What made you join Second Life?

[SpiritSparrow Skydancer]

My son asked to install it on his computer. I told him I would have to check it out first because it sounded weird. It was weird, I joined up and have not left (July will be 15 years). He was on for a while in teen grid then kinda lost interest. As an adult (he is now) he might be online still but we don't talk about it to much I think he rarely is online if so.

I took every building class I could, learned as much as my non-techie brain could accept and had a wee store that paid the tier.. Then mesh hit and my skillset was not enough to keep up... so.. I tried premade mesh.. then fitmesh came out.. My inventory is loaded with thousands of dollars of unusable items...

To be honest at first I let it control my life. I was online constantly and my rl was effected. It took a couple years for me to understand it was an addiction and I was able to limit my time in world. I lost myself in the virtual world and neglected my real world. I still spend entirely to much money in world and for a region that is just for fun (no profit) now SL is going to tax my membership and my region so, not sure how much longer I will be a region owner or member.... 😬

 

 

[Paul Hexem]

My first account... I was a young man that played MMOs and liked building things, so when I heard about a combination of both, I was interested.

Then I found out that a good portion of the women were actually women, and did I mention I was a young man at the time?

[Persephone Emerald]

A friend was in SL and showed it to me, thinking I'd like it too. At the time my computer couldn't handle it, but when I got a hand-me-down laptop that could, I went into SL and took up residence here. To be honest it has been an addiction for me at times too, especially when I feel like my RL is trashed.

I think a more important question is why we stay in SL?

Edited March 28, 2022 by Persephone Emerald

[MalibuBratz]

I've been a huge sims fan ever since I was a kid, and i've always liked games that allowed you to create your own characters. I used to see a lot of pics from SL because of the Sims so I thought why not try it. I also used to play a lot of mmorpg growing up so I liked that it kinda mixed together that and the sims in a way. 

[diamond Marchant]

In 2009 a RL friend who was in Second Life invited me to check it out. She brought me up to speed pretty quickly so I was able to function on day one.  I have always appreciated that and think it is very important to continue in that tradition of helping others, which so many people here do. On that first day, she took me to the Belleza store where I bought skin for my system avatar and some hair (accidentally bought two). Amazing to me, that Belleza Brooke skin works great on Maitreya in BOM mode. The photo was taken today.

[Sid Nagy]

1 hour ago, Persephone Emerald said:

I think a more important question is why we stay in SL?

That is a very good question.

Sometimes I think I stay more out of habit than anything else.
The last years since I became a fulltime coffee drinker (unemployed/retired) I have a lot of time to fill between two mugs of coffee.

[LittleMe Jewell]

2 hours ago, Persephone Emerald said:

I think a more important question is why we stay in SL?

As I thought on this, my initial response was that I've become much more of a recluse in RL and thus SL is pretty much the only social life that I have.  However, after thinking a bit more on it, that actually better explains my addiction to these forums.  I'm almost as much of a recluse inworld as I am in RL, thus I'm not sure I can actually explain why I still log in.  There is something about it all that still draws me, though I can't figure it out enough to put into words.

 

Edited March 28, 2022 by LittleMe Jewell

[Coffee Pancake]

1 hour ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

As I thought on this, my initial response was that I've become much more of a recluse in RL and thus SL is pretty much the only social life that I have.  However, after thinking a bit more on it, that actually better explains my addiction to these forums.  I'm almost as much of a recluse inworld as I am in RL, thus I'm not sure I can actually explain why I still log in.  There is something about it all that still draws me, though I can't figure it out enough to put into words.

Very much the same .. I didn't have social anxiety when I started, but as that and panic attacks have made their way into my life, it's affected my SL too, my behavior and outcomes from interactions in world. Although, it's never as bad in SL as it can be RL.

I guess SL is often feels safer and less isolating

[Cinnamon Mistwood]

I saw an ad somewhere online back in 2007. I think it was on a TV guide type web page.  The ad said something about meeting people from all over the world and thought that sounded like a fun idea.  I had never been in an online community of any sort. I'd never joined any forums before and I hadn't played video games since Ms. Pacman was at the arcade.

I stayed because the ad was right.  I met people from all over the world and I am still meeting them.

[Mara Mysterious]

The organization I work for used to own two full regions.  They encouraged employess to join so we could attend seminars, show our support, etc.  Their presence in SL ended long ago, but I stuck around.  Now I show my support for LL by spending way too much money on clothing.   😁

[Kalegthepsionicist]

I join just random trying, because bore with my mmorpg life lol,  take premoum and actually I plan to quit when the premium ended at march this year. but meet someone, and she the only reason I still here

[Chic Aeon]

I joined to take a class at Harvard about virtual world economy.   The class -- while it could have been good -- was very scattered and said very little. I did however enjoy Second Life and got some friends to join me. That's the story.   

[Claireschen Hesten]

Before joining in 2008 the first I knew of SL was what I saw on the news a place for unsavoury characters and unsavoury activities. Then I saw something on TV about a couple that had met in SL then subsequently married in RL and something along similar lines in a magazine. It was the magazine that finally made me give SL a try if I hadn't managed to get anything to Rez on my final login attempt I wouldn't be here 14 years later

[Debs Whimsy]

I joined in 2011 because of an article I read. I liked the idea of chatting with a real avatar. Back then, you were immediately directed to Welcome Island where I went, but found no real directions. Some people were in voice, but I couldn’t make all of them out due to mumbling. I walked around the island, getting a handle on walking, turning, etc. Then I spotted the ocean and wondered if I would be able to walk on it or if it took me under. Under it was and I got a kick out of wandering around down there … until I realized I was lost! I had no idea which way to walk back to land! So, I thought maybe if I shut it down, I’ll come back on the land? Nope, so I shut it down and lost track of it. 
 

A year and a bit later, going through a RL break-up when another article came up about SL so I thought I would give it another shot. Maybe somehow I had moved out of the ocean? I loaded up the software, typed in my name and password and noticed I had a choice of logging into Home or Last Location! Well, since the last location was home, I chose Home and, yay, out of the ocean and on a sim. Over the next two nights, lots of people were very kind in honking me up with a better skin, hair, clothes and teaching me how to rez. I was naive and got caught in an RLV “trap” accepting help from one person, but it worked out and I got myself out, but it was all part of the experience.

 

Ten years actually playing on SL, I’ve gone from being totally addicted to a more casual player. Due to a lot of bad decisions, I no longer friend anyone, but I have kept some friends from 2012 when I found land again. I mostly shop, dress my avi and chat with groups or on sims. I’m not a builder or creator of objects; my talents lay more in words, but at least I’m far, far better at editing than I was then! Lol

[Walelu Summerwind]

Ive been playing World of Warcraft for 16 yrs.. got curious if there were other worlds out there..

[Persephone Emerald]

5 hours ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

As I thought on this, my initial response was that I've become much more of a recluse in RL and thus SL is pretty much the only social life that I have.  However, after thinking a bit more on it, that actually better explains my addiction to these forums.  I'm almost as much of a recluse inworld as I am in RL, thus I'm not sure I can actually explain why I still log in.  There is something about it all that still draws me, though I can't figure it out enough to put into words.

4 hours ago, Coffee Pancake said:

Very much the same .. I didn't have social anxiety when I started, but as that and panic attacks have made their way into my life, it's affected my SL too, my behavior and outcomes from interactions in world. Although, it's never as bad in SL as it can be RL.

I guess SL is often feels safer and less isolating

When I had my own parcel on mainland in the last 5 years, I was mostly just collecting free stuff and standing on my sky platform, sorting inventory. I didn't care about my house on the ground anymore, so I remove it and put woods on the ground. I was pretty bored in SL, being largely reclusive myself. I would chat in groups sometimes, chat with a few old friends, help a few newbies, but I realized SL wasn't as much fun as it used to be for me. I knew I needed a change. I sold my land and got 2 Linden Homes instead. More importantly, though, I started reading and posting on these forums more, where I can see how other people are experiencing SL.

Maybe it's just because it's spring, but I'm showing a new guy around SL now, which makes it feel a bit more fresh. I also like how when I'm in my Linden Home I see other people riding cars and horses outside. I think there are times when I still want to be alone in my skybox, trying on clothes and sorting inventory, but when I feel bored I go exploring more and that makes me feel less alone and bored.

 

[Maryanne Solo]

Having saved up all my pocket money for a long time and buying my very first PC, my eldest sister had been
telling me about chat rooms where you could be a lion, a witch, a rabbit, a faerie, anything you wanted to be!
Which fascinated me no end. 👀
Then as I made more and more friends in RL and got online, one told me about a world where you could make
clothes to wear! and others could buy them too! 😮
So I joined this world and made clothes and sold them and made clothes and sold them and made clothes and........
you could also be a Lion, a witch, a rabbit a faerie.......😲🥰 anything you wanted to be.  
I've never been anything other than human - but that's ok.
I'm still pretty fascinated by it all to this day, even now that I have decent I.T qualifications.

[Anna Nova]

Ummm....   do I really want to tell you this?  Well okay...  Promise not to tell anyone else!

My then girlfriend, who was about 6 years older than me, had it, and signed me up (well under age), so we could go play with guys.

Rather soon after that I convinced dad to get me a decent computer, and I decided I didn't need the girlfriend any more, in RL or here.

Ya, I was a spoiled brat.

[So Whimsy]

Great stories everyone!

[Conifer Dada]

The question of what made people join SL crops up regularly. I've answered it before but I'm happy to do so again.🙂

BBC news did a short feature about SL in 2006 and I thought it looked worth a try. 

My first attempt failed because I was trying to get into SL from the website and I didn't even realise I needed to download the viewer!  Anyway, after a few months I gave it another try and I managed to take my first few faltering steps. On the computer I had then, SL only just worked, but something kept me hooked.

My early interest was in building and exploring the virtual environment and also creating a reasonably realistic avatar. As time went by I discovered that virtual clubbing was one of the best things one could do in SL. Yes, there's lag and poor texture loading in SL but then in RL there's lots of noisy, sweaty people and there's usually someone nearby doing wild, crazy dancing with flailing arms. Also SL clubbing is much cheaper than in RL.

Edited March 29, 2022 by Conifer Dada

[Love Zhaoying]

De debil made me do it. 
 

[Stephanie Misfit]

I really cannot recall why I signed up or how I found SL, 2006 seems so long ago now.

[Odaks]

I was working with a great bunch of people at the time and, one day, one said that she had found this site that we could all join and have a ball together. We joined, and we did! We still are, despite most of us being apart from each other these days in RL. That's nice!

[DalNiente]

Before signing up I followed second life since it’s inception. Various friends found themselves in this virtual world. From a residential architect who used second life as a means to visualize/stylize their works to people who found their place among different furry communities. When I finally had the means I joined myself not to find myself but I wanted to see the foundations of second life for myself, were all the stories true? Second life has a draw/allure that other social games don’t, good and bad.

 

[BelindaN]

In 2018 I googled something like dress up dolls or Barbie on line, and SL came up. When I discovered that I could buy more clothes and shoes than in RL, I was hooked. It's a rabbit hole I love.

That's the short version.