Did you participate in online communities before SL?

Palace chat-1 year or so
activeworlds for like 1 year
Vzones-8 yrs
Dreamscape-6yrs
Seducity-2 yrs
sims online-still play once in awhile
Second life- here i am


I think i know who you are in Vzones...i am going to message you in SL

My first, too.

Though I have been in-world for just a short while, I found learning vocabulary one of the most challenging aspects of SL. I was so ignorant that I actually had to Google 'rofl.' As a person who loves language, I spent much of my first weeks standing in the Welcome Area (in part because I found movement and flying very, very difficult) listening to people talk in an attempt to absorb as much SL language, culture, and history as I could. Simultaneously, I tried my hand at building (I need a great deal more practice ) and made an honest attempt at learning PSP (next alpha layers class--I am SO there).

I have since met some of the most talented, articulate, creative, and giving people. SL has, in addition to being an amazing experience, taught me far more about myself than I thought possible.

I'd partake in a poll, but actual words are required???

This is the first world/chat room/internet anything I found. I woke up one Saturday morning after my customary Rioja and found myself here.

I have no idea how I found the learning curve, as I've no idea how far along it I am I do remember being completely baffled about all the M aspects of the world though. I've experienced some of those (and quite fun too) but I've no idea what I'm still to discover!

I never tried The Sims Online. But I played the Sims. And there was a cool forum I visited and posted in frequently. I had made skins and objects for the Sims game as well.

But I stopped playing the Sims when I joined There. I only lurked in the forums, only to make a flamey post to the whiney people. Left There. Joined SL. Here ever since.

I also corresponded with several people after reading and posting in a fanfiction site. Not going to say what I read or wrote about. Or I will have to kill you all.

Did I? Yes; The Realm, Ultima Online, Everquest, Asheron's Call(1&2), Dark Age of Camelot, Anarchy Online, EVE, EnB, City of Heroes, Horizons... you get the picture.

Participating in previous online communities did indeed help me adjust in SL's. Not that they'd help everyone improve the way they handle virtual communities. It is always at least a little helpful, though. You understand basic etiquette, have realistic expectations from denizens of said online community, and aren't too surprised at the 'dren' you find on the forums.

Ooh. Well Usenet in the mid 90s. Then CIX conferencing. A Mornington Crescent community whose name I forget. Lots of email lists including the ones that became Yahoo groups. A MUD called Cryosphere. A MUD based on a cold war theme which we were trying to write.

Wikipedia (I've recently returned to it). DeviantArt. Subterreanea Britannica. TSO for a couple of months. Live Journal. Probably loads I've forgotten.

Did it help? Well Wikipedia is very good for patience and logic. You have to be tolerant and gentle. We just banned trolls, vandals and other detritus (although what counts as a troll etc is the debate).

DeviantArt is my only experience of an online art community. Thinking about what if anything you ban is a good lesson. What are the boundaries of artistic expression? Should there be any?

I got into TSO through playing the sims. I played in Test Center nicely avoiding all the drama in Alphaville. The economy was screwed (as in TSO generally) but we didn't have all the crap that other cities seemed to have.

CIX Conferencing used to have a plug in which would decode acronyms if you right clicked on them. It was really useful!

Yes in Nexus which I doubt anyone has ever heard of. After many years I was a high ranking Chongun.