Tips & Tricks?

[Rosalyn19]

I just joined Second Life, a couple days back... I'm completely clueless on how to use it... could anyone suggest some tips and tricks? Like, how to get a job (lindens required); how to use the game, where do I go? Remember, this a free account membership so I'm guessing there are limitations... Could someone please help?

[Cindy Evanier]

Welcome to Second Life.  How people use this virtual world  (most of us prefer not to call it a game) differs from person to person.  

Firstly you don't need to worry about a job and L$  from the start.  Take your time to explore places, including places where you can update yourself free

http://secondlife.com/destinations/howto

https://fabfree.wordpress.com/fabfree-30-days-list/

Above are a couple of links to help you get started.  

Open search and type in something you are interested in  "dancing"  "nature"  absolutely anything and just explore.  You might find you can't access some places until you are over a certain SL age,  often 30 days or 90 days but just avoid them for now there are plenty of other places to explore.  Add your interests in your profile, this can prompt others to start a conversation

Have fun!  I am sure some others will pass on ideas too shortly

 

[Sagadin]

Oxbridge Caledon University  is a sim designed to help new people orient themselves. They also maintain a webpage containing SL links ("slurls") to get there, or just search for Oxbridge in world. Check it out here.

[Bree Giffen]

The first phase of life in SL is figuring out where to get free stuff and learning the ins and outs of decorating your avatar. Simply by freebie hunting you'll end up going to different sims and meeting other new players. 

[Syo Emerald]

1 hour ago, Rosalyn19 said:

this a free account membership so I'm guessing there are limitations

You don't really have that many limitations. The only things that are exclusive for premium accounts are the direct ownership of land (paying land costs directly to Linden Lab) and a better acess to customer support.

[Alyona Su]

35 minutes ago, Syo Emerald said:

You don't really have that many limitations. The only things that are exclusive for premium accounts are the direct ownership of land (paying land costs directly to Linden Lab) and a better acess to customer support.

Though it is true that you don't have many limitations, there are a lot more things that come with premium than stated by Syo and they may be of interest to you, but not now. Do as the others have suggested - take your time, explore, meet people, make friends. Now, that doesn't mean to ask everyone to "be your friend" from the menus - but rather get to know people, it's pretty easy to do.

There also are a lot of things to do in SL, swimming, sailing, flying, amusement parks, etc. And sure, it may sound eye-rollingly-funny to imagine a cartoon character on your screen dancing or sailing, but it really is fun to do, even though you're stuck behind your keyboard

Definitely, use the "Destinations" guide inside your viewer. And if that's not enough, I'll overwhelm you with this:

Ready? Sure? Sure you're sure? Okay, here it is: https://secondlife.com/destinations

Now you should be able to find just about anything that piques your interest.

Edited March 28, 2018 by Alyona Su

[Phil Deakins]

2 hours ago, Rosalyn19 said:

I just joined Second Life, a couple days back... I'm completely clueless on how to use it

Second Life is an environment in which to be, and everyone makes use of it in their own way. The posts above this one are very good. My suggestion is to get to places where there are people - except info-hubs which can be very offputting. Caledon has been suggested. Other suggestions are clubs and dancing, but the most important to my way of thinking is to get where people are. Even if you just watch and listen to the chat, you'll gradually learn about SL.

Use the viewer's search, select Events from the drop down list, and type something you like into the searchbox - music, rock music, dancing, whatever. The results show you the time the events will be occuring. The times, incidentally, are the SL times, which is shown at the top right of your viewer. Many of us need to convert SL time to our own local time.

 

Edited March 28, 2018 by Phil Deakins

[Jameson2001]

2 hours ago, Rosalyn19 said:

I just joined Second Life, a couple days back... I'm completely clueless on how to use it... could anyone suggest some tips and tricks?

Welcome to SL Rosalyn, one nice feature for new avatars is meeting other avatars also going through the first few days in SL, new member info hubs can help connect you with others in the same situation as you.  Remember, we were all new here once and can relate to how you feel about not always knowing how to do something correctly .  Believe me, I am still learning and make mistakes.  Take your time learning, be kind to yourself, and have fun

[norajulian]

Hey, Rosalyn! Welcome to Secondlife! For the most part, people are pretty helpful here on the forums. If you ever have any questions and want to meet up in SL, just shoot me an IM! I started in SL about 11 years ago, back when things weren’t as complicated and I was lucky enough to stumble on a group of people who got me started and REALLY made SL more enjoyable for me, and I love to return that favor whenever I can. 

[Penny Patton]

 The best tip I think I can offer is find communities and places in SL featuring your interests. Once you meet people with similar interests to your own they will be able to offer specific advice on achieving a certain appearance, finding certain locations, doing certain activities, etcetera.

Using the Search function to find groups and places that sound interesting to you, and then chatting in those groups to meet people. It can be a lot easier to meet people through a group chat rather than trying to track people down in-world. SL is huge and even the active locations have their dead times and their busy times.

[Deann3]

WElcome to secondlife. Honestly, don't worry about "getting a Job" in SL - it's top much hassle and viable employment all depends on your timezone and the employers timezone. There are far easier ways to earn money and have fun doing so. Using your search bar under places, check out the trivia hubs. You get to test your general knowledge and every 5 or ten minutes a money question pops up where - if you answer it correctly - you earn 1Linden (assuming the darn thing actually works which is dependent on the land parcel its on). As has been said, there are plenty of places to get stuff for free - i've found the best are Nikita Freebies, Freebie Mall Warehouse and Freebies Galaxy (or is it Galaxy freebies). Huge range of stuff - mostly free - from clothing to skins, hair and complete avatars.

[Talligurl]

13 minutes ago, Deann3 said:

There are far easier ways to earn money and have fun doing so.

If you are comfortable with using your avi to entertain guys looking for a thrill, then you can make lots of money.

[Fionalein]

Earning Linden Dollars isn't that easy, fortunately you do not need many (But I know it's still great to have the shinier stuff the rich kids have). Small amounts of L$ can be earned in Traffic generating games, and I think there is also a guide by one Linden on how to earn inworld money (sad conclusion is though, fry burgers at your local burger bar and use the earned money there to buy Lindens will earn you better 99.9% of the time).

As on  wha to do? It is a simulator for life. Do what you always wanted to do in life. Learn sailing, fly a plane, get a pilot's licence, screw the paperwork and just fly without licence (YAY!!!). Just hop around a week or two, you might find stuff or stuff might find you, and all the sudden you are a member of some community you didn't even consider you could like before joining SL. It's all just people and interactions