first time user: now what ?

where's the party...where's my land at...? what can i sell....? What do you need?

Party? Sometimes the Forum Cartel throws or find a Club that isn't boring ghost town.
Land? You got to find it or know. I would advise you to do anything right away until you know more.
What can you sell? Depends on your skill, etc.
What do you need? Patience, Able to entertain oneself easily alone by creating or gifted at finding and making new friends, Ability to read and find the information you seek or knowledge of how to use search, basic features to find events or classes

I didn't go looking for land until I had been a resident for about six months. Even now I'm floundering around trying to figure out what I really want to do with it. It's best to party hardy at first I think. You don't really need land to enjoy SL.

Where's the party? When I started I had a lot of fun at a place called the Shelter and also the NCI (New Citizens Incorporated) areas. Dancing is a good way to meet people, but as the clubs come and go, it's hard to recommend one. Try looking up Voodoo Lounge. Or go into the Events tab in your search and key in "DJ." You'll get to see a lot of stuff going on right now (well, if it's at night in the US which seems to be prime time for SL). Don't worry about knowing how to dance -- these places have orbs that animate your avatar for you. I don't dance in real life, but here I was able to let go and cut a rug. I remember grinning and laughing so hard my face hurt in real life when I discovered the joys of dancing and being silly.

What do I need? I need a beige and black plaid tattered greatcoat as worn by Ian Anderson circa 1970. I also need some science fiction textures that have alpha (transparent) windows. I would pay good L$ to anyone who can make those. I haven't found them in world.

And that's how I learned to build. I couldn't find some things I wanted so I started making them. I haven't succeeded at clothing though.

Welcome to the Second Life and the forums!

The two best places for new users are the Shelter and the NCI. Both places offers freebies, help for new users and helpful people. Plus, while they might change locations, they NEVER close.

On land, I'd suggest waiting until you know what you want to do with the land before buying any. Go into the Support Portal (found under the support tab on the main page) and read up on the 'official' tutorials and then look for the.. grr, is it the Land forum group or what? in SL. You'll get the help you need in that.

For what to make? It took me the better part of two years to finally realize I like making clothing, preferably those with prims. Some places to start looking for tutorials is the Ivory Tower of Prims and Robin Sojourner's Texture Tutorials. Sorry, I don't have the landmarks at this time, but I know they exist after visiting them with my alt.

After visiting the Shelter and NCI, I strongly recommend simply exploring. Visit the independent state of Caledon, Isle of Wyrms and run a search on places that share your interests.

You are gonna need a penis.
(if you are a male)
Get a decent skin - I think that really is essential. A shape. Or construct yourself. My advice is not to go for odd shapes until you are into sl with more experience. Oddly shaped avitars are often newbie looking for identity and, here, friendships and character are identity just as much as in the real world.
Clothing is also essential - well-designed and zazzy but go for styles that are up-to-date. The Granny Brigade are into 80s clothing.
But this above all, to your own self be true (but not to others - don't reveal yourself to strangers)
Take Milla's advice below and ask for help in-world from a mentor.

Hi Chaiserpup... I can help you out...you do need to get your feet wet before you do the land thing....but I'm a volunteer mentor so look for me in-world and I'll help ya with what ever you need. Just go to search...people...and type my name in......IM me.... I'll do whatever I can for ya kk.

From what I've seen in my 2+ years in SL, having a penis and being a male don't necessarily have to occur simultaneously.

I agree with much but this part, and not for the, "Oh, yet another newbie walking around wearing nothing but a prim penis." reason. I just don't see it as a need, that should be between you and your partner to decide, though if you are the "Casual Sex" type I guess having one on hand would be handy. Between me and my SL Wife prim genitals are not needed, our imagination takes care of that for us. Ultimately that will likely be up to you though...

Back on topic...

First find some safe comfortable hangouts, try to be as sociable as you can and make friends. By this I do not mean merely adding them to your friends list, I mean actually get to know them.

Then consider your interests, some clubs are themed to a specific Genre of music where others are more mixed. Some mixed Genre clubs I would recomend are:

Palisades Club and Mall: It is a rather small new club that runs their events in the evenings North American times. People there are very friendly, fun loving and very layed back. I should warn you there is occasional nudity there, but very rare.

Kash Club: Another smaller club that has evening events, friendly folks there too. No nudity that I have seen yet.

VooDoo Lounge: This club is much larger that the previous two, has event of various genres around the clock 6 days a week, they have a Staff Day Off on Tuesdays but the club is still open and the radio playing for people that just want to hang our and dance. There is a definite no nudity dress code here.

Blue Noise/Blue Noise Hideaway: Really two smaller clubs like the first two, but staffed and owned by the same people. Friendly people here, very layed back, also means there is nudity some of the time.

As for land, wait till you are settled into the rest of SL first. I found networking through friends is the best way to find good land, but be careful. 512 Square Meters is not a lot in area or prims, you will almost certainly soon find yourself paying tier.

Before you can sell anything you have to learn to create it, anything you can create you can sell, though if you are determined to open a shop look into the market and see what areas are flooded and avoid them, be unique and creative. NCI is a great place to learn content creation skills, and just about anything else from buying land to roleplaying.

Must suggestions for Must Haves are a decent skin, some patience, and a willingness to learn. A Mysti-tool or other similar multi gadget is useful at times to.

If you are not an alt just trying to be funny, try going inworld hitting the tab called Land Sales in search. Sort by For sale: mainland.A forum moderator.

Thanks for the totally pointless, useless post. The OP is not the troll, you are. Thanks again.

What's up your ass? The OP's post was too general and the work of a troll or a lazy person. Piss off.

Pot. Kettle. Black.

*hands you both a beer and a timeout*

~Jessy

Quoted for the best response EVER to what you "need" in SL.

~Jessy

The OP's post is too general, asking four generic questions that no one can properly answer. I was helpful with one of his questions. Put me on ignore.

not everyone is here for that.

Hi Chaiserpup and welcome to the forum

First of all I'll send you a new resident information kit inworld, which has tonsof information and useful tips in it.
I'd strongly suggest wondering around and finding your feet before buying land. You could also choose to rent land or a home first.
As far as the party goes, someone already suggested searching for DJ in events, you could broaden that a bit and search for live music in the drop down menu under the events tab in search. That will also include DJs.
The new resident info kit also has links and landmarks for free or cheap stuff for residents under 30 days old. So check that one out.
Most importantly....... take your time, and have fun!

Hey! I'm surprised at that comment Jig!

Welcome to SL and the forums Chaiserpup.

I'd love a definition of the Granny Brigade! And is it a bad thing? I'm away to rake my inventory for 80's throwbacks.

Today's grannies wore miniskirts, back in the day. Just saying.

Go to a private sandbox, like the one in Mauve.

Press Control 4 and start fiddling. Click on stuff in the build editor Check and uncheck boxes. Change the value of numbers. Click on icons, click inworld.

As prims you create appear, right click them and select edit. Press Control 3 from time to time. Read the labels in the build editor. Remember what happens when you click stuff.

Press the control key down, or the shift key, or the alt key, while fiddling around with the objects you made.

Click and drag the arrowheads and the object handles that appear.

party: do a search for the type of music you like and select places under type of search. you'll get more or less club searches. For example 'industrial' 'house music' 'goth' etc

land: have to buy some, this is a topic in of itself. My suggestion do not buy/rent anything less then 1024 in size. less and not only will you find it hard to have enough resources to decorate but will feel quite encroached upon on all sides.

sell: you have to start making a prdduct other find value in buying. Again ahuge topic in of itself. Soing a forum search will help and reading FAQs

Hope this helps

I love it! What a hoot!

Lol Cherry - my idea of 80s clothing was pampers. And Osh Kosh. By Gosh!

Oh I know - I just said it to get a rise. Yeah, mini-skirts and those zazzy gold lame tights. My Mum and my Gran were all into Carnaby Street etc. Especially Biba. So sorry - didnt mean to offend anyone REALLY - I would have LOVED to have scoured those boutiques. Granny Brigade by definition are disapproving of anything that rocks - Grannies can be 19 years old if they are snotty enough.

If you read it properly you'll see Raymond said 'IF you are not an alt...' and that's precicely the answer I'd give - as the opening post sounds like it is.


So Chaiserpup, if you log in, hit the Search button at the bottom of the screen where you will then find various tabs where you can type in whatever you want to look for and TP round the SL world in pursuit of whatever you want. Happy searching!