This is Second Life

It's time for a little personal reboot. I've been spending most of my time logged into Second Life and doing a lot less of those pursuits I had before. So from this point on, I aim to bring the fine folks of 2O2P into what I have grown to enjoy so much and hopefully dispell some myths along the way.

You interface with other users through an avatar. This can be made to look like yourself or pretty much anything else you imagine. I will delve more into avatar creation in a future blog. These interactions take place over 2059.86 km (as of 2011, and growing) of populated grid. Having been a regular user for a little over a year, I can tell you that I've met users of all ages, the oldest one that I know of being in their early 60s. Users under 16 are not permitted.

I had sent of a nicely worded email to the fine folks of Linden Labs, creators of Second Life, or SL, inviting their particiaption in this blog writing. Two weeks later, I've yet to get a response. So please bear with me while I continue to quote Wikipedia. This virtual world has been in the works since 1999, first going online in 2003. Initially it was to be a three-dimensional world filled with task-based games accompanied by user chat. But developers soon saw the popularity of user-generated content and moved in that direction instead.

That direction has been the hallmark of SL and continues to be so today. If you want it, odds are someone "on the grid" has created it. But if it's not out there, SL gives you the tools to create it yourself. Which brings us to one of people's big hang-ups over SL. Money.

The Linden Dollar, or L$, Is the currency of SL. A user can get on the grid with a free account and do quite a lot without ever having even 1L$ in their virtual pockets. Been there done that. There are stores specializing in giving away content for nothing - called freebies. Generally this is older content from the early days of SL. There are also name-based games called lucky chairs. To win, the chair need only show the first letter of your avatar's name. There are also task-based games called hunts. These generally yeild higher quality items but are often difficult to complete.

But believe me, living off freebies and lucky chairs gets cold after a while. You'll want some L$ in your pocket. The easiest way to do this is to call up your account and buy some. One US Dollar will net you 269 L$, thereabouts, at this writing. The miminum you can purchase, however, is $2.50 US. I can't speak for euros or other currency as my viewers don't quote them. You may also opt for the paid subscription to SL. This will give you a home and 300L$ a week. It also opens areas which are open to premium content users only.

Don't like the idea of using your hard-earned cash on a game? That's okay. Get a haircut and get a real job. They don't call this Second Life because it sounds cute. There are any number of jobs out there. Probably most common are DJs and club hosts. You primarily earn just tips from fellow partiers, but a rare few do pay you a base rate.

So that's a glimpse into SL. There are no rules, unless you're in an area that enforces them. There are no goals, unless you're in an area that rewards them. Imagination and ingenuity drives the experience as surely as does script and code.

Nothing for you in Second Life because you like sci-fi or racing? Think again.