New To Second Life.

Hey everybody, I just signed up here. I came from TSO, yeah I bet you've heard of a lot of people who came from there. I haven't played yet, after last night being down. But, if anyone is willing to, can they help me figure out the game?

Thank you.

Verde Levitt

Alot of us have been here for more than two years and we still can't figure this game out.

Some of us are still trying to work out if indeed it is a game, and if it is a game, is it a real game?. or is it just a pretend platform?


Good luck, Verde!


..and have real fun!

Welcome to SL, Verde!!

This is a hotly contested statement: SL is not really a game insofar as it does not have an "object" or a "winner." However contested the last sentence might be, I think it is a good place to start when encountering SL for the first time.

On a more practical level, when you do get in-world, feel free to look up a Mentor--any one of them would be more than happy to show you around and show you the ropes. You will typically see one or more of them hanging out at Help Island.

Best of luck to you and welcome to SL.

Welcome to Second Life, Verde. My best advice to you, first, is to not think of this as a "game" so much but as an experience. Give it some time, don't put limits on your horizons and be as curious as you can about everything. You'll never lack for interesting things to do if you do that.

Step One for any new person should always be to hit the Shelter, Yadni's Junkyard and the Newbie Center (and any other help/freebie place you can find on your in-world "Find" search feature).

If you want to build or design, look up the Ivory Tower of Primitives, Robin's Texture Tutorial and the Particle Laboratory.

If you're on a premium account, search for "First Land". You can get a small 512sqm plot for 512$L - it will never be that cheap again. This gives you a spot to erect a small house and feel like "home" to you, but eventually you may want to sell it for 3 or 4 times that amount and move up. Meanwhile this gives you a place to try your hand at building things. If you're on a basic account, you're going to have to go to sandboxes to build.

If you want to meet people and play games that could actually win a few $L, look under the Events tab for Blood21, Tringo, and the other fashionable games going on --- or just start club hopping and chatting with people.

There are also in-world discussions at various hours on a wide variety of topics from Second Life politics and virtual worlds to D/s, animation, building, or event organization. You never know what you'll find by using the Find feature.

If you run out of money, you can always click the tiny "$L" button at the top of your client to buy more Lindens. I think $5,000L is going for just under $17 as of yesterday, but be careful - it will vanish quickly if you shop a lot.

Some tips, as well, since I seem to be encountering more new folks lately than ever before:

* Most people will accept an invitation to add to your friends' list, but it's usually good etiquette to chat with them a bit to see what they're like and whether you have anything in common.

* There are thousands of stores in SL. Shopping is a "game" in itself as long as you have the $Lindens, but beware -- there are stores selling excellent quality in SL, and there are some selling dreck. If you spend some time window-shopping you will soon see the difference between the good and the mediocre, the pricey and the reasonable. And if you followed my first suggestion about the freebie places, then actually tried on some of the items you received, you'll also find that there are a few unethical vendors who will try to sell you items which are free somewhere else. Your own knowledge is your best defense.

* The Xcite attachments are all the rage. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's not very polite to go around clicking on people's naughty bits to see if they talk And by the same token it's also not real polite to take snapshots of people without asking first.

* Drama: it's everywhere, you can't avoid it. But it's always a good idea to try.

Ignore the previous 'not a game' comment

To some, its a game, to others a platform. I, unlike apparently Euterpe, think proactively and set my own goals and objects to achieve. As an open ended massive Roleplaying game, it needs no winner Alot like live action roleplaying.

Whether you see SL as a game, a platform, or a doodad, enjoy it, be yourself, and be proactive!

Another good place to start is Yadni's, a great place for beginning players. If building interested you, look up 'sandbox' and pick one, theres usually soemone friendly enough to get you started.

Everyone who calls SL a game ends up trying to come up with the most retarded contrivances to make it more game-like.

So take the advice of everyone who tells you it's not a game.

Everything will begin to make more sense to you after that.

That's pretty good, actually. Add in "open-ended" and/or "free form" and you've got it.

A word to the newbys coming to SL.
Be afraid be very afraid. Down time is a fact of life here. Just wait till someone is half way thru showing you something and along comes the trolling grid restart.
Last night not being able to log on is a fact of life in SL.
This isn't the first nor the longest as well it won't be the last either.

Jeesh a new person comes to the forums to ask questions and you unleash a tide of misery. Nice one.

Just a word to the wise Fade

Down time is not a huge or frequent problem here in Second Life. When it's upon us, as it has been this week, it can be painful. But down time is not something to be overly concerned with.

And welcome to Second Life Verde I am a mentor, so message me if you ever need any help!

What sim do you play in ?
Frequent yes very frequent and yes definetly a problem.
Keep overlooking something and pretty soon you'll be looking at the Grand Canyon
It may not be huge to you but when building and or in the middle of an event it is a huge distraction.

Already done, next quote from the post you replied to, and I didn't edit it Emphasis added so you can see we were on the same page.

And the GNUbie Dollar Store in Indigo! Great stuff for a buck! ( 1 Linden dollar)

Persephone's right, it hasn't historically been a major issue really. But I think individual perception is flavored by how much you are in-world -- if you're only on a couple of hours at night and a little over weekends, any downtime will seem bigger than it really is. If you're on 40+ hours per week, even the annoyance of the last 4 days takes on a new perspective. I was as upset as anyone because I was working on some new designs, but I simply used the opportunity to get more done in Photoshop while I waited.

Let's not make the trend of the last 4-5 days into something bigger than it is. SL has had some technical issues, probably stemming from 1.9, but like any other time there's been a significant update to the client they get it right after while and we'll forget how mad we were.

Heh, like a minefield in here, huh?

Feel free to look me up in-world. I'll be more than happy to show you the basics and help you out, if you don't mind hanging out with a furry AV. Forget all the arguments, SL is what you make of it. Like most things in life, you reap what you sow.

And btw, I've met some of the most interesting people and seen some incredible stuff in the public sandboxes. If you're into building stuff, definately go to one, don't stuff yourself in a corner of the world. Creativity feeds on creativity, making it one the few things that are not subject to entropy.

BTW Verde I am much nicer ingame than here.
I like to keep ingame play peaceful and fun.
I feel this is where the voicing of opinions should be heard.
Oh and as well please IM Sugar Fox she is my dear sweet wife/ RL girlfreind.
A true sweetheart of a person with the kindest soul of anyone I've ever met.

I agree. This whole "It's not a game." argument is just semantic hogwash. For lack of a better term SecondLife IS a game. Unlike platforms like Active Worlds, where the primary reason for being there is building and building only, here in SL, in order to build you need to play the game. The only exception to this is if you're rich enough in RL to support building without having to worry about generating inworld income. Moreover, in this statement, I've intentionally left out the roleplaying aspect. I don't see that as a game as much as it is just an extension of the socialization structure in SL. The game is to make L$ in order to support the land you own which in turn supports your builds. The end game for some of us is to find the golden apple--that being the income you generate inworld starts to become income in RL.

Welcome Verde! Another recent arrival started a similar thread in this forum a couple days ago. Here is that thread (click here).