Shocked reactions to virtual pets dying

[UberScout]

So, you have a Tamagotchi or other virtual pet, you take lots of good care of it and become really attached to it, then for some reason at 9 in the morning you wake up to "BEEP BEEEEEEEEEP BEEP BEEEEEEEEEEP BEEP BEEEEEEEEEEEEP" and look on the screen to see your little digital friend face down on the bottom of the screen with a flickering skull above its head. Pressing the buttons does nothing. You can only watch as it rises to the top of the screen, bringing down a black shutter that reveals a tombstone and a ghost floating next to it.

I've had plenty of virtual pets, mainly Tamagotchi's mostly except for one that I got from a school raffle called MyMessenger Pet (i think?) and i was always a little distraught to see or hear my little buddy passing away.

But why? Why do we react this way to something that's not really alive? Is it because they are manifestations of imaginary friends we used to have? Is it because we really do get that attached to a little egg keychain? Who knows?

There may be a lesson in caring for these creatures, even if they can be reincarnated with simply a pen touching the back of the unit.

How did you feel when yours died?

 

[AGXStarseed]

People get attached to a lot of things - it's like when you have that one teddy/stuffed doll that you've always played with and it gets lost/given away; it's a substantial part of your life that is now gone and it evokes an emotional response - whether loud and open or quiet and subdued.

With Tamagotchi, granted it's for a shorter amount of time but you're dealing with something that mimics life and requires your care and attention - possible appealing to our parental/nurturing instincts at an early age like when you get your first flesh-and-blood pet such as a kitten, puppy, hamster, rabbit, etc.
As such, when you've put some much time and effort into raising this creature - even if it is just a number of pixels on a screen - seeing it die still tugs at your emotions, especially as unlike a game where you can just restart, a Tamagotchi treats the death as final like in real life and doesn't let you just restart.

Some people get so attached to these 'pixel pets', so to speak, that there's even graveyards for them for people to bury their Tamagotchis.
For me, I never had one because the idea never grabbed me; I was more interested in playing with my "Beast Wars" toys than with some little thing that constantly required my attention.
My sisters got them though, although my sisters succeeded in raising them all until they eventually went back to their home planet, so no deaths to report.

 

[Fino]

Maybe it's a realization of the time you spent on it, so it's like some time of yours has died?

I can only guess, I never felt anything from that or even from real pets dying. I seem to be physically incapable of forming emotional bonds with animals, real or virtual.

 

[Fino]

People get attached to a lot of things - it's like when you have that one teddy/stuffed doll that you've always played with and it gets lost/given away; it's a substantial part of your life that is now gone and it evokes an emotional response - whether loud and open or quiet and subdued.

Wouldn't this only apply if a replacement were unavailable? Or do people somehow form attachments to that particular copy of the item?

 

[AGXStarseed]

Wouldn't this only apply if a replacement were unavailable? Or do people somehow form attachments to that particular copy of the item?

Considering there are actual Tamagotchi graveyards for people to bury their 'dead' digital pets, I'll say yes.
CNN - A special place for Tamagotchi interment - January 18, 1998

 

[Bronzelincolns]

I suppose it would be the same as losing your save data on an RPG you spent hours playing.

 

[Fino]

Considering there are actual Tamagotchi graveyards for people to bury their 'dead' digital pets, I'll say yes.
CNN - A special place for Tamagotchi interment - January 18, 1998

I was responding to his comment about stuffed animals, but thanks for posting the picture!

 

[NothingToSeeHere]

Tamagotchis still exist?

My response was complete indifference. They come back to life a second later anyway.

 

[Thinx]

I didn't lose many but I did feel guilty about it, if they died. And I definitely find it easy to attribute 'being' to things. Who knows? I speak to plants, I like cute cuddly toys, I relate with cats, I develop feelings of responsibility for Tamagotchis. Within reason...

 

[Misery]

Not exactly uncommon, that sort of attachment.

 

[UberScout]

I wonder how many people don't realize that people can just go up to the cemetery and quietly stash a Tamagotchi away in their pocket...

 

[GrownupGirl]

I had a Generation 2 Tomagotchi when they first came out in North America in the 90's. They kind of softened the "death" where instead of really dying your pet, who is a space alien, will decide to move back to its home planet, and would show a flying saucer traveling through space. If you treated the Tomagotchi badly, it would leave a lot sooner, but eventually it would always go back to its home planet because it missed it, supposedly.

I have intentionally neglected my Tomagotchi and other virtual pets just to see how long it would take for them to die. It usually took a hours. Which would have been very noisy if I didn't have the option to turn the sound off. I once saw the virtual cemetery on TV but I wouldn't think of burying my virtual pets in tiny coffins instead of just restarting them. Seemed ridiculous and waste for something that wasn't really alive.

 

[Aspychata]

My daughter was sad when hers (Tomagotchi) died. I felt guilty. But then she moved onto Pokemon and Sims. She love it when the Sims character would burn the house down, l am thinking better a virtual house then our house.

We had another really strange software game of eggs that hatched and these strange little animals came out and you had to basically parent them or they got sick and died. Think she didn't like losing them and played it less. But l loved it, it was extremely creative software. She also had a virtual cat that you could pet with your mouse. She had her own little tux kitten that she helped raise. I think the cat really helped her through tough times.

 

[Aspychata]

But this thread brings up a good point. Do we being on the spectrum develop attractions or emotional attachment with intangible objects? Or objects that aren't alive? Do NT's do this, or is this our particular pattern?

 

[GrownupGirl]

I think a lot of NTs get emotionally attached to non-living objects as well. You're always hearing about the "car widows", because their husbands or boyfriends would rather spend time with their car, and act as if it was a living creature.