July 13, 2007

Second Life


I decided today to check out Second Life. Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by over 8 million Residents from around the globe.

I never entered into Second Life until this morning. I signed up for the basic membership (no cost). I wonder if any other villagers are already in Second Life? My Second Life name is Villager Barbosa. You can choose your first name. You have to accept from a list of choices on the second name. I didn't see 'X' as a choice. I had hoped to become Villager X for some reason.

Like most things ... I hope to turn Second Life into a revenue stream at some point. I learned at a recent BDPA Cincinnati chapter meeting that Procter & Gamble has an island in Second Life in which they advertise their products.

Well Villagers, any tips for me as I enter into this Second Life thing?

16 comments:

Muze said...

wow. i just checked it out and it seems muy interesante!

Unknown said...

Muze - Muy = very. What does "interesante" mean?

peace, Villager

maryt/theteach said...

Good luck, villager, at Second Life. I was curious about it when I visited the site a while back...but I was afraid to enter. Isn't that dumb?

Unknown said...

Teach - It is a significant decision ... mainly because you have to download the software to you PC. I've been in the place for about 30 minutes over each of two days ... so i don't know jack about it from an experiential perspective. However, I will admit that I continue to be surprised by the number of folks that take place in the Second Life arena. Do a SEARCH on MyBlogLog for the term 'Second Life' and you get hundreds of blogs. That astounded me!

peace, Villager

Anonymous said...

Welcome in SL!! check out my site for great places to visit. just got back from holiday myself so havent been in sl for a while. That was difficult :-). I am coming online soon. greets eppie hock

TheDiva Rockin said...

Hey Villager!
Welcome to the Metaverse :) I've been in Second Life nearly a year now (Rez-day party next Friday night if you can join us).
My advice to all newcomers - Build your social network first, and try not to get wrapped up in relationships. At times SL can feel so Real and it's easy to get tricked into letting your RL feelings control your Avatar.
Look me up some time - TheDiva Rockin.
:)

Unknown said...

Diva - Thank you for taking time to share your thoughts. I am spending my first few hours just exploring various places and learning how to operate my avatar in SL. I don't have a clue on prims or building things yet. I also need to earn some money.

Eppie Hock - I look forward to seeing your tips and your blog/website!

peace, Villager (Barbosa is my last name in SL).

Timbo said...

Hey Villager

Welcome to Second Life... and your first steps into the glittering virtual worlds of the Metaverse.

I second TheDiva's advice. I've been there about 10 months now. The first days can be pretty weird, even disheartening. But stick with it, there is so much to see and do.

Take a look at my blog if you want a taste of what you can see - and where you can see it. Sorry for the shameless plug, but I think you might be pleasantly surprised with what you'll find.

It takes a while to find your groove in SL. One of the reasons its retention rate is so poor. But for those that get thru the first couple of weeks of confusion and irritation it becomes an amazingly enriching experience.

Feel free to IM inworld: Aleister Kronos. It helps to have some friends on the inside, happy to give you a helping hand in getting oriented.

Timbo said...

OH...

For earning stuff... try a "Search" on the "places" tab. You can try:
free money
camping
money tree

Yes, in SL money does grow on trees (sometimes!). Not much - but better than zilch.

"Camping" is being paid a few L$ every 5 or 10 minutes for simply sitting somewhere (and thus making it look busy). Handy if you leave the keyboard for a while.

Also, there are plenty of places giving away stuff for nothing - anything from clothes, to cars, to entire houses (though you need land if the last of these is to be of any use to you!).

Unknown said...

Aleister Kronos - It is good to get the solid advice and encouragement from an experience SL person. I will visit your blog and I appreciate your suggestions!

peace, Villager

Anonymous said...

Been thinking about it for a while so was glad for the opportunity to dive on it. System crashed though so now have to check with IT person to see why my two month old computer doesn't seem to have the right BIOS. Hope to see you later.

Unknown said...

Figahjcw - I'm sorry that your system crashed. It is pretty interesting virtual world. Let me know when you get back inworld.

TheDiva Rockin said...

Hi Villager,
Just checking in as I am curious...are you still visiting Second Life?
If so, can you share some of your experiences over the past few months?

Regards,
Diva

Unknown said...

TheDiva Rockin - Truthfully, I haven't entered into SL as much over the past few months because I couldn't find a business reason to do so and my spare (pleasure-only) time.

I do like your avatar (smile)...

Political Season said...

SL is a pretty engaging virtual universe and there is a sizable black community inworld. Look up the group Black Men & Women of Second Life. (BMW). Its a group I initially created that has kept going.

Unknown said...

Aaron - thanks for the tip on BMW. I haven't been in SL in a few weeks (maybe months?). Do you find yourself visiting that online world very often?