2nd Day in SL...Unanswered questions

[MrsAvaLynn]

Howdy,

 

First, everyone is soo quiet.

(was sure I had 'bo')

 

Then, when I meet someone that needed a protector? ok, didnt realize a dance club of 80's music required that sort of rp? if that is what it was about. Very confusing for a new member to meet member's that are openly agressive in NON rp areas.  OUCH

 

So the only SL member to speak to me today wanted to call me out for taking an empty seat next to a person sitting off by themselves. And that was to call me out for sitting next to her ? bf I think. Warm and Fuzzy feelings? Hardly welcoming either.

 

I did look in groups, however there are no listings and search did me little good as well.

(noticed you have added Teens, however -- I didnt see the agreement I entered into was updated. Since I'm looking for a teen free enviroment; Having raised my children I'm not interested in raising other peoples.)

Do you have a mature population base? Thought this might be an interesting choice given my creative interests. Have found social interaction platforms fun and interesting. Moving from one that closed their teen server down mixing teens with the adults. (from my name its clear i'm not looking for romance. This is clearly a case of maturity levels that vary. I'm looking to spend non-rp time with mature adults enjoying the wonders of SL without the drama.)

Been amazed may times today, lovely trip on a feather that took me to a copulation rug (w/o warning it was mature only) as well as the dismay of view male body bit's for sale. (same location as the rug)....however it's stunning what your members and employees have created.

Thanks

[Pussycat Catnap]

Yeah sometimes you meet some oddballs in SL.

Its really frustrating for us when new folks meet those oddballs so early on and it forms an impression...

 

But there is a segment of SL that is very iconoclastic / selfish / etc... that will create drama with anyone who interract with them.

We do have a mature population in general - but what exactly do you mean there?

Do you mean adults, adults who will discuss the finer points of philosophy, or people who go to the 'clothes optional' bar and try and touch all the dancers? Because we have all 3.

If you're looking for the third, type the word 'adult hub' into the map, and go there. If you're looking for various discussion and philosophy groups - type your interest into search and go. If you're just looking for normal 'mature adults', go almot anywhere busy that's not an infohub, a sandbox, or named "Help Island".

As an added option; I've got a blog linked in my sig with info on getting started in Second Life, and it may be useful in helping you figure out the tools enough to find the kinds of things your interested in.

 

From your comments I suspect you'd enjoy 'regular adult folks' - and I would suggest -starting- at some of the building classes. It may sound odd, but that's a good place to meet people that are not trying to get into your digital pants, but just want 'buddies / mates'.

Go to 'New Citizens Inc' and Builders Brewery and look at their schedules, and then show up.

Another place to meet nice folks is Raglan shire, though they tend to be small furry animals there; Tinies, they're some of the nicest people in SL. And the 'Tiny' avatar tends to send the message 'I'm no here for the sexxors' to all the people out there who would otherwise be spamming you with chat-up lines...

 Oh, and 99.9999999999999% of the stuff in SL is created by us 'regular users'. The staff of Linden lanbs only make a handful of things. The roads and such on mainland, and a few parks.

- If you right click any object and choose properties, it will tell you the creator. If the last name is Linden or Mole; that's someone employed officially (Linden), or sort of a resident-elevated-to-official-helper (Mole) that made it. Most such items are made by moles and not lindens. Once you've been around for a while, you start to recognize these things on sight. They use a standard set of 'textures' and objects to make many of their builds; resulted in a very high quality and consistent look.

(whereas with us regular folks, the quality can go from knockout amazing to... yeah...

 

[Medhue Simoni]

Welcome to SL!!!!

I remember a few years ago, there was some studies that showed that the average age of the SL user was quite high, I think well over 30. This was also plainly obvious by all the 80's music, lol. My music stream stats also show a high average age, but I am on a M rated region. I'm sure the average age is probably a bit lower now that the teen are on the main grid now.

[Ann Otoole]

The demographics are sliding towards younger ages. I expect to see the old pervy stuff begin to fade away in SL as MMORPG style stuff takes over.

[Thinkerer Melville]

Here ae some posts about activities in SL:

What do we do in Second Life?

http://virtualoutworlding.blogspot.com/2011/11/kit-what-do-we-do-in-second-life.html

(Many of the activities listed here are not attractive to teens:

Music

Art

Architecture

Theater and video

Education

Hobbies

Writing

How do I meet people ? Summary

http://virtualoutworlding.blogspot.com/2011/05/kit-how-do-i-meet-people-summary.html

Newcomer friendly places

http://secondlife.com/destinations/communities/1

Appearance 102: Hyles Infohub newcomer resources

http://virtualoutworlding.blogspot.com/2011/04/kit-appearance-102-hyles-infohub.html

Sex in Second Life. Get to Adult places. Sept. 2011

http://virtualoutworlding.blogspot.com/2011/09/kit-sex-in-second-life-get-to-adult.html

These areas require adult verification.

V3.2  Where to go, how to get there.

http://virtualoutworlding.blogspot.com/2011/11/kit-v32-destinations-button-where-how.html

TKR

[MrsAvaLynn]

Thanks for the reply's...will make a reminder sticky.

 

Sorry, I do have to ask about the teens and MMORPG style stuff -- I can only guess at what that would mean.

 

I am going to work on seeing If I can get some of my Facebook Application friends to follow me as well.

[Pussycat Catnap]

MMORPG - World of Warcraft crowd.

Ann hints there are some tensions in SL over changes in community.

To a large extent the resistance is to both that crowd and to the 'Facebook' crowd. But with some caveats.

The MMORPG resistance deals with the scaling back of many 'sexually adult' activities that were once widespread all over Second Life and have since been 'zoned off' somewhat. There is also the concern about etiquette - the World of Warcraft scene has proven that large numbers of teens online results in community death from hyper-aggression. We see LLs having some awareness of this though, with several recent banning in these forums of aggressive / rude members.

The Facebook resistance is tied to the lack of anonymity there. A perception that Facebookers will start expecting to 'tag' everything, out it to people's real-lives, and want short term instant gratification for all activities. So far LLs has been resistent to the 'privacy is for old people that need to die' meme so espoused by LinkedIn's founder.

 

 

[Morgaine Christensen]

Theoretically, anyone between 13 and 18 are restricted to G/PG areas. Anyone 18 and older are allowed in MATURE regions where some adult behaviors may be allowed.  There are also ADULT regions where LOTS of adult behavior takes place, but you must be ADULT VERIFIED to visit this areas.   Of course, all this is theoretical since the verification processes can  be bypassed with ingenutity.  If you are worried about the under 18 crowd, stick with Mature and Adult regions.  Of course, if you are in the Adult region, you may have to ignore the dark side of life in many places. 

SL is a unique world, and like the Real World, there are lots of uniquely diverse folks here (yes, some might think some weird).  It is filled with those touting it is just another game, while others tout it is a social networking platform that is just as real as the Real World (RL) only differece physical proximity.    I think those of us that are older tend to see it as social networking rather than a game.  Many of us tend to see simply as an extension of our lives and act accordingly with all respect and cynacism of RL rather than a game where you have no respect for others and don't care about anyone but yourself "winning" some arbitrary prize.  This is a hotly debated topic, so you will have to decide for yourself on that subject.

And, like someone stated earlier, the SL world is 99.99999% created by Residents.  It is truely fascinating what is created in here. I see it as a living form of art world.  So many different talent sets are involved in creating this world.  The extraordinary part is, *laughs* we pay to create here either by renting or, owning land, to bring our visions to fruition. 

It takes a while to get acclimated to SL.  There is a lot to learn from walking/flying to how to dress, search, build things, land ownership, different viewer systems, etc.  I have been here quite some time and still have a lot to learn.  Give yourself some time.  If you have questions, you can always post here and most will try to help if possible...and definetly you will receive many varying opinions.

Welcome to SL!

[Princess Verwood]

Hey MrsAvaLynn! Welcome to SL. Just like in real life you will come across some strange, some dramatic (or some strangly dramatic) people and some very normal and nice people. One thing I use to do, and still do at times is just explore.

If you are using Viewer 2, check out the "Destination Guide" on the sidebar and see what you want (or if you're using an 3rd party viewer, i.e. Phoenix, you click on Search, then "Showcase". And don't be afraid to say "hi" to someone!

[Desertway]

Seems like it may be just the luck of the draw. I have only been on SL for about a week. I have been popping in and out of all kinds of environments, intentionally and accidentally - music clubs, new user clubs, beaches, SciFi sims, art galleries, sandboxes, etc. Sometimes I am ignored, and sometimes folks are very nice. I have witnesses a bit of  "raunch", but only by willing folks, and none directed at me. Keep exploring. Try "Caledon", very adult (in the way you want), with a lot of information for us newbies.