Information overload!

Ok, I've been peeking regularly into the serious threads, so here's something that's covering an issue that's probably not as "heavy".

Where the heck does a n00b like myself actually start?! I mean, "you can do anything" is a fine philosophy, but when you're starting out from scratch, there's rather little info on which to start organizing one's search.

In other words: help!

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I suppose some notions as to what appeals to me in general might help.

* Although not at all ignorant of the fact that there's a sexual aspect to SL (or the internet in general ), in SL that's not really a concern for me. I'm not a prude or asexual, just that in the case of SL sexuality doesn't really appeal to me at this time.
* In general, I'm rather into science fiction, particularly of the "hard" variety (though I can enjoy SW and ST if I ignore the die-hards who spaz out because "Kirk wouldn't do that! In episode X..." or "Lucas should have included the EU in the new trilogy!" ), but it's not an absolute. Conversely, fantasy doesn't in general appeal to me, but like with SF it's not an absolute.
* I'm into furry, somewhat more on a spiritual/"lifestyle" level than just "ooh, pretty pictures", but to be honest find the more vocal extremes of furrydom in general a rather large turn-off. I deal with sphincterboys enough in RL, no need to seek them out in SL.
* Like many, I have zero interest in following RL politics from within SL. As with the more extremist folks in furrydom, I get enough of the hyper-political sphincterboys elsewhere, I don't want to deal with them here if I get a choice in the matter.

You could go to one of the sandboxes and play with the build tools.. Who knows, in a month from now you could be cranking out sculptures

Briana Dawson

There is no starting point, literally, no first places to go, no first things to do, no first people to meet, no initial things to gather. Oh and there's no index to it all either. If SL emulates the real world in no other aspect, it does represent more environments and lifestyles than you could count.

I just wandered around during my first few months. Talk to people; most of them will talk back and will often give you stuff, take you places, or involve you in whatever it is their doing.

You don't have to maintain your av's health, make money, or defend yourself against spawning mobs. Relax, have fun, enjoy, that's the game.

Hey Noh!

I struggled a bit with the "okay, now what?" question when I first signed on too. I think the above suggestion to head to a sandbox is a good one-- the sandboxen are often fun places to check the pulse of the grid, see what people are doing. What got me hooked was starting off with building things, primarily avatars, which led me into animations as well. Lately, I've started to pick up scripting to make the objects I build (hopefully) more interesting and interactive.

Another route that many folks have taken but one that I can't usually vouch for is to go wander across the grid and just see what is out there. You may stumble across some pretty amazing things. Once in awhile I do this and see something so irresistibly cool I have to teleport back to my sandbox and take a stab at figuring out how the heck they did such cool things. There are a lot of talented folks out there, so wandering across the grid is often a good way to fill your mind with inspiration.

Drop me a line inworld if you like!

When I started out, I went to a lot of Show & Tell events. That way, I saw the latest cool things people were creating. Some of those folks are my friends today, and a lot of the stuff I sell in my shops made the rounds at S & T, where I got very useful feedback. Sandboxes are great for similar reasons -- and usually someone who happens along will be happy to help you figure things out. I also went to classes to learn basic building and scripting. I explored a lot, too, often by searching for keywords in Find that were connected to my interests (I still do this all the time).

I started out in the sandboxes and got soooooo frustrated trying to start from scratch. Check our Yadni's Junkyard, New Citizens Inc. and the GNUbie Store and pick up scads of freebees, most of which you can modify and copy and tear apart and put back together again. It really helped me see how things are put together.

If you've ever done scripting, checking out LSL might be your thing too. (I can't find the scripting wiki link for some reason...)

The starting point is wherever you decide to start

Since you're into science fiction, there's some places you might want to check out - the scifi museum in Indigo, the cyberpunk cities Nexus Prime (Bonifacio), Chaos (sim of the same name) and Devil Moon (again, that's also the sim name). In Nexus and Chaos, try to find a way into the underground... and then don't get lost

If you enjoy building but would like a more in-depth intro and there's no class available at the time, head over to the Ivory Tower of Primitives in Noyo, it's an excellent self-paced, hands-on tutorial on building.

And feel free to drop me a line in-world, I love to go exploring!

Rez a cube/torus/sphere whatever, play around with it, and see what it becomes. Play with the building tools and texturing, and LSL if scripting interests you.

There is no specific starting point that works for everyone, since our interests are as diverse as we are, but one of the most common aids for those with the creative drive seems to be experimenting. A huge help for me was to get freebie items that were mod & copy and tear them apart to see how they were put together.

If you're more geared toward social aspects, simply explore. Type random words into Find-Places and check out the destinations. Check out Pathfinder's Picks, and random residents Picks in their profiles. I've found some pretty groovy places just by stumbling across them. Take landmarks from your favorites and keep them all together to pass along to others.

The scripting wiki is indeed an awesome resource!

Textures R Us has a section of science fiction textures. You might enjoy looking at those, and get a tad of inspiration from them.

coco

Thanks so far to those who've offered suggestions, and to those who may do so in the future.

Though, collectively y'all haven't done much to solve the problem mentioned in the thread title...

(Seriously, I have a few ideas on where to go thanks to the responses to this thread. Muchas gracias, folks. )

I'd use the find dialog for groups and places. Put in furry and see what it yields, for one example.

Joining a group like New Citizens gives you a good place to ask questions inworld of a heterogenous group of people with diverse interests - somebody there might be able to tell you where to find science fiction stuff, for example, or where to get boxing gloves. Or who knows what.


If you find a group that sounds like joining, if it doesn't have a join now button, IM one or more of the officers about an invitation.

If you find a place that interests you in the find dialog, you don't go there expecting to run into anyone - you might, but most places that aren't clubs, sandboxes, are pretty empty most of the time. Instead you do there to find who owns the land and objects on the land, send them IMs that say Hi, I'm a new user, saw your build, maybe we have mutual interests, etc. etc.

Definitely must reiterate: Ivory Tower of Primitives in Noyo. Start your search there!

Yeah the Ivory Towers is a must.

You could also request a mentor, they are volunteers who can hang out with you a bit, show you some things. Or you could ask Shwanson Schlegel to show you his inventory like I did when I started. His inventory is an inspiring and magical place.

Something I did very early on, and it's still continuing, is to make a list of "things I want to see in SL". Some of them, I haven't found yet, and some don't even exist today ("rock tumblers"--but the list is definite, specific, and points to the progress of the journey. I get great pleasure from checking off items. And I always have new ideas, so the list grows.

This is one way of dealing with it, because you're approaching it from a narrow end instead of drowning in the sea of info. You can open it up at your own pace.

Once you latch onto something, you may find connections that lead to related areas of fascination. It's amazing how many times I find this to be true.

And if in doubt, and if you're up for it, celebrate the random: spontaneously TP to various locations on the map and spend a few moments exploring each one.

Some of it takes time--adjusting to the abundance of sensory overload, perhaps. But give it that time, and it will give back, and you'll be rewarded and all the better for it.

Hi ya, Noh.

I started out on my avatar. The Appearance tool seemed more friendlier for new folks to tinker. I made different shapes, making different characters, and that helped me get more immersed into SL. Whatever character I decided to put on that day, that'd direct me to what places or activities I'd do. And in SL, you can experiment with an interest you'd never thought of considering before, like I made a fairy, a zombie, I wasn't into those things before but the whole process of creation made it worthwhile.

You can also send snapshots of your journey to Snapzilla (www.slpics.com). And while there you can look at the pics and see what other folks are up to, maybe even IM them in game if they seem interesting enough.

There's a lot more ways to find/do cool things now, than when I was new.

Much like his pants.

(Nevermind I don't swing that way. x2 )

My inventory on the other hand is a dark and scary place, except for the clothes folder.

Schwanson's pants transcend sexuality.


Joking aside, though, despite what others will tell you, you can live your Second Life without ever having to encounter sex. It's not my thing either and except for a couple of chance encounters as a newbie, I've barely seen anything prurient here at all.

Oh, I wasn't saying sexuality was the primary focus of SL, or even necessarily a significant one. I know there's more than that, my opinion is "more power to them, but it's not for me" (even without my slow connection making it impossible to move with any fine precision or close timing ). If nothing else I already have characters established on low-traffic text-based MUCKs for that sort of thing.

Oh, wait...

*gets out MiB Neuralyzer, and flashythings the entire forum*

Nevermind, you didn't see anything.

I still like to TP places & see what's new. I'll TP someplace I haven't been to yet (and thats alot!) and if I see something interesting I'll take pics.

Then there's building. I luv to build- but SL has some restrictions which kinda sucks.... I wanna build a LIFE SIZE GODZILLA!!! That works!!!!

And I like playing around with textures. Making stuff for my avatar too!

I've also been recording stuff here N there & trying to piece together a small movie. BUT- so much to see!! If I put it all in I'd need several hours of videotape or my own Internet backbone!!

TorTangent for anyone fascinated:

"Information overload" is a term coined by Alvin Toffler, a mighty futurist whose works are directly relevant to Second Life, altho not cited as much as they could--or should--be. See Future Shock for more.

The first place I went to when I first arrived was a random direction and took off flying.

After flying for a bit I found myself flying in the dark cause the sun went down. And flew near a house. Saw it was kinda cool, with some motor bikes outside.

Heard people talking, or typing, and saw there was people inside looking at photo's of some kind of vacation they went on.
I felt like a superboy-peeping tom cause I was outside, looking in a window, 50 or so feet up.

I ended up in the THUNDER group and got a free bike.
I hung out there for the day. I liked some of the music and soon found a new music band they were talking about. Played on the radio, etc.
I still enjoy the music group to this day. Nightwish!
Never knew they existed.

Yeah, anyway, point is I would suggest just flying around too.
Never know what will happen.