Not for me .. :(

[songbuddy]

Hi, i'm new here, and joined SL to find an alternative to another well-known virtual world i use. I have to say .. not for me. Firstly, it feels soul-less,no atmosphere at all, Secondly, the navigation is apalling on here. It's so difficalt to even buy anything ..  clothing,furniture etc. I upgraded to premium so i could at least have a "home" to use, and oh my goodness they are TERRIBLE, and gives very little choice as to what you can have. As for making friends .. it's a joke. No-0ne is willing to talk or acknowledge you,prefering to keep to themselves. The only redeeming factor here is that there's the abilty to talk with the mic rather than type. Needless to say i've cancelled my premium after just one day, and doubt whether i'll ever use this site again. I have to say, after all the things i've read about this site, i'm really disappointed in it. Rant over.

[ZoeTick]

Thank you for your visit. Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.

[songbuddy]

This is exactly what i'm talking about. No friendliness whatsoever, no help, no encouragement .. just stupid immature remarks. I don't know how many use this site, but if this is the sort of thing that greets a person,i can't see many using it.

[ZoeTick]

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songbuddy wrote:

This is exactly what i'm talking about. No friendliness whatsoever, no help, no encouragement .. just stupid immature remarks. I don't know how many use this site, but if this is the sort of thing that greets a person,i can't see many using it.

---

You don't always get what you deserve in THIS life, but you DO deserve what you get.

I, personally, am delighted that you aren't going to besmirch this forum any longer with your negative pontifications.

If you have any stuff, can I have it?

[Burper Tilling]

Sounds like Second Life obviously isn't for you. Second Life can be brilliant if you go to the right places and you have a good computer and internet connection but on a bad day lag can be terrible, you can end up in places that look almost as ugly as Minecraft full of ugly but vain avatars. The best thing about Second Life is also its worst thing. The ability to be what you want and create what you want creates just as much ugliness and nastiness as beauty and friendliness.

[ChinRey]

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songbuddy wrote:

Hi, i'm new here, and joined SL to find an alternative to another well-known virtual world i use. I have to say .. not for me. Firstly, it feels soul-less,no atmosphere at all,

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Much of it is, yes. BUt Second Life is huge and full of wonderful things. You jsut need to know where to look for them. Not much help in the Destination Guide or such unfortunately.

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songbuddy wrote:

Secondly, the navigation is apalling on here.

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Unfortunately, you're right. The navigation system and the camera position - your point of view - is still very much inspired by the old 2D computer games and not up to today's standards.

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songbuddy wrote:

I upgraded to premium so i could at least have a "home" to use, and oh my goodness they are TERRIBLE, and gives very little choice as to what you can have.

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Oh, you got yourself one of those LInden homes that comes with a premium account? Yes, they're rubbish but nobody actually use them! There are so many better homes to buy or rent all over the grid!

 

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songbuddy wrote:

As for making friends .. it's a joke. No-0ne is willing to talk or acknowledge you,prefering to keep to themselves. The only redeeming factor here is that there's the abilty to talk with the mic rather than type.

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Here's a good tip to you if you're still ehre, and to all newcomers in general, go to NCI Kuula as soon as possible. That's one of the places where you can meet people, get to know people and get help. And unlike the other great help centers it's easy to find since it is actually listed in the Destination guide.

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songbuddy wrote:

This is exactly what i'm talking about. No friendliness whatsoever, no help, no encouragement .. just stupid immature remarks.

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Downright hostility like that is actually quite rare in Second Life. But it can be hard to get contact with random strangers you meet here. Often they are busy doing something or they can be afk or just plain shy. ;-)

 

[Ina Fairport]

Hmm yes, buying something in SL is extremely difficult. I often wonder why they made it so complicated...:womanlol:

[Katia Clifton]

There is a really HUGE learning curve to SL navigation.  First off, yes... the viewer stinks.  There are lots of other viewers that you can use.  My biggest beef is the inventory system - OMG it sucks.  I so want a visual system with thumbnails.

People can be really rude to noobs because the noobs don't know proper SL etiquette.  And often times noobs end up spamming or griefing without even knowing they are doing it.   So, we "old timers" tend to shy away from noobs when we see them. 

Do hang out at the noobie places (like the one mentioned earlier).  There are people and places that will help you establish yourself in-world.  You can also get free or really, really cheap homes (like skyboxes).  You can even find a furnished home really cheap.  NOBODY uses the premium homes (and I have a premium account).

Start out slow and take your time.  We were all new once and went through similar noob experiences.

[Monica Querrien]

Give it some time...Rome wasn't built in a day and neither is learning about Second Life. Did you check out the "Make Friends" forum?

[Pamela Galli]

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songbuddy wrote:

This is exactly what i'm talking about. No friendliness whatsoever, no help, no encouragement .. just stupid immature remarks. I don't know how many use this site, but if this is the sort of thing that greets a person,i can't see many using it.

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Let me explain. It is like visiting Texas. The inhabitants complain about it constantly -- it is too hot, too reactionary, etc. -- but that does not mean YOU get to complain about Texas, because, for reasons unapparent to visitors, the inhabitants LOOOOOOOVE it. So much.

Same here re SL. WE can and do complain about SL, BUT despite everything, we love it. We just do. So much. If you do not, well, there are plenty of other worlds if you don't like this one. And if you do trash talk our SL, don't be surprised if you get some pushback on that.

[beethros Karas]

just go back "there" then?

[Ardvinna]

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songbuddy wrote:

Hi, i'm new here, and joined SL to find an alternative to another well-known virtual world i use. I have to say .. not for me. Firstly, it feels soul-less,no atmosphere at all, Secondly, the navigation is apalling on here. It's so difficalt to even buy anything ..  clothing,furniture etc. I upgraded to premium so i could at least have a "home" to use, and oh my goodness they are TERRIBLE, and gives very little choice as to what you can have. As for making friends .. it's a joke. No-0ne is willing to talk or acknowledge you,prefering to keep to themselves. The only redeeming factor here is that there's the abilty to talk with the mic rather than type. Needless to say i've cancelled my premium after just one day, and doubt whether i'll ever use this site again. I have to say, after all the things i've read about this site, i'm really disappointed in it. Rant over.

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Hey Hey. as mentioned before...there is a learning curve. But take it just as a challenge. SL isn't just a game, it's a bit more. All is created by sl-users. This is the most fascinating here. TRy to learn to build here, and you will understand why people are proud of their creations, it is really work and creativity.

And yes, at the beginning it's a kind of unfriendly atmosphere, but..at the same time, you're very welcome to send an IM to everyone you like...sometimes you get an answer, sometimes not, sometimes with a bit delay.

Buying stuff: I hated it at the beginning, but with the time you will find your way. And...there is a lot of freebie stuff, so I think itis the best way to try them at the beginning, before spending money on rubbish stuff.

And it is nice to try the premium account, but you will survive here without it.

Give it a chance, and enjoy your time. ) I would be happy if you decide to stay and to explore it a bit.

[Qie Niangao]

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ChinRey wrote:

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songbuddy wrote:

I upgraded to premium so i could at least have a "home" to use, and oh my goodness they are TERRIBLE, and gives very little choice as to what you can have.

---

Oh, you got yourself one of those LInden homes that comes with a premium account? Yes, they're rubbish but nobody actually use them! There are so many better homes to buy or rent all over the grid!

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This part is interesting. This isn't the first post I've seen recently to suggest newbies are getting over-sold on those clunky old Linden Homes, mistaking them for legit mainstream options. That may have been okay back when they were reasonably representative, but now those things are just so far behind the times that they may hurt retention and thus LL's bottom line. Time to de-emphasize them and instead direct new users to the more appealing landowning experiences.

[Pamela Galli]

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Qie Niangao wrote:

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ChinRey wrote:

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songbuddy wrote:

I upgraded to premium so i could at least have a "home" to use, and oh my goodness they are TERRIBLE, and gives very little choice as to what you can have.

---

Oh, you got yourself one of those LInden homes that comes with a premium account? Yes, they're rubbish but nobody actually use them! There are so many better homes to buy or rent all over the grid!

---

This part is interesting. This isn't the first post I've seen recently to suggest newbies are getting over-sold on those clunky old Linden Homes, mistaking them for legit mainstream options. That may have been okay back when they were reasonably representative, but now those things are just so far behind the times that they may hurt retention and thus LL's bottom line. Time to de-emphasize them and instead direct new users to the more appealing landowning experiences.

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Would be nice if LL gave the option to receive a larger stipend in lieu of a Linden Home. Would be a shot in the arm for builders of small homes. 

[Kwakkelde Kwak]

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Pamela Galli wrote:

Would be nice if LL gave the option to receive a larger stipend in lieu of a Linden Home. Would be a shot in the arm for builders of small homes. 

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People can choose not to take a linden home and take their free 512 sqm on mainland, that's what I did. I as a builder wouldn't buy a house of course, but many people would (and do/did) I suppose.

[Pamela Galli]

Yes, I guess what I mean is to receive the value of those free house prims as stipend (which they could apply to either a Linden or other home.

[Rufferto]

Second-life relationships can be fun in an intellectual way, but for a real 'love' relationship to evolve, I think you need to include all the other senses - touch, smell, etc...before you can form a permanent bond.

An older documentary, Life 2.0, is now available on UTube for free and you might find it interesting to watch.

 

 

 

[Amethyst Jetaime]

No insult intended but SL is not for everybody.

• Some aren't smart enough to get through the learning curve
• Some aren't patient enough to get through the learning curve
• Some want to be directed with goals and rules as they aren't good at entertaining themselves
• Some expect instant friendships and expect to have lots of friends.  Making friends in SL is like RL and doesn't happen overnight.
• Some just aren't interesting enough for other people to want to friend
• Some are too shy or without enough self esteem to put themselves out to make friends
• Some think they should get everything free and when they see they don't they leave
• Some just don't really give it a fair shot, they come for a few days or weeks and leave, which may be a subset of some of the above reasons.
• Some just go to the wrong places or try to hang with the wrong people and get a bad impression

I could go on but you get the idea. 

Linden homes suck.  You don't need premium membership.  Ditch it and use the money toward a nice rental or land and a home you do like.

You like to sing.  Have you tried karaoke places?  It's a good place to show your singing off and meet nice people that have a common interest.  If you're good enough, you may even find yourself with a SL career as a live performer.  Some of them make good rl money doing that and you'll meet people at these places that can help you figure out what you need to do that, or may even hire you for an engagement at a club or live music venue to start you off.

Have you gone to the live music performances - not tribute bands, but people who are performing in RL for SL audiences?  SL's live music scene is diverse and vibrant.

 

[Sidnella Riler]

As said before, you do need to be around, explore learn and shop, do not expect people to talk to you if you look like a noob, unfortunately thats the way it is, I didn't like it when I first came in, I found it difficult to manage and didn't know what to do, then I asked someone where the shops were, how to change my avatar and from then on, all ok, find something you like to do, I enjoy taking pictures but there are many activities to choose from, good luck

[ireneHF]

The viewer is pretty bad to me as well. The people in game tended to be freindly, but whenever i play now i can't find anyone, it's like the world is empty. I'm in the UK so might not be many of us about?

[Geovauden]

Sorry about your experience mate I'll give you a few tips that might help you in your next virtual world or if you decide to stay in SL, take them or leave it, if you’re still reading this.

- Do not buy membership if you're new. Just don't. Before you start throwing money and going through that annoyance, first take a few weeks, even months to see if you feel confortable/understand/like SL.

- It's a huge mistake to make comparisons with SL and another virtual worlds.

- You can rent houses, lands, skyboxes so you can decorate them as you like, you don’t have to stick to linden homes.

- Want friends? There's a subforum where you can find people. Also, if you look in the viewer's search engine, you’ll find groups and/or sims where you can find people to chat with. It is a common mistake (mostly in new residents) to think that everyone in SL is here to make friends. Some just like to build, RP, explore or be with their significant one, so sometimes if you approach them and they’re not interested in having a conversation or you’re interrupting what they’re doing, they might be rude to you and you’ll have the impression that everyone’s that way.

- Search, learn and explore. For the way you speak, it makes me believe you just jumped into SL and didn’t explore it deep enough to know all the fascinating things about it. Learn to move around and visit the right places for you; learn to search not only in the search engine, but also in sl blogs and forums so you can achieve it.

Now, bring brutally honest, if you are so disappointed by what you saw in the forums, maybe SL isn’t the place for you: If you can’t understand that most nice people you might have a good friendship with are not in here and the users who use them are a veeery minimal part of SL, if you can’t understand that not everyone is a rude antisocial person and that they’re places where you can make friends….yeah, maybe you’re too naïve or SL is too mean for you to stay.

[Qie Niangao]

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songbuddy wrote:

As for making friends .. it's a joke. No-0ne is willing to talk or acknowledge you,prefering to keep to themselves. The only redeeming factor here is that there's the abilty to talk with the mic rather than type.

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I missed this part on first read, but it could be a big part of the problem if you're judging "friendliness" on the basis of whether people respond to spoken chat. Depending where you are and who all else is there at the time, you may be sending with literally nobody receiving. Many of us run SL much of the time with sound turned off completely (which is bad because it looks like we have voice enabled), and others disable voice while leaving spatial sounds enabled. You can certainly find voice-chat partners if you look hard enough, but it's by no mean universal.

[Kwakkelde Kwak]

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Pamela Galli wrote:

Yes, I guess what I mean is to receive the value of those free house prims as stipend (which they could apply to either a Linden or other home.

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I think we all agree the value of those houses is pretty low compared to the tiers or rent we have to pay. The couple of cents that would represent them wouldn't put a dent in your expenses I think. For some, every little bit might help though. That much is true.

[Persephone Emerald]

I think a large portion of the population of SL is in the USA, but there are Brits here, as well as Europeans, South Americans, Canadians, Austrailians, Middle Easterners, Japanese & more. I find that after midnight SLT (US Pacific coast time), I run into more Brits, Aussies & Europeans in SL.

When you want to find people from a specific part of the RL world or who speak a specific language, use the Search function to find Groups for them. This is especially helpful for people who may not speak English or may not speak it very well. Then look for Places that cater to your nationality or to different interests you have. Do you like art galleries, poetry readings, live music, amusement parks, burlesque shows, building or whatever? Look for places & groups in Search for these things. Then select Show on Map to see if there are other people there (green dots). This is an easy way to find sims with other people in them.

 

[songbuddy]

Thanks for the post ... i had no intention of being hostile toward SL or it's users, i wanted to be one myself!. I merely pointed out the difficaulties i had when trying to use it ..  that's all.