Yes, but when does it stop being boring?

So, aside from an endless succession of tacky and or pretentious shops...

What else is there to DO???


Seriously, how do you find stuff to do, where do people congregate...

clubs..games...just hanging with friends..shooting others if thats your thing (combat sims only)

It stops being boring when you start getting interesting

See, I like this response... I'm just kinda annoyed that I've spent a large portion of the past week on this silly game and really have done nothing more than shop or sort through bags from the goodwil... (freebies)

Clubs are fun, once you find the right balance between number of people and acceptable lag.

About the most fun thing to do is go to a large group event, playing heavy house/trance music, huge light display going on, maybe some SLingo or tringo in the background..

Fun times.

You've got to determine what it is you want out of it. It's not your usual game where you go out and accumulate things or experience to move up a level. You make your own goals. There are parties, events, all manner of stuff to do (and some of it can be found only by flying or walking around and looking around -- not everyone advertises!). Find people, make friends, find our what they're doing.

Actually, all SL is seeming to be to me is exactly the same experience as IRC was back in the halcyon days of my freshman year of college. Just the graphics are presented rather than imagined...

I used to grief with a party of four alts...

It's kind of like being at a party. If someone is by nature a wallflower, being at a party is often worse than sitting at home doing nothing, because you see all the other people having fun and enjoying themselves. Same principle applies in SL.

A good way to get involved is to find people with common interests. This isn't always easy in SL as the interest range is diverse and it can be hard to find where to look. Try the find tool to search for groups dealing with your interests and hook up with them.

Hanging around in an area with a lot of others is a good way to build up a network. Some suggestions:

Welcome area
Clubs
Sand boxes (try weapon test, often a good crowd in there)

Or just browse the map for a cluster of green dots.

And don't forget, like a party, a couple of drinks will often loosen the tongue (or fingers).

Some people enjoy using the object editor to make things, the script editor to make the things do stuff, paint programs to make clothes and decorate and complete the appearance of the objects built in the object editor, animation programs to give the avatars new movement sequences. Some like using the economic system to run either for-fun play businesses, or to buy land and create settings they enjoy.

Oh yeah, you might check the SL Games forum and see if you can find anything that looks fun in there.

Also do a search for groups, there might be a group for something you like.

Yea, it's kind of like a gal planning her wedding; you're happy for her, give a gift, go to the shower, but it's really not very interesting if you're not the one getting new stuff. It's a kind of superficial time when you come right down to it; not much about people, more about stuff.

Finding people, I think, is the key: I was officaly hooked on Second Life when I found my way into a cool group of artist-y types that used to inhabit the sim of Montmartre. (That was a year and a half or so ago when SL still cost $10 to join.

That said, there aren't a lot of good mechanisms for doing that, and the world is a lot bigger than it was when I joined, so there's a much lower signal-to-noise ratio. Try doing searches in "Groups" with keywords of stuff you're interested in.

Good to know.
Given the current climate, I wouldn't advise advertising this.


Then, do something more.
Learn how to build
Learn how to script (classes available)
Talk to people
Explore the hundreds of truly unique places and buildings and creative efforts of the people here.
There are a lot more things to do than shop (although my shop happens to be anything but tacky)

This may seem strange to many people, but I throughly enjoy running my in-world businesses. I enjoy the idea of trying to create and maintain a brand.

Oh and I do enjoy other things as well, I have many friends (many of whom I have met through the forums, or networking through those friends from the forums) whom I spend too much time with, distracting me from my business development.

I enjoy attending large social gatherings in SL, more recently RFL (Relay for Life) activities.

You know, the worst places (in my opinion) to meet people are the popular places list, try to find things that are unique. I would recommend Caledon, but that is because I am very partial to the area. Dont be afraid to walk up to people and say hello, no matter what they look like in SL, you might be suprised when you talk to them.

Ive been to Luskwood a few times and met some decent folk, but that areas is primarily furry. Of course, that dosent mean they wont talk to you if you aren't a fur.

I would also recommend looking in the groups section of find, try to find groups that have similar interests to you.

Dont forget that either than being a game, SL is also a great tool to express your creativity. It didnt really dawn on me, until the day that one of my neighbours decided on a (FRIENDLY) griefing battle with me, and I literally dropped my store on him. True, it was destructive creationism, but it sure was fun (I wouldnt recommend doing this to just anyone). Indeed, go to the sandbox, talk to people, see what others are working on, but also if you are at all inclined to do so, try to start your own projects. Who knows, you might end up creating the next must-have item in SL, or you might just develop your own style that nobody else can touch.

My first day in SL, I went to the sandbox, figured out how to build (badly) and used a free script to make a car... sure it looked terrible, but it worked. I spent the next couple of weeks learning to build better and more complex things, and improved my cars. I dont do cars anymore, but I had alot of fun making them at the start.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is, if you are tired of the malls and clubs, try something else, there is never any harm in trying everything at least once. In the meantime, I would definitly get on find groups, and I would do some things like just cruising around the map for fun. You've probably been told this before, but, visit the Ivory Tower Library of Primitives for a good (fun) building tutorial. And definitly visit the sandboxes.

If all else fails, ask yourself "What do I want to do here?" and look for that, I guarantee you that you can find it.

*closes scripting window*

Boring? Was it ever?

Well, basicly, you're right. Its like IRC on steroids. A glorified chat room. My girlfriend joined SL a couple of weeks before me, and I wasn't really interested, until I saw the scripting possibilities (and yes, I used to script some weird bots on IRC back in the old days).

So after getting my first land, making a couple of scripted items, I set out with USD$150 and got a pretty big piece of land. The goal was to make the land pay for itself. Just for the challenge of it. About 3 months later, I was way past my goal financially, had made a bunch of new friends and a couple of enemies. From then on, I was thoroughly hooked.

IMO, the thing that makes it differ the most from IRC is the financial aspect, the endless creative possibillities and the combination of virtually unlimited interactivity, graphics and sounds.

To me it is very satisfying to come up with a cool gadget, others get their kicks out of completely different things. Examples: Socializing, cybering, gambling, roleplaying, building, scamming, trolling, griefing and lots more. There's something for everyone in here. For instance, a RL friend of mine set out with the goal of having cyber sex with at least 100 girls. It took him less than 2 months. Each to his own, I say.

SL can be what you want it to be. It is all up to you.

Wow...what to do?

Here's my personal list of stuff...

01..Find someone special and do the "couples" thing. I was lucky enough to find someone VERY interesting to share SL with. We spend a lot of time doing the stuff mentioned below, and just as much in our favorite cuddle chair watching the sun rise and set and talking about pretty much everything.

02..Skydiving in world (its a hoot). Cubey terra has all the "stuff" you need *plug*

03..Flying. there is a wide variety of freebie planes or other stuff out there. Stunt-flying is great fun as is air-to-air combat in the sims set aside for that

04..Event Hosting. I've discovered that hosting a good event is an artform all unto itself. My Partner and I have our own nightclub, but many places in SL hire non-owner hosts for various events. I'm a pretty social person, and I find this to be VERY much fun.

05..Discussion Groups. Like IRC, there is a discussion group for almost every topic under the sun and a wide variety of opinions. I'm secretly practicing to be a philosopher someday, and I really do enjoy just chilling with people and talking about whatever comes to mind.

06..Clubbing. Kinda like the discussion groups, SL offers a wide variety of themed clubs to cater to a wide variety of tastes. Lol, many times, chatting at a club almost turns INTO a duscussion group - but thats only because there is no shortage of interesting folks to talk to.

07..Exploring. once, I did a "Find" on "rocket" and one on "space ship". This took me on a pretty interesting tour of various spacecraft people had built from the recent Spaceship One to a scale resentation of the Apollo Saturn 1B booster - with numerous sci-fi museums and ships thrown in for flavor.

Lots of times, i'll just take off after doing a find on something like 'tropical gardens" or "aztec" and uncover some amazingly beautiful stuff.

Once, I did a Find on the word Amazon and discovered something that affected me very profoundly; some very lovely theme-sims done in Eylesian fashion, and a hauntingly beautiful Build created by an Amazon who has since passed on in RL and whose works have been lovingly preserved by her Partner and Sisters.

Sl is, even now, not lacking in beauty and places that can only be described as "living art". Many of these are now located in private Sims, but generally the owners of such places are more than happy to allow well-behaved visitors to enjoy the beauty of what they have created.

Good luck in SL !

Go to Svarga.

I think this is something that needs to be thought about, because doing business in SL becomes more and more work as time passes (because competition heats up), and as it becomes more and more work it will tend to become less and less fun, or at the very least take longer to become fun.

The game is what you make it. I am always amazed to read that anyone could find it boring. Just wandering around I am continually blown away by the people, landscapes and events here.

My guess is if you find SL boring, then you likely find RL boring too.

The point of SL is the same point as RL. The answer varies from person to person, but whatever that answer to the purpose of RL is for you, the answer to the purpose of SL is the same really. SL is more a reality simulation than a game. Games like WoW and Ultima Online have Dev "gods" who build cities and a whole world for you magically out of thin air and then give you very narrow things you are allowed to do within that world. They hold your hand and say "Go do this now". Real life isn't like that. And neither is SL.

In Second Life, as in real life, there are no "gods" magically building things for you to play with. Nothing but the land exists if you or someone else doesn't make it...just like RL. There is no rules or guidelines or hand holding in SL that tell you, "Go do this next, then do that." No quests from the Devs, no magical beings guiding you through a preset story. Here, you make your own story just as IRL.

What do you do IRL? Do you have friends? Listen to music? Go play a game? Watch a movie? Work? Make money and spend it on cool toys? Go to a club? Make more friends? Have sex, maybe have a family? Be creative and make things or express yourself?

Most all the things people do in RL can be done in SL, and for the same reasons. But like RL...you don't get anything out of it at all unless you put something into it and decide for yourself what you want from your life (and second life) and then go get it.

Sure...some people will approach SL as a "game" rather than a reality simulator. But that doesn't change the point here. Some people approach RL as nothing but a game...a big game of Who Has More Toys. The point remains that SL has the same general potential and purpose as your first life. It has the same freedoms, and the same limitations in general. Namely...you have to want to do something with your life. No one is there to hold your hand and tell you what to do like in a "game".

Whatever you want out of SL in the end...hopefully you find it.

A man wiser than I once said, "One's perception of Second Life is often a reflection of one's perception of one's self."

In other words, you get out of it what you put into it.

Regards,

-Flip

For more concrete things to do:

Grab a free test-ride at Abbot's Aerodrome and cruise the skies.

Explore the dumpsters of Suffugium and take in a game of Holoball.

See the pure CHAOS that is the Brainiac HQ.

Maybe I'm weird... but I still enjoy the hell out of Tringo, even when I'm not playing for money.

Check out the toonland that is Taco.

After heading to the Ivory Tower of Primitives to learn a thing or two about building, set out to prim the logo of your favorite musical group.

Study the popgun from the library and make a hamburger cannon.

Plenty of things to do in SL.

I'm pretty new here, so I don't know a ton about SL on the whole. I can say that I have enjoyed myself in my short time here. Just exploring at first; then building in the sandboxes; and more recently, buying property and starting a business. I've also gotten to know a few good people on the way - including someone who lives in my old hometown.

The fact that SL is only "kind of" a game, is the best part about it, for me. I like the idea of setting my own goals, and changing my own rules. I make a living being creative, so SL looks like an endless canvas from here.

I'm not sure that I would have stuck around without the build aspect of the game. Virtual clubbing, shopping, gambling, exploring, battling, etc - dont excite me much. Creating stuff does, so voila!

I think the statement about having similar experiences to your RL is spot-on. It is for me, at least. I prefer to build in my skybox, and every once in awhile go exploring, or shopping. That's pretty much how I conduct my RL - work/create on most days - and every so often go out to a show, or the museum, or roadtrip - whatever feels good.

I love the lack of set logistics and bureaucracy in SL. You want to start a business, or sell a product, or build a crazy structure? Go for it - no license, tax id, permits, UL Listing, etc, needed. Just imagination and skill.

My thought is that SL isn't really a "game" in the usual sense of the word. In that it isn't there strictly to engage and entertain you - and set you on a predetermined course of action. Though I've found it to be both entertaining and engaging in it's own way.

A good attitude, patience, imagination - and the idea that you get out of it what you put in - might bring things into a more "realistic" perspective. Kind of like life in general.