The Alphaville Herald

A Newb In Linden Land: Thoughts of a new citizen

by Alphaville Herald on 19/03/05 at 6:03 pm

By Cienna Samiam

Ever since accidentally stumbling onto Meridan59 some years ago, I have been both fan and critic of online gaming. I am not sure how you found Second Life, but I found it after leaving yet another MMO in disgust; tired of chasing another carrot on another stick for a monthly fee. I stumbled across the Second Life web site after googling ‘online game’ with a few modifications to remove the ones I have already experienced. Intrigued by the concept of player-created objects and scripts, I decided to bite for the seven-day trial.

I landed in Welcome Area 4 and the first thing I saw was this amazing Flaming Phoenix. Outside of the immediate thoughts of ‘G-Force’ that ripped through my skull, I remember being impressed to know a player had created this creature. Looking around, I noticed something else – nothing was ‘the same’. People looked uniquely different from one another. Some guy came barreling up the ramp in a strange transformer-like exoskeleton. A woman stood by the landing pad and strange clouds of flowers were flying from her. Someone else was dancing their shoes off along the sidewalk. Everyone said hello, and upon noting that I was new, started tossing clothes at me.

Oh yeah, I was hooked.

Mentor Brian Engels lead me on a brief ‘crash course’ on getting around and building things before taking me to his island and showing me what was possible. I have to tell you, there is nothing more motivating than knowing you are ignorant. I couldn’t wait to politely make my exit and find a building class.

As luck would have it, I wound up taking a scripting class first. Within an hour, I had my own ‘joke telling’ cube and my first ‘I think I can, I think I can, I think I can’ moment. Plans for strange and amazing things are fairly constant companions, now all I need to do is get better at scripting and building prims.

While in the scripting class, I heard about ‘First Land’. I bought and quickly sold my guaranteed slice of land. Made a profit… oooh, a girl could get to like this! Found a second piece, snapped it up, and am now learning first hand that the rules that work so well in the real world don’t mean beans in Second Life. That piece of land might never sell so I think maybe I should take my mentor’s advice and join that ‘Land’ class.

I searched the ‘find’ listing and hit any number of clubs, most of which were empty and several of which I found to empty soon after I got there. Was it my breath? I finally landed at a St. Patrick’s Day party at Club Elite and danced the night away.

In reflection, several things occur to me and all of them are as interesting and exciting on a ‘possibilities’ basis as I can imagine. I can see already that this place really is all about being ‘whatever you make it’. After years and years of having some game company or publishing company tell me I had to be confined by their vision of things, this is a breath of fresh air.

I enjoy that you have complete freedom in finding your place and growing. I like that you can actually make a reputation for yourself not only by doing something everyone else does, but by doing what you do well.

I also enjoy that the economy in Second Life is realistic. Someone told me about the going exchange rate of Linden to American dollars and after I picked myself up from the floor, I had to laugh. You see, there are a number of game companies fighting tooth and claw to keep that from ever happening and here is proof of concept that not only does it work, it actually strengthens the product. I think I prefer to play in a place that gives as much import to the cash in my wallet as to how much connect time I have accumulated.

Granted, this is all surface thought. I’m only three days old in the world and pretty sure I have not seen it all. But what I have seen entices me to explore more and not limit myself by the expectations set and unmet in my past gaming experiences.

Along the way, I’m learning all the ‘basic lessons’ that any baby learns coming up in a new world. Down to my last $300L, I decided to hit the forums and see what was up in the way of employment. After seeing what was out there and, more importantly, what was not listed, I answered one ad and placed my own for writing services. Putting the idea to the test, so to speak. The result of that ad is this column, and who knows what else may come of it? Exciting times.

So far, this is all pretty ‘n00b’ standard – the effusive, almost euphoric enjoyment. I am sitting here trying to think of some of the things I have not enjoyed. The list is amazingly short and I’ll share it here in no particular order:

- Lag (though I suppose with player created content, this is unavoidable).
- The generic ‘this space for rent’ signs.
- The massive and usually lag inducing malls.
- The casinos that are EVERYWHERE.
- The way you lag out when you’re crossing from one sim to another.
- The way that getting dropped or crashing puts you back to the nearest telehub instead of leaving you where you were in the world.

Overall, very few things to dislike in the appearance of the world and in truth, the only real concern lies in finding ways to assimilate myself into the world. I want to find a club to make my ‘hang out’ place. I want to set up a tastefully decorated home. I want to make a living designing and selling clothing and writing. None of these goals seem overly ambitious at present and all of them seem to fit very nicely into Second Life’s universe. I think that is the real surprise, the one thing that makes me smile and become giddy and happy – all the usual things you’d expect to find in a game are here (and then some), but none of them in any way impede me from doing the things I would like to do in a virtual reality. For a ten-year vet of the usual ‘level grind’ and the pursuit of the sacred trio of ‘levels, loot, and money’, this is an unusual-bordering-on-unbelievable thing.

When I was approached about writing, it was suggested that I write about my experiences as a new player in Second Life. My initial thought was to write about the experiences themselves – the iterations of coyote ugly I endured to get to the avatar I now enjoy, the trials and tribulations of finding ‘good hair’ (I am still uncertain I’ve succeeded), the shock of being bumped out of a car I was trying to sit in to see how I looked in it, and the embarrassment of getting caught rummaging through someone’s house because it was just too amazing and cool looking not to explore.

I am a new player still, there is so much I do not know about this place and the people who enjoy it alongside me it is not funny. I still feel guilty every time I ‘take a copy’ of a free item. I contemplate a way to help people organize their inventory and consider doing a class for it, knowing that I cannot be alone in the feeling that it can be overwhelming.

I contemplate building or buying my first house. I wonder where my ‘hang out spot’ will eventually be, and overall – find myself feeling as ‘at home’ in my skin within Second Life as I am in my own here in the ‘real world’. I think perhaps that is the best and most sincere compliment that I, as a new player, can give to Second Life.

Soon, I will no longer be a new player. Somehow that seems an almost sad thought. I am not sure I want to get to the point where I can no longer say ‘wow’ and where learning something new in this place will be other than exciting. So, while I am telling you all about my ‘n00bness’, I am also thinking about how to make sure I remain a ‘n00b’. I begin to think that being new is more than ignorance, that it is a state of mind; one of appreciation and a determination to enjoy that only leaves when you get so focused on the destination that you forget you have to take a journey to get to it.

I suppose time will tell if I manage to retain my n00bness. But in the meantime, I’ll take this chance to share it with you.