It might seem that in virtual places there would be a collapse of the distinction between physical proximity and intentional linkage. The grammatical place-connections would be the same as the virtual spatial connections establishing the virtual world. However, this is not so; the distinction does hold for virtual places, because a virtual place does not have to occupy the whole of a virtual area*. It's true that the underlying connections in a virtual world are intentionally designed, but that does not make them the same as the normative or grammatical connections that select out certain areas within that virtual world as parts of a socially grammatized place.
For instance, if a virtual world made available virtual real estate for development, my virtual place could find itself next to new places outside my control -- I didn't want a virtual McDonald's next door -- and this would affect the meaning of my place and also allow non-grammatical explorations and connections, just as happens in physical space.
(c) David Kolb, 1 August 2001