"Newbie" here

[FlickaBaee]

Hello everyone.

So, you can read an subject and guess, but yea.

This is my first Second Life's account and I don't understand how to "play", buy, decorate, change avatar look, or if possible get free Land.

I've been played an game named by IMVU for a five years, but I guess this place is not an same like IMVU.

I search some information and ratings at this games; somebody says loving it, somebody says hating it.

I just know how to "play" this but I hope you older users can help me in someway. Thank you.

[Freya Mokusei]

Welcome. I also came here from IMVU, once upon a time. It takes a while to learn ropes! I would expect anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, depending on how much brainpower you commit.

First things first, there is no such thing as free land. Land is a core part of the SL economy, and having any of it be free would undermine the power of our currency.

You can find tips here: SL Knowledge Base

There are also many places in-world where other residents provide help!

[Lily Swindlehurst]

HI and welcome to Second Life FlickaBaee , do come along to Helping Haven anytime where one of our team will be glad to assist you with any questions. We have free shops too. You can find us at:

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Isle%20of%20Creation/11/248/22

or check our website at http://helpinghaven.weebly.com

Feel free to im me in world with any queries, you can find my name in search.

Lily Swindlehurst.

[kamsing]

there are jobs you can get, so far i've seen barmaids and dancers advertised. there are others, just get a nice hair and an outfit. good luck!

[Persephone Emerald]

First of all, don't spend alot of money or get a Premium account when you're new in SL. When you're new, try to outfit your avatar for free if possible, explore the world, talk with other people, and have fun.

If you decide you want to spend more time in SL, it's better to rent a place or go Premium and get a Linden Home. Land ownership can get expensive, since a 512 sq meter plot isn't really big enough to do much with it, and that's all you get for "free" with a Premium membership. Even if you don't get land, a Premium memships cost some money, so wait until Linden Lab has one of their discounts on membership.

Second Life is a very open-ended platform, and has so much to learn that even people who have been playing for years don't know how to do everything. You might like going to dance clubs, shopping for clothes, building stuff, playing games, or doing roleplay. There's a bit of almost everything in here, so people do all kinds of different activities. The Destination Guide and inworld Search can help you explore, but also talk to other people and read their profiles to get ideas too.

The Firestorm Orientation Island is a pretty good place to start in SL, but their information boards are aimed at people using the Firestorm viewer, while most new users use the SL viewer. The Firestorm 3rd party viewer has a webpage here.

Caledon Oxbridge University is also a good sim for getting oriented to SL. The have a website here.

If you want to explore pretty sims and art exhibits, then Inara Pey's Living in a ModemWorld is one of my favorite blogs for ideas of sims to explore.

If you already know that you want to learn to build stuff, then Builders Brewery is also a good place to start. They have a website here.

[Kaie Harbinger]

There are a lot of places to get free clothing, hair, etc. in Second Life, but so far the best I've found is Free Dove. They also have free to use changing rooms so you can change without showing everyone your naked body. I'd also advise you to try the various "classic" avatars you can get to under Me -> Choose an avatar (I think), which look pretty good, and you should be able to mix and match their items... like the clothing from one, plus the hair from another.

There are also blogs that post freebies and deals. So far my favorite is FabFree

If you want to earn some in-game money, you can try Linden Realms, which is sort of a minigame. It's not a lot of money quickly, but if you don't have another source of $L it can be good to start you off, and since it's an official Linden Lab thing you know it's safe.

I would agree that it's probably best to try SL for a little while and see if you like it before you decide to spend money on it. Liking or hating it is very personal, and partly depends on finding people you like and places that suit you.

[philomathia]

Second Life marketplace is the place to find great free or cheap avatars and other items. You can own a small cheap parcel with Lionheart Estates. No premium account needed. You can earn in the game lindens to pay for what you want. Formal jazz club called Sweethearts is looking for hosts and a country club called Longhorn? You can also earn lindens from contests at clubs or search classifieds for stuff like photo contests and jobs. Win stuff by looking for places with Lucky Chairs or Midnight Mania boards like Death Valley Customs where you can win a car Search Second Life Destinations to find great places that have been reviewed. Whether you enjoy Second Life or not greatly depends on the sort of people you interact with and what you do. There are lots of educational things you can do on here that are fascinating and various cultures you can learn about.

[HarrisonMcKenzie]

I hope things are going well. SL is unnecessarily ridiculous to learn, but you'll get there.

 

Start by just walking around, teleporting places, making friends, and just getting used to the game. From there, find somewhere with building rights (search for "sandbox" or go to New Citizens Inc). Many stores will give you your purchase or free item in a box or bag, and you will usually need building rights to open it. Dragging an item onto the ground or creating a new item is called "rezzing." New Citizens Inc has the added bonus of having dressing rooms that you can change in, and there is almost always someone there who can help you.

 

From there, just learn. Try new things, ask for help, take in world classes, and just get more experience.