Newbie help!

Hello All,

I joined SL a few days ago, after reading a review about it...I've got few questions if i can?

1) Is it possible to change your surname other than the default ones it gives you?

2) Is there a way to make the software keep a copy of downloaded graphics? so i dont have to redownload everyone each time I visit a place

3) Is there any big help manual to read up on? I've read through most on the site

4) to build something do you do it all via SL software or is there seperate programs? and do you need your own land to do it on?

5) I dont want to yet buy land for a house but i looked around, looked in find, nice fancy advert, went to look, nice fancy houses, but how do i know its a good popular area? I could just be buying a plot anywhere thats unpopular and i'll be the only person visiting? Is there a way to tell whats popular and whats not without the campers showing on the map?

I was disappointed to find was the camping/dancers, as a newbie walking around, it felt like everywhere I went was people just away earning money, it took me quite a while to find someone who wasnt. I used worldsaway in the early days now vzones and that had the same problem, lot of people AFK sat there earning, it's a shame, that there are not better ways for people to earn money. I can see the good side, people want to spend and it's an easy way for real life busy people to earn some money but when you read info about SL it gives the impression of being so realistic with the ability to run your own business, get a job etc...am I going to get lots of replys of people saying how you love them ?

I'm trying to get my head around the big picture! I look on the find meny, most popular place comes up as a casino with free money, I go there and everyones away earning money...from what i've read am I right in thinking that the owners of the casino offer the camping chairs etc so people go to there location and spend money on other things but from forum messages the developers of that land get extra benefits from from SL for having most popular areas?

The only other thing I would really liked to have seen would be all roads join together, apart from islands of course, first place i teleported to had lots of shops and buildings and a long road on it, well built up area but not many people, i walked all the way along the road for few minutes, then i come to the end!! disappointed and then ended up teleporting to the next place.

On the find menu it says PAID next to the top listing, i dont get whats thats for? to tell us they paid that much to list there ad per month? year? one off?

Many thanks!
Andy

Hiya Cosmic.

Welcome to Secondlife

1) Is it possible to change your surname other than the default ones it gives you?

No It isn't (As far as I know)

2) Is there a way to make the software keep a copy of downloaded graphics? so i dont have to redownload everyone each time I visit a place

Secondlife downloads all files into a cache file, So the next time you visit a place it should load faster if you've already been there.

4) to build something do you do it all via SL software or is there seperate programs? and do you need your own land to do it on?

You can build objects in Secondlife, Right click and choose create (Its best to visit a sandbox to learn to create)

5) I dont want to yet buy land for a house but i looked around, looked in find, nice fancy advert, went to look, nice fancy houses, but how do i know its a good popular area? I could just be buying a plot anywhere thats unpopular and i'll be the only person visiting? Is there a way to tell whats popular and whats not without the campers showing on the map?

Buying isn't always the only option, You can rent land aswell, To tell how popular a place is right click on the land and choose about land, It will say Traffic - and a number ( this number represents how many people have visited within 24 hours I think it is) Also when u search in find it has the traffic amount beside the name of the place aswell.

I was disappointed to find was the camping/dancers, as a newbie walking around, it felt like everywhere I went was people just away earning money, it took me quite a while to find someone who wasnt. I used worldsaway in the early days now vzones and that had the same problem, lot of people AFK sat there earning, it's a shame, that there are not better ways for people to earn money. I can see the good side, people want to spend and it's an easy way for real life busy people to earn some money but when you read info about SL it gives the impression of being so realistic with the ability to run your own business, get a job etc...am I going to get lots of replys of people saying how you love them ?

This truely depends on the individual and their imagination, You can build, You can make a buisness, Get a job ect, But like I said it all depends on the person.

There are those who dislike money chairs and those that don't, Again depends on the person.

'm trying to get my head around the big picture! I look on the find meny, most popular place comes up as a casino with free money, I go there and everyones away earning money...from what i've read am I right in thinking that the owners of the casino offer the camping chairs etc so people go to there location and spend money on other things but from forum messages the developers of that land get extra benefits from from SL for having most popular areas?

At the moment yes, Its called dwell, You earn money for how many people visit your land, Over the next month or so this is being removed


On the find menu it says PAID next to the top listing, i dont get whats thats for? to tell us they paid that much to list there ad per month? year? one off?


People pay a certain amount for classfieds, The more you pay the higher you get on the list, The ad lasts for one week.

Anyways hope this has been helpful, If you have any other questions and I'm online feel free to IM me.

I hope you have a great Secondlife

Nat

Unfortunately not, but I know that LL (Linden Lab) are playing around with a few ideas on changing that in the future.

There is a a cache that is part of the browser. You can set the disk cache size from in-world. Just click 'edit' at the top of your client, select 'preferences', then click the 'network' tab.

The easiest way to learn, is to just wonder around and try stuff. I'm still earning stuff even now! There is a Second Life Wiki that is pretty handy, click on this link:

http://secondlife.com/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=HomePage


No, you can't import 3D designs from other applications, all building has to be done in-world. But that's what makes SL unique, you can watch things appear as they happen!

If you want to build a permanent build, then yes, you will either have to buy or rent some land. The sanboxes are there for everyone's use, but they clear all objects at least once daily, I think.

I wouldn't rush into buying land if you are unsure. Spend some time having a look around, you will soon get a 'feel' for the different options, and will start forming an idea of what's right for you. It's worth noting that it's advisable not buy any land until you have bought your 'first land'. 'First land', as the name suggests, is a one off opportunity to buy 512m2 for only 512L. If you purchase land elsewhere first, you will lose your 'first land' offer. To own any land, you need to sign up for a premium account. For more info:

http://secondlife.com/tiki/tiki-index.php?page=Land+Ownership+Guide


Yes, unfortunately the marketing of SL has been a little unbalanced. Of course, you can make money if you wanted to, but it doesn't come without effort. It's just like rl, you need a little talent, a lot of motivation, and a lot of work. There are plenty of other faces of SL though, and most are here for those.

There used to be direct (from LL) financial rewards for having land with a high traffic figure, but they were recently removed. So why do they do it? I'm sure there are more reasons than I can think of, but two biggies have to be:

1) Because, as you suggested, they want to attract people to buy the stuff on their land. The higher the traffic figure, the higher their business is placed in the find menu.

2) Some use it as a measure of success, and it's nothing to do with money at all.


LL used to build a fair amount of content in 'protected land' areas within the sim, but they are increasingly looking to residents to create 'their world' *chuckles*. You have to remember, also, that not everyone wants an SL that has roads in it, it doesn't fit into the way they 'play' it.

That's the classified menu, and yes, that's how much they paid to have that listing there. The find > places menu is ranked in order of traffic size, popularity. But the find > classifieds is basically bid on, and the listing at the top is the one who paid the most.

HTH

Answer: Not at least not yet. The Lindes have said they are or maybe making this possable. I'm sure there are many more then a few forum topics on this one.



Answer: No, and I think this one may not happen. All the things in SL are made by residence. And, well if all of us could just download the graphics (textures). We'd never have to buy and from anyone else. Not only might that be stealing or copy write infringement if you reused or sold them with out permission. It would also put a good bit of the very good texture makers out of business. And most likely no one would want to make any new ones knowing all of us would get them free.



Answer: This one I'm not to sure about. I do know there is no true manual. Most of the info can be found on this site. A lot I guess on the wiki page(s). And also a lot of useful stuff on the forums too.



Answer: Right now the only way to build is, as you just said. Have SL installed an be in world to do it. As for do you need land. No not really. There are what are called sand boxes you can go to to build all you like. Just make sure you look to see how often you have to take your things and save them back to your inventory. As most of these if not all sand boxes return objects that do not belong to the owner of them land.



Answer: To find out how "popular" a place is. Do a left click on the land itself. And then look under the general tab. There should be someting in there that says traffic. The higher that number is the more "popular" it is.



Answer: Love of campers/dancers. Well you won't see many here in the forums saying the LOVE them. In fact I'm sure if you look and read enough you'll see the exact oppisite.



Answer: Well about the roads. The Lindens are said to be working on this one. And, its taking them quite a good bit of time. I've been here only 6 months. And, there were a lot still left to do when I got here. And, well sometimes they add more sims where even newer roads need to be placed. So will they ever finish this one. The world of second life may never know.

I agree though it would/will be nice if they ever do get them done!



Answer: The only part of the find menu I know of that show's PAID is the classifides. And, this is how much they person paid for the add to run for its 7 days. As thats the only length they can run max with out having to be replaced and then paid for and ran again.



I hope all that information was of some help. If you may be needing some other type of help. Maybe if you feel like looking me up in world sometime. Please feel free to do so.

Have a great day and a lot of fun in your second life.

Isaac Bergson

Cosmic,

Welcome to SL!

I won't repeat the answers you've already received will just add another suggestion on learning to build. Check out the Ivory Tower of Learning in game. A great resource for learning to build.

Also glad to hear you've been using find, you can find the sandboxes that everyone has mentioned by typing in sandbox under places.. a whole list of different ones will show up. Please be aware that there is at least one that is ok for weapons testing and unless you like being shot at I wouldn't suggest using that one to go build on.

If you are looking for people the Events tab will give you a list of resident run events listed by time. I found a great one that was "coffee on the pier" yesterday morning at 5:30 SLT (SL Time/Pacific Standard Time)

Hit me up in game with an IM, if you need any help would be happy to lend a hand. There are also several newbie friendly places in game and I've found 99% of the residents are happy to answer any questions you may have, we were all new at one time.

*huggles*

Ash