Intimidated

[Wonderings]

I joined in May, and stopped playing for a bit. I got intimidated and Second Life seemed confusing! Did it seem that way for anybody else when they just started to play? Does it get easier with time? I really want to get into it. If I just have fun and explore and play around, would I get used to it?

I would like to design clothing and things to sell, because I think that would be a lot of fun for me. I completely, 100% know how to use photoshop, but learning something completely new like that is always hard I guess.

Also, what does everyone do for fun in Second Life?

[Leia36]

Hi there Wonderings.

I also joined in May, but luckily enough I found a mentor and more importantly a reason to stay, ...my partner. I remember all to well those first few weeks and yes it is intimidating at first.  You are not alone and my advice to you is to try again and this time find a new persons area that can help you. There are the basics to learn, but if you have a little bit of time and are prepared to learn a few things that seem backwards at first, then the rewards are a rich immersive experience with so many different things to explore.

The basics of your avatar are available for free, I would recommend The Adult Hub central ( If you have adult content enabled) or failing that the new persons areas on the destinations tab. I would also recommend joining a few freebies groups, hunts, lucky boards and midnight manias. It will take some time but in a few days you should have a good looking customized AV

Yes it does get easier with time, after a month or two you should be far more confident and know your way around. SL is complex and what worked for me was to learn a bit every day, I am still learning and I think most people are. SL is not static environment, it changes all the time, things move quickly here and most experiences are available.

As for your question on creating fashion, I to want to learn that and while I have considerable experience in photoshop the implementation still evades me, perhaps others here might be able to answer you better.

I am inworld most days and please feel free to IM me, Good luck and have fun :smileyhappy:

[Hermione Lefevre]

Hiii

when I started in 2008 I was too overwhelmed myself..with no help and stopped a year..then I started again and learned by trying..it takes time but its worth it.

There are newbie friendly places where you can ask for help like Kuula and you will find you are not the only one asking many questions..you should! and dont give up.

For a beginner I would always recommend downloading Phoenix or singularity viewer to log into SL..I find it lots easier to use and to navigate..and understand lol

Have fun :-)

[SilverBear Lykin]

I began in '07 and thought it was the most pointless game ever. 5 years later I am still here so I guess it gets better in time. If you need help with anything IM me, check out the previously mentioned 'newcomer friendly' areas, or hit Google for a tutorial. Things like clothing design have a million tutorials from the most basic shirt through detailed 3d mesh clothes.

 

[Thinkerer Melville]

To answer your last question:

What do we do in Virtual Worlds? 2012

Other questions:

Yes -- start by exploring.  Look for things you like.  Make friends with people who like the same things.  Then start learing about content creation.

Destination Guide (Second Life)

How do I meet people? 2012

Content Creation: Build, script, video, classes, tools, collaborate

TKR

[Perrie Juran]

From a technical point of view SL does have a pretty good learning curve.  All those options in the tool bar menu can look intimidating.  I remember forever thinking either "what does this do" or "dare I change this."

I use google search a lot and find it to be a quick and simple way to find the information I am looking for.  I just use the term "Second Life & What I Am Looking For."  For instance, searching for 'Second Life Make Clothes' gives me many results, the first being http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Clothing_Tutorials , which provides a nice list of help and tutorials.

I've been here over six years now and I'm still loving it.  It can take some patience but it's worth it.

[Tex Monday]

Welcome to SL, Wonder...

Yes..the world can seem like a big scary place...there's so many things to do and see. Don't let it overwhelm you. I've been here since 2009 and it can take a while to get your feet wet.

I agree with the rest of the suggestions...join some groups (and post IMs or send messages saying hello), check the newbie hubs and the tutorials. Another suggestion is when you're out and about, check out people's profiles...some have links to some really neat places. Don't just hit dance clubs or strip joints..there's no one to meet there.

Good luck. If you're desperate for help ( :matte-motes-sunglasses-1:), you can send me an IM.

 

[friscolives]

It was for me as well. Youtube and google will be good friends to you, as well as this website. I was lost at first, but once I learned my way around, viewing many helpful youtube videos, its been a blast.

[Wonderings]

Wow, thank you everyone!
I'm glad to know I'm not the only one that has trouble at first.

You're all loads of help.

I'm going to try the Phoenix viewer

[Tex Monday]

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Wonderings wrote:

Wow, thank you everyone!

I'm glad to know I'm not the only one that has trouble at first.

You're all loads of help.

I'm going to try the Phoenix viewer

---

Good idea. I like Phoenix...much better than the SL viewer. Haven't used Firestorm though.

[SinfulPrince]

Welcome to SL.

Yeah, my first journeys into sl I bailed cuz it was too "odd" as compared to what I was used to in "a game". (No hunting/harvesting/ across-the-board venture that "all" participated in, the real money aspect pissed me off more than it did anything else, people so vastly scattered that I never felt like there was a society I was living in.... I didnt try it again till last year some time.

And honestly the thing that turned it all around was meeting one person. Sometimes thats all you need to build a social group on. I'm one who  all the building and creating in the world aint gonna cut it if theres no human group.

In other games the society is "corraled" into being around one another; they must to succeed at the hunting/whatever and the subsequent trade. It makes people gather places etc. Second life has nothing to "make" anyone even come out of their house if they dont want to. And so they dont. There's a lot of "alone-ism". And for those who don't choose that then its a matter of them getting out and finding "their" people , and making a social group. None will develop "left to its own devices".

Anyhow, like everyone said, google and tutorials are your friend. You'll figure out who you want to be here, what kind of AV and all of it. Stick around. Your niche is someplace.

Stuff I like or have liked: RPs (Kingdom of Sand, Al Raqis, City of Concord, Shady Falls, Ravenhurst, The Crack Den....more "mature" but not all about sex unless you're one who prefers no sex in a 100meter range...then those might not be for you.)   Zombie sims; especially Resident Evil ones or Siden /Siden Hospital. A little bit of Gor (not so much, the drawn out actions make my head hurt). Modding stuff I buy to the point it makes no sense. Ballrooms. Aircraft. Boats. Friends and fam.

They have plenty of stuff here. Matter of finding it. And sometimes theres even a fun in the searching

[Pussycat Catnap]

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Hermione Lefevre wrote:

 

For a beginner I would always recommend downloading Phoenix or singularity viewer to log into SL..I find it lots easier to use and to navigate..and understand lol

Have fun :-)

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This is VERY BAD ADVICE.

 

Those two viewers are made with the old 2003 era UI, and based on 2009 code that has been hacked and cracked to still be capable of logging in.

They're sole purpose is for 'oldbies' that cannot handle the current UI.

People who want their features, but are either new, or not so old as to be unable to learna anymore, should try Firestorm.

- If the specific features are not for you, go with the official viewer, or some other "v3 based" third party option.

 

 

But don't cripple yourself to 2003 technology if you do not have to.

 

***

If you want to learn clothing et all. Attend some classes at NCI, Caledon Oxbridge, and Builders Brewery. Pay special attention to classes on mesh - that's the future of SL fashion, and already pretty much dominant in 'trend setting' circles.

You can get by via buying mesh templates and texturing them - this is not a bad plan for a new store. Some of the templates are rather well made. Some... are not...

 

Others have given good advice on socializing and communities. I would just add to pick a community, start hanging out in its chatty spots, and saying friendly stuff in local chat.

[Hermione Lefevre]

In your humble opinion :-)

I been using others than firestorm and LL viewer like many others WITHOUT problems

[Hiroshi Yazimoto]

I would just say to try different viewers and settle for the one you feel most comfortable with, no?

[Tex Monday]

Thanks Pussycat...

Based on your statement, I'm trying Firestorm. And although it's taking a bit of getting used to...considering it and Phoenix are made by the same company, I'm likin' it!

Thanks for the advise.

[Pussycat Catnap]

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Hermione Lefevre wrote:

In your humble opinion :-)

I been using others than firestorm and LL viewer like many others WITHOUT problems

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Not really.

Some V1 elements have already been code-broken. Another one just occured with the new groups fixes. V1 viewers will now have issues with very large groups.

V1 technology is not current, not supported.

It is therefore very very very bad advice to give a new person to try it. They are not yet conditioned towards any UI - so it is best to send them to current technology.

 

There is a wide list now, of different modern viewers, catering to different tastes. For fans of the old phoenix's feature list, there is Firestorm. For fans of other feature lists, there are other choices.

- New users though, do not yet have a 'preference', so it is best to send them to whatever is most supported and most compatible with the server code. That, is, without question: the official viewer. Followed closely by Firestorm.