Tag: noobs

Hit the Restart Button and Be a Noob for a day

Hit the Restart Button and Be a Noob for a day

by Ellie_Avora ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

To bring heartfelt honest opinions and content to everyone I tend to never post what I won’t go out and do for myself. This time around the goal was to find out if Second Life is a virtual world that is user-friendly and accessible and easy to understand for all users who decide to choose this platform to start their virtual world journey. I decided to hit the reset button and create a whole new account and start over to bring all of you a detailed post on my experiences being a noob in Second Life today.

Disclaimer, this post is filled with ideas and opinions that are mine from my experiences if you have constructive criticism please feel free to comment or message me but there shouldn’t be any hate. This is what I went through as an individual in this virtual world experience and I’m bringing back what I’ve experienced with me to show and help you as the reader who is interested in joining a virtual world or just wanted to know more about them. Another thing to add is this post will be a lot longer than a lot of the others as I must fit in a large amount of content into a smallish type post (I tried this won’t be a small post). If there is a section, you want to know more about than another I went ahead and titled each area for all of you if there is a section you might not want to read.

Let’s get started!

Signing up:

As for most virtual worlds, you start with the whole signing up. Whether or not it is a viewer or platform-based or a browser-based virtual world the sign up is always in your internet browser. One thing I found super cool is when signing up for a Second Life account now it gives you an option to be male, female, or gender variant/non-binary (how they labeled other). Because my first avatar is named Ellie, I went with the username EllieThePracticalWitch cute huh? Anyway, it also gives you the option right then and there if you want to be basic or premium which is nice. I honestly didn’t know premium was available until a friend told me about it which is when I began paying for it about two years ago. I’ll be posting a post about that in the future. It only gives you the option to download the Second Life default viewer with no third-party software. Even though I use a third-party open sim viewer I downloaded the default viewer just to see differences and specifics since I’ll also be doing a post on firestorm versus the default Second Life viewer so stay tuned for that. Then you realize technology is a little creepier than you expect because it came up knowing that I was brand new without me putting my information in such as my username and password. How fun! But it does tell you what you’re about to experience with pictures of what each place looks like.

To the right, it says: “Your first step is learning island. Find the exit portal!”

To the left, it says: “Then explore the social island and meet other new residents!”

Well, let’s see what happens since we’re “new” currently.

It seems like when you pop in as I stood at the landing point for a little bit people get randomly put into a default avatar. You can’t choose which default avatar you want to be to start anymore. In the past you could they also had furry options which were nice if you’re into the furry community. But now most of their avatars are either human, angels & demons, vampires, or just fantasy-themed I’m assuming from the medieval era. At the beginning you also receive this message:

Freebie store at the end of the corner before it sends you on your way into the world of Second Life after the tutorial.

════[ YOUR APPEARANCE ]═════════════════

Don’t worry about how you look right now.  Enjoy this tutorial, and at the end of it, you will be led to the Freebie Megastore where you can customize your appearance.

═════════════════════════════════

Meli Imako Freebie items for male avatars in Second Life these are mesh items and super nice quality.

This is a game-changer because in the past I had no one I had to make my own money or online currency and buy things myself to not look super noobish or find my freebie store. So, I give major props to Linden Labs for moving forward giving newer players everything they need so far to get started. They also give you signs to teach you how to interact with the environment around you which is super helpful if you have no idea what you’re doing. Another huge step up in the game is for male avatars their giving away nicely made mesh clothes with full permissions created by a popular full permissions creator in Second Life whose name is Meli Imako. That just blew my mind because I normally buy a lot of her stuff and then re texture it. I’m super blown away currently. To be fair it’s only 4 items in a small shop that says “freebie” down the street, but something is way better than nothing. For those wondering you can grab a landmark to the actual freebie store that you can go to after the tutorial process.

Free to play games that you will find on gambling sims otherwise known as skill gaming sims.

Something cool they also had was some of the gambling games out to show newer players that they’re available, however, you have to be in a state that allows online gambling but you can play these free play machines if you wish to. Sorry Floridians I know for a fact that we can’t go into skill gaming regions these are gambling sims. Online gambling is now illegal in the state of Florida as well as a few other states as well.

I know I put this a little lower than when I explained this portion but this is to give you an idea of how they lead you through the tutorial. They have boards up that teach you how to do everything in Second Life which is nice. I feel you can learn at your own pace this way which is super nice some of it is confusing like this board but in other words its how to change your view point such as third person, first person, front view, etc. You don’t have to do this ever but it’s there if you want to.

Their welcome hubs are now London themed and it’s called London City. I can only imagine the main reason for this is because Linden Labs is in the United Kingdom which makes perfect sense. But the beginning tutorial is very user-friendly it teaches you exactly how to do everything in an environment you’re comfortable in with other players who are new so you don’t feel anxiety stricken that you’re around “seasoned” players who might not give you the time of day. It’s a more positive environment and everyone is on the same new level.

When you first start with the sign-up process it seems rather straight forward and simplistic. The viewer itself is somewhat complicated but you learn how to use it with time. You can stay in the beginner areas if you want or need you can also revisit back to it by taking the landmark which will be a gigantic red pin and then click it to gain the landmark. Then if you need more practice or don’t feel comfortable going out to other places yet while you’re still learning you know you’ll be accepted in London City.  

Avatar Editing:

This is going to be a little tough you can edit pretty much everything with an avatar every piece of the face, every aspect of the body, and everything else such as clothes to make-up, etc. The avatar creation process is extensive and there is so much you can do. The avatar body appearance creator is slider based with different measurements it changes the appearance of your overall body and face of your avatar. However, as far as freebies nowadays most cost about 1l each sad fact but I found it extremely hard to customize my avatar without adding a little bit of money onto the virtual world to get some virtual world currency to get started. But luckily the 1l freebies are relatively worth the buy they’re not the unwanted stuff that you’d probably find years ago. So I’d put the minimum amount that Second Life allows you to spend to get some currency to spend on creating your avatar here is what you might need to spice it up if you don’t want to grab a mesh body, etc yet.

A nice hair = 150-300 lindens

Clothes = 1 linden on up

Skin = can be expensive I’ll say 200 on up

Shoes = 1 linden on up

A nice AO = 250-3,000 lindens

This is an example of linden pricing on clothing for relatively nice items that don’t make you look too bad. Otherwise you won’t be able to find mesh products you would have to go with early 2000s prim products which users somewhat frown upon nowadays in Second Life.

You can find many things in many different price ranges but for a relatively nice avatar while not being up to date with a new body and mesh head I’d expect spending $5-$10 USD to get started. If you want things in the future, by all means, get a job on Second Life or just add more on but otherwise, you will be stuck with the default avatar and honestly, you don’t want that after the one-month point. I’ll be honest I tried to put a relatively nice avatar together with 0 lindens and it’s impossible. It was the biggest challenge, I had to settle with prim/Flexi hair which is hair made from the early 2000s when Second Life first released. Creating an avatar is not beginner-friendly it took me a good hour starting over to just finish the shape I wanted. I’m telling you I didn’t know how tough Second Life could be for a beginner just starting with the platform. For me, it would be easier because I’m an experienced user but I feel if someone in their 70s just needed something to do and pass the time while being social they would have trouble with creating an avatar unless they wanted to keep the default and just explore. It almost makes me super happy that I create How-To posts related around both IMVU and Second Life I feel without them people would be super lost on what to do. This avatar creation system could be a lot more beginner-friendly for the time being though I’ll be creating more posts now that I know how difficult this could be for a newer player. I’m sorry that Second Life can be a little complicated I never thought anything of it because I’m used to the platform and how to do everything but now, I know how difficult it can be. It’s almost awful. Keep an eye out for more posts in my How To’s.

Exploring:

To be fair you can start exploring right away! However, you might be frowned upon for doing so but screw it you’re here to experience new things and have fun. Don’t let anyone stop you from doing so whether you’re new or not. When I went to certain clubs in my default avatar, I was pushed to the side from a lot of players but in the sea of seasoned players, you find that one person who is nice to everyone. I found this individual and were friends now she took me out exploring even though I have the experience, but she doesn’t know that. I thank her for being the one person in the whole game that I’ve talked to that wanted to help and be friends with me in this vast world. I wrote a post on Noobs and what they fear the most. The answer was acceptance and it is the truth I can see how newer players could get discouraged. Honestly, it hurt that players either ignored what you said, talked behind your back in IM’s, or talked right in front of your face because you didn’t look as good as some of the other avatars in the area, you’re in. It put a lot of things into perspective for me but with this one individual, she showed me around some of her favorite places. She brought me to virtual theme parks, stores, online museums, you name it we were there. Exploring is as easy as going to the destinations guide in your browser or hitting the icon that looks like something, you’d find on Google Maps and picking where you want to explore in the popular destinations. To the right, you can see what this icon looks like and to the left, you can see the browser version and how everything is separated into categories. Exploring and learning the controls is the easiest part of Second Life anything to do with creation is more advanced. People might say no but there is a lot to putting a good avatar together at the start as I explained above. For newer players, I’m posting a small How-To below on how to explore using the destination guide with photos hopefully this helps some of you who are reading.

How to use the Destinations Guide & How to Pull it up:

  • In your Second Life viewer, you will see icons at the bottom of your screen one says destinations click that to pull up a popular or editors pick version of the destination guide.
  • Or you can open up your browser go to www.secondlife.com and at the top tabs, you’ll find world map click that.
  • Once you have clicked the world map in your browser on the side you will find the destination guide which is the same thing you’ll find in your viewer to the right of the destination guide in your browser you will find the map and where that spot is located that you’re looking for. Almost like Google World or Google Maps.
  • If you want the full destination guide at the top there are more clickable words one says destinations click that and it will bring you to the destinations page. The destinations page is labeled by category of what you’re looking for as seen in the photo below.
Click Destinations
What the destinations guide page looks like in the browser
Destinations guide labeled by category off to the side that you can pick what you’re looking for easily.
The page has a recently added places so new places that you can visit in Second Life.
They also have an editors pick of some of the places that Second Life individuals and editors enjoyed the most during whatever month it is. For example, these are Septembers editor’s picks.
  • Once you click a place in the destination guide it will give you two buttons you can view it on that map, I told you about in your browser or teleport straight to it. It will open up in your viewer for easy teleporting and you’re good to go just hit teleport in your Second Life browser when it pops up.
When you click a destination in the web browser this comes up. It has a description of the place and two buttons. One says teleport the other says view on the map. Viewing it on the map will bring you back to the page with the destination guide and the world view map. Teleport will open up a window which you can see in the next photo.
When you hit teleport this will pop up or something similar to this if you’re not using Firefox. You will click Second Life and then open link if you want you can click the remember my choice. Then you don’t have to continue doing it every single time.
You will then get this in your viewer and you’ll use this to either view it on the map or teleport to the location in your viewer.
How it looks like when you press view on map in a browser setting you will get something similar on your map in the viewer as well. I wanted to show this so you knew what would come up if you did it.

Overall, Second Life is a lot of fun but for newer users, it can be somewhat frustrating to a fault, but it is possible to overcome this. Now that I know the truth and how hard it can be for newer individuals I’m going to be releasing more and more How-To’s as you have seen in this post, I added a few How-To do certain things like finding the destination guide to explore, etc. If I had to compare IMVU is a lot more user-friendly to start with virtual worlds but on the other hand, there is more to do and experience in the world of Second Life you’ll never be bored and there is always something new you can learn. My experience was interesting, but it had its moments where I was trying to create an avatar with 0 lindens (Second Life’s currency) which as I stated is almost impossible to do. Or shape creation which could be more for the advanced users. The only non-beginner thing I could experience during this test was avatar creation everything else seemed rather simple and straight forward when you get used to the Second Life default viewer. This was my experience some may find it harder than others and that is okay we all learn at our own pace. If you’re struggling, I encourage you to ask questions even if you might get ignored and always remember there are blogs like mine aimed towards newer members getting started in virtual worlds and of course YouTube videos. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them I’m always willing to help if I can.

Until next post!

What Noobs Fear the Most

What Noobs Fear the Most

by Ellie_Avora ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

The other day I went to some of the starting areas which is why I haven’t posted in a few days. I wanted to compile enough information before getting into a new post as you can tell my investigative roles are used quite often on my blog. I try to do everything that I post about to give an accurate review or understanding of something. One important thing I wanted to discuss on this blog is what new players fear the most when starting in a virtual world setting or a video game in general. I’ve compiled it all into one word…acceptance. New players long to be accepted in the environment they’re in not cast away. We all start somewhere this includes reality when trying to enter a new job, going from one school to another, or moving to a whole new area and not knowing anyone. It’s the concept of fear that blocks our intelligence to continue forward knowing that things will get better. Noobs as they’re referred to on most platforms, they want to be accepted just like all of us try to be. In the end, we might seem as if we don’t care about the word acceptance but in all actuality at one point or another we do.

As a new player myself many times in various situations it was hard for me to be accepted it wasn’t anything to do with my personality, but it had more to do with the fact I didn’t fit into the concept of a “seasoned” player. Why? Normally it had to do with the look of my avatar noobs can be identified through their avatar appearance which sucks because it’s like being one gigantic sign that says, “I’m new here!” as much as I would’ve hoped individuals would be accepting of noobs they tend to cast them away to the side until you hit around you’re one month level of being in that specific world environment. For me things came with time, when I realized how hard it was to be accepted, I took matters into my own hands and I became the first one to start the conversations. I went from introvert to extrovert quicker than a snap of my fingers. Believe it or not, even “seasoned” players want friends, they want acceptance just as much as noobs do and this got me thinking… why am I so afraid to talk to the “seasoned” players when I will be one in the future? They’re just people, right? This mindset got me out of the noob category and into the “seasoned” of course this all takes time, talking, and communicating with other players. But even noobs can be accepted. When I got myself out of that noob funk, I was the one helping them out. At the time at the beginning when I started playing (using Second Life as a reference for this experience) I went to new player sims and when things were transferable (which nowadays with mesh things are not unless their freebies) I would send them over to the players I’d start talking to and get them started so their appearance didn’t come off as new so they could be accepted by others. There’s no reason for noobs to be cast to the side if you can help or even just be their first friend, they’re just like anyone else and with time they will get to a point where you are now. At the end of the day we’re all just looking for a friend, someone to talk to, and overall acceptance from the community we place ourselves in. Everyone is different.

For those unaware of how people can identify you as a noob here are a male and female example. These are the default Second Life avatars that are available when you first start. Trust me they’re a huge step up from their last ones which were still the year 2000 models. They looked a lot worse but they were popular for the time. They recently upgraded to these mesh ones, they’re super nice and I enjoy them but if I wear them people assume I’m going to troll them or I’m new and it’s like bug repellent. However, don’t let this scare you from staying in a virtual world or video game. This is just a starting point you will look better in time avatar wise it just takes time learning your environment and the people who surround you.

For those of you who are new and reading this post don’t quit because you feel you’re not being accepted. As I’ve already said we all start somewhere, and it takes time to create a following for yourself. Friends and chatting with others will come with time but what I suggest for the first month is get a feel for the environment that you’re in. Explore areas, learn controls, save up a little bit of money to redo your avatar. You know to get yourself settled. I promise you if you do the things you want and just have fun and don’t consistently think that you’re not liked or cast away everything else will come with. Your gaming and online experiences are supposed to be fun and, in some sense, relaxing for certain individuals don’t let it stress you out. If it stresses you out a lot, you’re doing something wrong and I’d suggest changing your mindset and viewing situations from another angle.

This week I went to some of these starter sims and talked to some of the newer members trying to use the Second Life platform and the one thing they told me was they wanted people to like them. The thing is if people don’t talk to you how will they know if they like you or not? And that is something I wish many individuals would be more open-minded about is talking to newer players because sometimes these are the players that will become your closest friends because you were the first person to accept them into your circle. Now in some cases, this could go south quickly but, in those situations, there is a reason why there is a block and delete button. Also, I’m friends with a lot of these newer members now and sometimes noobs are just looking for a mentor to help them get started and show them some places. They’re all people just like you and me just because were hidden behind a computer screen doesn’t mean that we’re not human.

Overall, acceptance in the keyword when it comes to what noobs fear the most when starting in a new environment. As I’ve explained above these newer players just want someone to talk to or a mentor to help them on their journey just to learn what to do so they can live their own virtual lives. We all start somewhere, and I know I sound like a broken record but it’s so true we all start from the bottom in most situations and work our way off. Be that one person who makes a difference don’t just cast someone to the side if they’re new there was a point in time when you were in the same situation don’t create the same experience for them if you were cast away instead change their fate. Be their start to living their virtual world or experiencing their game to the fullest.