Lou's "How.2" : Welcome Island

Choking On The Red Pill: 
Welcome Island
Written by Lou Daines

"This is your last chance. After this there is no turning back. You take the blue pill: the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill: you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes."

- Morpheus, The Matrix 

So you've created an account, logged onto your email, downloaded the program and you are ready to play. You've typed in your log-in info and password and now you're ready to go... Only problem is... Where the hell are you going?


When first logging into Second Life you will be brought to a welcome area. It's almost like the matrix, except you don't have any cords or wires running out of your head and arms connecting to a computer. A digital projection of yourself is logged into Second Life allowing you to exist in a digital world where real world rules and laws of reality don't apply.

The best advice I can give to you when beginning a life in Second Life is follow the game's tutorial. When I first began this adventure, about 3 years ago, I quickly closed the tutorial window, ignored all the welcome information and braved the new digital world alone. I was so overwhelmed; I lasted 10 minutes. I'm pretty sure it took me another month to muster up the courage to try and figure out the game again.

*Vocabulary you will need to understand before reading any further:
1. Avi: Avatar, digital character, gaming subject; customizable
2. Noob: You! This what a new person or character is referred to. Newbie > Noobie > Noob
3. Sim: A land region in Second Life. There are PG sims, Mature sims, etc...

Slowly but surely I figured out the welcome area. Honestly it's not that complicated; All you have to do is follow the "Black Arrows", read the "Signs", interact with as many "Avi's and Things" as possible and above all: FOLLOW THE TUTORIAL! I was able to figure out the "Search Window" and find a Noob friendly sim (The Shelter) that I felt comfortable enough visiting and asking other visitors SL questions. I started to send out friend requests, gather free objects and clothing, join beginner noob groups and get a feel for the Second Life scene.

All you have to do to get comfortable with SL is be patient and absorb as much information as you can from the tutorials and from other helpful Second Lifers. Try not to give up and get frustrated with yourself and others. Sometimes you will encounter a noob-abuser or a douche-bag that just wants to fook with your emotions and "haze the noobie" but don't let 'em get to you. With a little hard work and some practice, you'll be the d-bag in no time, abusing your very own noobs. Trust me; we all get there :P

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