How does one have "Fun" in SL?

Alright, this is mainly a rant, but it's also a question of how to avoid the problems I mention. It may run on but I'll try to prevent that.

SL is sparsely populated. However that's going to be a problem of most MMORPG's, including a game I used to play, There. Usually I could pass the time by driving around the world, or boarding and doing tricks (that was fun), and whatever. I could use an ingame browser (sadly based on IE though) to find events or people, and it looked nicer than the sl browser, which I'm quite sure requires a screen larger than 1024x768 (what i have in my windowed sl) to show all the window.

Suffice it to say, I get bored. Fast. So I look around for populated places, and most of them are so called 'Dance Clubs', which are mainly crazy electric rabbit dance music and skimpy outfits, doing silly dances. (Not to say they're all bad, some dances are well done). So, me not finding that fun puts me in a minority I suppose. Not to mention the crazy raving type lights going on, attempting to cause the Sacred Disease.

I used to like building in There. Yes, I know I can do more with prims, but frankly, I like the ability to take an object and just drop it (and i mean drop, not use strategery and locate on the appropriate x,y,z coordinate plane so that it may align with the solar equinox) where I want it. And drop as in fall down to the right location. That system was easy and worked. Of course, that system combined with the SL "tweakery" would be awesome.

So, we've established a few things.

1. The dance clubs are adult oriented and over-flashy.
   
2. I like scrolling in a small window instead of enlarging the main window. (Plus adding items (not just land) to auction is nice)
   
3. I like driving along aimlessly and not stopping at the edge of the world or some crazy persons "barrier".
   
4. I liked doing tricks on the hoverboard.
   
5. There's building system allows objects to fall to their correct location.
   
6. I like that.
   

In order for me to have fun, I need the ability to roam about in a vehicle (I had a hoverboat once but it was near impossible to control, I do actually like my Fairchange Helicopter) which reacts to the land proper. I need the ability to visit populous places which aren't adult oriented.

Do with that what you will, I know this means nothing as it's just a forum post in the general sl discussion forum, but I was wondering if I could get some good suggestions.

P.S. Evil Fool: No, I do not hate SL because I don't know people, I didn't have that many friends in There either, I did know people, but I wasn't incredibly well known, like you believe you are.

Have you tried:
talking to people?
I mean, it sounds like you're intereted in exploring and all, but the allure of SL is having peope all over the world at your reach. There's some fascinating people out there to meet!

making your own stuff?
I know you like stuff easy and premade for you, but the possibilities of what you can make in SL is incredible. The 3-D interface is very similar to ones professional use, and with a little practice, you can make some gorgeous items.

checking out the Events listing for non-dance events?
There's contests, debates, parties, combat, fashion shows, build tutorials, etc etc

buying a boat and sailing around SL's waterways?

Have you tried SLs sports?
skydiving? paintball? bowling? mini-golf? the amusement park? jetski racing? parasailing?

Some ideas. Welcome to SL, by the way. Be prepared to happily wave goodbye to There

Hello Smitty. I understand your frustration, and have sent you a free copy of my Touring Hot Air Balloon. Have a seat on it, and say "help" for instructions. It will allow you to freely roam around SL and view the vast creativity and crazyness of SL!

Most land vehicles in SL are agreed by most people to be not very good, not because of the scripters, but because of the physics themselves.

The best vehicles seem to be air and sea. I suggest checking out the Frantastic Jetski, its fun and allows some tricks, also check out the snowboards in the snow sims which have some tricks.

As for events, sadly porn and strip joints seem to attract large ammount of users. As Hiro suggested though, try looking for other events. If you don't find any you like, you can always start your own!

A building system like There's could be done via script. You could try turning on Snap To Grid which will help properly align items and make it more like simply dropping in places.

Try resizing the window, Not sure if you can or not, but more than likely you can resize the window you're talking about.

Barriers are annoying, I agree, LL is working on fixing these as seen by the Void sims.

Yes, I talked to some people who used to play there, and got a friend into the game. Note the mention of Evil Fool. I just get bored easily.


Yes, I made a chandeleir, you should have seen my ugly house. I like pretty but I don't like putting time into it. Thence the love of the there interface.


Most of these are not very full, or poorly planned. I went to a "Primtionary" (or whatever it is) where you get a word and design the object. Being a perfectionist, people really got my objects (a salt shaker, man, it was awesome). However not terribly involving otherwise


See hoverboat mention. It couldnt handle. Tried a kayak once, the free one. I might reconsider the boat idea if I find one that works proper.



Actually tried skydiving once, haven't seen paintball/bowling, wanted mini golf but didn't find it, saw the amusement park and was impressed, jetski i've never seen or heard of, as well as parasailing. links?



I joined in mid july.



edit: woah! other posts came fast! First, thanks for the hot air balloon, I'll have to login now and check that out.

Second, explain more about these void sims, or provide a link, that sounds interesting.

Heh, first off, not all of the dance clubs are flashing and crazy/sex orientated

If you spent more time in SL, which I havent seen you on in a while ( you know how much i play ), then maybe you'd find something that you really like

try scripting. That's what I do, well, other than ... you know

There is alot to do in SL, and you can drop objects, just like in There... but you just need to figure out how to use the edit interface first.

Oh yeah, you can also move objects around in SL, just like dragging em around, incase you're interested, i'll show ya how

and about getting away from adult-oriented places, just check out the PG sims, that's what they are here for!



yeah, my post is kinda disorganized

Smitty, the question you pose reminds me of Data from Star Trek: TNG. Or even, Seven of Nine from Voyager. That being said, it's a perfectly legitimate question. Fun is one of those personal truths that I can define for myself, so let's see... what do I consider fun......

Off-the-cuff, one of the things I like most about Second Life is how one thing leads to another. Like a gargantuan chain reaction, or a game of falling dominoes -- whichever comes first. Something small and innocuous could lead to SO much fun. I've had that experience numerous times already, and as such, it'd be experiences for me, plural.

For example, the other day, at the recommendation of several friends -- who told me the same thing at different places, at different times -- I had a hankering to go and check out Oneironaut Escher's place. AND AM I HAPPY I DID!!! Not only did I come across some fervent, flourishing madcap Creativity Central (TM), Oneironaut happened to be there too (I had IMed him and talked to him on the Forums previously in advance) and I was inspired by the -- well, FUN stuff on his property! And not only, not only that... but more newfound friends of mine were hanging out there too. It was a blast.

Exploring can be great and I usually do it in a solitary way, but I love diversity, so I like to mix it up and "hang out", as the aeonic vernacular makes it clear. I really, really like the dynamics of SL, how "the more things change, the more they stay the same" (as Quark from ST: DS9 so aptly put it). Sometimes I'll go to a club, sometimes I'll go to trivia, sometimes I'll fly and zoom around to explore -- or maybe even limit myself to walking by foot so I can see the sights. It's a "small big world" and I'm surprised how many times I run into fascinating people I've met before . . . we're all connected, fo shizzle.

Just take it at your own pace, Smitty. If you don't feel like you're having fun, don't rush stuff. Give it a breather, some time, come back to SL after a few days or whatever and see what's up. I expect to have exciting new experiences when they're least expected. That sounds like a contradiction, and I do embrace them -- in part because of all the INCREDIBLE richness I've seen in the last few weeks alone . . . and more to come!

I just came back from a scenesque blimp, uh, airship ride which Cubey Terra and Apotheus Silverman recently set up. Have you tried that yet? OMG!!! WHAT A TRIP!!! Tomorrow, I hope, the quest of Sim Horror will begin -- bless them for persisting with so many technical difficulties. And I just played trivia too, Caera MacDonald's a great host. Tonight, I'll prolly be saying "Most excellent!" to Lady Dawson, Chance Abattoir will likely have another cool recommendation for me to check out, maybe the anime fairy Xyni Platini will show up... and the rest is... the rest is... well, I don't know until I've experienced it.

If Second Life can be likened to The Matrix in a cheap-and-cheerful way, then the saying is true: I can only show you the door, and you gotta walk through it. Or keep walking through 'dem doors. Or whatever. Have you read Hamlet Linden's New World Notes and the other Second Life blogs? They highlight a lot of general interest stuff you may be curious about, and more specific areas of expertise as well. I've got one myself, and I welcome you to check it out -- my URL's in my sig.

http://secondlife.blogs.com/nwn/

And since I've namedropped three of the five Star Trek series, I might as well say:

GO WHERE NO AVATAR HAS GONE BEFORE!

Enjoy your travels, I wish you well and may very well see you inworld soon. w00t!

The void sims are a project thats still being tested out by the Lindens, the goal is to fill in all those blue walls between sim's where just blank ocean is, so that you don't run into as many invisible walls or have to fly around a spot to get somewhere. Currently theres only 4 in testing they're south west near the racing sim's, east of Oak Grove and south of DaBoom. Strictly meant as short travel sims to pass through.

If you want to know what it takes to have fun in SL, ask torley about flashtubbing!

Totally. That was really fun... right outside of that telehub too... FLASHTUBBING, Eggy style, I endorse it! Also ask Eggy about whether ducks lay eggs or -- heh, heh, heh.

"FUN" is relative. I personally have fun just chatting with my friends. I spend a lot of time on my land rehashing my house. IM's have saved me from committing Aviecide. I do get out occasionally, but not that often. When I do, I'm usually with my lady friend.

Guns Roleplaying Guns Building stuff Guns Explosions Texture of Guns and Explosions and Guns

Anyone know where i can get a free hot air baloon? And is there any place i can go to have fun with my video card, i have bad FPS lag or somthing.

Fun is what you make it...if you require other people to make fun for you.. then you might not enjoy SL.

There are some good suggestions here but in my opinion, and it is just an opinion, SL is a social game. Go out, meet some people, be friendly, be yourself, when you find some people you like then hang out and do stuff with them. Try going to events to meet people at first, i can guarantee you that if you interact with some people everywhere you go you will eventually find some people that you like. Good luck!

you want prims that fall until they hit something like There? I can make you some . lol, I make planes too, two of which are easy to fly, one of which is a bit harder but can do look the loops and barel rolls etc.

oh ya, and one vehicle that flys but is more of a flying Segway. It's also very easy to fly.

Billy Grace...... 'nuf sed!!