Diving back into building

Hey all. First time I've posted here. I've taken an extended leave from SL for a while, mainly due to boredom of the standard going to clubs and trying to win L$500 here and there... Recently I thought I'd enjoy coming back if I did smething like build and actually was a part of creating things in the world. So... here I am!

Now, I dabbled a bit in building so I suppose my feet are already wet... I just need to get myself soaked now. Of course, since I've just been playing with the idea of coming back, I have no land to build on, and I don't really like the sandboxes. (at least the real busy ones. Way too many griefers and too much lag.) Is there any place I could go and do some practicing? Possibly some place where there are some people around to bounce ideas and throw advice at each other?

Secondly, are there any groups around that I could meet up with and sharpen my skills? Eventually I'd like to get into sculpty and whatnot, but for now I'll just stick to the basics.

Thanks to anyone who takes the time to read this.

I suggest you jump straight into sculpties and use the forums for bouncing ideas around etc. The good thing about sculpties is that you can create them outside of SL and you don't have to worry about griefers or SL's technical problems. The only time you'll need the sandbox is when you want to upload your creation.

But if you're the type of person that likes to chat while building then sculpties are definitely not for you. I personally feel that there isn't really much difference between text messages in-world and messages on a forum. If anything, the forums are far less demanding!

Another option would be to take some classes. SLLC (Second Life Learning Centre) Is a great place to catch a class. They range from beginner to advanced and are very affordable. Some no more than $10. There's a nice sandbox next to Tutorials 2 Go that is almost always empty as well. T2Go is at - Streiteben (62, 32, 5

SLLC is at - Agape Enchanted (227, 115, 22)
The SLLC Group, which announces classes, can be found by searching groups with
*SL Learning Centre <---note the spelling of centre and the asteric.
You can find classes listed under the Events tab by searching SLLC.