Success in introducing friend to SL?

I brought two people to SL....my sister and a good friend.

My sister is getting as addicted to SL as I am...she now brings her laptop to work and spends the day with me. She is in Alabama, and I am in Pennsylvania so we don't see each other much, so this is a great way to be together!

And my good friend comes in once in a while, she's not to fond of it...says she gets bored. She'd rather play 'A Tale in the Desert', an Egyptian themed game that I think is the most boring thing ever!

I would love to have my hubby play, but he thinks it's downright stupid and prefers to click the remote to the TV endlessly till he goes to bed. He is not the adventurous type anyhow, so I'd rather he just sit on the couch and *cough* watch TV.

It was my oldest son,then 19,who introduced me.I don't think he realized what he was doing because it has been nearly 3 years and I am still going strong and he never uses his account.

My pals think I am barking end of story.

My wife is just coming round to the view that it's harmless fun and keeps me out of the RL Pub.Also helps when the game paid for a very expensive bag that she had her eye on.LOL

A friend bought me into SL way back in beta. Since then I have bought in 6 friends from RL. 4 stuck around for a year or two but left when free accounts were introduced and the grid died. The other 2 friends are still here and are both market leaders in their respective fields. It's really cool having people you know well in RL to talk about SL with. Most poeple I know well in RL are aware that I use SL, but the majority dont understand how playing a computer game can result in me owning a shiny new BMW. I've given up trying to explain.

I brought my RL husband, my RL Master, and two of my RL best friends into SL with me - and it's been fine for all of us. My hubby has a group of friends he hangs with at a fetish club, my Master and I pretty much just hang out together, and one of my best friends ended up meeting a guy in SL that quickly transitioned to RL and they're basically living together now. I expect we'll be planning their RL wedding very soon. *chuckling*

For us, it was a good way to spend time together between visits since we're all sort of spread out all over the place. Other than relatives, I don't have any RL friends that I wouldn't invite into SL...but I'm pretty picky about the kind of people I hang with, so all of my RL friends would fit in just fine with my SL.

I come into SL to get away from RL friends and BF. SL is my escape and my chance to do filthy nasty things without having to mop up afterwards wouldn't want my RL friends to see that!

LOL. I like the way you think.

Good point though, haha, now that i have introduced my RL to my SL house, i have second thoughts when i think of doing anything naughty in the house
wouldn't want her to bump into something.........................well.....that i wouldn't want her seeing me do in RL. haha.

I've tried to explain it to the best friend I have ever had, using the angle that I have built three dimensional galleries to display my RL art. She just doesn't quite grasp it and is a bit of a Luddite in spite of being a science fiction fan. If she doesn't get it, no one else in my life will.

I too worry about someone I know being in world, which is partially why the Weston account is squeaky clean, there being a chance of a friend or coworker in real life recognizing me.

But, heck, my alt is squeaky clean too.

If you want any semblance of a private life in SL, it is best to not even mention SL to RL people and if they mention it to you play ignorant and feign disinterest.

That is my new policy.

I tried to get a couple people I know RL to get on SL but they just are not into chat rooms or gaming much

One guy I tried to get on SL, he asked if people were able to have sex in the game and I said yes, of course then he started in about how the end of the world is coming and all that crap, of course he is always on about the end of the world...

No success here.

The first person I actively tried to get involved was one of our members from our IRC rp channel. He had only ever been involved in text mediums so I tried to prepare him for the 3D world and explained that there would be a bit of a learning curve. He said "Oh *I* won't have any trouble with it." Famous last words. He came to SL, stayed about 45 minutes, said "This sucks" and left.

Next person was another IRC friend who had since gone to AW. She was raving on and on about how great AW (Active Worlds) was. I shared what I was learning and experiencing in SL. She said, "Yeah, I've heard about SL; you don't come with all your "parts" and actually have to BUY a penis. Why a female was concerned with that I'm not sure.

Another was a long-time friend from IRC who actually wanted to come to SL but her computer wouldn't run the software - and this was when I first began over two years ago, thus the pre-Windlight viewer. She kept getting a graphics card error. I worked with her and gave suggestions to her to check out info on line, etc., all to no avail.

I check into IRC about once a month to keep my nick current and one time another friend IM'd me and asked how I was liking SL. I was praising it and her response: "I like to keep things simple, so I'll stay in a text environment."

I don't even try anymore.

I don't have any qualms about telling people about SL.....but I do know 'who' is going to be more receptive and who isn't, so I adjust my enthusiam levels accordingly when talking about it.

Most of my family & friends know me well enough that they don't show any surprise at all that I'm involved in something like this. But.....none jumped on the idea for themselves personally until I did the gallery of my mom's paintings. Then....my brother & sister became really intrigued and actually joined. sadly, neither of them has a computer that will support it well. My brother got in....but things were laggy so he just hung around the gallery with me. It was pretty cool, since he's in the mid-west and I'm in FL. My sister is 4 miles away IRL....so we see each other all the time anyway.....but when she did get into SL she only lasted 3 minutes before she crashed.

I don't have any shame about what I do, or why I do it. SL is a big creative playground and I enjoy it. The only person in my life who truly doesn't 'get it' is my boyfriend. He knows about it.....but his reaction is to just roll his eyes. Of course, he can spend hours playing Metal of Honor on line or something akin to that. (we're both big kids at heart, being in our 40s lol)

My brother did show an interest in using SL as a way to promote his music, but without a good enough laptop, there's not much he can do. I think more people I know would be into it, if they had the 'time' to spend getting aquainted. My family and friends see me as very forward thinking and seem to admire that in me. I would love it if the people who were furthest away from me IRL could get involved......just for the social aspect of it. Otherwise in SL I'm pretty much a loner. The reality is......the longer I'm involved, the more curious everyone becomes.....they see the pics I take and they see how the gallery is getting attention....and they think it's cool. But, I don't ever suggest anyone try it....I just talk about what I do......and sooner or later someone asks me to show them....

Yes.