This is my first experience using second life. At first I found it challenging to figure out how all the different features of secondlife worked but after a while I got used to the various controls and was excited to experience this new virtual environment. This week I explored some new places in second life and also had a few interesting interactions with some of the other residents I met on my adventures. I had planned to visit a place that was called Glitter Valley however, when I tried to teleport there I was unable to because it wasn’t open at that time. Luckily I was able to teleport to a near by area and discovered some interesting places. The first place visited was a music shop.
Since it was very early when I arrived (6:ooam) no one else was there but I still had an enjoyable time looking at all of the instruments. It was snowing out and the shop was designed in a way that allowed some snow to come in which I found fascinating.
There were a few organs and grand pianos for sale. I had a go at playing a few of them.
I really liked the music playing in the shop, it was ethnic, oriental style pop. I noticed that the sheet music sitting on top of the pianos was also for sale, they had loads of options for example Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven to name a few. Unfortunately I couldn’t buy anything since I don’t have any money. The pianos were $2oo. Once I figure out how to earn money I might return and purchase one of them.
After that I wandered around the area and met a resident called rm Sirbu who shared a link with me. It led to a web page for Xaraz which I learned is a land trade and rental company in SL. I then visited Xaraz Collective. It wasn’t snowing here. There was a really nice building beside it so I had a look around. The building had a glass dome with triangular panels and the floors were also made of glass. I assumed it was an art gallery.
There were some unusual looking chairs on display and as I entered the building I noticed the beautiful paintings and sculptures too. My favourite was a painting of a purple flower field.
I decided to explore the rest of the residential area. There were some lovely houses, bridges, sculptures, trees and boats along the river.
There was also a lighthouse and a helipad in the area. After my adventures I returned home and went to the free stuff market. I chatted with some of the residents. I spoke to one resident called Luna who’s from America. We talked for a while about good places to visit.
I find it interesting how all of the places in second life were created by the second life residents themselves, as mentioned in Fitzgerald, M. (2007, February 1). How I Did It: Philip Rosedale, CEO, Linden Lab, the idea of the users creating the content is not unique to second life, however it was the first time I’ve experienced this in a virtual reality format. In any other environments similar to second life, such as in video games, the environment has been designed by professionals. It’s impressive to me that all this has been created by ordinary users of the app.
That’s all for now, until next week.
Monald
references:
https://www.inc.com/magazine/20070201/hidi-rosedale.html
published 07/02/21
Monald's Adventures 