Got Secks? What exactly is in SL?

Hell of a view I've got there, though.

/me slaps his ass. Have a greath 4th. Hope you are loving your new job.

You can test out things without fear.

For instance, I plan to take over the world. SL gives me an opportunity to test out my world domination theories in a safe environment. Then when I find something that works, I can apply it in Real Life.

I've already placed an ad farm in the corner of my property to drive off my neighbor and claim his land. I'll be glad when he leaves, as it's hard to mow around.

Wow, Lucrezia! If you're just "doodling" - count me in as a HUGE fan of that! I love your sims and builds and anytime I want some peace and relaxation, I head for one of your areas.

I'd love to learn to "doodle" as well as you *smiles*

~ ~ ~

Am I the first to invite the OP to come visit The Forum Cartel Hangout? Lots of cool peeps there with a wealth of combined knowledge on most any area of SL you might want to know about or explore.

There's a little bit of everything to do there: Music, dancing, swimming, fishing, avoiding Trout's plane crashing into you...or just relaxing and "being" if that's your choice.

Were those panties well designed then? No crotch smudge or any other glitches? Oh, you mean that was a RL pic? Ummmm.....

/FD smiles longingly mutters, "Aww yes World Domination is fun, I wonder if it would consent to me too? I want to take it by its ankles and shake it's change out of it, may be their is some loose coins in it's pockets"

Will be up front, my partner and I, as SL husband a wife do cyber and gain a great deal of satisfaction from expressing our love and affection in this way. We have been together in SL for 8 months, a lifetime by most SL Couple standards, and we are still together for very real feelings for each other. But making cyber love is not all that engages us, we build together, socialize with friends around the world, we dance and we enjoy what SL has given us. We did not come to SL for what has come out of it for us, but you know what its not about the sex, its about a medium that anyone can sculpt and let there imaginations soar, or even be a child again, and not need a library's worth of programming and graphics design knowledge and experience to do.

Now Kryos I am sure you would ask, we have been together in SL for 8 months, why have we not gone RL? Well there are a lot of reasons from geography to our current financial situations, and many more, but it has popped up on the road map.

Phil & Dixie were always a good read...I enjoyed them every month Dragon magazine came out and remembered to include them, but what made me an everlasting fan of Foglio's work was his graphic novel versions of the Myth, Inc series of stories...

Ever since, I've always been a fan of huge, toothy grins...

Oh, and to the OP:
If you're looking to make SL your primary source of income, or to actually build a "real" Second Life, it may take a bit more effort than what you've put in.

As is true with RL, the real money comes in *who* you know as well as *what* you know...social connections are invaluable in SL, for generating real "success".

Then again, I don't look to make money at SL, so I'm not the best source of wisdom on it - however, those who've "made it"? Always seem to be surprised that they did, as they seem to have just enjoyed themselves getting there.

It really depends. Be cautious about saying that you can do *anything* in SL - that's true for some people but not others. That isn't (or at least isn't mainly) because some people can do things with SL that others can't - it's because different people require things to have different levels of significance, in order to feel that they are "being" or "doing" something. What shows on the screen for two people might be the same, but one person thinks of themselves as "being" something in SL as a result while the other might find it silly and trivial. It's a peculiar mix.

5 or 6 days is just not enough .I spent weeks in the beginning trying my best to learn the ropes.I was terrified when I finally plucked up the nerve to enter the mainland.I still needed to learn then and I have never stopped almost 2 years later.I have probably logged 4 years in hours.At the end of the day I am still a new boy picking up stuff and learning.This is a place that does not suit everyone as has been said but you must give it more time.I for one think it's worth it.

Wow, there are so many things you can do here besides build, create or get a job. If none of those are your cup of tea. I went skydiving in SL, and you might think, big deal, its virtual. But, Im here to tell you..your mind doesnt know the difference, I thought I'd crap my drawers! I also bought a kick ass mustang, and a motorcycle, if that's your thing, if not, hey. But it was fun, all the same. Bought some cool weapons, a Stealth and did that for awhile. Sometimes it's fun to blow crap up. There is also the Greenies sim, which is incredible. Well, it was, havent been there in awhile. It's worth a look if it's still around. There are just too many things to see in SL that will really have you saying..wowzers!

/me chokes

I was actually going to say, in regards to:


What's precisely WRONG with masturbation?

People come to SL for all SORTS of things. Some are housebound, and this is the only "Social life" they have. Some are working here every day. Some are building empires, some are experimenting, Some come to rpleplay, some to build, some to destroy. Some people come to SL to play it like a game, while others simply come here for chat and a good time. Some are here to see beautiful things, to explore. Some come to play dress-up, some come to visualize the possible, and some come to dream the impossible.

There's business, there's science, there's education, and communication here. There's groups of people, from Alcoholics Anonymous to people who like Zebras.

People can use SL to be the person that Real life won't allow them to be, and they can use SL to pretend to be what they aren't. SL can be real, it can be imagined, it can be fandom and fashion and fun. The only limit is the limits you place on yourself.

That includes clubs and models and sex slaves and whores.. that includes violence and sex and combat and horror as well. Science fiction, fantasy, living cartoons and historical reenactment... it's all living and breathing here in this wonderful world of make-believe.

And if the idea that you can do ANYTHING you want turns you on... welcome to Second Life.

Here is a spoof article I wrote for my blog on SL Profiles some time ago.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Falling at the First Fence - a spoof article, supposedly by a journalist who completely misses the point of SL.

A confrontation had been brewing over the proposed felling of a row of oak trees. I had been scheduled to cover the predicted battle between demonstrators and contractors on the afternoon the trees were to be felled. However the contractors had turned up overnight and by dawn the trees were gone and the story had been covered by someone else. That lunchtime the editor came in and suggested that, since I was at a loose end that afternoon, I could investigate this virtual cyber-sex playground that he’d heard about called Second Life, and then write a piece about it. This sounded intriguing so I found the Second Life website. Before long I’d created an account and downloaded something or other that actually lets you play the game. You get a choice of about eight avatars. None of them looked much like me so I chose a slightly goofy looking guy with a white T-shirt and jeans who I called ggg999 Dingbat.

Logging in to Second Life was fairly straight forward and I was quite surprised to find that ggg999 actually appeared standing in a roped-off area on a grassy hilltop. There were a few other people there, who were grey at first, then they appeared in their true colours. Two others were identical to me but what surprised me was that there were avatars that didn’t look like the ones they gave me to choose from. Presumably you win those when you get to a higher level. I tried walking and set off down a path of stepping stones until I came to a large parrot on a perch that asked me to kiss it. By the perch was a nice looking woman who said ‘hello’. I asked here where she lived and whether she’s a woman in reality but she wouldn’t tell me. I was somewhat puzzled about what you’re actually meant do in Second Life, it all seemed rather aimless.

The editor kept popping in to look over my shoulder to see how I was getting on. He thought it didn’t look much like a sex game and took over the controls from me. As I watched he found the same woman I’d spoken to and asked whether she wanted sex. She said no so he asked where he could find sex and she told him to get lost. The editor was finding the whole thing rather amusing and we wondered what sort of people actually enjoyed this stuff. He handed the controls back to me and I decided to explore, since there didn’t seem to be much else to do. Then the game crashed. I thought I’d give it one more go so I logged in again and continued wandering round this place, silent apart from a feint sound of wind blowing and annoying keyboard typing sound whenever somebody typed a message. Second Life is basically an island you can walk round in about five minutes. I didcovered you can fly too – now, that is quite fun. Supposedly you’re able to build stuff but wherever I tried nothing happened.

So, I have to conclude that Second Life is much over-rated. I didn’t see any sex, all it seems to consist of is a little island with a big parrot and a few people wandering about aimlessly, typing messages to other aimless wanderers.
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I guess the OP might be trying on the same trick, but not owning up to it in the way that I did. People know that I love SL really!

You flamers and put downers are going about this all wrong. I know because in other forums on the web people have attacked me when I was just asking for help and looking for some guidance.

READ between the lines. He isn't putting down SL. He sees potential and wants to make the most of the experience based on what he's heard and the elaborate nature of the medium. But he has not found the way.


Kryos...

First of all, welcome to an amazing place. It isn't all about pose balls and people sitting on benches for 30 Lindens an hour. These versus the number of people logged in - well, there's no competition.

Forget about the popular locations and forget about jobs the search.

The folks who have posted sincerely in this thread are correct: It is what you make it. Your first step is to get to know the place and see what you like.

No, not everyone is going to have to balance between SL and RL, but some have made careers here and this is their day job. Some spend more time than others if they've found people with a common interest where they've failed to in RL. That's the beauty of the Internet when one has health issues or is in a remote or repressive locale.

As a new user, it can be daunting and the map overwhelming. But there's a lot here which would dazzle and amaze you in both the level of creativity and the potential of the medium.

Look for fun places threads (wow is there one? Please URL us).


Here are some to start:

For building guidance, go to the Ivory Tower of Prims.

Near the tower is a billboard link to another great place: Greenies! Rezzable has made the ultimate performance art, and you can spend a couple days in just two or three rooms. Trust me on that.

You know what's interesting? Look on the map for i-world and check out some of their areas, particularly the Renaissance style and Asian style areas.

Look up some corporate company sites in the Places search for the fun of it. Personally I found Weather Channel Island a lot of fun, especially the hurricane area.

Like to travel? Check out Paris 1900

For modernistic architecture on the Mainland, visit Miramare region.

These are a drop in the bucket but give you a cross section of the range of creativity and wonder you can experience here.

Don't exactly understand why you think a game has to be about more than escapism. People here are spending real money to create a world to escape too and LL is making money because of it.

Here in California the fireworks were banned because the whole state is on fire. However I got to see an awesome fireworks display here in SL preceded by a brilliant live blues performance.

I have met an awesome woman, we go everywhere together and have a great time. I can go traveling around and see new sights. I can go dancing, art viewing, watch plays. Most of which I can't afford to do in RL.

All-in-all I find SL to be fun and fulfilling. Sometimes more so than RL.

Wow, he walked around Orientation Island for 5 minutes and now he's an expert on SL. Amazing. He must be the best reporter ever.

Seriously......
I think the Op left the building. He's not here - gone. You out there ??

This has been very intersting. I think there has been alot said here Kryos, that is more than helpful to you. Any thoughts on all this great advise?

I'm sorry, I have to chime in here. You _can't_ do anything you want in Second Life. It simply isn't true. In fact the list of activities you can engage in in Second Life is quite small - it's large compared to many "games", true, but it's not "anything" by any means.

The ability to do, or to feel like you can do "anything" in Second Life will be determined by how willing you are to suspend disbelief and accept that you can "be" or "do" something simply because of visual appearance rather than actual activity. Even then, you couldn't do absolutely *anything*.

Do we have to be Literal, when we say you can do Anything? C'mon. If you can't suspend disbelief to an extent, SL probably isn't for you to begin with.

*frowns a little*

I bet there are many disabled individuals who would disagree.

Sure, I'm limited by what I and others have created but there are so many things I cannot do in RL for one reason or another that I can do in SL. So much so that really I can't conceive of what I cannot do.

Sure, a lot of outfits eat my tail and I wish LL would add more attachment points. But I can move my tail or clothing to another attachment point if available.

Sure, my hands don't really get wet when I dip them in my pond but I can watch my avatar paw at the koi as the go by.

Sure, I'd like it all to be free, but that's not going to happen.

Sure, I'd like for more variety of trees and shrubs sometimes, but I'm content with what's there and await Hearts new sculpties with much anticipation.

Maybe I'm just not seeing what I can't do in SL. It's not coming to me. I'll maybe think of something later.

It's not quite like that.. there isn't a fixed list of activities that can be done, and another list that can't. Instead it's all about a much more subtle question, which is what cues your mind needs to consider that you are doing something, or that you're able to do it.

For example.. can you do gymnastics in SL? You can put together an outfit.. you can run an animation.. but is that the same as "doing it"? Some people will say yes, since the visual experience clearly shows it. Some people will say no, for various reasons. For some it might be because, basically, the actual activity engaged in is clicking on an animation and is no different from clicking on any other animation. For some it might be because it lacks control and freedom, since you have to stick to the animations provided. For some it might be because it lacks exclusivity, you can't perform or be recognized as "a gymnast" because you're just running an animation that anyone can do.

At the very deep core, SL only allows you to do a relatively small number of things.. anything above that is filled in by your own mind.

I see where you're going now. And it is open to interpretation, as you say. I may feel more relaxed watching my avatar meditate or perform tai chi (due to physical limitations, I can't do tai chi in RL, so it's nice to be able to even "sort of do" it in SL).

Once VR begins transforming to the next stage, we'll definitely be able to "do" more as it will feel more real and be guided by us. But we're a ways away from that point.

One day