Top 5 Tips for the Newly Born

Okay, I did not read all of the top 5s, and perhaps good reading should be on top1. Anyway, here are mine.


1) Second Life is in my humble opinion not a game where you should shoot and be shot at. If you want to fight or have a battle, go elsewhere or buy a PlayStation or an XBox.

2) Because there are guerilla folks in SL, buy yourself a protection tool. There are many of those. And make sure you can bail out fast safely - and yes, you might have to abandon your sandbox project - so to have an active World/Teleport Home menu item would be handy. So you need a homebase.

3) Do not fall in love or get turned on with another avatar. An avatar is a graphical representation of a person, however, may or (usually) may not reflect the true (physical) nature of that person. You can't get diseases from cybersex, but that doesn't mean it's healthy.

4) Do not get scared of an "unconventional" avatar(well, an avatar that does not exactly resemble a friendly human being), however, do not simply trust everyone else at first sight either. I met once with a werewolf and he appeared extremely helpful and friendly. I also met once with a sweet sexy young lady, and she appeared to be driven by an RL male and was putting explosives in my yacht.

5) Make yourself the 10 commandments of good functioning in SL. Serious yes, because SL is primarily meant as a wonderful world. And some sort of zen may be good in this regard.

Been here since May 2008 & still a noob. Fantastic tips,Do`s & Don`ts etc. Nail on the head,Daisy.If more ppl read the forums what a (near) perfect world!
My three bugbears are:

1. Ppl not filling in their profiles,even if its only `I`m from wherever & intereted in....
2. Ppl not even bothering 2 read a profile & then asking questions that the answers to ARE in your profile!
3. Shoes that clickety-clack even when the wearer is standing still - The most annoying sound i`ve encountered so far.

I`ve noticed nearly everyone recommends making out an account. I have no intention of doing so as i get by very well without huge amounts of cash Horses 4 Courses,i suppose). Swapping stuff with my friends is a good way to make SL fun too! Myself & my other half find our privacy in near empty sims,so no need to purchase land.

Many thanks go to all the extremely friendly,helpful ppl from all over the world that have helped my time here very enjoyable.Not least all the ppl that have posted on the forum.I don`t know any of you,but thanks a million for your input on here

Hello everyone

I joined SL a few days ago as a basic member because I want to explore and learn and see if i like SL before i become a premium member and this thread has been most helpful.

In my first few hours as a new citizen, I quickly realized a place for privacy was priority number one and I found the following locations to solve that need and I would like to pass them on.

Temple Fitting Rooms in Saint Clair
Temple Dressing Rooms in Songnisan

They are available for both men and women. You can take all the time you need and if friends teleport to you, you can boot them from the room. You can rez packages in a circle that's located in each room, in order to open them and get the contents out. You can use the rooms for trying on and adjusting your clothes, body and skins and you can also pose your character, without the need for a stand, to adjust attachments.

When you get there you will find a free face light for women and an IBM radar to attach to your HUB that is suppose to alert you, or something like that, to anyone who might be coming to close to your private area. But, I'm not sure how it works yet.

Once again, thanks for the helpful info in this thread and I hope that I have been able to add to it.

Welcome, Tavia! I don't believe you need to have a premium account to get a huge amount out of SL, unless you want to own and develop land as a money-making venture. I've always rented my home location - either a plot of land that I can build on (or put my skyhouse over) or a house (furnished or not). You could get a small plot (512 square metres) for about 250 lindens a week. Feel free to IM me in-world if you need any more help.

I have been taking notes too... this is great!

Thank you so much to those who took time to post tips here. I have a big list of places to visit now.

Peace!

OK from an SL n00b perspective but forum, game, and web veteran -

1) Looks - Some will and some won't like how your avatar looks. You may get a lot of people trying to offer you stuff so your avatar can look how THEY want it to.
Like real world beauty, tastes vary. If you like what they give you great, wear it, but if not, then remember they have their own avatar to dress up and you have yours. Don;t worry if someone doesn't like that hair that another person said is great...
YOUR AVATAR, YOUR CHOICE OF LOOKS

2) Freebies - Sometimes these are OK sometimes they are junk. Stay away from anything that says "DEMO". DEMO items usually just clutter inventory with other junk and don't always work at all.
YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.

3) Harder than RL - Doing certain things in SL are a huge pain. Some HUDS require practice and know-how. Sometimes those notecards are not helpful and horribly written.
IF YOU HAVE PULLED YOUR HAIR OUT CAUSE OF THINGS ON SL< YOU ARE NOT ALONE

4) Inventory - Tryint to keep it organised is useless. The way *I* do it is re-naming things to something more relevant. Often times things you buy will have akward names.
Those nice shoes you bought will probably not be called "Red pumps" but something like "Sleazy Elise's trampler talons", just edit the name to say or at least have the words "red pumps". Also, as SOON as you acquire anything new, rename it relevantly and place it somehere relevant. Those "Sleazy Elise's trampler talons" will otherwise end up in the bottomless pit folder called "objects" [in a game, EVERY single thing could be called an object.] Keep in mind that some inventory items will and some won't copy. That is why you end up with duplicates and some things get lost in the objects folder.
RENAME YOUR ITEMS TO SOMETHING RELEVANT!

5) RL vs SL - As exciting as it is to make SL friends, never forget that you do not truely know who or what is behind that avatar. You don't know their real age, intentions, anything. Most people are safe and sane but do you *really* know that the pretty avatar that is underage is NOT some Dateline police officer?
Are you sure that mesmorising vampire avatar is not some raging drugged out alcoholic?
DO NOT FORGET ABOUT SAFETY ON THE WEB!

I do have to just take issue with this point. Demo items are not intended for general use, but they *are* invaluable before making what might be an expensive purchase, such as a skin, or even a pricey pair of boots.

*Do* get the demos, especially when buying skins. Sometimes they cost 1L$, sometimes they are free. 1L$ may seem like a rip-off for a skin with 'DEMO' written all over it so you can't actually wear it, but there is no other way to tell what that skin will look like when you're wearing it. So, dropping 1L$ on a demo version before you drop 1500L$ on the full version, is a hell of a lot better than just paying the 1500L$ and finding out the skin looks awful on you.

When you're finished with the demo versions, by all means delete them from inventory. But remember that demos are not intended to be worn all the time, hence the ugly text/boxes/whatever attached to them. They are simply a very good means of finding out if the full-priced item suits you or fits you, before you pay the full amount.

Actually, no, he's not. if you're a free account (try before you buy), and you're having a bit of problems, they will not help you unless you're a premium account holder. (In most cases, anyway). The first time I had problems, support helped me out, up until they couldn't do anymore because I was a free account. Part of my problem was that I had one of those Cricket wireless dialup things, and so I left until I got DSL. Then, when I did get DSL, and logged in, I was having problems going places. It took me awhile to figure it out that the places where it was telling that I didn't have access to was anyplace labeled mature. Why, I don't know. I even did the age verification thing, that didn't work. That time that I contacted support, I got a "can't help you because you aren't a premium account holder". When I asked why should i be treated any less just because I wanted to make sure that it was something that I wanted to spend money for, I got a "I'm too busy to argue sematics". I had to make a totally new account in order to fix it.

Thanks to everyone that has posted over the long period of time this thread been around. I actually came from another site very similar to SL. So, I have friends already here. I am learning now since coming on more. Yeah still had a soft spot for the competition but they have really screwed things up over there now. on to new worlds and friends.
I see this site has alot to offer but also is very spread out. I learned the search feature very quickly and useful. I am a renegade really when it comes to learning new things but find this thread so useful.
I will confess though, cleaning up my inventory is going to be hrs on in. LOL!!!! yeah I went wild with clicking on alot , it says free I take it. But that was in OCT., recently I take what I need and since work as DJ on here I tip some L$ to help out.
Here Here to All! LOL! and I had to read 16 pages to post this. LOL!!!

1) Explore only for about 2 weeks. Don't buy, accept or take anything into your inventory. Forget about earning any money and just look around at some many fabulous sites

2) Find your own way, don't have someone show you the ropes. It will be their ropes not your ropes.

3) Avoid any get rich quick schemes, ways to "get over" or out slick anyone. Bad karma and you won't make a dime, trust me

4) Do some tutorials on building and/or scripting.

5) Don't get involved in any 1 on 1 relationships for at least 6 months. That's doesn't mean you have to be a saint. but it is a big time waster in most instances

Funny stance to take with what could have been a potential long term customer... Something that a lot of companies should learn is, retention of business is probably formed within the first contact. You cannot close a deal, all the time you are slamming the door in someones face.
Using SL is for the majority a steep learning curve, there will always be problems with cutting edge platforms, so they should be prepared to offer greater support. With around 1.5% customer retention, that alone should speak volumes to any provider.

1) Get to know the basics first and foremost - how to move, fly, teleport etc.

2) When purchasing/making things try to keep your inventory organised so you remember where everything is - its unbelivable how cluttered they can becomein a short time!

3) Try not to impulse buy - Look around! There's nothing worse paying 50L$ and then seeing it free somewhere else

4)Read up on as many tutorials you can find that interest you. If you look hard enough there's basically tutorials for everything out there.

5)Enjoy! Relax and enjoy the game. Don't let it stress you out. Oh and don't forget about your RL too

Hi everyone, well i just joined SL a few days ago and was completely overwhelmed lol. I have read your tips and they are great, but does anyone know where i can find a "Noob" tutorial or something? Maybe someone to show me the ropes? Not trying to beg but like i said i feel a bit overwhelmed by everything there is in SL. Oh and the first day i flew off the tutorial island and apparently you can never go back? lol Don't judge me too hard. Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Hi, Jen, and welcome to Second Life

Copy the following link and paste it into the chat line of your SL viewer:

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Caledon%20Oxbridge/128/128/2

Then click the link in your Chat History and teleport to the location, and follow the red arrows on the ground. It's the great new orientation from the Victorian Caledon sims, and it'll teach you all the basics you missed out on when you flew away from Help Island (and a lot more besides!) Make sure you grab the freebie avatars you find partway through the orientation, too.

At the end of the Caledon Oxbridge Orientation you'll find an NCI (New Citizens Inc) location, where you can find freebies and other useful info about Second Life. There are lots of NCI locations around SL (the main campus is in Kuula) and if you join the NCI group, you can set your Home location at their campuses: just look for the Home Spot just outside the main building (it's a stone set into the ground).

There are lots of good newbie blogs out there that can help you. Try the Mermaid Diaries -

http://www.mermaiddiaries.com/

- and I also have a series of newbie guides on my blog -

http://sl4nowt.wordpress.com/newbie-start-here/

Hopefully those will get you started

Thank you so much for that i will check it all out. I have been wandering and such. Now trying to find a way to make some money and to learn maybe to build or something. But there doesn't seem to be many tutorials out there for anything in this game. lol

Thanks to all the people who have posted tips here. It is a big help for some one who is new to SL (me). I am looking for a landlord or a mentor that knows a lot about land renting/leasing and stuff like that PM me please.

Thanks.

If you don't need to look up and down butt (pardon the pun) just want the same moves you can use the shift key. Just hold the shift key while you walk. It's allot handier if you don't want to use the mouse and keys together. That's what I was using for those moves, but with the mouse click-hold you can also look around, I didn't know about that trick. That will come in very handy. Oh and that Mouse Look point and fly is awesome. There's nothing like good UI tips, I love em.

Hi all, chiming in as well. Thanks for all the tips. Having been in SL for 5 or 6 days now this has been a huge help. Thanks again.

I'm a newbie myself so this thread is incredibly useful to me and if this post is out of line and i've got it all wrong then please tell me how it REALLY works but i just have to say the advise quoted below is probably the one i would've needed the most before i started playing with how i looked, in particular skins & shapes:



Not only is this good for different occasions but as I understand it it's the only way return to how you used to look in case you make changes you then regret.

I stupidly tried on a skin without first saving the look i had and lost my own created shape, by which i mean the shape i had tweaked myself into from the default shape i was born with that can't seem to find anywhere in the inventory. (Is it really gone once you've tried any other shape/clothes/skin on if you haven't known to save?)

I'd worked so hard to achieve it and I was very happy with it and after the disaster it took me literally hours to get something similar back but i still don't feel the same as i was... I almost cried when it happened.

I know, i know, it's only an avatar but she's gotten very dear to me already and it was like waking up after accidental plastic surgery.

This is a great thread, and here's my two cents worth:

1) Do not enter every single building you see.
If it is a shop/store, that's one thing. But if it's a home and no one has invited you in, resist the urge to barge in. If you use your mini-map to see if there is a green dot, and there is a green dot inside the building...don't just go in! As someone whose home has been invaded, I can tell you that it is no less distressing than it would be in real life.

2) Do not act like a dork.
I know this has been said before, but it cannot be stressed enough. If you want to make friends and have fun, be nice. Be polite. Use the manners your mother always harped about.
Act like a dork and you will be mocked, shunned , or in some areas, shot.

3) Please, do not find the first person you can and ask "what's to do here?"
Each of us have our own things we like to do. Some of us hang out in sandboxes and build stuff, or try to. Some of us find nightclubs and dance or av-watch (people watching in rl) Some of us explore. Use search and read about the recommended places. Research cannot be over-stressed!

4) Find the orientation centers and use them!
Read the cards, don't rush through, because you are cheating yourself. Not only that, but you'll miss info, ask a question later and find out the answer was on those cards you didn't read!

5) Read the forums!
You can find out a lot of info if you take the time to read these forums. You may even find a way to use your real life skills to make your time in SL even more enjoyable!

Did I mention don't be a dork?

I've read all 17 pages here and I'm so glad I did. I actually started reading this forum thread BEFORE signing up for an account on SL. I've felt so very well prepared. I think I may even read the thread a second time to make sure that I've not missed anything. I've visited a lot of the places that everyone recommended, and I'm so thankful that you've all taken the time to post not only your advice, but also links to locations within SL and sites outside of it for learning opportunities. I can think of two ways this thread may have been improved for those unaccustomed to Second Life. 1. Please refrain from using abbreviations, especially for locations or groups within SL. Many of the posts had abbreviations that I still have no idea what they meant or how to utilize the resources listed therin. 2. In addition to your 5 essential advice recommendations, I would have loved to have seen 1 "must see sim" or something of the sort. I've been following everyone's advice here and checking out the picks in people's profiles in SL and I've seen some beautiful in-world locations. I'm amazed at the beauty there is to be had in SL! Of course, the most amazing thing to me is that it's so tailored to individual interests. I've found three sims so far that are just exactly my style of place that I'm sure to visit them daily when I'm in game!

Again, thank you all so much for taking the time to post here. You have really done the SL community a great service, and I'll be sharing this thread with anyone else that I encounter that is new to the game and would like to know how to get started. I'm still just a few days old, and there is such an overwhelming amount of "world" to explore in SL. My inventory is badly in need of yet another round of organization/purging and I'm still searching for a good way for me to make money, but all in all it's been a lovely experience. I've not met any "griefers" in the game, and as a matter of fact, everyone that I've met so far in-game has been nothing but polite and kind to me. Vashti

Awesome posts........so glad I found this! Thanks everyone!

This thread has been useful to many new residents of Second Life. As the Residents Answers forum is expected to close soon, I hope it will be archived somewhere it can be easily found.

Thanks to Looli Vella for being Opening Poster and asking the question, and to all those who contributed their Top 5, and to Torley Linden for make it Sticky.


If it disappears into the ether, I intend to start it again in whatever place Resident Answers drifts ashore, or if that is unworkable, at Second Citizen MkII http://www.secondcitizen.net/Forum/index.php if they allow it.

Good luck to all Newbies, and Enjoy your Second Life

Perhaps the most common Tip in many forms emerges as...

Be nice, it doesn't cost any extra

Imogen