Why is help often so half-hearted?

are you looking for a mentor to guide you and bring you into an rp environment?

I'm not offering, just asking, I don't rp myself. But it seems like you this is what you are looking for.

Ah, now the point of the thread is clear.

Actually, I'm not looking for a debate at all. 'Cos, you know, the moment I actually get to role-play, that experience is the rock-crushing argument that defeats anything else I've said. And when that happens, you get to win the argument. Until it does, there'll always be some flaw. I know that "winning the argument" might not be much of a prize, but that's the best I can manage!

I already stated I was trying to help and not debate, so I wasn't trying to win anything.

Is it just me or can anyone else make sense out of what the OP wants?

I'm going to make a really bad analogy.

* * * * *

I've never worked at Disneyland, but I know their customer-facing employees are trained to be very helpful and charming on all manner of subjects.

It has to do with the magic of Disneyland.

At Disneyland it's a little bit more straightforward. Nobody sells anything but Disneyland, and everyone is there, ostensibly, to be entertained. Or perhaps have a loved one entertained, like the little moppet they brought with them.

They definitely do what they do quite well. I live near the original Disneyland, and remember when they figured out that they could double prices and *still* be crowded to capacity. Likely they could triple prices even now, and still do the same thing.

So let's look at what they are doing. For wee miss Moppet, there are the Small World rides, the characters, the big ice cream cone and the princess pony toy. To her eyes: magic!

To grandpa and grandma who brought her, there's a place to eat low calorie food and sit down. Changing stations in the bathrooms. Architecture that looks like the small town they left behind. The smell of old fashioned candy, and memories of trips when they were new parents. Magic.

For the older teens it's a great place to dunk your date, steal a kiss and a squeeze on the Pirates ride, dance the night away to not-half-bad cover bands and scarf massive amounts of junk food. Pure heaven.

The people there can't tell you where you'll find the magic, exactly. But they know it's there, and help you make your way the best they can.

* * * * *

Let's talk about where I'm going with this. For some, Second Life is dating and clubbing paradise. For others it's their zany art shop be-bop beatnik poetry build. For still more, it's escape to another world, where they can be someone other than the guy at the checkout counter.

The common thread is magic. Oh, it's here all right. But it might be on the Small World ride for some, and in ToonTown for others. Or it might not be apparent at the moment.

Yumi, there's magic for you, too. But it's not as simple as a landmark.

I remember one day, I was talking with Cocoa and setting up a 16m PG parcel so her shop could be in search - some kind of search glitch at the time, I forgot what. Jesse Malthus came by, we all talked a few minutes and then I had to go do stuff for my estate. Normal, no magic... or so I thought. Not long after, rest his soul, Jesse was no longer with us. I now 'get' the magic of that simple moment.

Another time I set out to performance test a void region. I called a few friends - figuring we'd just stand there, try some high lag sorts of things and see what happened. Turned out to be one of the most amazing good times ever had by a zillion people - they kept calling more friends. Spontaneous. Never to be repeated.

Relay for Life. The fastest, most direct, immediate, clear way to rediscover magic is to help someone in need.

On a goofier level, but similar, is the wanderer walkabout. Get a noob alt, wander the mainland, say hi and just listen to people's stories when they tell them. Just listen. Nothing more.

Sometimes, you might commit a Random Act of Kindness later - hook up an aspiring boatmaker with a guy who wants to make a fun lake. Or a texture guy with a texture-clueless builder. Or an aspiring DJ with a broke club owner. If you have the capacity, you might fix up a broke but awesome sandbox builder with an $L 100k contract to develop regional content (ooh that knocks their socks off, be careful).

One of my most recent magic moments? I barely realised, until it was done: Caledon assuming the mantle of fall leaves for the third time... my favourite season on the grid, rich with memories.

Yumi the magic will seek you out all by itself and find you - unpredictably, out-of-the-blue, no landmarks required. All you need to do is stop looking so hard to find it, to give it a chance to happen.

And remember this post when it gets ya, and smile.

I have seen gangster related places but nothing like that not that I am a role
player but I always enjoy a good build.
I like wondering around the Roman sims but I never seen anyone there I am not
really into that type of role playing myself.
I am more interested in creative, active type of games or something video game like,
puzzles, strategy, word games,etc.

I'm not saying you were trying to win anything, I'm saying I was offering the win as an incentive.

Dangit, Desmond...now I want to go to Disney World/Epcot/Disney-MGM studios.



This sounds like a lot of fun...I may do that

I was never into power-leveling and major raiding when I played EverQuest - I enjoyed the people I met and chatted with. The monster-killing was sort of a sidelight. After a number of years, most of my friends had leveled way beyond me and were raiding constantly or left the game. I was at a decent level then so I would just park myself someplace and buff every noob that wandered by...or go to a lower-level fighting area...see someone desperately trying to solo a mob, losing health rapidly, and I'd stand there and keep healing them.

I honestly had so much more fun doing that and just poking around in the game seeing things that when I was fighting I didn't notice.

About two or more weeks ago I was thinking about how much fun it might be to do something "Film Noir" like, and then I recalled that was one of the reasons I had picked the last name. Never did find what I was looking for, though. The RP I could find tended to be grungy/punky/gothy type urban, and/or fantasy of one kind of another.

Soji Slade, PI. I do not investigate anything, much, lately, I just sit around staring at the dark smoky clouds being blown in across the cold frozen lake.

The office was stuffy, but the frozen dirty grime smeared on the windows suggested, strongly, that it would be a bad idea to crack open a window.

. . .

A lot of your posts touch me, Desmond, and this one did especially But I'm just tired of this faith into the blue.

I try to perform these "random acts of kindness". I still run a show and tell for basically that reason, but I can't help suffering teacher's regret. And until recently, I was holding a 16384sqm parcel which I hadn't built anything notable on - I used it for development and practice things, but I hadn't even committed to anything, because - well, as you said, I hadn't found the magic yet, or what it would be for.

But now it's coming to a head. Show and tell is about all I actually log in for now, and my sales aren't supporting the 16384 anymore, and most of my current friends list, who still log in, don't do that much apart from doing their own work and giving the kind of "palliative care" I've talked about here, so.. well, it's coming to the point of deciding to close up and move on or not, and that nasty little word "never" has started to rear its head. I mean, I've had this video of how it's felt in my profile for a while... http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=G9AqVLWKIVo

This just gave me shivers of happiness. Thanks Des.

Thank god I am not the only one who was not sure what the question was

I would help if I could, but I do not RP in SL, so therefor have no idea what or where I would suggest

as for the comment about new players not being able to build... plenty of sandboxes out there to build in... they have just as much chance to build as anyone else

the thing they lack is knowledge and they do not just get that handed to them, they learn, try, practice, attend classes, etc just like anyone else would have done starting out


as for folks not giving you what you need or ask for....if you asked the way you wrote this post, it is no wonder you are not getting what you want or desire... folks would have no idea what you want or desire


If you can not find it, make whatever it is you want. Maybe others will want the same thing and you will be the one to start whatever RP is it you desire

Quit trying to distract people from the hot topic of your neglected child support responsibilities!

/me snorts

I was actually thinking the same thing...

Hmm.

I'd honestly say... for your case, do what I can't do any more, and take a good long break from the grid.

Totally serious. Break the ritual before it breaks your spirit.

Get some holiday cheer, some real life, find some small simple joys as far from a computer as you possibly can. Forget all about us for a while - not in a bad way but in a restorative, healing way.

It will seem like a month or two for you. For us it will seem like years - I'm sure you know the effect of time on the grid, how it seems so compressed, so fast. Regardless of the timing, you'll be able to come back refreshed on your own terms, and not feel forced to do it.

I'm not entirely sure I understood the video - perhaps leave the town you are in too?

It seems I'm pre-destined to get on peoples nerves. =^-^=

I've seen a couple comments about 'unwelcome' feelings people got from visiting NCI and The Shelter. I'm curious what could be done differently. It would help both locations in improving their goal of being the best introductory locations someone can find in SL. (^_^)

I guess the one thing to get around is the crowd there. Though on the surface we seem to be a close group of friends, what really happened was that we all found the place in our own time as noobies and liked it enough to stick around. Me, so much, that within the year I started volunteering and took on a teaching position. Others had their own purposes and end-results. Either land-officers, event hosts, or just the regular hang-out crowd. (^_^)

The Shelter is just about the same, but more socially driven since sandbox activities aren't as common. Honestly, my bias is toward the builder/scriptor crowd, so The Shelter doesn't attract me as much. (^_^)

When I feel the need to RP... I sprout up 2 feet, put on my best black garb, strap on a knife & gun, and pop on in to CoLA. I rarely get involved in the combat (because I often fail greatly) but I have a bunch of fun as the little lost kitten I am there. =^-^=

If none of this attracts you, it just takes a bit of effort to find something that does. When confronted by a noobie with the "what do I do here?" question. I respond with a request... "Think of things you like and tell me what they are." (^_^)

So... if you don't mind... *resets the world* ... Think of some things you like and try to describe them to me (us). For example, I like Anime... Namely cute Anime and a lot of comedy. Now, your turn; what, off the top of your head, puts a smile on your face? (^_^)

Right, so why didn't I get to do that? (Timezone is part of the reason..)



US$1000 is a lot for a "maybe", and then how many US$295's while I'm waiting...?

Well yes you are very wrong about no rp. I'm not a huge fan of it myself but if you cant find RP sims then you aren't looking hard enough.

You want evidence ? here you go :

Cryptomania
Toxian City
Midian City
Midgar
The Crack Den
Mos Espa
Hillcrest
Ghosts Of Hyperion
Crossroads
The Dark Kingdom
City Seljonay
Tombstone Arizona
Hales Moon
Valley Of The Jedi
Boyington


And those are just the tip of the iceberg. There are literally thousands of them.
Im not going to give you slurls or landmarks because they are easy to find and im not doing the work for you lol.

I did not have relations with that catgirl!

Being universally welcoming in SL is really, really, really hard because there are so many mixed expectations around. If I'm hanging out in the main area at NCI I'll tend to say Hi to anyone I see come through the teleport, but I'm sure some of the people are shy and would rather I didn't... but I can't possibly tell who they are.



See, I like that as well.. and I've seen the avatars for it around.. but what it seems to come down to is, spending lots of money on avatar bits, and then.. just hanging out in the same way I would have done in any other avatar. I mean, I know people might say it's good that people are treated similarly no matter how they look, but the newbie who just spend US$200 on their look probably disagrees!

There was or is Dune Rp and this Roman one too but I am not sure if Dune one is still around. Went there few times but it seemed pretty dead.

LOL

@OP...if I can say this gently, sounds to me as if depression might be setting in. Perhaps a break or a change of pace in the grid, someplace you might not normally frequent, could add a little spice

Ashe

I don't know, you tell me why you did not go to a sandbox, and just start building, and practice, and learn, and read the wiki, and just figure things out on your own?

I have never taken a class in SL, I have no desire to. I tried once, got bored, and left.

I just practice, and do what I can and learn as I go. No one ever taught me how to build, or how to use photoshop, or how to put clothing together, etc

there is no reason that you can not do the same thing.

Or, are you wanting someone to hold your hand through it all, someone to teach you, to interact with, to be friends with and share the experience with?

If so, then that is something you have to find on your own, you do not force friendships, friendships just happen, when they are meant to happen and when the time is right

If I knew what you were looking for, and was capable of providing the answers I would do so in a heartbeat, but sadly... I don't know what it is you seek



no one said you have to buy a sim, RP can be simply in text, as it was way long before the start of SL.

it sounds like you want someone, or everyone, to just hand you what you want, but...without telling them what you want

As Des said, the magic will happen when you least expect it, and don't try to force it to happen (paraphrasing)

I've got more different avatars than just about anyone I know, and I can tell you I'm treated quite differently based on my avatar. Possibly because I find I often *behave* differently based on my avatar.

same here, tons of avatars, (not just tons of different human looks) and I get treated differently when I switch avatars (and I do not act differently in them)

heck I get treated differently just changing the color of my skin, or the shape of my avatar