Don't get me wrong, I certainly know that at a fundamental level SL is merely a game engine wrapped around a chat protocol. To simply look at it that way however is unfair as it is a true virtual metaverse where you can do almost anything you ever dreamed of, and perhaps some things you never thought of too.
I have been in the metaverse for only the past 8 months up to now, longer than some, but much less than some of you that have been on here since the beginning. During my early days I did a lot of exploring an observing without much participation. I was usually the guy standing guy in the back just watching what went on around me. As I became more aware of what there was and how people appeared to use SL I slowly started to say hi to people.
I was very lucky to have met some very good and helpful people during those first few times or perhaps thing may not have gone as smoothly and I may not be here still today. Although I think perhaps my wallet may be better off if that had been the case. Yes people, you will spend money in SL, it is a fact so face it and accept it. I digress however so let's get back on track.
While I am on the subject of those early chats with people, some of whom are still friends to this day, I wish to thank you for taking the time to chat with me and for all your help and support along the way.
Once I started to interact with others that was when SL started to become more interesting. One can only visit the virtual Grand Canyon, as beautiful as it is, so many times before it starts to lose its appeal. Since we are all social creatures to some degree or another, it is the interaction with others that makes it all make sense.
As I became more comfortable with what SL had to offer I tried to talk my wife into joining me here in SL. She agreed to having an account but she really did not seem to have much interest in doing anything on here. Her progress with SL is something that will be covered in other posts, as well as on her own blog, but suffice it to say that she is alive and well on here with me now.
I have found that SL can be both a source of great entertainment and sorrow, it is however not simply a game as some people may think. Whatever you do in SL please always remember there is a human on the other end of the keyboard connected to the avatar(s) that you may be interacting with.
It is true that SL is an imperfect virtual world, is it however what we have to work with. It is a collection of pixels on your screen rendered using flawed computer code with a number of huge compromises used to keep bandwidth and CPU usage at manageable levels. There is a lack of any kind of body language, although using voice does help with this to some degree, so getting a good "read" on what others may actually be meaning can be hard at times.
Despite all of its shortcomings SL is a wonderful platform and if allowed to, your imagination fills in the gaps to provide what can at times be a truly emotional experience. Some of the SIMS that people have put together will blow your mind if you allow yourself to be immersed in their content.
Now some words of wisdom I shamelessly stole from someone's profile in SL (name withheld unless I get permission to say);
On Second Life ...
- You will spend too much time
- You will spend too much money
- You will get hurt
- You will cause hurt
- You will make friends
- You will lose friends
- You will get fed up
- You will always return
- You will learn
- You will teach
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