How the @#$% does this work?

I'll admit to not being the smartest guy around, but seriously, how does this company expect to make money if SL is so difficult to figure out?

Yet the fact that there are supposedly millions of people doing this means what... that millions of people are smarter than me? Well okay... I don't like it but I gotta swallow it.

Anyway, the point of this rant is... where's the freakin manual? Where's the Getting Started page? Where's the "If you're a TOTAL CLUELESS NOOB, click here" part of this forum?

I got it installed. I got it started. I see a woman avatar that does absolutely nothing except turn around when I press the left or right arrow keys. How does one walk... as in what magical keystrokes or mouse movements make this happen? Where's the clothes? Where do I find the FREAKIN INSTRUCTIONS?

I apologize if this is in the wrong forum but as I've already stated, I didn't see any TOTAL NOOBS READ HERE!! subforum.

Sorry, but I'm steaming mad right now, cause I'm probably missing something so obvious that I'm gonna die of shame when it gets pointed out....

Hi! First thing's first -- You are on Orientation Island, right?

I guess. I get the message "your home location is not available. you have been moved to a nearby location".

Welcome to SL and welcome to the forums! It sounds like somehow you skipped the whole "Orientation Island" experience, which does indeed teach you to walk etc.

For a quick howto within the forums, go to the Resident Answers forum (/327/1.html) and read the first and third sticky.

Another thing you may want to do is go to Help Island Public, which is a copy of Orientation Island with inworld resident helpers there. There may also be some griefers, since they are only lightly policed, but such is life. You find Help Island by clicking on the Search button on the bottom of your screen, choosing the "Places" tab, and typing in Help Island. Select it when it comes up, and a description window for it will come up offering you a button to "teleport" there. Choose the button and you will be there more or less instantly.

Oh, there is also a place called The Shelter. New folks can go there to socialize and mix with longer-term residents who can help, in a friendlier and less frenetic environment than Help Island.

Or you could go to NCI (New Citizens, Inc), which has a lot of tutorials available to everyone, a lot of people to help, and a lot of freebies. But first, you need to know some basics. Try Help Island, and the stickies, first.

P.s. From the little that you describe, you may also be in a sort of weird state. The up and down arrow keys should move you forward and back ... if they don't, left-click on anything in the world and try it again. If walking doesn't seem to work, then tell us more - what you see, for example, and where you are (it gives your location on the very top line of the screen).

Hi Wisken. Welcome to SL!

I'm guessing that you tried to teleport home but you weren't able to because your home location isn't set yet. Sometimes after a failed teleport I'm unable to move. I can rotate in place but can't walk or fly. I believe the only way to fix this is to log out and log in again.

Thanks Nika!

Right now I'm in some sort of watery grave I fear. The movement controls seem to be completely counterintuitive if they work at all. Now the avatar thingy has disappeared and I see no way to bring it back.

The funny thing is I came to the SL only as a result of my proofreading a paper on SL and MMORPGs that my cousin was working on for his Master's. I decided to follow up and see what the fuss was all about.

I am of the school where I like to be told, press this to do that! I don't mind a learning curve, but to have no sort of built in basic help function whereby one can at least learn to navigate the program? This is utterly ridiculous. To think that I was going to pay money for this sort of frustration....

But, thanks for the tips.

ps: I searched for Orientation Island, but unfortunately, when I click on the Teleport button, absolutely nothing happens.

Sounds like you are in a semi-broken state. I wonder if your computer/network is SL-compatible -- did you check the System Requirements?

http://secondlife.com/corporate/sysreqs.php

Most of SL's built-in help is delivered via their knowledge base - when you hit F1 inworld, it sends you to that web page, which is here:

https://secure-web5.secondlife.com/community/support.php

Halfway down the page you will see a login link. Hit that and it will take you to a page with links to both a "getting started" page and the knowledgebase, which has various tutorials etc.

The knowledge base is largely reviled on the forums, but ignore that at the moment - for someone who is brand new it does have helpful info.

If you conform to the system requirements, try relogging in again. If the same thing happens, let us know ... it sounds like something has gone wrong for you

Once you leave Orientation Island you can't go back. You can only go to Orientation Island Public. Try searching for that and going there.

It's not the same as the Orientation Island where you started. It's based on an older version of OI. The tutorials may be a little different but you can learn the same basic principles - how to change your appearance, how to use the camera controls, how to fly, etc.

After you finish Orientation Island Public you can go to Help Island Public. You'll find more tutorials, a store where you can get some free items, a sandbox where you can practice building stuff, and a lot more. After all of that you should be a lot better prepared to get around in SL. Good luck!

Thanks folks, but it just does not work. My PC is no slouch.... Q6600, 2 Gb ram, Nvidia 7900GS etc. Lots of bandwidth, lots of hard drive space etc.


While I am a total clueless SL noob, I am quite competent with computers and have been since my Vic20 days.

Anything that makes one go through such hoops and hurdles is frankly not worth it. Not only is that bad, but to make it so difficult to even find the help is simply.... words fail me.

I'd gladly pay the $10 bucks or whatever per month, but not for this exercise in frustration.

Adios.

Since you got "dumped" on a neighbouring sim instead of OI I'm wondering if you're not stuck in a hole in the land, under a floor. That would explain why you can only turn and not move (and why the camera would act up).

If you're still willing to give it a go: open your inventory (at the bottom right there a button that says "Inventory", left-click that), then left-click where it says "Type here to search" type "public" and you should two landmarks (SL's equivalent of bookmarks) for "Orientation Island Public" and "Help Island Public".

Double-click the landmark and it should let you teleport to there. Once you're there try moving again (forward and back arrow, left and right just turns you around as you found out).

Make sure the chat bar is up (at the bottom of the screen the "Chat" button should be highlighted, if not, just click it to have the chat bar pop up).

You can type something along the lines of "Is there a mentor around to help me?" or just look around. Official mentors (they're still volunteers, not employees) will have the "Second Life Mentor" text above their SL name, although anyone can just offer to help.

The closest thing to a "beginner's manual" is the officially endorsed "Second Life Guide" book (http://secondlife.com/corporate/slguide.php).

In SL, most of the time you won't be told press this to do that. Instead you'll have to create your own agenda and goals.

As for orientation island you have to type OI + # so try OI 78

What you need to do is find a Mentor to take you back to the orientation island.(It just so happened that you probably missed the orientation island(a rather unusual event). My suggestion would be to create another account and try again. Once you get the hang of the controls, log out and go back to your first account and enjoy.

What you need to do is find a Mentor to take you back to the orientation island.(It just so happened that you probably missed the orientation island(a rather unusual event). My suggestion would be to create another account and try again. Once you get the hang of the controls, log out and go back to your first account and enjoy.

it sounds to me like this gentleman has no patience.
if you are truly interested in Second Life, then please be subordinate (no ranting) and adamant about getting some assistance to help solve your problem, otherwise, uninstall the game and be done with it.
enough said.

SL is about as frustrating and rewarding as learning a new language.

There's many things in many languages that are difficult, illogical, strange, counter-intuitive and annoying... but you just muscle through or you go home and give up.

(just kidding--did you try relogging?)