The Miracle that is Second Life

[Czari Zenovka]

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Catwyn wrote:

I am new to Secondlife so I maybe don't have any grand stories to share. I owuld like to share one small thing that I have discovered for myself in the few days I have been here.

In real life I am painfully almost debilitatingly shy. In Second Life I am finding that I can talk to people without that almost panic moment. That is no small things for someone like me.

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Welcome Catwyn   I have met many people in SL who have some type of social anxiety, shyness, etc. from moderate to severe and all have said the same thing as you expressed - SL is a much easier venue in which to interact with people.  Since you are new, you may not be aware of various groups that address this and other issues.  Some groups are formed on a peer-counseling model, others are more casual, but it allows people who are living with similar situations to get together and support/help each other - or just have fun.  Please feel free to IM me in world if you would like some names of groups to check out.  I can't recall them off the top of my head, but could find them in world.

Thank you for sharing that with us and may you have an amazing SL.

 

[Heart Brimmer]

I used to have a memory pick for her but eventually I deleted it, it was just too hard to look at my profile and see it there. It's been almost 2 years since she passed and I still cry almost everyday, even though we never met in person, she was my sister, my friend and my  confidant. I did keep the pick on a notecard and her picture too, so whenever I need to read it and look at her beautiful face I pull it out and remember all the wonderful times we had. I do understand your pain, Czari and here's a huge hug for you and everyone who has loved and lost someone in SL. Just be grateful for the memories and the times you did have with her. 

[Darkness Anubis]

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Rufferta wrote:

The first 'miracle' was very simple - seeing virtual swans swimming in virtual water. Later when I went to the place in SL that sells the swans, I was again excited by seeing all the different creatures roaming around. I was also amused and gratified by the way the seller has a drop box where you can place your swans to be updated (it works!). 

There are so many things I love about second life. These days, when I sometimes feel that I'm running around a giant hamster wheel in RL, I come here to get a bit of peace and to work at building my own landscape (with swans), and to explore a little more.

There are so many wonderful creative, talented and generous people in SL. Thank you for reminding me.

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Oh look Dark finally figured out how to reply with a quote! Its a miracle!

You are absolutely right so VERY many wonderous creations and people here. SOmetimes we just need to take the time to see them.

 

[Darkness Anubis]

TY for sharing your story Czari. My very deep  condolences on the loss of your friend. TY again for reaching out to Catwyn you have a very generous heart.

 

There is just something about Second Life that brings people together and if we let it, brings the best out in us I think.

[Boudicca Littlebird]

So where do you stand on this warships - sailor debate, great how you turn up just as we are debating it.

[Darkness Anubis]

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Boudicca Littlebird wrote:

So where do you stand on this warships - sailor debate, great how you turn up just as we are debating it.

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Boudicca

I am trying very hard not to let this thread be derailed onto a completely different topic from its intention. So I am not going to be answering such things here. Sorry

 

[Perrie Juran]

Thank you for starting this thread.

[Czari Zenovka]

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Darkness Anubis wrote:

There is just something about Second Life that brings people together and if we let it, brings the best out in us I think.

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So very true, Darkness.  When I read threads like this it makes many of the "problems" in SL seem very petty.  Thank you so much for starting the thread. 

 

[Zinjanthropus]

I couldn;t agree more! I'm enjoying SL immensely. 

[Clarissa Lowell]

Walking through something someone else put together is amazing.

[Timothy McGregor]

Great idea for a discussion, DA. Although I don't have a story nearly as compelling as some of the others here in the thread, this does take me back to the magic of Second Life that existed for me when I first joined, and to an extent still exists today.

I started in October 2006 after hearing a story on NPR on the way home from work. I recall that the story was about Anshe Chung, and her milestone of becoming the first real world millionaire in Second Life. That really wasn't what grabbed my attention though. What I found interesting was the idea of an entirely user created virtual world, where the shared experience was created by fellow residents, instead of the publisher.

That evening, I signed up, and as I've related this story a few times before, I think I spent the next 48 hours in-world, just completely immersed in the visual and social experience. It was virtual world ecstasy. 

Not long after that initial experience, it was time to buy some land. I was confused, so I summoned Live Help, and none other than Philip Linden himself answered the call. The tier structure wasn't as well explained on the website at the time as it is today, and he admitted that during our session. Ultimately, when the session ended, I understood what I needed to do, and did it.

Now I needed a house. I had already been hanging out at a popular social spot, and in no time a person was recommended as a builder. This was the real magic to me. How do these cubes I keep rezing turn into the beautiful creations I see everywhere I go? Well, I stood there and watched my very first home as it was created. I was mesmerized. I saw cubes rez. Then they started changing size and shape, and suddenly they had textures on them, and before too long, I had the coolest house ever. When the builder was ready to be appreciated, I think I paid him L$5,000. He was shocked. But it was worth it. (This was a small shack on a 512 plot)

Fast forward a couple years, and I find myself at Linden Lab in San Francisco, attending what I guess was one of the last of the Views sessions. I won't say much about what we talked about, and what was revealed to us for feedback, but it was basically right at the time they were readying the Google appliance to replace the inworld search tool, which if you remember, was pretty crappy.  They were also readying some UI updates to the viewer, including that "Communicate" button and the floater it presented. The highlight of that trip for me was a lunch session where Philip joined us and talked about the state of group chat at the time. It was a very informal conversation, and he was perfectly candid about the shortcomings of the platform in general, and group chat specifically.

What really struck me about that visit though was the energy that I felt when I entered the front door. A diverse group of humans, passionate about a product that they knew was unique, working together to keep it running and make it better. I have stood in the middle of the room where the developers write the code that makes Second Life work. I've seen humans there. I've seen the passion in those humans. I've sat next to Philip at lunch, and listened to him talk, watching his eyes and his body language. I saw magic. I saw people who are not just trying to do the impossible, they are doing it.

I know that things have changed since those days, and they have struggled to keep their footing in an ever changing landscape of resident expectations and business and legal realities, but I have to give them credit. Ten years on, the world is thriving, and we're having this conversation. 

[Czari Zenovka]

And you said your story wasn't as compelling as others. :matte-motes-tongue:

Reading your post made me wonder if new Residents who come into SL today are filled with the same sense of awe as those of us from years ago.  Hearing about how you watched plywood cubes being transformed into a house brought back a lot of memories.

I've been in a nostalgic mood lately and honestly, for me, I wouldn't mind having the SL clock turned back a few years.  Technology is speeding ahead at an ever-increasing rate to the point that sometimes I can't catch my breath long enough to enjoy a new update before another one is upon me.  I enjoyed SL a lot more when building or creating didn't mean buying templates and slapping a texture on; going back to a time pre-sculpty and definitely pre-mesh (ugh!!! Can't stand mesh!!!) would, for me, be wonderful.

Newer residents to SL will likely view this post as an "elder" in the rocking chair saying, "Back in my day..."  I don't mean this post as a negative one - just reading some of the memories takes me back to my first days/years in SL...and the magic that was lost somewhere along the way.

[Maryanne Solo]

Lost? I don't think so. But I'm only mid 2009 or so.

WaOh o! o! o!  - O! O! O!

We don't even have to try...

It's always a good time!

[Timothy McGregor]

I don't think the creative "magic" has been completely lost. I still do a fair bit of exploring and I see a lot of building and creating in various stages of progress, by new residents and older.. I recently visited with someone who had invited me to see what she had done with my popular freebie house, and I was genuinely amazed at how she transformed it from a simple little box into something uniquely her own, in ways I would never have expected to see. The creativity is still out there to be found, experienced and appreciated, that's for sure. 

What seems to me to have diminished over the years is the sense of community. It doesn't feel as socially engaging as it once did. We're less likely even to have someone take 4 seconds to type "Hello" upon a chance meeting than we once were. I think in the earlier years, the Lindens themselves inspired a lot of that kind of engagement, by being engaged with the community in-world themselves. I'm somewhat disappointed that they have all but entirely retreated from community engagement on a social level. I hope that in the future they will re-think those decisions, and realize the impact that their engagement has had on the larger resident community. 

That all said, I think the magic is still there on all these levels. I think it's just a bit more challenging to find it. The company has evolved, as have the platform and the community. With that evolution comes shifts in the creative and social dynamics. If we have to work a little harder at keeping them alive, that's fine. Without them, the world is dead.

[Czari Zenovka]

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Maryanne Solo wrote:

Lost? I don't think so. But I'm only mid 2009 or so.

WaOh o! o! o!  - O! O! O!

We don't even have to try...

It's always a

good

time!

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Hehe...you do seem to be having a good time.

[Czari Zenovka]

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Zaphod Kotobide wrote:

 

What seems to me to have diminished over the years is the sense of community. It doesn't feel as socially engaging as it once did. We're less likely even to have someone take 4 seconds to type "Hello" upon a chance meeting than we once were. I think in the earlier years, the Lindens themselves inspired a lot of that kind of engagement, by being engaged with the community in-world themselves. I'm somewhat disappointed that they have all but entirely retreated from community engagement on a social level. I hope that in the future they will re-think those decisions, and realize the impact that their engagement has had on the larger resident community. 

 

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Yes, this part is huge.  I never spoke to Philip Linden or met any Lindens in person (that is such a cool part of your memories!!!) but I used to encounter Lindens just being "out and about" in SL.  I took photos when I'd see them and definitely glad I did now since Linden sightings are very rare.  The photos are some of my SL "nostalgia."   Lindens do still attend various User Group meetings that are open to the public as far as I know, but the average Resident wouldn't know about most of them (or care as they're on the techie side), but it was so much fun to be walking along and..."Oh!!!  There's a Linden ahead!!!"