Now that I have been here 3 or 4 weeks how?

[MariahWhispers]

How in the world did all of you learn all that you know?  I have watched tutorials, gone to Wiki, read knowledge base and have to admit that I am still more then just lost.

Just how long were those of you who began as noobs here before you began to feel like you knew more then just shopping and teleporting, simple things like that?

There is SO much to know.  Yes, I went to the university too.  I don't understand a lot of the SL jargon and so much more.

 

 

 

 

[Cinnamon Mistwood]

It just takes time and exploring, chatting with people and asking for help.  It is almost like learning a whole new language.  I have been in SL for more than a year and still have to ask for help or clarification occasionally.  If you hang out long enough and read the local chat or take a few classes, you will learn a lot.  Most of the time you just pick up things as you grow in your SL life.  The best is when someone newer than you comes along and asks YOU for help.

Don't rush things too much.  Enjoy being young inworld and enjoy all the new things to experience.  Before long you will be comfortable, have some friends you like to chat with and have some favorite sims you return to again and again.  You will be an old pro before you know it and you will miss these days of discovery.

 

Cinn

[Marigold Devin]

---

MariahWhispers wrote:

How in the world did all of you learn all that you know?  I have watched tutorials, gone to Wiki, read knowledge base and have to admit that I am still more then just lost.

Just how long were those of you who began as noobs here before you began to feel like you knew more then just shopping and teleporting, simple things like that?

There is SO much to know.  Yes, I went to the university too.  I don't understand a lot of the SL jargon and so much more.

 

 

 

 

---

I think I felt noob until I'd been here about 10 months. But it was just the first month that I felt like I was drowning, and wanted to give it up. Glad I didn't.

And I'm still learning something new every day.

Be assured you don't have to know everything, or learn all the jargon. Half the geeks who talk the talk and walk the walk are just bullsh1tting anyway.



[Charolotte Caxton]

Hello, Mariah.

The more I learn, the more I find out I don't know. Im not just saying that, it is true.

What I did from the very beginning is make friends with people the same age (newness) as me and ask a lot of questions, inworld.

Big tip is stay away from places that cater to new persons, that is like a sheep herd conveniently in open view of wolves.

So, if you have friends as new as you, you can learn from each other.

Also, when guys want to be friendly with you, learn all you can from them, they probably have a lot to teach if they have any time inworld and just cause they are flirty doesn't mean it has to be more than that

Now, I will say one thing that taught me a lot about camera control, prims, how things are made, different places and different cultures, are the hunts. Scavenger hunts. You go look for something, you find it. Its yours. You meet people, you go different places and you learn how to SEE the SLWorld.

That's my answer, but like I said, I have SOooo much to learn still, and I am hear here like everyday.

Don't fret, take your time, just walk around, and if you have questions, ask. Knowledge is free and some of us (a lot I think) love to help  

[Persephone Emerald]

Once you get through the first month in SL, looking around, talking to people, asking questions & experimenting, you won't feel totally lost, but there will still be much more to learn. I think I was in SL for about 6 months before I didn't feel like a total noob, but I was still noobish. Heck, I've been in SL for 2 and a half years now & I still bump into doorways. I can put togehter a nice-looking low-prim chair, but I don't know how to script it with different animations. There is always more to learn in SL, just like in RL.

Think about it. In a typical video game there are clear goals to meet, so people go through more or less the same routes to meet those goals. Once you've learned how to reach each level, there isn't much left to learn. But in SL there are no fixed goals & new matterial is being added by the "player-creators" all the time. You meet new people all the time in SL & they all have different interests, so each one can introduce you to different kinds of things you could do in SL.  When you get tired of shopping or exploring, you might get into hunting, role-play, competive games, building or something else. You might learn how to build things with simple prims. Then you might learn how to script. You could learn how to make your own sculpties. Then you might learn how to make items with mesh. As soon as you get proficient with one skill set, new technology comes along that requires a whole new skill set - just like in real life.  You choose what activities you want to explore, & the only real limit is your own imagination.

[Anita61 Anatine]

I've been here for 4 years and I still learn new things...It takes time and effort, just take it one step at a time, enjoy yourself and start with the things you like best! I think it took me 6 months before I could edit my clothes decently.....

Just don't give up!!

[Thinkerer Melville]

I have collectes some things to help people.  

SL jargon:

Language of the Virtual Village

http://virtualoutworlding.blogspot.com/2011/01/kit-language-of-virtual-village.html

Hobo Kit on the Web

http://thinkerer.org/SLintChan/SLiHoboKitonWeb.htm

Don't try to learn everything.  Pick something you want to do and start doing that. 

TKR

[Luc Starsider]

I still feel like a noob sometimes. There are so many things to learn, to see, to experience, to try, that I think it will take years before I feel I know everything I need to know. There will still be a lot I don't know, for sure, even then. 

Take it in, one thing at the time, and you'll be fine.

- Luc -

[Kyoka Setsuko]

I think the general answer everyone has given you is "time", and I guess I will add to that chorus. It really does take time.

For me, I am the type of person where I become fascinated in one narrow thing and will obssessively learn about it until I know as much as can possibly be known before moving on to the next. I have a thirst for knowledge that only lasts so long as my interest in an area, and then when I know sufficiently I quickly lose interest and move on.

A lot of my knowlege came from outside of SL to be honest.

Almost 11 years ago now, I learned HTML, Java, Javascript, and other coding. I also learned Photoshop and primitive 3D Modelling.

Coincidentally, nearly all of these features are extremely helpful for SL, but more on that in a minute.

SL is, I find, one of the most confusing UI (User Interfaces) as compared to most software. Viewer 2 (and other parallel Viewers) have made an effort to simplify their User Interface a bit. Giving "basic version" to newbies is a further attempt to attract people by simplifying the UI.

The fact is, with a complex, and unintuitive UI, you will necessarily have a harder time learning it. I pick up software easily- and my failure to quickly learn SL was not my own fault, but, I believe, the constant counter-intuitive nature of SL, the many unnecessarily complex things, or functions which (I believe should but) simply do not exist.

This often means that doing things takes 10 x longer than it should because of some poorly created, or limited element. In some cases, these things have finally been fixed, in other cases they have not.

A couple annoying things that come to mind include Notecards that don't save (with no autoave!), which is why you basically need a Word Processor with Autosave open if you ever plan to write a lengthy NC (Notecard). Believe me, the frustration is very real when your 10 page long NC won't save... and you immediately lose everything (worst. feature. ever., if you can even call that a "feature". If it doesn't save, it should at least display the content, not wipe it completely! &*(@#ing annoying!).

Another annoyance was User Permissions (ie: changing permissions on things), because you could not En Masse permission change (ie: you couldn't select 20 objects and make them all "Copy", it had to be done one at a time). One handy trick I did learn is that you select numerous objects (holding down shift to select them all), and going to Permissions, it opens them all in little tabs that you can click through. Still annoying, but less annoying.

Multiple attachment points was another thing that ticked me off for the longest time. You used to have to attach things in the weirdest places to try to get them on (ie: Necklaces & Collars that fought for coveted chest positions, glasses/goggles and hair that fought for head position, etc.) thankfully this has been done away with, by way of the multiple attachment points feature.

Oh and I can go on... SL has so many stupid little quirks that do not aid ease of use. Some have been fixed, and others have not.

Given these inadequacies and quirks, it is no surpise that SL should take a while to learn. Also the sheer complexity of SL contributes to this slow learning process. There is so much in SL to know, and even I am still always learning more and more... Who knows if anyone can ever know it all.

Myself, when I first joined SL initially, I was content to just learn the basics. I had a very slow computer so I lagged from one place to the next, and was thankful not to constantly freeze or crash.

As time wore on I became interested in SL Photography because I had an interest in it RL too. Now this is where things like natural talent/having an eye for things comes iin handy... As well, my prior 8 or 9 years of Photoshopping skills came in super handy, since a lot of the stuff that makes a good SL Photo often involves some post-processing to get t to look really good (unless you're a in-world photo purist or something! Some of those exist). Of course, the lighting settings were a bit more limited back then... so it was harder to accomplish a nice image without significant retouching. For retouching I use everything from brushes, filters (sparingly, too much filters is like murdering your photo 50 x over!), blending options and good old fashioned drawing skills with a brush.

I dabbled in LSL (scripting), which meant my coding background came in super-handy. Most coding languages are pretty much the same, with some different formatting. In LSL you have to learn the different built-in functions (ie: llSleep, etc.) each of which have a pretdetermined effect n SL. Other than picking up these functions, LSL isn't too much of a hop, skip and a jump away from other coding languages...

Then I began to learn building. Building in SL is in my opinion, fairly limited without aid of external software and requires a lot of different skills. Texturing has once again largely depended on my knowledge of photoshop- particularly the Blending Options menu and my ability to draw. Building sculpts/meshes depends pretty much on your ability to sculpt thigns in 3D programs, which is where knowlege of that comes in handy. Oh yeah, and for product advertisements, my SL Photoshop skills once again came in handy. Blending Options on text and layers helps a lot.

DJing in SL, which I've never done, but know would depend on your actual skills to, of course, find and select decent quality music, to set up a shoutcast, and probably your vocal skills on mic. If you were a performer, you'd be relying on your musical ability RL, and having a good mic set up and a shoutcast again, I assume.

Animation making I taught myself relatively simply using some basic free software. I'm sure you could get more complicated if you wanted to.

I don't make clothing (yet) but I asume it's largely a matter of texturing (again) in a graphic editing software, and sticking to the available templates, which you can download from the SL Wiki.

There's, of course, unlimited things to do in SL... But I think building, scripting, and editing images/texturing tend to encompass the larger ones.

And yes, tutorials and wikis and tremendously helpful, but not the be-all and end-all. I am largely self-taught in scripting/coding, photoshop, and 3D modelling. I don't claim to be a guru in anything, per se, but it's definitely all learnable...

And yes, I realize that most of these things are not actually SL, but SL lacks a lot of tools for quality content creation- it relies on the uploading of Sounds, Animations, and Images (Textures) to really create rich, immersive and custom experiences for others. Often these things are tailor-made for SL (ie: 3D models made to be sculpts, textures made for upload into SL, etc.)

So, in a roundabout way, to be really "pro" at SL, you may need to venture into other software and learn how to use it in tandem with SL...

Of course, it's possible to achieve many of these things without any external software, but you will not be working with really truly original content.

As with anything (including external software, and SL itself), I always learn best by just playing around with things, as I'm self-taught. If I need to learn something for a particular goal, I tend to look up tutorials/instructionals on that thing then and there. I'm against the verbal diarrhea method of spewing all info at someone unnecessarily, like the way you would go through a course textbook on a subject. It's so much more useful to only learn what you need, when you need it.

I don't think anyone ever knows everything about SL, there is simply too much to know. People tend to specialize. But to not be "newbish", you need to at least understand the basics (Camera Controls, Viewers, Preferences, a little about Advanced Menu, etc.)

I have friends who are not newbs that have never built a prim in their life, and never scripted a single script in their life... But they have good taste of what to shop for, and know where the good stores are.. They hold jobs in SL hosting or dancing, and they understand the basics of SL and various sims. If I talk to them about "lag" or "clearing cache" or "ruthing" or "rebaking" or other such terminology, they'll understand. SL has a lot of key terms that you'll get the hang of at some time or other...

[Uallas Borgin]

We learned it the same way we learned to walk, talk, ride a bike, type, do math... . :matte-motes-big-grin:  By trying and learning from our errors, watching others do it and imitating them, trying to figure things out for ourselves and experimenting.

 

I know how to move in mouselook well enough to do swordfighting, can build a decent home and know what a script looks like. But there is still so much I don't know, I wonder at buildings that reflect great real life architecture and scripts that do complicated things. There's always so many things you don't know.

My advise would be to find something you like and learn in that field. All talents, be they people skills, artistic, literary, organising or selling are needed in SL. It's not only builders and scripters. A lot of people don't script or create objects but offer us invaluable services like opening up and maintaining venues where we can hear music, host and organize events, sing or play an instrument, invent scenarios and quests for our role play.

[Chronometria]

Try things out and if you cant make something work, ask someone. After 2 weeks i had the basics of building understood, mainly by sitting in a sandbox and trying it out solidly until i got the hang of it.

[Kyoka Setsuko]

---

My advise would be to find something you like and learn in that field. All talents, be they people skills, artistic, literary, organising or selling are needed in SL. It's not only builders and scripters. A lot of people don't script or create objects but offer us invaluable services like opening up and maintaining venues where we can hear music, host and organize events, sing or play an instrument, invent scenarios and quests for our role play.

---

Unfortunately, most things require, at bare minimum, money. You make it sound relatively simplistic, but it's not easy for new users.

 

You want to exercise your artistic talent? Uploading a texture in SL costs $10L. For people who do not want to spend RL $ on SL, they are going to have a difficult time getting sufficient $L without a job or some really good sploder skills in SL.

 

I have several friends who want to become builders, but can't upload the textures for sculpts or to custom texture objects because they don't have enough $L.

 

As for "opening up and maintaining venues" requires a substantial contribution. Typically it is one that you will have to make in something like thousansd of RL $ to keep a sim afloat. If you are just renting a small area, the monetary contribution will be smaller, but you still need to be earning or getting that $ from somewhere.

 

I don't disagree with what you are saying, there are ways to contribute to SL without being a builder/scripter/etc. but I don't want to delude people into thinking it is by any means free. At some point, you will need a lot of $ to own a sim, a fair amount to rent out an area, or a very generous donor to pay for your costs. Sometimes there are places set up by others who have already paid, and you can certainly contribute in other ways.. But yeah, it can be difficult to get by in SL without at least an initial amount of money and a method of earning more, or reliance upon constant RL $ or a premium account to give you some stipend.

 

Singers/musicians need to A) have that musical talent already in RL, B) understand how to set up a stream, C) manage to convince someone in SL to let them play that stream.

[Wicked Galaxy]

Hi Mariah!

Welcome to Second Life!  Patience.. That's my suggestion.  I am here two years now and still learning new things.  In the beginning I will tell you I hated it! Got frustrated and confused.. And I actually gave up, left, told the friend that brought me here to have fun without me.  After much begging and pleading, she convinced me to give it another try.  And I thank her all the time for dragging me back (kicking and screaming).  She had learned a lot and was willing to share with me and answer my (almost constant) pleas for help.  There are a lot of people here that are very generous with suggestions and help.  These forums can be an amazing source for answers.  Browse through them, read and ask questions.  But give yourself time.  If you get frustrated with it, take a break, even if just for a few minutes, then try again.  I promise you it will be well worth it.  You will meet people from all over the world and explore the most amazing places.  Just remember.. Patience.. and have fun, that is what its all about

Wiki

P.S. I am usually in-world evenings/night  (EST time zone) feel free to IM and say hello and if there's something you need help with I will certainly try to help.. as will a lot of others you meet along your journey here.

[Lyra Blackthorne]

Just like in RL...you live life.

Explore, take classes (see events/education), meet people, maybe try creation of some sort, join a group, attend some events, take up a sport, search RL interests and see what comes up. 

As you move through the world, living life day to day, you will pick up information and skills just as you did moving from a child to an adult in your first life.

Welcome to our world : )

[Ishtara Rothschild]

---

MariahWhispers wrote:

How in the world did all of you learn all that you know?  I have watched tutorials, gone to Wiki, read knowledge base and have to admit that I am still more then just lost.

Just how long were those of you who began as noobs here before you began to feel like you knew more then just shopping and teleporting, simple things like that?

There is SO much to know.  Yes, I went to the university too.  I don't understand a lot of the SL jargon and so much more.

 

---

 

I didn't visit any university or ivory tower or even a welcome area when I joined SL. I went out shopping and role playing, read the LSL wiki and started to build and script. Those were the days.

Nowadays I only understand half of what I read in the forums, because SL has become extremely complicated and LL can't be bothered to talk to us anymore. The new viewer is a lot less intuitive than the old one, plastered with cryptic little hieroglyphs instead of plain English words, and in order to create content you have to be a bleeding game designer. If I were to join SL as a newbie in this day and age, I doubt that I'd stick around.

[Void Singer]

mostly by doing on my part.... new environment, hey what does this do? ::pushes big red button:: =) seriously, more people should do that... it's not like you'll end the world if you do that in SL.

aside from that, if I saw something I wanted to do, and couldn't find how to do it, I asked.... lots of helpful people around, unlike in some environments.... they're still a few people like that, that will ignore you or be nasty to you for being a "noob" unless you are in their little club, but for the most part it's a lot friendlier than many other places I've been

[Kervin Karu]

Don't ever expect to learn everything.  I've been in SL for 3 years and see/learn new stuff every day.

[Void Singer]

~6 myself, and I still seem to find new tricks (and even rediscover ones I forgot =X)

[SassyOne]

Hi Mariah, Google became my best friend after I joined SL, I see something inworld then start trying to find out how to make it or how it works, keeps it interesting, there is always something new to do, enjoy your SL

[Kolby Nissondorf]

I was a newb till I came to the forums

Try looking around here for help.

Everyone in the forums is here to help you, and only a few of them will...constructively.. criticize you.

Welcome to SL

[Uallas Borgin]

For most people Second Life is a place to leave their worries behind for a few hours and do something they like or express themselves in a different way then their professionnal, social or family life. It would be an error to think of Second Life as a source of income or a second life where we can correct the mistakes of the first one. It is a hobby.

 

It costs money to play Second Life, but a lot of hobbies and leisure do. If I want to have a pint of Guinness in a typical Irish pub here, I have to pay approx. 5 euros, that's almost 2000 L$. When I buy 2000 l$ I make the implicit decision of spending 5 euro on fun ingame instead of fun in a pub. Travel, fishing trips, aerobic classes, the use of a tennis court they all cost money.  Second Life costs money, but the amount a hobbyist should put into it should never exeed the money he or she would spend on other entertainment if SL would not exist.  Running a venue costs money, true. But the example was meant to talk about different talents and not income.

 

 

[Ceka Cianci]

the fun is how long it takes..

once you think you  have it then something else pops up and it's a new avenue to explore and learn..

i think it goes by a lot faster now because there are more and more informed people helping in so many different ways to help people learn the curve..

i'm gonna say my most exciting year was my first when it was all new..

don't rush it..enjoy it hehehe

there are times that a lot wish they could go back to those days when everything was new and exciting..

i wish i would have slowed down a lot more and enjoyed the ride more..

take your time and just soak it up..don't  drink too much at one time or you'll get drunk hehehehe =)

[Angelique LaFollette]

I've been in SL for over seven years now. I was taught to build (And many other things) by a friend who was here six months before me, and I've passed that learning (and more) on to others who have been in SL for a much shorter time than I have. We have always said SL at the start is a steep learning curve, but the learning never stops. Even after all these years I am still picking up new techniques.

My suggestion, Just choose your favourite field (Clothing, building. Scripting, whatever) and not only pick up tutorials, but find a friend or mentor who is willing to teach you more than the tutorials touch on, AND be prepared to experiment on your own because many techniques you learn may suggest new ideas that have not occurred to those who have taught you.

Oh, and don't expect any time soon to say to yourself "Ok, I've learned all there is to Know". Just like RL,, it just doesn't work that way.

 

Angel.

[MariahWhispers]

TY everyone, this is a wealth of information and help.  You have no idea how much I have learned just in this post.

[Persephone Emerald]

"Unfortunately, most things require, at bare minimum, money."

 

In the beginning you don't need to spend any money on SL. If you want to know where to get good free clothes, hair & skin. IM me in world or pick up my freebie box in one of my shops (Briar Rose). When you have free stuff that is Copiable & Modifiable, you can take it appart (in Edit) to see how it's made & how it works. If you want to put a texture on a prim, there are some good free textures in the Library of your Inventory. There are also many free things, including textures & scripts, on SL Marketplace. You can search for pretty much anything you want & find a free (or very inexpensive) version on SL Marketplace.  Look up Happy Hippo or the Builder's Brewery for classes & self-paced tutorials for building. If you belong to a building help group, you can also ask in the group chat for scripts & such that people might just give you.  Just never ask for money. That's a no no.

After you've explored a bit & you really want to spend a little money on stuff (or tip teachers, dancers, hostesses, etc.), you can get by nicely on just $10/month.  As a monthly Premium account member, you'd get a free house and $L 300/ week for spending money.  When you have a place to live & know where to get free clothes, $L 300/ week is plenty. You can get the same beneits by paying for a quarterly or annual Premium membership, but at lower rates.

Eventually most of us end up spending more money, but that's a choice, not a requirement for enjoying SL.