I think Jacek above has the right of it. In a year of discussing this issue, I've never head anyone take the position that you correctly label "escapist."

I have seen that position repeatedly used as a straw man, and attributed to those of us whose personal situation matches Jacek's.

For myself, I see myself as a separate entity from the person active in the physical world, with whom I share a mind. There's nothing prescriptive in that; it's a simple description of my circumstances.

While there are quite a number of us, we also have vocal critics, people who disrespect our nature. They tend to label us "escapist," claiming that we want some wall between RL and SL, implying that we do so because our RL lives are somehow failed or unpleasant.

Rarely has a stereotype so missed its mark: the only people I've encountered who might qualify as "escapist" are RL-disabled, and not a one of them is an immersionist as Jacek and I, and most commentators, use the term. They're among the most agumentationist, I've found, quick to talk about their physical circumstances and the benefits they find in SL. And still, not a one of them advocates some sort of moat around SL.

Jacek sees the continuum as running between "RL-based personality using their avatar as a screen name" and "SL-based personality fully inhabiting their avatar." The latter might argue for seeing SL as an equal space with RL, but not a separate one.

This only matters because several commentators have chosen to use the "escapist" straw man to remove this issue from the realm of friendly discussion.

Unless and until someone actually stands up and claims the mantle of an escapist, I believe it's a term best discarded.