Cheers to you Veritas! Congrats on your 7th birthday (or rez day)! I hope that you can still find people and interests in SL that will keep you coming back. I am a relative newcomer compared to you, but I have also felt the affect of so many changes, I started out exploring (not having any gaming or even much social experience on the web), quickly became obsessed and immersed in all of the social, romantic, economic and creative aspects of sl, as the rl economy slowed down I had more and more free time for sl and then suddenly I realized I had to snap back to rl, pay attention and go get some more jobs so I could continue to pay the rl bills etc. My time in SL has dwindled, instead of a second life it's became a pleasurable pastime. These days I mostly log in to say hi to friends, explore, take pictures, build myself a new house or sky box... I can't yet let go of my mainland home tho I don't use it much. Despite its annoyances I still love SL, it is still an escape. Do you feel the same way?