Catching up with virtual life

Two weeks ago, I stopped watching television, doing chores around the house,
and sleeping. My husband David and Riley the Cat haven’t been getting as much
attention from me as they deserve, because I’ve been virtually MIA all that
time.

Literally.

I’ve been living a virtual Second Life, and have become a little obsessed with
the experience of being completely immersed in a not-real world both like and
unlike anything you would expect or imagine.

After the recent CSI:NY episode that featured Det. Mack Taylor’s adventure in
hyperspace hunting a killer who operated in both real life and online, David
and I both logged on to look around and see if it was all that it was cracked
up to be. David had actually logged on before, in order to check out some
corporate sites to do witih his field, but I was more interested in the fantasy
and sci-fi areas, or “sims.”

It’s simple to join; you download the software from SecondLife.com and install
it, and then create an “avatar” with a first and last name. Last names or
surnames are taken from a static list, but first names can (and are) just about
any crazy combination of vowels, and consonants.

At first, you toddle awkwardly around areas that only the newest of the new can
access. You learn the basics of getting around on your own, as there’s not a lot
of documentation, although the row of buttons at the bottom of the screen give
some clue to chatting, searching, flying, and something called “inventory.” You
learn how to put on clothes from your inventory, half naked in front of whoever
happens to be there.

This can be when “n00bs” bond, as everyone is equally stupid looking, wearing
the same few default “avatars” or basic body types, outfits, and look. These
avatars are so basic that they’re just named “Woman 1” or “City Chic,” but
there’s one relatively businesslike avatar named “Ruth” who on first
acquaintance appears to be slightly more accomplished looking, if a little
bland. More about Ruth later.

You also learn how to befriend one another by clicking on their avatar (or AV),
which links you to them and adds their name to your contact list and vice
versa. From this list, you can see if they’re online, IM them anytime (if they
are offline, IMs are delivered when they log on) and send them teleport
coordinates to where you “are” in your travels.

Looking back on it, my struggles to move around and interact with Second Life
“inworld” seem highly comical and embarassing now. I spent a lot of time in a
corner attempting to figure out a “look” with the limited resources in the
default avatar choices and wardrobes at my disposal. The AV stood like an
awkward, socially backwards child, looking anxiously where the mouse happened
to be pointing. As this was generally downwards, toward the chat and inventory
buttons, my AV spent a long time studying the ground at her “feet.” I felt
sorry for her.

SL doesn’t have a great process for new “residents;” there are several
different “new people only” areas, but there’s no place to figure out how to do
things unless you go to the help area and ask somebody. I spent some time
talking to a couple of fellow newborns, befriended them as we were laughing so
hard at how stupid “we” looked,” and crashed into buildings in an area designed
to teach navigating around, walking, and flying. There wasn’t anything about
how to fly, you were just supposed to figure it out using a button and a little
popup. Later, David told me which keys were the shortcuts for fly up, fly down,
etc. David played around with it the first night or two, then quickly got
bored. I quickly got hooked, because the social aspects for women are MUCH more
enjoyable – everywhere I went, “older” people gave me notecards and information
about how to do things, and landmarks, and even free money. For guys, unless
they find a place to chat with people, it seems like it’s pretty lonely at
first.

We actually found Orientation Island, which had a lot of “notecards” that were
given to you as you toddled around, AFTER leaving the place where we rezzed
into existence the first time. I won’t be able to return there after my initial
30 days are up. There are some freebie deals that are only open to “residents”
of less than 30 days’ existence, so I’m thinking I might go back there and what
the heck, give new people selected information on notecards. It’s overwhelming
at first, so I’d have to consider the very best thing to give. Someone (don’t
remember who, bless them) gave me a “Good places in SL, especially for new
people. I’ll probably pass that one along, along with maybe one other that’s
about finding freebies. Many of the places I tried weren’t actually all that
great or interesting, although there were opportunities to make free “Lindens”
(inworld currency, about a third of a cent USD).

It’s become a blur now, but some of the things I saw and experienced were
memorable enough that I wanted to make a note of them.

The first week or so, I didn’t go to bed before 2 or 3am. This was not the best
way to immerse myself in immersion-style virtual reality. Bad form.

I quickly searched for and found the Anglican Cathedral in SL,and visited
several times and made several new friends there, among them Cady and Jennie.
Through Cady, I got introduced to the friendly people at Grizz’s Cafe, where
the dancing and fun events go on several times a week.

While sitting at the Cathedral, a woman named Silverthorn popped in and asked
where the penguins were. Intrigued, I found that there was a treasure hunt on
for penguins starting from a cute “beach club” area called The Cove. Each of
the clues contained notecards and sometimes free objects and accessories, but
the fun part was finding the penquins, which were spread across three different
tracts, which were mostly residential. The Cove has a dance floor, something
I’ve since learned how to use. I ended up teaming with Silverthorn to find
clues… we mostly got through it but got bored. But then Cady showed up the
third or fourth night with several friends, because she’d seen me talking about
the penguin hunt, and there I was again, chatting and staying up until all
hours with her and some new friends. We took advantage of “pose balls” to sit
in a pleasant place and let the system animate our avatars. From there we went
to the Mill Pond coffee shop, and so on and so on.

This was just in the first 3 days, mind you, and also I had spent a lot of time
trying on freebie clothes and getting into a trancelike state doing Tai Chi at
the Lost Gardens, which was a revelation to me the first time I went there
(from my “good places” landmarks). It was the first beautiful “sim” I’d gotten
to, and suddenly the possibilities of the online life came into better focus…
the mall-like commercial areas I’d been in were nothing compared to the
ethereal beauty of the “parks” and beauty spots in SL. Another “good places”
place was a Japanese spa place, which gave me one of the most incredible boxes
of freebies ever, along with the Lauks Nest “mayan ruins,” and the nearby
Svarga fantasy world, also a source of free money and a treasure trove of
freebies. And then I found.. and then I found… and then I found… more
wonderful favorite places, like the little Japanese teahouse by the same
creator as the pretty Neko Cat Shrine, where I played as a cat in my costume
with cat toys scattered about. And then there’s the Support for Healing gardens
and labyrinth, and the Botanic Gardens with their funny little Venetian
gondolas, and how I picked up a hitchhiker who was walking along underwater…
it goes on and on. One night, Cady invited me to go dancing – it was so much
fun. I found a couple of other dance places on my own, too.

I got invited to join a few groups, or joined some on my own. Just visiting
Lauks Nest got me an invite to a brand new group being formed to act as a kind
of preservation society, as the island’s owner has become inactive and passed
active ownership to a new person. It’s so huge and creative that I’ve still
barely scratched the surface there. The plan is for it to be used for cultural
events and arty things, and the group is heavily European and rather
philosophical about online life, which makes for a nice change socially from
“hi! Cute hair!”

Then Halloween came.

Let’s see. I found a freebie cat costume… a cartoonish, scruffy purple cat
with purple eyes and big fat paws, and put on a freebie rapier I found in a
box, and some pretty pink wings that I’d been wearing with a dressy outfit that
I liked (remember, all still freebies at this point). Off I went to various
dance places with Cady. At one event that we tried (from a list of dozens) we
found it almost impossible to move, because some guy decided to wear a
full-size log cabin as a costume, and the resulting drain on the system made it
difficult to move. Still, funny for about 30 seconds. That was the day before –
the day of Halloween, there were even more costume events.

At some point, I finally got a decent night’s sleep, and realized that it was
not good for me or my home life to spend quite that much time online. But I
still have lapses, where I’m on the point of logging out but encounter a new
person who needs help.. this often results in staying on an extra 2 or 3 hours.
Not good.

Nobody will want to read about the first week of a n00b on Second Life, because
apparently EVERYONE goes on and on about their early experience. And some
people go on and on more than a year after first “rezzing” inworld, mostly
because they like taking pictures of themselves in new outfits, but also in
order to advertise whatever product they produce for the discerning virtual
person. And also to helpfully pass along drop-dead-useful tips and information as well.
My earliest experiences revolved around meeting new people, being invited to
participate in events, and so on. The first few nights were kind of like a
whirlwind, being offered tips and advice at every turn by women, and
re-learning the art of chatting online so as to be an amusing conversationalist
to one and all.

For some reason, it really seems to surprise people that a n00b will take the
trouble to actually be amusing (and write in complete sentences, for the most
part). This has resulted in my getting invited to groups, asked to attend
special events, and whatnot. A lot of the most fun and interesting people I met
because I was hanging around the virtual Anglican cathedral and attended
services there – those Anglicans know where some of the fun, friendly parties
are.

On my own, I found a fun place that’s tied in with the “Firefly” television
series, with some great people, although sometimes the chat gets really adult
for my online tastes.

Working my way down a list of landmarks called “Fun Places in SL, especially
for new people,” I stumbled into Lauks Nest, a “Mayan ruin” created by someone
who in RL was a game designer. It’s been inactive for a while, but a friend of
the creator is getting it re-started and hosting a lot of dance and art
gallery events. Just by stumbling in there, I met the friend and some other
long-time residents who actually could get quite deeply into philosophical
discussions. I’ve met some really interesting people and had fun dancing there,
too. Also from the same list, a number of pretty parklands and also Svarga, a
virtual ecosystem made by the same creator as Lauks Nest.

I quickly learned that I needed to avoid the “free money, hippie pay,” flashy
blingy areas. They seem to be hangouts for people who either don’t want to pay
membership fees, or don’t want to give a credit card number to have on file.

I’ve witnessed a griefer attack, but nobody else was there, so what was the
point? It consisted of thousands of images of somebody with a rude message (possibly in Swedish) pasted over their face). Any interaction with the area (clicking on something, getting to close to a boundary) resulted in these images coming at me through the walls and all around in the sky.

I’ve lost money trying to buy stuff from stores that turn out to be inactive.
Should have realized that (same location as the griefer attack).

Some guy bothered me when I was trying to change clothes, because the “n00b
condo” I was using can’t be locked. So I rented a nice condo, but found that
it, too, can’t be locked, although the landlord has a security system. Oh,
well, it’s only for a week, and then I’ll move on. I haven’t decided if I’ll
“stay,” I’ve made some friends and could get sucked into being involved more,
which is time I could ill afford to waste, frankly. But it’s definitely
interesting, fun, and more entertaining than passively watching TV every night.

I mentioned before that one of my favorite places to hang out is a very beautiful garden setting with New Age music and Tai Chi “poseballs” in one area, called The Lost Gardens of Apollo (direct link if you have SL is here). I’ve taken a lot of photos there already, but now and then I’m struck with awe when someone shows up that is absolutely decked out in some completely fantastic getup. One night, I met the guardian angel of the place, who wore the most beautiful set of animated, or scripted, wings I’d ever seen that trailed below his feet as he hovered overhead. He rarely comes to Earth, apparently, it’s his role to watch over the gardens when he’s online, be not only decorative but inspiring, and probably keep an eye out for people causing problems. We had an interesting conversation, as English is not his first language, but he seemed to appreciate it when I wished him clear skies and favorable winds at the end. He had a website, but it seems to be offline. Drat.

Things are slowing down for me in some ways, socially. The first week was so intense, and I was online far too much. The next couple of weeks, I slowly got a handle on what I looked like, things that I liked to “wear,” people that I like to hang out with. I’ve had a couple of “rentals” now; the first one was for a week at a “Hawaiian” condo, and the current one is a hopelessly garish “skybox” that’s both cheaper, and cheap. It’s got a pose stand, something that’s essential when you’re going through freebie boxes full of clothes, because it immobilizes the avatar so that you can put clothes and hair on and off without it moving around. Second Life has “camera controls,” where you can move your point of view around and above your avatar, or around other points near you. It’s handy for when you want to see how the front or back of a new outfit looks.

Virtual outfits vary a lot in quality. Some are insanely detailed. Some look like they were put together very crudely, and the lines of the “seams” don’t line up. Fortunately, it’s possible to adjust or modify some things so that they look better. It’s also possible to adjust their positioning – some SL outfits have “attachments” that are little scripted bits of detailing that enable a skirt to move or swirl. Occasionally, the positioning gets messed up, and you have to learn how to fix something that you inadvertently “dropped,” that’s now floating 3 virtual feet from your waist, upside-down. For costume-related emergencies like this, it’s preferable to be in a more-or-less “private” space, rather than in the middle of a dancefloor crowded with people, aliens, and imaginary hybrid animals.

This current condo is cheap in other ways – it’s got lemon-yellow walls and lizard green trim, and the furniture has sex poseballs, something that is apparently very desireable in Second Life for some people. It also has less-indecorous “relax” poseballs, mostly at the “couch” and within a virtual Jacuzzi.

The poseballs are ALL messed up, so that you end up sideways 3 feet away from your desired position. One of them that appears to be a “sit on the floor” one results in a most undignified kneeling crouch, with your butt in the air and your head stuck in the floor.

I’m not there for the poseballs, it’s really just a private place to change clothes. Like I said, it’s cheap and somewhat private, but there’s also really annoying music that I can’t change, although I can mute it.

I’m trying to decide if I’m staying, frankly. Although I’ve made some new online friends, I’ve also spent a lot of time wandering around empty virtual places wondering where the people were. It seems that in a lot of places, people are just idling in “camping” spots, where they’re paid virtual money by the “landowner” in order to boost their traffic numbers and attract shoppers or gameplayers. It’s possible to “peek” into an area to see if there are other people there already, and an island or shopping sim looks more attractive when it looks populated. It’s rather sad how many garden areas are always empty (with some exceptions – there was a support group going on in Support for Healing.)

I do enjoy the interaction, but I haven’t yet hooked into a really great, active group that keeps me busy, although several of my groups offer events at different times during the week. I know that I’d find a home at Etopia, but the costs to rent there are higher than I’m willing to pay – about L$2000 per month, or almost $8.00US. I haven’t decided if I want to pay to be a member, which is about $10US a month, or continue on a free account. I can’t really see the benefit of membership, as all that gets me is the right to buy land, and I’m not likely to become a builder or creator. And it seems that some of my Europe-based friends are being hit up with VAT/value added taxes applicable in their home countries, so some of my favorite places (Lauks Nest, the Apollo gardens) are even more expensive to maintain.

The last few days, there’ve been a lot of problems with Second Life – it’s seriously messed up. The other night, I got unceremoniously dumped with about 50 other people in the middle of empty ocean, and no one could “teleport” or fly out. I tried to take a photo, but can’t find it on my hard drive. Yesterday and today, there’s some “no inventory” error, so I couldn’t get online until late last night, when I visited with my pirate girlfriend Dani and some other friends in an otherwise empty (but insanely detailed, natch) Irish pub.

Same error today, which is probably just as well.