What can you do in SL?

So I've been wandering around in Second Life, and I'm kind of starting to wonder why everyone likes it so much. (I'm new, obviously...)

The world is so huge and overwhelming and I'm never sure where I am, and there aren't really any public spaces are there, like that are established by the Lindens? So I'm always on someone's property even if maybe they wouldn't want me there, except I can't even tell whose property I'm intruding on...

It seems like there's nothing fun to do... I'm not interested in building and I guess that's sort of the main activity? At least, every guide and tutorial for newbies I've come across so far has been all about building stuff. Isn't there anything that describes places to go or how to meet people, or explains common terminology? For instance, I've been reading around various websites trying to figure out what there was to do on SL, and I keep coming across mentions of "Goreans" but so far I haven't been able to figure out what that term means.

Sorry, I probably sound whiny, but I'm just really overwhelmed and beginning to wonder what everyone sees in this game...

Yeah, building and socializing mostly.

Hope you decide to stay. Best wishes if you leave.

Welcome to SL! My suggestion is to seek out the Shelter or the New Citizen's Plaza. Both of which are great places to meet and greet and are extremely new player friendly. Also, for Linden-established places, when you press the search button, swap it over to places. That list is mostly Linden established and it's great fun to explore them.

The trick is to:

1. ignore the game/not a game bs
2. Find something you do like to do. Clubs have events, and theres games available for the asking. Take a look on events under search, and head to something that piques your interest.

Hit these places though:

Yadnis junkyard
Shelter
Blarney Stone
Free Dove

I felt that exact same way over a year ago when I first signed up (under another Avatar name, not this one). I never got to the point where I even knew that I could buy skins and "infinitley customize my avatar" I was walking like a chicken and just couldn't get the hange of it. I stopped logging in after about 4 days of it. Then a few months later I thought I'd give it another try.

Once you become familiar with the interface, it starts coming to you. I think you'll have fun once you get comfortable with it. It all seems so foreign at first, I know. But I think you'll probably be giving someone else this same speech in the future. Hope it gets better sooner for you than later.

Hugz,
/Mad

Welcome to SL.

I agree on the shelter, its a great place for new people, and old players as well for that matter.

A lot of people will help new players in game if they are not busy with something else, and don't be afraid to say hello to another new player too. Some of my best memories on SL occured when I hooked up with other clueless newbies and we just sort of explored. A few turned into long time SL friends too.

Just be friendly, and don't get too upset the first time you put a box on your head. Its a right of passage here.

It just takes some time to explore. Don't forget, SL is larger than Boston at this point, at least in territory, though the steady population is no more than a small town.

You have a Chinese first and last name, come find me and help out with the Jiao Shi Yi Lin translation project. We're using SL to perform a joint translation of a Han Dynasty Chinese book into English.

Second Life is an open slate. If you don't find something there, please create it. It's not just building, but creativity of one kind or another is certainly the most fun in SL.

Blessings!
Taras

Welcome, Liao.

When I signed up for SL almost a year ago, I was clueless as well. I had to look up "Gorean" in Google, and I'm a serious reader of many genres. And I'm *still* not entirely sure where the heck "woot" comes from...

There ARE public places in SL. In the new Search (Find) there are Linden areas listed when you first open up the Places tab. Also, try a Search in places using the word "park" or "public", and you should find many lovely places to wander.

And please feel free to drop in to visit at Caledon Highlands (where I live). There are LOTS of nifty places to walk, hangout, etc. in all of the Caledon sims. "Tourists" are very welcome there.

---
Cali Turner
@ Caledon Highlands

Goreans are just one of the many tribes of Second Life, who indulge in BDSM Play and/or Lifestyles. They keep themselves much to themselves on private islands. They are the traditional enemies of another tribe known as Furries.

And yet the only problem we furries have with Goreans seems to be the fact that they don't like us, without factual cause (to my knowledge....and yes, I am familiar with Dr. Lange's almost-pulp scifi/fantasy series about the "counter-earth" known as Gor. I've probably read more of the books than the majority of the Goreans, if my previous experience can be carried over into SL)

"woot" can typically be heard in the stands at sporting events (football games, etc) ^_^

Indeed. But I said it because it seems to be the most memorable thing about Goreans... that as a group, they appear terrified of Furries to an extent that I'd almost call it a phobia.

Welcome to Second Life. I guarantee you that most of us went through the exact same thing when we first entered the world. It passed for us; it'll pass for you too.



If people really didn't want you on their property, either you wouldn't be able to enter or you'd trigger a security system that might boot you out. Many (most?) places don't do that. So don't fret too much about that.

As for public spaces, there are plenty if you know where to look. Many of them aren't "public" in the strict sense (they're privately owned) but they encourage visitors. Check out the Lost Gardens of Apollo, for instance, or Svarga.



Everybody should know at least some basic building skills (how to adjust your camera, move objects around, look inside objects for their contents), because it'll be helpful in many different ways, such as in opening boxes, adjusting the positioning of attachments on your body, and so forth. But you don't have to be a builder in SL.

I'll reiterate some advice that has been given already: Hie thee hence to The Shelter! They have freebies and help and nice people there. You want to meet people, that's a great place to do it. Tell 'em Erbo sent you.

You can also come down to our club (link in signature) when we've got an event going. We'll often have a live DJ playing music there and contests of various sorts.

As for Goreans...briefly stated, they practice consensual slavery. It's all based on a series of science fiction novels about a planet called Gor (hence the name). If you see mention of a "kajira," in someone's title or profile, for instance, that's a term used a lot in Gorean culture (it means "slave girl," roughly speaking). See this Wikipedia article for more on the subject. They generally keep to themselves, though, so don't worry about them too much.

One more piece of advice: Spend a lot of time exploring, discovering the manifold possibilities within SL. If you come at it with an open mind, willing to accept things and learn them as they come...you'll probably find everything you ever expected, and a great deal more.

I stumbled across a Gorean sim on the very first day. I was shopping for clothes and found a store I really liked, bought a very revealing belly dancing outfit, then clicked on the "teleport to main store" object. At the main store was a big sign encouraging me to visit the Plains Village (or something). I teleported there and suddenly I was looking at a huge list of rules about free women not exposing their arms and being collared if you crossed the river and stuff like that. I took my belly dancing outfit and ran for my life!

About what to do, I had the same thoughts, and posted a thread on it too. I spent my early days exploring, but it was exhausting and chaotic without having a home to come back to. At first I used Svarga as my home, but it wasn't really mine. For me it got fun when I bought some land. I had some scripting ideas and started building and scripting some little creatures to roam around my land.

As I discovered how difficult it is to build, I started roaming around looking for inspiration, and shopping. There are some amazing things to buy, and most stuff is really cheap. I'll go on a mission to find, for example, some really great plants, and along the way I'll discover all kinds of other things. So what makes it fun for me is having a specific project and then seeking out ways to accomplish it.