Some of you may have noticed that I haven't been around here for almost two weeks now.
That's because a friend of mine suggested that I check out the world of
Second Life.
At first, I had no idea what Second Life was.
My friend tried to explain it, but because there's so much to it, he was somewhat at a loss for words.
Basically, Second Life is an enormous "virtual world" where you can do all sorts of things.
It's not a game, although there are games in it you can play...and it's not an MMORPG either.
It's something unique and totally different and I became instantly hooked on it.
You know how you're living right now in "
real life"?
Well, Second Life is just that...it literally is your "
second life".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To help you get a better idea of what Second Life is, take a few minutes to watch these short videos:
(they can explain it much better for you)
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilpBPUAQ_Eg
Cool eh?
Here's another short video narrated by a woman who gives some more info:
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6D9I36zsec
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the moment I finished the tutorial, I started exploring this virtual world and I immediately met some very friendly people!
I happened to run into a group of about 10 people who were standing around talking. All were from the U.K. and Australia.
(On a quick side note: I should also tell you that for most of its existence, the only way to communicate with someone in SL was to type everything out in general chat or to IM them. There was no voice capability.
That's all changed.
When I'm on Second Life, I wear a headset and can hear and speak to those around me who also have a headset or mic.)
When I ran into that group, I talked with them over voice and they immediately pegged me as a newbie.
But they were so friendly!
I must've made a great first impression because they hooked me up with free clothes for my avatar, free gadgets and accessories, cool landmarks for me to visit and one girl even gave me $500 Linden dollars and took me shopping for some new "virtual clothes"!
Since then, I've made many more friends from all over the world and we love to hang out together and do fun things "in-world".
For example, a group of about 10-15 of us went to one of our favorite places, Solana Beach, and danced on the dance floor to live streaming music.
After that, we all gathered near the edge of the beach in a big circle around a Truth or Dare board.
We were so into it that most of us literally had tears in our eyes from laughing so hard!
(Everyone had mics)
It was just like playing real Truth or Dare in real life.
One of our friends, Mudgutz, DJ's at Club Steamworx "in-world" and streams any song requests we give him.
While he DJ's, we all dance to the tunes or just hang back and converse.
He even has a tip jar where you can pay him Linden dollars.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can even make real money in Second Life.
If you have the gumption, you can actually create your very own store and sell virtual goods to Residents and any profits you make can be deposited into your real life bank account.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Second Life was something that I never thought I'd get into and it isn't easy to convince someone who's never tried it to give it a go.
But once they do, they're hooked.
I cannot express enough to all of you that you should at least try it!
There are two types of accounts in Second Life.
A Basic account is free.
A Premium account costs $9.95 per month but gives you the ability to own land.
If you're a land owner, just as in real life, you can rent out your land to others for payment, or you can choose to build whatever you want on it.
I currently have a free account.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
All you have to do is go to
www.secondlife.com and sign up for a free account.
I'm online in-world there all the time hanging with friends so if you're looking for a friend to hang out with, feel free to add me.
My in-world alias is "Jamey Davies".
There are tutorials for beginners, they're easy enough to figure out.
But the best way to be introduced to the awesomeness that is Second Life is to have someone show you the ropes.
What I have explained to you here is just the tip of the iceberg.
A fantastic world awaits you and I look forward to seeing you there!
P.S. Here's the Wikipedia entry for Second Life....it'll give you a lot of extra info...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life