What were your first few days in Second Life like?

[Tari Landar]

Well my very, very first days was over a decade ago(2004 actually). The place, although fun at times, was a bit of a ghost town, quite often, and didn't hold my interest as long, or as much, as I had hoped. Although I did have great fun wandering around, admiring the builds others made, it just wasn't nearly as fun. I left after a couple of months, yet had still managed to find nearly every freebie possible on the grid at the time in that short time span(ok, short is a relative term, but, well, when you understand the downtime, you'll understand why that month was really a short amount of actual "playing" time, lol) I came back again in 2006, and it held my interest longer this time, about four months, or so. By then I'd figured out how to do more in sl(and there was much more one could do too). That's when I started playing around with creation, though didn't take it very seriously. I still didn't stick around all that long. The club scene wasn't my thing(still isn't) and I just didn't mesh well with others at the time(plus, I was still playing TSO anyway and enjoyed it immensely).

I came back for good, on this av, in 2008, along with a multitude of other friends that I had met playing TSO(although many of us were already here in sl when it closed, EA shut down TSO that year anyway, bastards). Simply knowing other people here, made a world of difference in keeping my attention span long enough for me to realize it was worth sticking around for more than a few months. 

What keeps me here? I guess my answer would be.....what doesn't keep me here? I love it all, good, bad. ugly, everything in between. There are aspects I loathe, don't get me wrong, but they are few and far between and they all have to do with the lab..not the product itself. Sl has provided me with so much more than I could have ever imagined. It kept me and my kids clothed, fed, sheltered and entertained for a good long while...completely. Not many folks can say they pay their rl bills(all of them no less, on time, not late, with extra to spare) with virtually earned income Of course once that was no longer a necessity, nor an ability, I backed off. Now I'm back to just hobbyist, which was my intention all along(as far as creating is concerned). I never wanted to "make a career" out of it, as it were, it just happened that way-and at the perfect time. I have used sl to meet people from all over the world, connect on a level I can't possibly explain, and it even helped me keep in contact with my hubby back when we were simply friends(we met elsewhere, long distance.you get the drill). Of course, now we're far more than simply friends, but sl had a hand in that too(I won;t bore with those details, I'm boring enough). I have used sl to teach, learn, explore, create, earn a rl income, as a time waster/user/filler, as a means to connect with strangers and a means to stay connected with friends around the globe, participate in charity events that would otherwise be impossible for me, explore my own capabilities and stretch my limits far past what I could have ever possibly conceived....uhhh..I should shush, lol. 

Suffice it to say, I have used sl in more ways than I can express properly. Although my creation days are limited, and my best days of that are behind me, it is still, by far, my favorite thing to do. I build and create, all the time. I will probably never finish another new project..but it is possible that someday I will finish already started ones.  I look fondly on my building memories, starting with prims, then sculpty..now mesh....when flexi prims came to be..it's all so surreal. That probably sounds odd, and I know some of you are like "dude...it's a game". Yeah, I know, I'm a sap, but it has sentimental meaning. KNowing my lights are going to go out, but when they do, i'll still be able to "see" what I have created, what I have seen others create, what I have participated in and been able to experience....nothing compares..absolutely nothing. I feel like I have both been here forever, yet also just arrived, every time I set out to d something. I can't say that about any other experience I have ever had, especially online.  Heck my youngest kid was a mere baby when I got here....he's a teenager now.