do i have to have an upgraded membership to build or create?

[SnowSighs]

I want to created but its sort of difficult to find a starting spot... I go to the build page adn it wants me to join.. i already joined.. where is start? Or do I need an upgraded membership?

[valerie Inshan]

No, you do not need to be Premium to build. You can train your building skills in sandboxes (you will find plenty of them in search, choose one from the bottom of the list, it will be less crowdy). Beware that sandboxes have autoreturn enabled after a few hours so you must save your buildings and take them back to your inventory before you leave.

If you can spare some Linden Dollars, you may rent a parcel without being Premium on a private estate. There are lots of available plots either on the marketplace or in the inworld search.

https://marketplace.secondlife.com/products/search?search[category_id]=468

[Luc Starsider]

I'm not entirely sure what you mean, but I *think* you are asking about mesh?

Mesh is one way, out of several, to build. To create mesh objects you need a 3d program - such as Blender, Maya or 3dsMax. The things you make in the 3d program you then have to export and upload to SL. To be able to upload to SL, it is required that you verify (not sure this is the correct term, though) by a) having payment info (which you do as a premium member) and b) taking a 'test' on http://secondlife.com (you can also take this test by clicking a link in the mesh upload dialog in the viewer). Have a look here: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Mesh for more complete info. Also, you can try to post questions in the Mesh subforum here: Mesh where you are likely to get more answers.

If you are not thinking of mesh, but other building methods, there is no test or verification needed. You don't have to be a premium member and can freely build (on land you have build rights on such as a sandbox), and sell creations. If you go to a sandbox, rightclick the ground and select build, you are on your way. Sculpties - a very specific SL technology - which you may have heard about, are created in a 3d program as mentioned above. You can freely upload sculpt maps to SL.

- Luc -

[Nyll Bergbahn]

No, anyone can build. If you don't own or rent land on which you have build rights. just look up Sandbox in Search and go to one of the many sandboxes in Second LIfe where you can build. Most will wipe out all builds every 4 hours or so to sure to save your work at regular intervals and certainly after you get the sim warning.

Sandboxes are often frequented by griefers so that is something you may have to face but hopefully not. Some are better managed than others.

[Dilbert Dilweg]

First you need to download the viewer https://secondlife.com/support/downloads/

Then Log in world with the viewer and use the map ctrl-m and search the map for a sandbox to build in