Filed under: Newbies, Interviews, Resident Snapshot

This is the 12th in a series of interviews that are being conducted with new residents, in order to gauge the effectiveness of the orientation process, and to gauge disparities between the preconceptions and the realities of Second Life. The questions may be tailored slightly for each interview; responses may be edited for purposes of clarity.

I had a few troubles finding an interview candidate today. Some of them got evasive or skittish when we started asking the questions and ran off before we could finish. Luckily, I met Milo at The Shelter in Isabel, dancing with another new resident by the bar. He kindly agreed to answer my questions.

Second Life Name? Milo Littlething

Second Life Age? 8 days

Where did you hear about Second Life? (Be as specific as you are able.)

Well I think initially I heard it from my friends in IRC but I didn't try out it yet. Years later I read article about it in newspaper and thought that should give it a try.

Which aspect of orientation do you remember best?
Only thing I remember well are those video tutorials.

What did you like/dislike about about the orientation process?

I didnt like the chat tutorial - it was too confusing and the objects didn't respond well. I liked the videos though. They were cool.

Do you remember anything about camera controls from the orientation process?

No, there were lessons? lol

Is Second Life different to how you expected it to be, in what way is it different?

Yes, business around owning and renting land is much more confusing that I first thought. But good thing is also that I didn't expect that here is so much music. And live performances!

How have articles about Linden Lab and Second Life affected your experiences and participation in Second Life?
Well, all I can say that I started playing because I read local newspaper article but besides that I don't think there has been any effect.

What do you like/dislike about the user interface for Second Life?
A big minus is that its too hard to stop your avatar's animations if it gets looped. Usually I can stop it locally but it keeps going to other players.

I like the easy and clear placement of the core features at the bottom of my screen.

I don't like that there is no "log off" feature that would take you back to character selection/login screen.

Filed under: Newbies, Interviews, Resident Snapshot

This is the 11th in a series of interviews that are being conducted with new residents, in order to gauge the effectiveness of the orientation process, and to gauge disparities between the preconceptions and the realities of Second Life. The questions may be tailored slightly for each interview; responses may be edited for purposes of clarity.

I met up with 1angelcares at JJ's Coffee Bar in Shawangunk, where the fire light set off 1angelcares' skin perfectly. One of her missions in Second Life is to have her avatar look as much like herself as possible so as to increase the feeling of her own personal immersion in the fantasy of Second Life; she took digital photos of herself and did a side-by-side comparison so as to improve verismilitude. She feels that "In SL, looking like a 'real' person is being a rebellious non-conformist," and suggests the tag line, "SL, where the abnormal is normal."

Second Life Name? 1angelcares Writer

Second Life Age? 16 days

Where did you hear about Second Life? (Be as specific as you are able.)
It was a free class offered through my city's continuing education system. I had taken a typography class with that instructor and got on his mailing list. When he offered the class, he e-mailed us to let us know about it. That's how I "discovered" SL.

The instructor of my class suggested we create our avatars before our first class meeting, but I didn't stop there and jumped right in a week ahead of time! Despite my being pretty clueless at first, it was easy to teach myself. I also went online and read some articles. I was actually helping other students once class began! (I have "helpful Tourretts" syndrome. I just can't stop myself from helping people!)

[I certainly know what that feels like -- Tat]

Which aspect of orientation do you remember best?
Learning to fly! That's something I couldn't do in other virtual experiences. I thought the "falling and landing on your face" animation was quite hilarious, also.

What did you like/dislike about about the orientation process?
It was pretty well organized, but I never did figure out how to get that third star in the "moving around" section. The completist in me was bothered by that.

One thing I wish I'd known as a newbie was that, once you leave Orientation Island, you can never get back! That confused me for a while, because I kept trying to find it again!

[There is of course Orientation Island Public, but it is a copy of one of the old ones, not the current new kind -- Tat]

Do you remember anything about camera controls from the orientation process?
I didn't find out that clicking "alt" lets you see your avatar from the front. Maybe that's why I never got that third star in Orientation? I learned camera controls by reading about it in an outworld article. Oh, and learned about "alt" showing your av's face from another newbie!

Is Second Life different to how you expected it to be, in what way is it different?
Oh, looking back, I was hopelessly naive not to realize that there would be TONS of sex. A couple of times it's been, like, "Hey, there are a bunch of people over there! Whoops!" *teleporting away quickly* I was so used to the sanitized world of The Sims, I just wasn't expecting SL to be so hypersexualized. No, seriously! You'll just be walking around and, whoops! there it is! But when you are at a tiki bar and there is a pose ball that says "Make love" on the countertop... well, that's SL for ya! I just take it all in. My av's eyes are wide open for a reason!

[Must have been to the Maldives Islands sim. It's PG, but I remember tiki bars and lots of public sex-balls --Tat]

It was also pretty hilarious when I realized "camping" didn't mean putting up tents and making s'mores.

How have articles about Linden Lab and Second Life affected your experiences and participation in Second Life?
I didn't read [any negative articles] until after I had already made the jump inworld, but now that I've read them, I find myself more leery of spending any real money here. Like buying property or investing too much in "virtual" items that may disappear with LL should they go under.

What do you like/dislike about the user interface for Second Life?
I like it. It's pretty intuitive. I read about how to bring up the Client menu and that made it even better.

Filed under: Newbies, Interviews, Resident Snapshot

This is the tenth in a series of interviews that are being conducted with new residents, in order to gauge the effectiveness of the orientation process, and to gauge disparities between the preconceptions and the realities of Second Life. The questions may be tailored slightly for each interview; responses may be edited for purposes of clarity.

Tirellia Zenkova is a new friend of a friend in Second Life. Despite being so recently arrived in Second Life, Zenkova already feels that she has found a place in Second Life where she is comfortable and is among friends: unlike many people who enter Second Life, she arrived with a purpose in mind - to become a roleplayer in Saijo City. Having a goal in mind, and timely and helpful intervention during her earliest hours, kept Zenkova inworld long enough to start enjoying things.

Second Life Name? Tirellia Zenkova.
Second Life Age? 24 days.

Where did you hear about Second Life?
I think I first saw something in a newspaper article. Might have been The Sunday Times. I have seen mention of it online before but didn't pay much notice. It was the newspaper article that told me a bit more.

What was it about the article that made you decide to try Second Life?
Nothing. I filed the information away for later. It was only when I read about Spin Martin's Saijo City project that I decided to sign up and join Second Life. I suppose the things I'd seen before made it sound like SL was like the Sims games. The article suggested there was more to it, and Saijo made it worth joining.

Which portal did you come through, if you did not come through the standard process? (for example, "The L Word", NBC, Azure Islands, Mainland Brazil, Big Pond, NMC Campus, Anshe Chung Dreamlands (chinese), Second House of Sweden, etc)
The standard process. I didn't know there was another way.

Which aspect of orientation do you remember best? What did you like/dislike about about the orientation process?
Hah. Well, the thing is, I don't remember anything about it. I hadn't a clue what I was doing and ended up on one of the Help Islands almost immediately. So I missed all the basic things which might have been helpful. [On Help Island], I wandered round aimlessly and it was very frustrating but then someone just appeared in front of me and started to explain how I could do things, showered me with free gifts and gave me some Landmarks. Without her I'd probably have given up.

If Second Life different to how you expected it to be, in what way is it different?
Two things. The level of creativity here exceeds what I was expecting. Everything from chairs to plants and spaceships and hair and clothes, all designed by the residents of SL. I had no idea. And secondly I have been lucky to meet a good number of very nice people. I was expecting more rudeness from what little I'd read.

What do you like/dislike about the user interface for Second Life?
I find things like the camera controls hard to use but they are very flexible. I find the Inventory hugely frustrating, but generally I suppose it is pretty good. I suppose the biggest annoyance is having it all crammed into the same window. It's not like MS Office or web browsing with tabs. Everything is in the same window and that gets a bit cramped.

Filed under: Newbies, Interviews, Resident Snapshot

This is the ninth in a series of interviews that are being conducted with new residents, in order to gauge the effectiveness of the orientation process, and to gauge disparities between the preconceptions and the realities of Second Life. The questions may be tailored slightly for each interview; responses may be edited for purposes of clarity.

I caught up with Balut while I was down at the docks doing favors for sailors down at NCI Beach trawling for new folk to interview. Balut is primarily a designer/builder in Second Life, having come to Second Life with a background in animation and modelling. His pet peeve about building in Second Life is size limits for prims - not that he doesn't understand the necessity for it, but he would like to see the process streamlined somewhat. That said, he's pretty keen on sculpties. He would also like to see better building tools introduced - grid markings and alignment tools.

Second Life Name: Mushroom Balut
Second Life Age: 67 days.

Where did you hear about Second Life?

I think I first remember hearing about SL around 2 years ago, but I didn't think anything of it then. But I remember reading about it again this past spring, and I'm pretty sure I read the article online; I wish I could remember the source.

Why did you decide to try Second Life?

Well, I was surprised by how large it was getting. And some of the other MMO style games didn't really interest me. The article painted SL for what it really seems to be, wide open.

Which portal did you come through, if you did not come through the standard process? (for example, "The L Word", NBC, Azure Islands, Mainland Brazil, Big Pond, NMC Campus, Anshe Chung Dreamlands (chinese), Second House of Sweden, etc)

Standard, missionary-style portal.

What did you like/dislike about about the orientation process?

I sort-of liked the freedom you had, to be able to fly around and explore a little bit, and to follow the process at your own pace.

Do you remember anything about camera controls from the orientation process?

Yeah. Anything to do with the interface, navigation or movement wasn't a problem for me. In that department, I thought they covered the bases pretty well. I'm a bit biased, having come from a CG background. Camera manipulation in a 3d environment isn't a big deal for me.

You had at least one of your expectations about Second Life confirmed; was it at all different to how you expected?

Well, this might seem like a weird analogy, but it was like entering high school for the first time, all over again. Meeting new friends, finding things to do, finding your place, forging your identity ...

What do you like/dislike about the user interface for Second Life?

I wouldn't mind seeing more hotkeys, and maybe some options for either moving menus around, or docking them to other parts of the screen, like the sides or the top. Also, i wouldn't mind if they made the pie menu more robust; why not put all of your options in the pie menu, and free-up some 'screen estate'?

(The boombox you see in the image above is Balut's own work. It is a work in progress)