Reflections on SL - my 4th RezDay

My first day in SL I landed and was totally overwhelmed. Somehow bumbling through Orientation (after more than an hour trying to fly across the cliff at Orientation)I landed at the old welcome area. I was met by a mentor who immediately tried to lead me away from the WA denizens to better help me. Unfortunately having come from TSO I couldn't remember how to walk in SL and she was gone before I figured it out again. To this day I wonder what that dear lady must have thought.

At that point not knowing what else to do I began walking around and found the help stations near the WA and figured out manythings. Like mouselook at the shooting gallery. Assisted flight at the Linden balloon ride. Building in the sandbox. I stumbled into a show and tell at the Dore Amphitheater and got a look at the marvelous things people were doing. At this point I asked where the kitchens and bathrooms were cause I was sure my AV was gonna die anytime now and I really needed to "green". Not getting an answer I logged out before death could take me.

Day 2 I found the Linden picks tab and started exploring some absolutely amazing places. The Ivory Tower of Primatives, The White Star Casino (to this day one of the most beautiful builds I have ever seen). Thus inspired I converted my paid basic account to premium (and have been so ever since). I applied for land (first land was linden assigned to you at that time).

Day 3 I shopped for a prefab. Not an onerous chore there were only 2 people making them at the time Bought something that could double as a shop/workspace and a home.

Day 4 my land was assigned to me. After 5 hours of trying to place my prefab I finally contacted the maker for help. The dear lady came and gave me one heck of a building lesson. We both had a blast and I got forever hooked on building. Later that day I discovered prim limits and that my 80 prim prefab was a BAD idea on a 512m plot.

Day 5 I discovered vendors and in the process Mooph Murrays old build with the fantastically beautiful prim flowers, round shacks, and piers.

Day 6 I sold my first land needing something larger since I was going to bring someone else to SL from TSO. Keeping in mind the Code of conduct I sold it for only what I had paid for it 512L only to find out I had seriously ripped myself off. needing L$ because at the time a 1024 was going for 16k and up I discovered GOM (lindex did not exist). I purchased a nice 1024 in Ebisu that was 1 narrow strips of land with alot of water between.

Day 7 I brought Mara to join me. We spent weeks exploring and building together. I never really managed to make the lily pad village I had envisioned on all that water but man we had ALOT of fun trying.

Then one day custom animations came to SL. The whole world changed. We discovered dancing. We spent hours at clubs enjoying each other and the other folks there. Having fun at events and being around people. I learned to animate.

By now our family had grown to 4 with Paul and Kimi joining us. Land was too small we sold and moved. Is tarted making prefab houses of my own and had a positive cashflow. Mara was in the texture business. Paul was the goofball he always was and a constant source of entertainment. Kimi was the real joy. Watching this woman who had never walked in RL dance and fly and run and snowboard. Watching the WONDER of it all.

By Christmas we had discovered the old Ace Drumcircle. Now we were playing with scripts and sound. New wonders to behold and the family had grown to 20. Of course we had experience that horrible 2 day outage around Thanksgiving but what the heck we were together all was right with the world.

Fast forward a few months and another land move as the house business now was requiring ALOT of prims. The Lindens actually gave presents to players to try and get concurrency of 5000 at this point. Even so the next viewer cause a world of grey for absolutely everyone for nearly 4 days as pending downloads on every sim went into the millions! I have never been so happy to see my pants again. Family over 40 members now all working, learning, growing as people togther. Having a blast sharing each new discovery.

I remember Oz, and Neverland, and Chinatown and Chicago. I remember the absolute AWE of seeing these amazing builds. Dreams come to life. Measuring my sad skills against these fantasic moments in SL time.(I had in fact been asked to help with Neverland but refused as I didn't feel I measured up). I remember Paul and Tony having thier first Date in Neverland and teasing them for months because they picked down inthe sewer for thier first kiss. They are happily married RL now.

Then came Lauks Nest. The dawning of Apollo. Raglan Shire. Lothlorien. Builds to numerous and wonderous to imagine. The family grew to over 70 people. We ourselves bought an island and built our version of venice testing our own building skills to the limits. In time we sold the island and returned to the mainland. It was time that chapter was closed.

We are still here. We are still together. We are still in awe of the magic that is SL.

Obligatory forum question: Would each of you that read this take a few minutes to help me celebrate my rezday by visiting or reflecting on something you find really awesome or magical in SL?

Congrats!!!! The 4th is a great celebration!!! Youve been a good friend over the years even tho we seldom see each other now. My fondest hopes are to see you celebrate your 10th

Happy 4th RezDay!

I really enjoyed reading what life was like in SL when you began and how you all discovered it bit by bit.

I'm in a somewhat melancholy mood today, so my contribution of something amazing in SL would be a bit skewed.

But I do have a question - when you mention "family" - it looked like at first you were bringing over friends from TSO. When it grew to a larger size, were these people you met in SL who became friends?

Being more of a solitary type, and an only child in RL, I'm always intrigued by large groups of people who get together and collaborate on builds and community and such.

Overheard in my first two minutes on the mainland: "Crap, I just deleted my penis." I realized at that moment that this was the game for me.

Seriously though, the magic may never die out. I am constantly amazed by the level of artistry present in so many builds - 'Lost Gardens of Apollo' and 'Serenite' being my favorites so far. I have brought a couple of friends to SL in the past week and they are as awestruck as I am.

I believe I'm going to be here for a very long time to come.

Congrats on #4!

I find that there's always magic to be had in SL. Even when I'm feeling tired of it all an wanted to jes up an quit -- the last couple weeks havwe been especially hard on me -- I find someting like Barnesworth Anubis' pretty skyscraper in Bay City, the Kids5B build, Loki's still-forming SL5B structure, or other things an places that delight me and keep me going. Or I'll learn a new trick, like my recent exploration into good-looking but subtle neon lights, or the "real" construction of my Bay City site. Avatars, too, interest me: seeing Mister Paperclip yesterday as a walking, flopping piece of tamago sushi was wonderful!

More than any of these, too, is the connections I've made. I've met some amazing people, and found so many friendly avatars in our world. That gives me a lot of hope, and keeps me going.

Mari

Mara at the time was my lady love. Paul my Male Love RL. Kimi my wife RL (yes Kimi knew about Mara and Paul). Over time and various shiftings. They all ended up with other spouses who are in SL with them. I ended up with Frost RL and SL. Various cousins, brothers, sisters, even parents in some cases joined us (RL relations) and thier spouses. Trying to sort the family is complicated. We are family plain and simple.

That is a wonderful account you put there. Thank you

What I find awesome and magical in SL? Joy Isle, always magical, even if you just wander around alone.....
Lebettu, where I live right now, a beautiful little mediterranean town, calm and relaxing....
The ability to build something that few seconds before was just an image in my mind, and have other people enjoy it too.....
And the numerous friends I have made from all over the world....

To some, SL is just a game. To me, it is much more than that. It is a playground and a meeting place, a place I can go to when things in RL are not as bright, and some of my dearest, closest friends right now I met here.

That is the magic of SL to me.

4th Rezday is something to celebrate indeed!! Congrats and a very happy Rezday to you

I remember finding SL for the first time in the summer of 2006. I had come from another virtual community and was really excited to find SL. Alas, things were so buggy and laggy for me that I couldn't get around at all and it caused more frustration than anything else so I gave the game up.

Fast forward to the beginning of March when I rediscovered SL. This time it ran much smoother and the game was much more enjoyable. I was fortunate to meet two VERY special people my first day in that helped make the game lots of fun for me!

Even though I have only been here 3 months I have made some great friends and had more than my fair share of heartache. I am learning as I go.. but still forging ahead. I am fortunate to have my friends as well as a special someone that I have rather enjoyed spending time with all these months. I am looking forward to many more.

For me what I love most about second life is meeting different people from all walks of life and seeing the amazing things that can be done inside this virtual world.

That was an amazing story. And it made me reflect back on my past in sl. Unfortunatly there was a whole year gap between when I had this account and my first one and in that time many people I know passed on to other things. Still since I got this second account things have never slowed down ^_^ Thanks for sharing you great story.

Congratulations on your Fourth!! I don't know you, but I've enjoyed reading your posts here.

I joined SL so my wife could get Lindens. I was here for her referral fee only. I dicked around for a few days and was bored. Then I found a live music performance that was quite good and a day later, I found an AA meeting. At that point, I realized that Second Life was more than a game. I started realizing what I've come to believe today. Second Life is what we make of it. If I choose to be negative and focus on what's wrong, that's me. If I am positive and try to bring something to the table, then I have an entirely different experience.

Second Life is.....Life. I have seen so many wonderful builds. I have bought so many wonderful clothes and skins and hair and houses and, well...you get the idea. I have created a female alt that has surprisingly allowed me to experience things a bit differently, and apparently I'm enjoying it too much...lol.

But, out of all the "stuff" that is here on SL, what amazes me more than anything is the people. I have built amazing friendships here. I have friends that have helped me out in many ways. I have fallen in love twice and it has been wonderful and painful and scary. I have been involved in charity work and raised RL money for RL issues. SL has allowed me to meet with people and connect in a way, online, I never dreamed possible.

Yes, there are times when SL itself drives me nuts, but when I focus on what's important, and that is you guys, this shit is pretty awesome!

Happy rezday

I just turned 2, jumped on the early mainstream bandwagon, and Its nice to see how things were and realize how far things had progressed before that.

It's funny looking back to old screenshots and seeing what I marveled in at the time, now theyre almost a laugh.

I still see a lot of magic...but its hidden. People say SL is "ugly" but the engine allows for some insane design if people take some time to learn.

I have met enough freinds overseas that sometimes i forget what time zone im in. Luckily, being on SL's time zone makes it easy.

t took close to a year to be more of a SL realist--that is get over the inspirational newbie impressions the world can leave, but aside from some doubt, im still here.

Im looking forward to the day that virtual worlds are hard to differentiate from real worlds.

Wow, your 4th! That means my 3rd is coming up LOL

I remember as a new resident, dragged in here by a friend, landing in a mall, because I didn't finish orientation properly (too excited to meet up with my friend!). I was amazed by all I saw. I had never played online, let alone been in a virtual world. It was love at first sight...
After a while my friend didn't log in as much, but I was hooked.
I met so many people, from all over the globe, even meeting up with some RL friends I hadn't seen a while.
One of the new friends I made, was a certain Darkness Anubis.. and I met the family. So glad to still call you my friend!

I started exploring, saw some amazing builds, wonderful sims, strange things, beautiful beings and a mix of all of the above.
Then I settled, I became involved with different volunteer programs, learned lots about SL and found myself a home, with my partner Phill.
We organised events, managed a pub together with a bunch of friends. Then we met a couple of the regulars in Real Life.

in short: SL has treated me wonderfully. I've met so many friends along the way, even met my RL soulmate
YAY for Second Life!

Happy 4th!

I'm just amazed by the amount of creativity here. Just my own avatar - I think she's beautiful. And I look at her skin, the hair, the clothes and it is amazing what a wellspring of creativity and talent is here and how I want to play a bigger part in that. Although there are a lot of turds in SL, there are a lot of really wonderful people.

Happy 4th rez day.
I guess the most magical thing I have received other then creating is finding friends who are patient, accepting and seem to me as is, grumpy or not...

Congrats on the 4 years! Does that make you a SL veteran? And our physical appearance doesn't need to look older and greyer by even one day during that time! Must be something in the air or water!

Here's to your next 4 years and beyond.....cheers!

PS I've only been in SL about 19 months, but I think back to my first few laggy steps on Orientation Island. I had got my appearance to a basic version of what I look like now right from the start. When I'd done that I wandered round the little island with it's chattering parrot, stepping stones and confused newbies thinking: '"Is this it? Surely there must be more."

Now I know there is more, much more, more than any of us can ever hope to see in its entirety - a bit like RL really!

I'm still awestruck by some builds - the patience, skill and imagination that's gone into them. I make stuff myself and have done, well, a few nice things, but compared to the likes of Svarga, Damania, Dresden Gallery, Apollo and the new Bay City, it's minor. I suppose I've become a bit immune to surreality now, though, since there's so much of it in SL!

Happy Rezday

I was a bit weirded out on my first few days, but it got better after I managed to remove the box from my head... Now i'm just weird in an very ordinary way.

A nice guy took me for a ride in a balloon and gave me a calling card (thats how things were done back then) Then i bumped into Lizbeth Marlowe and she gave me some cool clothes so i wouldn't look like a total dork - I never stopped coming back

wow, Congrats on your 4th Rez Day and making such a success w/ your time and family here.

The wings, I think! now sold at the WereHouse, the subtle snow I could produce at a whim, the unbelievable creations and seemingly never ending sky's was the awesome magic for me.

The other thing is the love of being able to be happy to be alone or surrounded by a lot of ppls!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0p-VwNdLyeo

Happy rezday, Darkness. Reading your remembrances stirred up a few of my own...

Starting out in SL in February 2005 with 512MB RAM and a 32MB TNT2 video card. For the first few weeks I was quite unimpressed with this laggy place where it took forever for anything to -- what did these people call it? Oh, yes -- "rez."

Then I got a hand-me-down Radeon 9600 128MB card. Wow, I can actually walk across a sim in less than 10 minutes! I can see things! Later on I upgraded my RAM to 1.5GB and it was even better. If not for the gift of that video card (which I am still using today until I can get a more powerful power supply that will support the 7600GS that I recently bought) I probably wouldn't have stayed in SL.

My first time at a club in SL, seeing a trio of bikini-clad girls dancing in unison on somebody's dance-foo opened my eyes to the possibilities of scripting.

Seeing some of the most amazing builds over the years -- places like the Lost Gardens of Apollo, the (now gone) Opera House in Intemptesta Nox, the Standing Stone Irish Pub in Sanctum Sanctorum, and so many more.

The greatest thing I have found in SL, of course, is my wife Sansarya, with whom I plan to spend the rest of both my kives... three if you count WoW.

P2

happy Rezday Darkness, with many more to come for all of us



your not the only one Czari, were not alone.

-Crunch

Happy Rezzday! I loved your evocative story about what things were like "back then".

I spent my first month exploring with a friend I made at Bravo Brave, and still go exploring sometimes if I get the time - recent higlights include the Light Waves and Greenies builds, and finding the Starax exhibit (I forget where). There is such talent here.

I wish I'd had my current Graphics Card when I started - things look *so* much better now than they did on a Mac iBook laptop... I look forward to the day when standard technology catches up with SL

Starax is AMAZING stuff! He was still around and building when I started. No wonder I have never felt up to the snuff of the early pioneers.

I am on my 3rd SL machine having blown up my 2nd one at Christmas time. I gave up hoping standard tech would catch up with SL a long time ago. SL pushes all boundaries and a big one is hardware. Always has and likely always will. And That mon ami is not necessarily an entirely bad thing.

Rezzulations Darkness! and thank you for sharing your wonderful story with us

Even now there are times when just stop and thinking about how amazing most of SL actually is. The richness of what can be done here is breath-taking. Stories like yours help remind us of that

Yes that's a great story Darkness. What amazes me most are the people that built this world: the residents from 2003 and 2004 who were curious about this world, explored it, paid for it, tried to build and got other people interested. Those are the people that got us here today, such as you Darkness, but also other 'oldies' I was honoured to meet. Whenever I meet a resident from those years, I thank him or her for making this world possible. That's the thing that amazes me most.