Some advice for a newbie? :)

[Jesus1254789]

Hi guys im somewhat of a newbie to SL (though i started new years) but that's the thing...i have a love-hate relationship with SL so i come to play every few months or so because i get discouaged. see, i look at all this amazing stuff on youtube videos, blogs, sites on SL like houses, furniture it truly great what this game does, it allows the players to have tons of freedom and opprotunity to create what they want and i love that! who doesn't wan't a game you can do...well...EVERYTHING. Then here comes the sad part. I see all this stuff and think "WOW i wanna do that!" and i try building but its very difficult, idk how to do any scripting, HECK idk how to even make my avatar look the way i want it. not to mention im not an adult nor do i have paypal so i cant buy all the amazing things i want so badly (if i could i would make all my stuff but i lack the skills even though i do consider myself artistic). and also why is it so dead everywhere i can barely find people where i go (i like g rated i don't wanna see all that nastiness lol) so please give me advice tutroials are ok but some heart-to-heart basic advice will help alot :D ty so much 

[Charolotte Caxton]

You have an important element to enjoying SL already, passion.

It's great that you want to make amazing things. You can. Like almost everything though, it takes time and practice.

Sometimes places seem empty because there are so many places to go and people tend to clump together.

There are plenty of things to see in G rated places, I think. 

Anyways, do not be discouraged by your lack of skills or money, some of the best things are free and learning how to make those wonderful things you see or imagine, well, like I said, that just takes time and practice.

Join groups with similar interests, attend classes that teach you how to do the things you are interested in. Anything you want is yours, you just have to go get it.

 

[Ziggy21 Slade]

First of all I would say you have most of what you need, namely passion, but I understand things can be frustrating when you have no cash at all.

An annual subscription is only $86, perhaps you could ask for this as a gift for birthday or christmas, this gets you a house in the burbs and L$300 a week pocket money. Hint: Parents like subscriptions, it means they don't have to spend all the money in one go.

Building really isn't hard, it just tries really hard to look hard, there are lots of free building classes inworld. start on the easy ones, and you will be making your own everything in no time. I can't script but you can do a lot just by altering parameters of existing scripts, which often are cheap or free. Practice a lot and you will soon have it mastered.

SL does look a bit dead but theres always 1000s of people here, its like any environment really, stick at it for a bit and you will soon start to make friends, I hardly get a minutes peace these days.

[Emma Krokus]

Hi

I learned a lot from attending free building classes at the Builders Brewery. Other places such as NCI also run classes that I have heard about.

At Builders Brewery anything from basic to advanced building is covered and there are also classes on scripting, using some of the main sculpting and animation programmes, and much much more there.

The other bonus there is that the sandbox is usually busy with people building, and you will meet people there to chat to and ask advice from. The Builders Brewery Group chat is also really useful - I've learned lots from just listening in and people have been more than helpful if I wanted help on any issue. 

Hope you'll succeed in your dream!

Emma

[Ceka Cianci]

i would say pick one thing for starters that you would like to build or design..then focus on making that thing first..

something that would be useful to you or something you really have a big passion for..learn everything you can about it and how to go about making it..

i was in second like for a good year  maybe two before i ever touched making a cube..

the reason i started to build was because someone told me i was too stupid to be able to do it..

that gave me the passion to prove them wrong and go out and make things better than they could at the time..

the very first prim i dropped or thing i ever made was for this..

which turned into this

Passion is a gift no matter where it comes from..

it's the drive and heart that pushes the raw talent in someone to surface and do things they never thought they ever could..

once you uncap the bottel on what you are capable of doing..it's like being born again and you realise the only limits are the ones you put on yourself..

find something  you have always wanted to make or do or whatever..and push to make that first step happen..once you get a good grasp..then get ready to hold on tight..because  there is going to be a flood inspiration that will come from everywhere..almost like you won't have time to make it all but will be able to just throw it down like it was second nature..

real passion is the best gift next to living..

[Princess Verwood]

That is some really good advice Ceka, and everyone else. I agree. Start with building classes if you want to learn to build Builders Brewery is good. And if it is clothing or other you'd like to make YouTube has a wealth of tutorials on editing softwear just for Second Life. If you need a editing softwear and do not have Photoshop, Gimp is free.

Good luck with anything you do!

[VRprofessor]

For your passion I don't think you absolutely need money, but it is nice to have some available.  My son funds his Steam account with transfers from my paypal---he hands me cash and I type in the necessary passwords.  It is his money to spend as he wishes so I have no problems with this arrangement.  In SL I would probably prefer cash for credit card charge, but in either case it is a way for my child to get money into a virtual economy while I can assure myself there are still a few $$ left for college.

Practice.  I want to emphasize practice.   I have tried a couple of the beginner building projects and am happy I did.  I now recognize that while fun, I do not have the patience to develop real, serious building skills.  I have put in about 10 hours and my building skills are politely described as "basic."  SL skill development is going to progress more slowly than skill development in video games, or even school, but if you practice, you will get better.   What I love about building with prims is that the building materials are free--you can make all the prims you want and delete any failed efforts.  This gives you a lot of room for trial and error. 

I don't remember seeing the Ivory Tower of Prims (I think is the name--search Ivory Tower) on the list of locations for you to check out--do add it to your list. 

If you find a mentor make sure to express appropriate appreciation.  The responses to your plea show that there are lots of SL folks who enjoy helping.  Some of that joy is from seeing folks develop and some is from simple awknowledgement that they were part of your development.  Saying "thanks" as payment is a screaming bargain. 

[Czari Zenovka]

---

Emma Krokus wrote:

Hi

I learned a lot from attending free building classes at the Builders Brewery. Other places such as NCI also run classes that I have heard about.

At Builders Brewery anything from basic to advanced building is covered and there are also classes on scripting, using some of the main sculpting and animation programmes, and much much more there.

The other bonus there is that the sandbox is usually busy with people building, and you will meet people there to chat to and ask advice from. The Builders Brewery Group chat is also really useful - I've learned lots from just listening in and people have been more than helpful if I wanted help on any issue. 

Hope you'll succeed in your dream!

Emma

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I second this!  During my second year in SL all I did basically was take building classes, sometimes 3 a day.  And it does help meet people with similar interests.

[Calamari]

To get some free L$ to shop you can make L$ playing linden realms, the quest just shows you around the land which is good to learn then just collect crystals for LS

https://secondlife.com/destination/linden-realms-portal-park-1

for building and secripting help try these locations:

Ivory Tower Library of Primitives

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Natoma/210/163/27/?title=Ivory%20Tower%20Library%20of%20Primitives

Texture Tutorial

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Livingtree/127/88/26/?title=Texture%20Tutorial

College of Scripting, Music, and Science

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Horsa/56/243/84/?title=College%20of%20Scripting%2C%20Music%2C%20and%20Science

The Particle Laboratory

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Teal%20/180/73/21/?title=The%20Particle%20Laboratory%20

if you want to learn scripting here are some useful web pages, you can all so find many free examples to learn from.

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Main_Page

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/LSL_Library

http://community.secondlife.com/t5/LSL-Library/bd-p/LSLScriptingLibrary

 

All so there's a whole section of creation forms that would be the best place to ask for specific building and scripting help.

And last but not least is this link it's a good place for tutorials mostly for creating clothing and avatar accessories

http://www.mermaiddiaries.com/2006/11/build.html

 

If your looking to avoid all that nastiness, what ever you do don't go to RL it's full of it.  I don't spend a lot of time in G rated places, they only make up about 10% of SL and about 1/3 of that is owned by LL which a lot of that is just abandoned land and open water.   Around 80% of SL is on moderate land, chances are you'll miss MUCH more then you would find nasty on moderate land.  Some people even avoid G rates land because it's to restrictive and don't like the idea of getting there account suspended because a sculpted or mesh clothing attachment didn't rez in time for someone else to avoid seeing some skin.  It can all so cause problems for club and estate owners who don't want to be responsable for other peoples actions.

http://community.secondlife.com/t5/English-Knowledge-Base/Maturity-ratings/ta-p/700119

[second Life's Moderate designation accommodates most of the non-adult activities common in Second Life. Dance clubs, bars, stores and malls, galleries, music venues, beaches, parks, and other spaces for socializing, creating, and learning all support a Moderate designation so long as they do not host publicly promoted adult activities or content and do not use adult search tags. Groups, events and classifieds that relate to this broad range of activities and themes generally should also be designated as Moderate.

Residents in these spaces should therefore expect to see a variety of themes and content. Stores that sell a range of content that includes some "sexy" clothing or objects can generally reside in Moderate rather than Adult regions. Dance clubs that feature "burlesque" acts can also generally reside in Moderate regions as long as they don't promote sexual conduct, for instance through pose balls (whether in "backrooms" or more visible spaces). However if any of these businesses uses adult-oriented search tags, the region may be categorized as Adult and blocked from appearing in non-Adult search.]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Orca Flotta]

SL is just like RL:

I see all the fancy stuff but I can't build my dream house and my dream car myself. Although I guess I'm a great artist I just can't figure it out.  And I don't have a enough money to purchase it all.

So I have a love/hate relationship with my real life and only log in every couple of months. :smileyvery-happy:

[MoiselleErin Teardrop]

It is a constant learning process, just like RL.

At first it is aggrivating. I mean you are trying to grasp the very basics but once you get past that, you at least know what questions to ask to further your know-how.

 

Some things you will run into but should not be discouraged about -

LL is always supposedly "phasing out" stuff. It typically takes at least a year between the time it it said and when it happens.

The stupid vampire clans are always trying to lure new folks. Unless you want to be part of that money-sucking culture, just do not associate with them.... which brings us to -

You can for the most part choose who you want to associate with. Unless you are renting from the Lindens, then you might have to have contact.

With having a premium account, unless you plan on buying land from Linden Labs, that is not necessary. You could just as easily rent from a private estate and get a better house than the shacks that LL provides. Much nicer ones out there.

 

Be careful what you ask for -

Sometimes you might say something about needing a new hair and someone will give you like 1,000. While they mean well, it is a chore sorting thru them. SOMEtimes people will just give a couple or even one good whatever.

Keep INV clean, do this from day one. Don;t be one of those "I have 42,000 items and cannot find anything" types.

[Jesus1254789]

OMG THATS AMAZING

[161488303349]

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Ziggy21 Slade wrote:

... Parents like subscriptions ...

---

^^ that

$US72 for 1 year Premium and you get the 300L a week. and 512m paid tier

Jesus bc you a G account then dont think you can a Linden Home bc they all M rated. but can buy a 512m on a G mainland for <= 512L and the tier paid out your annual Premium fee

other G under 18s sometimes at Violet or Waterhead WAs. is noisy there tho most days and some older people as well. so yeah

but is heaps of 16-17 on SL . like you they just wants to try make stuff and play. they got their own sandboxes and places they go. quite often on sims that someone Mum or Dad owns. so no hassles or creepy people on them

if you dont know anyone then like other people say. start off at Builder Brewery to learn how to build. you will soon hookup with other people your age if you do that

[jwenting]

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Jesus bc you a G account then dont think you can a Linden Home bc they all M rated. but can buy a 512m on a G mainland for <= 512L and the tier paid out your annual Premium fee

other G under 18s sometimes at Violet or Waterhead WAs. is noisy there tho most days and some older people as well. so yeah

---

premium accounts are automatically age verified, plus under-18s can enter M zones (don't think there are any more special "PG accounts" since the kiddie grid was closed).

[Ry0ta Exonar]

Sorry, 16 is correct. http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Teens_in_Second_Life

 

 

[161488303349]

G account determined by the birthdate you put in when you sign up

if put in a under 18 birthdate then can only go G sims until your birthdate turns 18. even if you pay premium

+

always wondered why is not at least one Linden Homes sim restricted for G accounts for them that wants to go premium

can understand why linden donk the TG. but must still be some <18 would get a home if they could