Welcome to Second Life! Now that you’re here, what will you do?

A common question we hear is, “Well. I’m here. Now what!” Luckily, opportunities in Second Life are as diverse as Real Life and in a lot of cases, even more so! In Second Life, you can walk the runways as a fashion model, traverse the stars on a space cruiser teeming with alien life, and then relax in a luxurious home.. all in the same day!

I’m going to give you some brief examples, and in the following weeks I’ll break each one down in-depth. As always, if you have any specific requests for information (or questions!) send me, Meghan Checchinato, a notecard and I’ll answer them that same week.

Now really, the true answer to, “What do I do?” is “Anything you can imagine!” Second Life lets you fly, swim to the depths of the ocean, build castles in the sky, and everything in between. Admittedly, for a beginner such things can be daunting to take on, so the first thing anyone new to Second Life should do is, learn more about Second Life!

There are hundreds of classes on any given day, by such schools as NCI (New Citizens Incorporated), and Builder’s Brewery. Often, these classes are free of charge, and they’re ongoing all day long, on topics from basic building, to clothing creation, to scripting. To find a class when you’re available, use the Search function, go to the Events tab, and filter by Education.  If you’re looking for a more self-paced learning environment, try the Ivory Tower Library of Primitives which has dozens of building tutorials. If you’ve come to Second Life to explore its creativity, these are excellent places to start.

If you’re here to play, the choices are infinite! Some of the more popular activities include Role-Playing, which, for those not acquainted with it, is when you create a character and act it out, in a huge variety of settings from dark urban roleplay, such as the Crack Den or Perdition, to supernatural themes you can find on Erie Isle, or Toxia. Or, if you prefer a fantasy, try Mystara or the Dungeons and Dragons themed sim Llorkh.  You could even be Harry Potter, or Dr. Who! The list goes on and on!

Some people enjoy Second Life for its diverse musical culture. There are so many musicians who have gotten their start performing live in Second Life, and more do every day. Again, just click on the Search feature, then Events, and filter by Live Music to hear veterans like Kelvinblue Oh or Onlyhalfcrazy Gumbo, or discover new favorites from those up-and-coming stars performing all day long. You can even karaoke your heart out and be the star yourself! Karaoke Cove and Karaoke Lounge are just two of the many venues offering 24×7 karaoke.

Last, but certainly not least, and definitely not even close to a full listing of what there is to do in Second Life, you can visit music clubs that play every genre you can think of and then some. Find classic rock at Ohana Rock Club, dance music at Ambrosia Dance Club, or meet new friends (or loves!) at Frank’s Place, a romantic and popular jazz ballroom. The list just goes on and on, try searching for clubs in the Second Life Search feature to find the perfect choice for you.

I’ve really barely scratched the surface of all there is to do in this amazing, creative, diverse world of Second Life, but I hope I’ve given you a few ideas to get started. Again, if you’d like to know more specific information, to be posted here in my column, just send it to me on a notecard and I’ll answer it next week!

<3

Meghan