OK so you have gone through phase one of being a noob - marvelling at the landscape, messing around in boats and taking the first steps in building. Good for you! Now consider moving on to what the majority of the replies to the annoucement of your arrival stated was the heart of SL - the PEOPLE. Make friends, meet people, get involved in the social scene, listen to some live and original music. Get to know the human culture in-world. Then you might start to get a grip on the community, not the game. I am currently taking a break from SL due to RL commitments, I seriously do not want to return in 2 months to find you have not been listening and all the long term residents have been forced out by a wave of transient 'gamers'. Keeping my fingers crossed, but not exactly oprimistic.