When I first joined Second Life a few years ago, I was a bit overwhelmed and confused. Now having had some experience with different games, I know that confusion is normal and that it takes time for one to adjust to a new game. This class marks the third time I've tried Second Life. The first was just exploring. I managed to track down the username but have no idea what the password or the recovery questions are. I've never had a pet so..
The second time was after Andrew gave a lecture on Second Life during one of my Art & Tech classes. Things changed a lot even then. The welcome site might have changed, or maybe it was the same, can't really recall. That second time I tried to get into it more, find something to do. I put some effort into my avatar's looks, visited a sci-fi place, then went to some field and toyed around with a sandbox. After an hour or two, I quit again.
The problem with both times, besides being just a test, was that everything was so grand. I didn't have any clear goals or objectives. Too much to do, too many places to go, not a clear path. Of course the lag and high computer requirements also put me off a bit.
This week I went to the SL Marketplace to look for some freebies. Not surprisingly most of the free items were low quality but I managed to find some diamonds in the rough. Looking around the market also gave me a sense of price. I was generally looking at clothing but from what I've seen, most items were priced between 100 and 1000 Lindens. The site lets you sort searches by cost and I've only seen one or two items in the Over 50,000 category.
I've attended in two events during this week. One was a Peace Fair. It was mainly people dancing and listening to other people perform music live. There's something intriguing about being in an online virtual environment yet knowing that one of the avatars there is really playing a guitar. I spent almost half an hour just standing there listening and watching people dance. It seems silly to do this in a virtual world but then again, that's not much different from real life, standing there and just enjoying the music.
The other event I attended was an installation about war. Here I saw the potential in Second Life. This project was about the separation from loved ones and prison-like life in a war-torn society. I wondered off the path and fell down to a lower level. Here I was trapped, constantly followed by ominous voices and watch guard lights. I spent all my time there trying to find an exit when there probably wasn't one. I felt extremely uncomfortable. The fact that I felt that way about a virtual reality was a bit surprising. I've always wanted to create an immersive world that can really make you feel emotions.
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