Good Advice from a Second Life Veteran - What's Yours?

Here's some good Second Life advice from a 7 year SLer and longtime SL blogger Eddi Haskell worth sending to people just starting to explore. Here's just three from there worth repeating here:

• "There is no such thing as a Second Life secret. In the world of instantaneous IM's, and virtual avatars, there are very few people who can keep a secret in Second Life.
• "You are never going to get rich in Second Life. You probably cannot make a full time living out of being here either. The days or making a fortune in real estate, gambling, or running a rigged 'pay for votes' beauty contest ended about 6 years ago.
• "Anyone can look fantastic in Second Life; beauty should not be skin deep. However, few have the talent to look great without some outside help from professional Second Life designers... And guys -- most male avatars have legs that are too long and heads that are too small for their bodies. Make sure you are in proportion if your shape is mod."

Much more here. SL oldbies -- by which I mean (let's say), anyone who's been doing this for over 5 years -- what advice would you add?

Comments

[Iggy]

I'd add "enjoy your inventory while you have it." It won't port out of SL to other online spaces and sometimes, things simply vanish.

[David Cartier]

I have three bits of advice:

You must take a long view. Today's drama or new big thing will be forgotten in a week.

Make an effort to get to know the people with the ugly avatars. They are usually the ones who are beautiful on the inside.

Even if you don't build anything, spend time in sandboxes. You will have fun and meet some very interesting types.

[Eddi Haskell]

Those are all great additions. Thanks for publishing this Hamlet!

[CronoCloud Creeggan]

It helps to know a little bit about some useful things.

For example I'm no scripter, but even I can do some simple edits.

knowing the basics of building.

knowing how to DJ

having some basic photo skills.

Knowing the basic in and outs of Land/Region/Estate menu.

knowing a little bit about the stuff in the Advanced and debug menus.

I also recommend not going whole hog on the Lindex too early...made some bad purchases my first month not knowing much about what was out there.

[Oink]

Hitler's Second life sims
Hehe, those poor sheep, they are honeytrapped by the wolf...
http://youtu.be/MsXyFxB_PeU

[Adeon Writer]

Find and replace "In Second Life" with "On the Internet." And most of these apply generally too.

Good advice.

[EileenK]

My advice is a bit different than Mr. Haskelle's.

1) SL will hijack your brain. You can control the time you are inworld and the money you spend, but I at least coudln't control this effect. You will occasionally see the world through your avie's eyes. You will see her face instead of your own in dreams. You will look for her among crowds on the bus. You will imagine your home town as an SL landscape. I wake up in the morning saying "Today I am going in world" unless it is the Sabbath or I am away from home. It may be hours by the way until I am inworld, but I say it anyway.

2) SL is monetized, but you do not have to spend money unless you choose to. This is true even if your payment info is on file.

3) You do not have to buy any of the must-haves. If something on one of those lists for newbies does not seem urgent, don't buy it or rush to acquire it. See #4 for more about this. I found I did not need many of the things on the "must have" lists, and that the lists left off a few items, notably a posing stand/stool, a bathing suit, skis, a swimming animation, skis, ice skates, and warm winter clothing. A dry suit is also really great for an avie to own, in my opinion.

4) Different people really do want different things. Some people don't care if their avie is beautiful. Some people don't want to ever learn to build. Some people spend way too much money but get wonderful results. Some people never leave their ethnic enclave.

5) Find a road or just open grass if you are really adventurous and go for a walk/swim. See what there is to see. It's always amazing what you find.

6) The map and its search capability and the search engine are your best friends when looking for new places. Always do a bit of random travel. And don't be afraid to go where English is not the first language.

[Sweet Valentine]

My advice is...explore...SL is beautiful and full of masterpeices...have fun,laugh...and be nice to people

[Pussycat Catnap]

Try to be a little bit you, and a little less the crowd.

It may be free to play, but it isn't free to win.

Put a little money into SL early on, and skip the freebie stage. $20 spent right out of the gate to get a good quality basic inventory of a look and a half dozen outfits will have you going for a long time.

All those other avatars are people too. This is not YOUR sandbox, but a community.

If you wouldn't say it to them in real life, don't say it to them in SL either. And if you are still willing to say it; recognize that they choose how to receive it - that coming from someone who often does call things out.

That said; it is OK to whisper / message strangers, but say more than "hello" and a little different than "wanna XXX?" Opening with a short paragraph is a good way to motivate the other person to respond.

If you can't find the things or community you're looking for - try different search terms... As obvious as that should be, it seems almost daily that I read of people saying there is nothing and no one in SL. Search here isn't as good at predicting your needs as it is on Google/Bing - its a bit more like searching the web back in the 90s. Got to try a half dozen variations before one works.

[elizabeth (irahapeti)]

try to be happy and have fun. be imaginative and fill in the missing spaces for yourself

if is not fun and it makes you miserable and/or rage then stop doing it

[Pep]

Pussycat has it VERY wrong. Not all those avatars are people. A considerable proportion are the equivalent of characters in a novel, or more accurately, a very bad adolescent comic. The problem is that EVERYBODY lies online (the act of taking on a pseudonym is the first one in SL) and so treating avatars as if they are real people is at the very least naive, and at worst, extremely damaging to those sensitive souls who believe in the goodness of humanity.

Pep (treats everyone in SL as if they are auditioning for the Sin City sequel.)