Can anybody help a noob?

Hi everybody,

I'm very new to SL and have been reading through some of the Forum topics with great interest. I love the idea of this sort of community and have spent a few hours so far getting to grips with it.
Obviously 'a few hours' isn't a great deal of time and I was wondering if somebody could give me just one place or thing to go and see to expand my experience.

So far I've just been walking round on my own and getting a feel for the place but SL is so vast that it's difficult to try and focus on one thing to go and do. I hung around with some people in a park the other night but they all seemed a bit surly and were having an arguement and smoking!!

I've recently taken the balloon ride over Linden island (I think) and I would love to be able to go somewhere to meet nice, chatty people where there's things to do, games to play that sort of thing.

Does anybody have a good suggestion of where a noob who wants to socialise and further his experience could go?

Thanks Sandy

Hello and welcome!

First two places that spring to mind are the Shelter and the Forum Hangout. Both friendly and newbie-friendly.
The Pond could be a place to have a look at.

In terms of activities, you could also do a search on specific activities that interest you or search "groups" for those activities and get in touch with members of those groups.

I'm sure lots of others will have more suggestions.

Also, I'll throw you Lucrezia Lamont's new resident information pack inworld. Full of useful info, tips, landmarks etc.

And keep the questions coming

Have fun!

Welcome,
I would suggest NCI but its sometimes hard place to go. I never was very good at finding places to hang out when I was in your shoes felt bit lost. I went to usual recomend places where I made some of my friends was playing games like scramble but there is so few places like that now.
I must confess I have been around bit and often I feel bit lost what to do when I am not hanging out with the few friends I have made or creating.
There is lot of places to explore, and places to learn stuff from but sometimes using search can be bit overwhelming.
It really depends on what you're interested in. Sometimes I find interesting places doing searches or just from forums, sometimes from Google.
There is so much its hard sometimes to know where to go.
Do searches on Slurl that basically html link to location in world.

You could go to NCI (New Citizens Incorporated, http://slurl.com/secondlife/Kuula/54/175/29 ) or the Shelter (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Isabel/44/244/79) , both places catering to newbies.

If you want to learn about buolding, go to the Ivory Tower of Primitives (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Natoma/210/164/27).

Welcome ... and good luck!

Thanks.

I'm on my computer at work and SL is on my laptop at home so I may be asking some wierd questions here .... but ..... do I just type The Pond (for example) in to the Search bar and off I go?

This could turn out to be a very long thread LOL

Sandy, search out the sim Allana and look for the Forum Cartel Hangout. Not an immense amount to do there if there's nobody about except surfboard into the water, free board available at waters edge. If Chris or Brenda spot your post they may send you a group invite in-world.

A delightful place an alt of mine went to last night was a sim devoted entirely to diving. It was called Dive something. A search on that might produce it. By joining their group, instructions on a board there, you can get a free set of diving equipment and enjoy the subaqua delights constructed there. A nice group there too.

Another sim, Mystery is a wonderful place to explore. I didn't really socialise with the dancers there but so much more than dancing to do there.

Pick a keyword for something you like and do a search on groups. A lot of them are free to join. Happy hunting

I'd go to www.slnataliablogspot.com she explores SL and writes reviews on where she has been - mixed in with tutorials etc. I really enjoy reading about where she has been and it might give you some good ideas. There is an option at the top of the right hand side of the page which says newbies, orgs and good to know. If you click on that there is some great advice to get you started and there is also and option to click the travel guide. If I am ever bored in world i'll go to her blog, click sports and activities and go somewhere from the list.
Hope it helps

oooh another question just occured to me.

How does it work with ages? Is it generally considered in SL that age groups mix or do people in their 30's mix with people in their 30's. If so, how would you know how old people are?

You'd never guess ...... but I'm in my 30's!!!

Yep that's pretty much it. Open search, type in your search word, click on the result you're interested in and you will see a landmark at the bottom of the right-hand screen.... click and away you go. Search can produce some overwhelming and confusing results, so you may have to dig a bit to find what you're looking for. Also.... don't presume just because something is at the top of the search results it's also a cool place to be.

I passed you the information kit inworld so next time when you get online you'll get that. It explains a lot of basics and also has lots of landmarks to places to go, where to find freebies, how to's and such.

Have fun, and feel free to contact me inworld at some point if you need help

ETA: Re the age thing: you generally don't know how old people are unless they specify it in their profiles or tell you. I think you'll find it doesn't matter very much. People mix with people of all ages, but also with furries, dragons, tinies, robots.........

You should try searching out a couple places, Svarga and Numbakulla

Both places are amazing.
Numbakulla has a big gametype thing though, it's alot of fun. You walk around their island looking for clues and such. Eventually you will work your way to the end of the game. It's totally worth it to spend a couple days to a week on it if you have the time.

your SL viewer hides all avatars that are +/- 2 years difference to your own age so you don't see them on your screen.

Oh yes and those game or quest type of things are also ways to meet people, except for the Mata Hari one .... where everyone seems very secretive about the clues

Real Life exposure is a fragile topic Sandy. Most keep back RL details until a real rapport is established and even then, things can be awkward. This is truly worthy of a thread of it's own. It can get very debated.

Many newcomers first question might be how old are you? It doesn't bother me much but I think we should be able to mix across the board before commiting ourselves in any way.

I gotta go now but shall look in later

Best way I have found to make friends - is to just start talking to folks - if they answer we talk - sometimes we have something in common- other times not- but SL is so rich and so diverse- you are sure to make many friends.

I like to dance- so visit many dance places- and yes it is amazingly laggy- but I really do love Phat's .

You pretty much have something going for you already as far as finding commonalities- you are here (SL) and so are the others- we all came for something

Good luck!

Most of my SL friends are old enough to be my mom or my dad.
I get a lil self conscience about it, but I keep it to myself. I don't think anyone would know how old I was unless I told them and unless I'm pushed into it I normally don't. For the record though, I'm in my very early twenties still and have never really had any issues hanging out with anyone, old or young. Anyway..

Really? How does that work?

It's ok Eve, it's only Slacks viewer. I had a quiet word in Gandalfs ear and he *fixed* it.

We thought the rest of his generation needed protection from him

*whap* Don't tease the nooblets!

If you like pubs, The Blarney Stone in teh Dublin Sim is one of the friendliest places I've come acroos for new rresidents. Also, if it is still there, I spent a lot of time at Odds and Ends. They have a lot of free stuff, money tree, and there are always people there.

open search tool, "places" tab, "starboards"

Oh that's it! Brenda mentioned pubs!

Taff's Bar in Cymru! They're all crazy but a nicer bunch you couldn't hope for.

Don't tell 'em I sent you unless you want to be eyed very suspiciously for the first month or two!!

I'm cruel, but I'll feed the monster...

in the search window goto the tab groups, and type in something you have an interest in. click on one that looks interesting, then READ THE CHARTER... some have rules about chat in the group im window, and can get very cranky when people disregard those rules...

you can also get into some of the social networking games like 'Tiny Empires' (search in places for it, then in groups if you do get the free hud, beware they talk alot, but are a fun bunch, and very newbie friendly, and always throwing events)

Sandy, I sent you an in world invite to the Forum Cartel. We have a hangout and semi regular events. Many of the names you see here are members.

And the rest are Tools

to learn about building and creating with Prims may I suggest Ivory Tower Library of Primitives a Self-Guided, Self-Paced, Comprehensive Building Tutorial.
I met many here whilst learning the way things are made in SL
Natoma 210, 164, 27

As well if you like music as many do the Live Music scene is a great group of people and very friendly, do a search in events under Live Music and see how much there is ... 80% are actually playing live right at the time to you!