I'm NEW, a convert from RLC/Utherverse, with Questions

I've been a member at Red Light Center/Utherverse for about a year. There's a lot I like about it. I have a few really close friends I have made. However, I would prefer a more family-friendly environment. (I am celibate in RLC, by the way...).

In RLC I do home design/decorating. They have an apartment-like building you can customize, called a "Zaby." I'm quite good at doing that work, but I understand the work here is quite different. Perhaps someone with experience in RLC could give me some pointers.

I guess first thing I should do here is say a little about what I want in my SL (or any other online) experience. I am a progressive rock/metal musician. (My original music falls somewhere between Rush, Iron Maiden, Opeth, Black Sabbath, and a bit of Celtic, Latin, and Middle Eastern influence thrown in for good measure.)

I want to create a place here where, first of all, I can share my music with others. I want to be able to stream my music, as well as possibly have live events. I also want to build a place that can represent visually what I do with my music. I love doing graphic art.

Some background to provide context for my first question: In RLC, the Zaby's have limits to how many avatars can be in them. The Basic (free) Zaby can only have 5 people in it at a time. As the amount you pay goes up, the limit for people goes up as well, with a Country Zaby holding 30 people. For that privilege, you not only have to pay your $20 VIP membership monthly, but the Country Zaby costs 125 rays a week (500 a month) which is the equivalent of $45 a month. (rays can be bought on the trader's market for 9 cents each, so then .09 x 500r = $45).

Anyways, my question, then, is this: If I build a place here in SL in which to have fun, hang with friends, and share my music, are there limits to how many people can be there in my place? And if so, how are those limits defined?

Another question is: Just perusing the website, I do not find any real concrete info about the cost of "land" in SL. Where can I find that info without digging for hours?

I spent a couple hours in SL last night and was ALMOST frustrated enough to NEVER return. I do not like the juvenile look of the avatars, was having trouble even seeing myself (at one point, my avatar became a ghostly cloud for about an hour...), and had a LOT of difficulty understanding how I was supposed to change the ridiculous hairstyle my avatar had.

Thankfully I got some very compassionate help from a few people! (Thanks to Renidea especially...)

So as a progressive rock/metal musician in his mid-40's, how can I find:

* HAIR that looks like mine (dark brown shot thru with silver, shoulder length or longer)

* a decent goatee

* t-shirts from my favorite bands... (I found Levi 501's and they will do quite nicely for pants, but I need some band t-shirts!)

I also understand that I can create my own clothing and so forth, so I'll be looking into that as well...

So I know I've asked a lot here, but hopefully someone of you will be kind enough to answer ASAP in a clear manner! Heh!

I'm looking forward to meeting you, and being a productive part of the SL community. Thanks in advance for your help.

Steve

Best name ever.

Hiya and welcome to SL...there are many opportunities here for live music...and I would be happy to give you an overview as i have just been thru this myself...setting up a venue, listening booth and researching all I can learn. Please contact me inworld and lets see if i can help you get started )...it can be overwhelming when you first come to sl.

SL land is on regions (sims), subdivided into parcels. Unless you buy a huge area, you will be on a parcel of some size, sharing the region resources with everyone else in the region. Payment is almost always based on size and/or prims.

I think that mainland sims have a limit of 40 avatars, and estate can go up to 100. However, getting 40 avatars on your parcel is likely to lag the it to death. How many avatars you can get on your parcel is less a function of hard numbers, and more of a matter of managing lag. An inexact science even for the knowledgeable.

Your best mode of research would be checking out the various dance/music clubs in SL, experiencing some of the dynamics for yourself, and then maybe getting to know some of the owners to ask questions. You'll get plenty of answers here, but you'll have trouble making any good sense out of it until you do a lot of looking around.

I'd recommend not putting down money on anything until you've spent about a month looking around. Though I'm sure you are excited to get started, if you don't force yourself into patience first, you're going to throw some time and money away.

You can rent a Shoutcast server from most any service provider in SL. Look up MUSECAST in Search and check them out. I do broadcasting using SAM Broadcaster from Spacial Audio.

I suggest you join the group LIVE MUSIC ENTHUSIASTS and go to some shows to see how it is done in Second Life.
Also read up on the debate about Live Artist fees posted here
/110/aa/289750/8.html

In SL, you can rent any size parcel you want in any sim that has spots available for your type of establishment. The sim limits for mainland is 45 avatars at a time. The sim limits if you rent on a privately owned island is up to 100 avatars at one time. For $20 bucks a month you an have a nice size parcel for your venue.

Here is some info:
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Buying_Land_Advice_for_New_Residents

You would need to buy accessories for your avatar. The easiest way to see what is available is to go to the SEcond Life online store
https://www.xstreetsl.com/
Look up an avatar named Ryan Radio and go to his rock T-shirt store. You can also contact him and get some custom stuff made.
Do NOT pay for those expensive clothing making tutorials. They fail to teach you anything. There are some full perm templates available on xstreet you can start with.

You've asked about a dozen questions at once, so don't be surprised if they don't all get answered.

You would do well, I think, to find a place where you can ask questions inworld -- in addition to continuing to ask questions here in the forums.

Places like Levels, NCI, or the Forum Cartel.

But don't get frustrated or give up.

Second Life is rather complex and confusing at the get go. The opening tutorials are like teaching someone to drive by showing them the picture of a car and then dropping them in the middle of a mall parkinglot. We all went through this. Which is why for the most part, everyone is generally helpful and willing to answer questions. Most people have had someone or some group take them in and show them the ropes.

So, here are a few places to start. I am going to assume you know how to use search in world to find these places.
NCI
- New Citizen Institute, but just searching for NCI will pull up a lot of links for them. They offer classes as well as placez to hangout, ask question, unpack boxes, get some free clothes and also some good conversation.

The Shelter
- Much like NCI but is not as education oriented. some people come here, learn the basicas and move on. Many never leave; it is a friendly atmosphere.

The Forum Cartel
- That's us. An inform group with a little bit of land donated by some of the members. It is more of a chatty group in world but you can ask about almost anything at any time of the day and someone will be there to help. Or just talk your ear off.

Next thing of interest to you would be the live music scene. This is a big thing in SL. Search in events and there should be a drop down list for event type. Select Live Music and hit enter without any keywords at all. This will give you a ton of things happening right now or starting soon.


Steve, good luck, have fun and do not give up until you have tried at least one of those three groups.

Bryce.



Might try some shops in Caledon, or Bryce again.



Will drop some freebies and landmarks on you.

As to your other questions. Land is currently under $2 Lindens per square meter for many parcels. There are some very overpriced plots out there too. Look around a lot before you buy. Also watch Second Life auctions. You can get some bargains.

If you become a Premium Member (let someone here know first if you want them to get $1000 Lindens bonus for recommending you, Lol) for $72 U.S. a year, you will get a weekly stipend in Linden $ to spend, as well as free tier on a 512 size plot. Buy the land, but then it's yours forever, as long as you keep up your membership fees, which balance out in stipend. In other words. "Sucha deal"

But I would advise beginning with renting a place to live, or just use changing rooms to change in and remain a Second Life hobo. As for music, I would advise beginning by booking some live music gigs. You will get to know everyone that way, in the SL music scene. You will find out the best way to do everything you want to do. But if you want your own place, to own land, you will have to get a membership at some point.

most important, do not be chocked by some of the wild avatars you come across, nearly anything is posibe, kids, elves, dragons, dogs, bowls of yello, birds, anything from no legs to centipods and ranging from a few centimeter in hight to 10 meter or more.

offcourse unless you are playing in an outdoor setting with a lot of open space the realy big avatars won't be visiting your shows but I have no doubt you will see a ferret or two and some kids among the more mondane humans.

also you probably do not have to own your own land to play for people, there are several life music venues around that let you play for free, all you have to do is a rent a ice/shoutcast stream

Hi. I'm Jig.

I don't know much about building and land as I'm new to sl myself - but don't leave - I LOVE SL!!

If you wanna put on a show, there are places with a 100 avatar limit, or even 200 to 400 if it's done on a region border.

Rather than spend thousands to support your own venue just yet, it might be good to catch the music scene ~ play Dublin for instance, or hook up with one of the bigger estates. If you need a theatre for a few days, or a huge park for a live performance or suchlike, let me know. No charges; we like new shows.

I regularly host events that can handle up to 100 people, often at the Caledon Gaiety Theatre (Victorian theatre setting) or Oxbridge Park (university town park setting), or Caledon Rothesay (manor style park in a verrrry upscale part of the country). Also I know lots of people with music streaming capability and suchlike, though they might want some reasonable moderate fees for services.

And (inconspicuously gestures)... she's Jig. Also, watch out, there's a mad Welshman on the loose with a rogue copy of Strunk and White's "Elements of Style." You've been warned.

For TShirts try Jersey Mike's.

There's absolutely nothing abnormal about me. You're the ones who are mad.
The Welshman has a thing for me. Don't believe a word he says about me. I have a retraining order out for him.

Retraining?

I'm not at all surpriced it is needed
but I have my doubts he was trained in the first place

Ssshhh! Branded items are illegal unless the maker/seller has the brand-owner's permission.

Calico Creations does a facial hair pack that includes all the components of a beard - goatee, moustache, sideburns, soul patch etc.

Discord Designs has several excellent beards and also does good men's hair.

These are both prim beards, I wear them all the time, but my impression is that most people prefer beards painted onto the skin, which you'll find in any skin shop.

Do not pay for expensive shoutcasting either... freestreamhosting.org 1000 listeners, 128k bitrate.

I should wear my reading glasses. Anyway, I havent a clue what RLC is - Royal Lutheran College? and Utherverse sounds extremely male oriented like Uberverse or something. Pep wouldn't last long there.
I meant "restraining".

Look up a group called Circe's Circle of Sound. They have a venue that specializes in featuring live musicians. I'm sure they can hook you up with lots of people who can tell you what you need to stream your music to SL, and maybe even get you a gig or two.

Absolutely, sublimely.......*perfect*. I can't believe that was a typo, it was too....*perfect*. I am LMAO.

It really was a typo. Poor Pep. I even make honest mistakes about him.

By the way, I don't believe your claim to have been celibate in Red Light. I mean, the only reason people sign up for that place at all is to cyber.

But it's OK. We have Sex here too. Linden Lab just made us hide it a little better.

As well as all the dishonest ones?

Pep (knows the difference between a typo, intentional misspellings, and ignorance. )