Rufferta

I don't know the answer to your question, but that doesn't keep me from posting. I think the first thing to consider is What do you want to look like? Do you want a classic or a mesh avatar? How much are you willing to spend? For me, I read some of the fashion blogs, and if I see something I like I will visit the store. If I go on a hunt that includes clothing store, I will try a few demos. Don't overlook the freebies - some of them can look quite nice. There are also a few outfits in your Library that can be customized by changing the pattern or the color or the fit. Have fun!

Sounds interesting. I think this is a service that is badly needed. I have gained what little knowledge I have from reading the forums and other internet resources and going to several newcomer orientation areas. Mostly I've learned from making mistakes. It would have been nice to have had a mentor. I am very curious as to how you are planning on taking this group around - I attended a class on "How to Buy Real Estate in Second Life" once, and the instructor was getting the students from place to place by having us accept teleports. We lost a few students along the way, as I recall. Another thought I had was that the best place for your ad would be on one of the Newcomer areas - don't know if the Lindens would let you do that, though. There might also be space at the Info hubs. Whatever you do, don't put the group on one of those self-driving buses.... Good luck!

Danger Linden wrote: Sansar and Second Life have fundamentally different approaches to a lot of Virtual World features, so, as Pete Linden said, there's not a direct analog to the Mainland in Sansar. We are curious about what specifically residents like about the Mainland? Provided infrastructure? Large contiguous areas? A sense of community? Neighbors with common interests? Affordability? The catchy name? I like the Mainland because: Re: "Provided infrastructure" - I love the public roads, railways, airways, and waterways, and the fact that I can travel along a public route without running into banlines or boot-bots. I love the many constructions and parks made by the Moles, or by private individuals, that provide a sense of continuity. The varied terrain also makes it more interesting. Admittedly, even on the Mainland there are a good number of people living in skyboxes and not 'touching ground' very often, but at least they know the land is there if they want it. Consider subdivisions: Don't most of them put in streets and public areas before offering land for sale? Re: "Large Contiguous areas": As above, without having areas set aside for common use beforehand, good highways and sailing areas are hard to put in place afterwards. Some of the larger Second-Life off-Mainland communities have got excellent systems in place, but I believe they had central authorities who planned things out beforehand. I recently read a post on one of the other virtual world's forums where someone was trying to get individual owners to contribute land so they could build roads, and it didn't seem to create much interest. Re: "A Sense of Community" & "Neighbors with Common Interests." - Yes, people like to hang around people with the same interests. As for me, I live in Hermitland. "Affordability": Yes, I'd like to be able to afford a whole continent for the same amount I pay for my small parcel on the Mainland, but not if I'm isolated from everyone else. I like being able to have a free Linden Home or a 512 with my premium membership, but perhaps some people can't even afford that. "The Catchy Name": I know I looked for land in Balance, so that I could say "I live in Balance", but I'm not sure how important names of places are to people. Other things I like about the Mainland. Stability (such as it is) . Many of the off-Mainland areas seem to come and go pretty quickly, but if you own a little piece of the Mainland you know it will be there as long as Linden Labs supports it. Tradition: In twelve years things have changed tremendously and we've accumulated a lot of history. Someone who first came to Second Life when they were twenty is now an ancient 32-year-old who can say "I remember when all we had to build with was prims, and you couldn't teleport directly - you had to go through your region's telehub - none of this sissy stuff for us - Yup, those were the good old days." I realize that I am someone who doesn't like change, and I come from a long line of late-adapters (My grandparents came West in a wagontrain of Model T's.), but I just wanted to chime in. Thanks for asking!

Anything I would tell you about my own experiences would be purely subjective. I would suggest carefully creating several different avatars that represent the variables you want to study, and then seeing if, setting them in similar environments, they get different reactions from other avatars. There are enough freebie avatars, parts, and accessories for you to assembly almost anything. It will take time and money, though, to master the "appearance as art" some achieve. Some thoughts: You may find some prejudice attached to the fact that your avatar is "new" so you might want to invent a cover story to explain what happened to your old avatar./Before interviewing another avatar you might want to check to make sure they aren't a cultural anthropologist./Some people cringe when they hear Second Life referred to as a 'game' where you 'roll up' a new character./Try not to go native. Good luck!

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Kirkby/179/93/27 - Thank you - another place to explore! Here's a place I recently found in Nautilus. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Nautilus%20-%20Anath/199/184/55 - the notecard on the landmark giver has a long list of places. One of the most interesting to me was called "I wonder why she made this landmark?" You'll have to go there to find out... http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Nautilus%20-%20Mlachthi/214/36/10

Rhonda Huntress wrote: https://my.secondlife.com/rhonda.huntress#about People often comment about dull knives but so far no one has asked about human macramé. I find that odd. Your profile wouldn't load - probably because we were all reading it. I often read profiles and it can be very helpful. For instance, I was approached by a nice-seeming male avatar once, but ended the conversation when I saw that his profile included a list of "Women I have had.." Ick! As for human macrame, don't know if this is related, but recently I ran into large groups of motionless avatars sitting on the bottom of one of the sims. I was told later that they were probably someone's multiple alts used in a game called "Tiny Empires". That got me to wondering, if the Lindens don't mind this kind of behavior, why not make all those alts useful and make a house out of them? Since it was made of alts, it wouldn't be auto-returned and you could put it almost anywhere. Just wondering is all.

Thanks for the landmark. I wasn't able to teleport directly (not on list) but I will check the neighborhood out later.

Although it has been stated that "Second Life will not be abandoned" I've been doing a bit of preemptive mourning for Second Life by re-visiting old favorite sites and exploring many of the builds and places created by the moles of the Linden Department of Public Works. I've also visited sites that were originally created independently by residents but which were kept going by Linden Labs after the original creators left Second Life. I admit that I have spent some time in virtual worlds That Were Not Second Life, but nothing I've seen compares with the wonder and variety of what is here now. I think it was a genius idea for Linden Lab to hire resident engineers, artists, and builders to construct public areas for everyone to enjoy. So far, I haven't seen anything in the "New Worlds" to compare with Second Life's Transport System, with its roads and railways, and its waterways. Granted, there are flaws, but I love the idea that someone planned roads, waterways, and rail systems that would connect the mainland sims and continents, and included so many special touches along the way, like the Mole Fruit Stand by the side of the old Pixel Highway, or the hidden trapdoors in some public buildings. I've been travelling some of the routes listed in the Second Life Wiki, and I keep finding places that are new to me, like Molexandria, or the rocket ship that takes you to another planet, or the lovely path to the Temple of the Prim. (Will anyone build a "Temple of the Voxel"? in the "New World"). I hope that this new platform has similar shared content, and isn't just a bunch of "sims on sticks" with no feeling of being a world. In the meantime, I think I am enjoying some of the things I find more, knowing that they probably won't be here forever.

OK - let me answer my alt's question. There is a collection of free materials (houses, building components, art, textures, etc...) at http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Mosh/116/71/31 Hope this information will help someone else. Although there were parts of Zindra I enjoyed - the monorail, the video phones, and many of the builds, a lot of it was just too....bare....for me.

Thank you for the explanation. Now I hope I didn't spoil their game.

I've been spending some of my free time near the "White Islands" trying to finish the "White Island Quest". I'm stuck on the last clue, and today I found another mystery. Over several days the map has shown a large clump of green dots in the middle of an empty water sim. I figured it was none of my business. Today, though, I decided to take a pod tour, but when I got to the sim boundary I got the notice "You can't enter, because the sim is full" so I decided to see what was going on. (Yes, I'm nosy). I didn't get too close, but from what I could see it looked like over a dozen alts just standing there, on the bottom of the ocean. It was eerie. None of them seemed to be moving. I scratched my head and took a picture. At my next stop I saw that I had a chat message "Take as many as you like ****** their alts". Obviously one of them was online. If it wasn't for the fact that they had filled the sim, and the profanity, I probably wouldn't even mention it, but I'm still curious. Any ideas? And if anyone can give me a hint about the 'White Island Quest" I would be grateful. Added: I got to thinking that maybe I was mistaken about it being public land and I should go back and apologize, but when I went back, they were all gone...strange.

I've put my machinima on UTube. This was my first machinima, made using the free trial version of Camtasia for Mac. Torley's tutorials on machinima were extremely helpful, as were the tutorials on the Camtasia site itself, although things didn't always work like they were supposed to.I learned a lot making this amateur effort, and I hope to find the time to re-do the video with better footage, transitions, sub-titles, and music.... In the meantime, perhaps looking at my video will inspire someone else to do their own. In spite of the complaint that "What Second Life Means to Me" videos are all showing 'rainbows and unicorns' I would like to see more machinima on UTube that are not about "look, I griefed those poor suckers" or "Life 2.0." I would like Second Life to have the reputation of a place where you can create and dream, so that my little brother doesn't snicker when I try to tell him what I am doing here... One suggestion to fellow noob machinamistas - use an anonymous avatar so that you won't have to contend with people dropping in while you are shooting.

I've noticed a few nice parcels have shown up in auction lately. Also, If you find an area you like and you find a plot that has been abandoned you can put in a support ticket and ask them to put that plot up for auction. My favorite way of finding land is to open the world map and then teleport from yellow spot to yellow spot. You can also do a search through the classifieds and put in the keywords you think are important. One thing I have to remind myself is that the initial cost of the land is not as important as the fact that you will be paying tier on it. Also, I've learned to just stay on the land for a while to give the 16-story buildings on each side time to materialize. Hope that helps!

I visited the site in Bertrada - didn't find any secrets there, but hopped on a small empty boat that was passing and got a free tour of a lot of historic Second Life. Apparently Yavanna Llanfair has created a lot of different 'pod tours' around Second Life. The main hub for the tours is her shop in Basilisk. Search for "Yavascript Pod Tours." Also, in the Coastal Waterways I found a detailed lighthouse, a tiny coracle, and an intriguing "Tiny Isle of Mist" with puzzling creatures, a living rock, and treehouses that look like they were built for tinies. Continuing on, I ran into a place called "Fairy Grove" in Brillant. All of the builds in the Coastal Waterway look as if they were scripted for some kind of quest, but I can't find any clues. Does anyone know what they were for?

Perhaps they were tired of everyone complaining about the other gifts? I, the eternal optimist, was hoping for something like a last name or reduced tier. Nevertheless, ten Lindens is ten Lindens and I can think of thousands of things to spend it on. Thank you, Lindens!

This is the last of my "sell land to reduce tier sale". This parcel is unusual in two ways: It is completely surrounded by a 41792 plot of Linden land, and it (as of a few minutes ago) is the only piece of property on this sim for sale. It could be that the Lindens will set the surrounding property for sale some day, but for now it makes a nice margin. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Cryptomono/78/201/107 This had been a renta. I'm returning the building today.

Two 512 parcels side-by-side for 200 each - less than half the price of abandoned land. Buy one or both. Both lots front on maintenance land. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chomo/87/23/46

**Only uploaded images may be used in postings**://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Amydria/246/12/22 - the land for sale is shown in blue. This is a cozy corner by the road, looking out over water. The photo shows the default terrain is mostly underwater. I had my house here set on a one-prim block, and the former owner had a house on piers. For sale for 1024 Lindens.

Everyone has to start somewhere. Having recently tried to reduce my tier by renting out a bit of property I have learned a little which might be some help. You can advertise in the forums, and you can put "For rent" in the property title and description. You can also buy different "rental boxes" that can be placed at the rental site and/or different locations that will take care of the mechanics of renting. You can list your rental business on the Marketplace, with a link to your "real estate office" if you have one. You can put a discreet sign on the property itself if there is any traffic in the area. You can pay extra to have the rental placed in "search", and that is how I found the first place I rented in Second Life. In order for renters to get access to the rental (place items, etc...) I believe they have to be members of your group. I think some landlords have it set up so the rental boxes do that automatically, but if you have to do it by hand I feel you should refund any rent paid before the renters have full access. There is a lot of information on the Wiki and in past forum articles, and you might try looking at the big real estate companies' set-ups to see how they handle things. I have decided it is not in my nature to be a good landlord, but I wish you the best of luck.

Circumstances forcing me to tier down, so I am selling three parcels in Mocha at what I consider to be reasonable prices. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Mocha/31/123/21 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Mocha/22/75/22 http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Mocha/67/36/26

I can understand, Annalvanovna. When I first signed on to Second Life it was partly because my RL movement had become severely restricted. I became immersed in Second Life. When my physical world became less limited I started to notice that large chunks of time were missing - I would log into Second Life and suddenly, hours had passed. Now I have a timer by my keyboard to remind me that I need more balance in my life. Sometimes I ignore it, but I think my experience in Second Life is better now that I have rationed it a bit. Best of luck in whatever world you inhabit.

Thank you for your post. The information you gave, and that followed, was very helpful. I looked at the land in Clyde and it is quite lovely, but currently seems way too expensive. Perhaps if the land goes unsold for some time the current owner will be willing to sell it to you at a reasonable price. As far as auctions go, outside of S I tend to try different approaches - there are the "walk around with your hands in your pockets and pretend you are not interested at all until you rush over and bid at the last minute" and the "put in such a high bid at first that people who were expecting prices to go up gradually get discouraged" approach. Neither is always successful. It does seem, though, that there is more competition when there are a lot of bids, so I might wait to bid in SL auctions until the last minute for that reason alone. On EBay the 'last minute bots' I believe are called 'snipers'. I don't do Ebay much anymore, because I found myself paying high prices for things I really didn't need, because I just wanted to 'win'... () I don't dislike landflippers that much (I tried it myself, but I found myself losing money) but I do dislike the people who "slice and dice" . I remember looking at some coastal land that had been split into long thin 512's with the narrow edge facing the water so that everyone had an ocean view, but the parcels were so narrow that you almost had to move sideways... Take care.

caligirl07 wrote: Hey all, I am writing a research paper on why people play Second Life and what they feel they obtain from playing Second Life. I began to play Second Life this week to help me research but I wanted the input of people who play Second Life on a daily basis. I am researching the different reasons people play online virtual worlds, specifically Second Life and I would greatly appreciate your opinion! The questions I am asking are: 1. How long have you been playing second life? I have been a resident for about seven months 2. How often do you play second life? I log in whenever the wolves are sleeping. 3. Why did you begin playing second life? I was doing research for an article, but by the time it was published I was hooked. 4. What do you gain from second life that you can’t get from reality? I can explore: For about a year I had been unable to travel in RL, so I traveled in SL. I am enjoying terraforming, designing, and building. I can forget the wolves at the door and lose myself in wonder at what other residents have created. Reality is for sissies. You have my permission to use my answers and username in your paper; however, please correct any grammar and spelling mistakes you find. .................. Only reply to this message if you feel comfortable with me using your answers and username in my paper; as you respond to this blog, please state that you give me permission to use or quote you in my research paper, thanks!. I greatly appreciate everyone's input and answers! Thanks!

I made several attempts at Blender and gave up. Then I found a free Google program called Sketchup and was able to make and import a small table into Second Life. I found out later that I wasn't supposed to be able to do that. Most opinion also is that Sketchup is not compatible with Second Life, but it gave me courage to try Blender again, and the most recent version now doesn't seem as hopeless. Many good video tutorials on the web. I find that I learn best by actually making something, so I follow the tutorials and pause and backtrack frequently. Gaia Clary's tutorials are great, also I found tutorials by cgboorman on YouTube that I could understand (so far). Good luck!

This is a donut-shaped piece of gently sloping land. I included the fence just to show the outer property lines. The structure in the middle is not included. It is owned by someone else and pretty much covers his or her 512 parcel so I figured a fence there was unnecessary. If you need additional land, this property is surrounded by a thin ring of 960sqm which is currently for sale as 'abandoned land'. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Labro/206/110/43 *added 11-17-12. Actually I pretty much gave it away for pennies. Just so's you'd know.