Why do people build in Second Life?

ow another one who writes a paper about this.. Yeah, I had the same intention of writting a paper about this for my class, but in the end, I stepped of from it.

Basically, what would a uber large sim be without buildings, only grass, sand, some trees, and roughly created terrain. Think about that. Were would people be able to socialise with each other. So what, you place a building, and envirment changes.

I guess why i just started building is just because of the fact that it satisfies me that I can create something in a game where i can be proud on. And when you psuh yourself over your limit, you ll be obsessed by it. Allot of people have that. I am standing right now actually in a sandbox and what I see created arround me is just awsome. It's a point I want to push myself also too.

So why people build? For fun, for devolpement of own skills, and why wouldn't you, if Linden added this feature to the game

I've always been the builder type- lincoln logs, blocks, models, etc. So SL is my RL extention only in SL I can build anything "wild" and build it to a scale that would be impossible in RL.

In RL I cant as easily build a car, a house, an outfit, a new head or hot air balloon.

I notice a distinct lack of people saying "to make a better environment for cybersex". Is everyone in denial about online sex games? *smiles*

This is arguably just an extension of the social interaction thing, but I feel sex has become a sufficently big part of Second Life it deserves special mention. The visual component of sex in SL varies in importance between people, but is obviously a huge industry given the number of places selling poses, animations, strippers, equipment, clothing, attachments, streaming porn, lapdances, and probably a bunch of other stuff I don't know anything about.


Other than creating a nicer environment for interaction I simply like building and scripting, and I especially like it when my work impresses people. Getting compliments on my skill means far more to me than making Lindens from selling stuff.

Nah! It's a given.

Sure, some AVs are quite hot looking, but till they come out with a sensory suit I just ain't into the whole cybersex thing. My imagination is better!

Why do I build? Let me count the ways...

I build because I find it fun, even more so when I have a purpose and a limiting bounds to work in (usualy prim count!). This presents a problem solving challenge to be overcome. Sometimes I build because I want something that is not available since no one else has made it yet! Other times I just make my own version of an object because I don't want to spend the virtual money on the virtual creation!

I think you should ask why people build environments, not homes! Some people's "homes" are deep forest or a rocky garden with streams running through it with rocks for sitting rather than chairs. It's asthetics. We create a space that is "our own" and we find comforting. It's about the psychology of atmosphere!

Our Avies never get tired so why bother sitting? Well, when my friends and I gather to chat we usualy sit around a fire, a kitchen table, or someplace similar. It creates a feeling of intimacy. Wouldn't you feel better sitting around your dining table talking to your friends than just hovering over the ground out in the open?

I build in Gibson because Second Life needs more urban decay.

snark causes decay.

I always thought it was funny people want privacy for SL sex, we all have killer bodies, we should just do it in public.

I build because i want to put up physical walls to mimic emotional walls I have around myself because I fear rejection.

sorry but that was a good one rofl

Excellent question I think...

Being surrounded by familiar items with familiar (though in SL unnecessary) uses establishes a set of expectations, moods and behaviors that one would normally have around those things in RL. A shower implies privacy and nudity (and perhaps mischief). An array of drinks and foods is suggestive of a gathering area, either commercial or residential with host(s) and guests.

They are simple signs that hint at what kind of player to player interaction is expected.

Some areas (and some homes RL) to which the joy was in the creating of them, not in the using of them. Places like 'model homes' which feel more like museums than living spaces where things are so perfectly placed that the presense of people seems a detraction.

While there seems to be a lot of entertainment centers and bedrooms... have you noticed that there are very few kitchens? Despite the fact that kitchens are often the most popular room during a house party in RL. Very Curious.

Personally, I'd like to see more dusty attics with heirloom prims lying about with cobwebs personally. As far as domestic items, I tend to stick to scattering chairs around.

So... has anyone built a fully scripted/animated bathroom? Completely pointless? Perhaps not... don't underestimate the comic power of potty humor.

Only if you don't floss.

How many poseballs can you stuff in a bedroom before you hit your prim limits?

Why, do you have a sphere fetish? *giggles*

if you ever find yourself in need of a little more decay i have a whole set of decaying buildings which make for some relaly great underground party spots and events. Lemme know! I'd love for them to come to good use~

~Lefty

I have a kitchen, and yes, it's part of our entertaining space. For a while, I even had a small particle generator in each of the pots and woks on the stove, so they made 'steam' coming out from around the wooden lids...

I don't think I would waste the prims on decorating an attic, myself. Technically my home does have an attic. There's certainly an enclosed space between my bedroom ceiling and the roof, as well as in the wall to one side of the bedroom. But we didn't waste the prims or the textures to make them 'accessible'.

We have a lovely, party sized spa for 'bathing', but no 'bathrooms'. An early prototype from our Builder did have a bathroom with just a tub in it - no toilet. But that didn't make it to the final design. If I really wanted to waste the prims, there are enclosed areas on both floors that could be turned into a bathroom, with a shower in one of them. Decided I would rater spend the prims in the entertaining areas, instead.

A rented 'apartment' that I shared with a friend for a while had a shower that she put in. It was kind of fun, but the script was laggy, and we already were pushing our prim limit, so we got rid of it.

In my home sim there is a 'restaurant counter' near a nice swimming beach and pool. It has a 'unisex bathroom' at the end of the building, with a scripted door that opens at a touch, and inside there's the full setup - toilet and wash basin - just like you would expect. The only thing I have ever used it as was for a quick 'changing room'. I don't think they bothered to make the toilet flush, or the sink 'work'. Never tried, really.

You wound me! Spheres! There's no subtlety in spheres! Now a torus, with maybe a bit of taper, no advanced cut... that's tacky... but just the right delta, and... well... harrumph...

No comment.

i suppose you could say that i have a water fixture in my house, but it's really just another themed public space. Not so much a bathtub as it is a shallow pool to hang out in which feeds the house's main waterfall. You could pee in it, but my wife would be pretty upset. Not to mention the resulting splash that might hit the bathers below you.

~Lefty