Suggestions to get me started.

[Roxas Yuhara]

Okay, so here's my specs :

 

Model : Origin EON17S

OS : Windows 7 Ultimate x64

Overclcoked Intel i7 Extreme 2920XM 4.1 ~ 4.8Ghz

Memory : 16GB Dual Channel Kingston Hyper-X DDR3 SDRAM @ 1600Mhz

EVGA Overclocked NVIDIA GeForce 580M GTX (Core : 720Mhz || Shader : 1440Mhz || Memory : 1700Mhz)

Primary Drive : OCZ Vertex 3 Max IOPS SSD (6Gbps)

Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6230 (will be using wireless to play - my ethernet port is currently broken).

 

What viewer should I best use?

Also, I have a small issue... I'm an American, but I currently live in China. Does Second Life even work from China unless I use a VPN? Furthermore, will it be at playable speeds even if I can?

Thanks for the help.

- Alex

 

Edit : I've also had my account for a long time, as in maybe 2 years - without being used. Is it and all it has still going to work well? It was on the teen grid before, so has it been merged with the full grid now?

 

Lastly, is it a game worth playing if you can't pump in real money? (Because I have no card and I'm not going to be able to purchase real money in the game). Is it a game worth bothering with without using real money?

[Rolig Loon]

Last question first .....  Whether SL is worth entering is a personal question that you will need to answer for yourself.  Certainly some things in SL cost real money.  These include land, items purchased from other SL residents, membership in some groups, and a host of personal things like tips in clubs and money that you "invest" in playing games.  If you are not a Premium member, however, there is no ongoing cost.  There are also loads of freebies in world, and if you have some skill, you can make many things for yourself at no cost.  In fact, that's the ultimate answer, if you are skilled and patient..... You can earn money in world to pay for the things that you cannot make, so it is not truly necessary to bring RL money into SL at all. (I have not brought RL money into SL for over five years now.)

Now, for other questions.  Yes, your computer should be quite adequate for running Second Life (Notice that I did not say "playing."  SL is NOT a game.  It's a world with no goals, no points to earn or ogres to slay, no ranks to earn.  You can find games in SL, but that's not SL itself.)  As for whether it will run adequately in China without VPN, I cannot say. There are many people from China in SL now, but I do not know how they are connected. You'll have to experiment.

Finally, Second Life has changed a lot since the Teen Grid was merged with the main grid.  I assume that you are now over 18, so you will not have any of the age restrictions that you used to have or would still have if you were under 18.  See http://community.secondlife.com/t5/English-Knowledge-Base/Age-verification/ta-p/700021 .  You will find that life on the main grid is not what you were accustomed to on the TG.  You will have to decide what that means for yourself.  You may have been using the old 1.23 viewer when you were here before.  That viewer has been deprecated for a long time, so you will have to get used to a new V3 level viewer -- Linden Lab's official one or a Third Party Viewer and all of the exciting new features that are now available. Your account will still work fine -- that never changes.

[Lindal Kidd]

That's a kick-a** machine.  But get the Ethernet port fixed, SL can have problems with wifi.  As for internet connection...I have no idea what sort of connections are available to you in China, but I have met a number of Chinese avatars, so I know it's possible.

Your account should work just fine.

There are many viewers you can use.  Which one is "best" for you will depend on your personal tastes.  Inara Pey has a weekly update of the most popular SL viewers, and periodic reviews-in-depth of them on her blog

The Phoenix viewer will have, IMO, an interface that's most like the one you are used to.  But try several!  Only one caution:  Use a different cache location for each viewer you install on your computer.  Sharing cache files between viewers leads to corruption.

On the money issue...you can have a very enjoyable Second Life without money.  There are tons of freebies out there, and there are ways to earn $L in world.  If you have skills in Photoshop, you may be able to learn how to design and sell clothing, buildings, vehicles, or many other sorts of content.