Starting Out

[windrider07]

So I have a few questions...

How do you create your own "family" or group?

How do you create your own sim/land?

How do you get better clothes and whatnot for your avatar?

 

I know I can get the answers in game but I thought it would be nice to make a thread on the forum :)

[Venus Petrov]

You can actually find many answers here if you use the Search feature.  You ask some big questions.  Do a bit of searching and then get more specific with your questions. 

Here are a few 'answers::

1)  A group is not necessarily a family.  Do you seek to RP?

2)  You do not create land.  Linden Lab creates land.  You can rent or purchase land.

3)  You can search on 'freebies' to find free clothing, etc or you can buy lindens and purchase items for your avatar.  Some people work to earn some lindens inworld but you would need to have a good idea what you'd like to do.

[Star Khalim]

After accumulating a lot of freebie stuff when I first started out by going from freebie market to market, I found that the second life market place (see the top of the page for "Shopping") also carries freebies or items that are less than L$5 and it's a much faster way to find what you want.  Just set the sort feature in the marketplace page to filter the lowest to highest priced items.  You will however, have to go to a sandbox (just look in your search option for the search term "sandbox or sand box" under the tab "everything") to unpack the box the marketplace items come in.  It's an easy procedure:  look under recent items tab in inventory for your item; drag the box from your "objects" folder and put it on the ground; right click on the box and select the "open" option; in the popup window all items inside the box will be listed, so just click on the "copy to inventory" button; after the items are loaded into inventory, right click the box again and select the "take" option which removes the box again.  Done.

In the meanwhile, I found that I was much more satisfied with the look of my avatar, hair, eyes, skin, shape etc. if I paid for items.  In sl, you tend to get what you pay for.  So I set up payment information under "My Account" with a credit card and paypal.  It was easier than trying to make money by camping (sitting your avatar for hours in a shopping sim that pays you for it, so their mall looks popular) or stripping which I didn't want to do, or hosting which turned out to be too stressful and a lot of work for little return, or escorting which just wasn't my thing at all even though from what I hear the pay is good.  Give the direct payment option some consideration.

[Theresa Tennyson]

When it comes to creating a "family", it'll just sort of happen when you meet people with similar interests that you connect with. Just start going to places that interest you and see who else is there.

If you want land you'll have to pay SOMEONE a continuing fee to use it, either directly to Linden Lab or to the owner of a private estate. You don't really need land for a while, or ever. Shelter is low in the heirarchy of needs in SL. That being said, it's very cool to get a piece of land and put up things that make it feel like a home, both items you buy and items you build.

You can pay as much or as little as you want to get new things. I'd advise you to avoid paying a lot for pre-made human avatars on the Marketplace. There are actually very nice things you can get for free, but to find them you should stay out of "freebie stores." Many designers, especially ones in the mid-range of experience, will give away free items to put their name out there. FabFree Station is a place that's gathered a lot of these good-quality free items. Free Dove isn't quite as nice sometimes but it's much better organized if you're looking for specific items, and Savoir Hair has lots of free hair. Also, many stores will give away free items just by joining their group. I've found that Japanese stores tend to be especially generous. Check out Magi Take, Shiki and Heaven's Gate Neo.

[ConvergentDynamicsReplican]

Tourguides work too.

Early SL was full of them.

Friend IW and take a spin.

Cheers.

[windrider07]

Well I've already joined a few groups.  I actually had to get bitten by a vampire to join one group, which was interesting.  I'm not very picky about how my avatar looks.  Though it's wierd how I try hard not to stand out but I still do anyways because I wanted to be a human in the game and the avatar SL has for a human being was a blonde (very low cut) hair white dude who looks like a school boy lol.  As for land, I've seen quite a few people with their own "homes".  Not really that interested in having my own home though.  I spend most of the time walking around from map to map and chatting with people.