the choice to have sex with strangers, this game presents exciting new possibilities. Be warned that the game will also institute potential consequences to random sexual encounters, including STD's and even pregnancy. This is, once again, a no-holds-barred game. But for people wanting more excitement than sparring with elves and trolls a game of unlimited possibilities and no social barriers, this will be the game for them.

Sociolotron is currently in Beta, which means it is still being worked on and tested. For more information or to join their news group, visit their website at www.sociolotron.com.