The following pages comprise an introduction to using Second Life. They are not comprehensive but provide the basics for feeling at home in the virtual world.
Every Resident of Second Life can get money in one of several ways.
1) A weekly stipend. Basic accounts (created before 05-29-06) get L$50 if they logged in at least once during the week, and Premium accounts get several hundred Lindens per week - how much depends on when the account was created..
2) Buying Linden Dollars. Linden Dollars can be anonymously traded with other residents for currency. You can click on your account balance (in the top right corner) to be buy directly from the LindEX currency exchange on the second-life website or surf there directly using your internet browser. Linden Dollars can be converted to or from US-Dollars. Market forces set the exchange rate.
3) Provide a product or service that other Residents are willing to pay for. People often advertise for event hosts, dancers or other jobs. You could also look at the Employment Ops forum at forums.secondlife.com
To be able to unpack objects from a box you have bought or been given you first need to be in a location that will allow you to 'rez' the box. You can tell if this is the case by looking at the menu bar of the Second Life viewer. Just before your location information check to see that there is NO
box inside a red circle. If there is not then you can Build or rez objects there. Many shops will allow you to rez items you have bought or will have an area set aside to do so.
Next, find the item you wish to unpack in your inventory. Often the object will be found in your Objects folder inside Inventory folder.
1) Drag it from the inventory onto the ground near your avatar using the left mouse button,
2) Right click on the object and choose Open from the pie menu,
3 ) Check what is in the box and then choose Copy to Inventory or Copy and Wear at the bottom of the window. In both cases the items insode will be moved into your Inventory
4) Check in your Inventory that the items are where you would like them to be,
5) Tidy up after yourself, using right click and on the pie menu "Take" or "More>Delete"!
NOTE: If you only bought part of an outfit DO NOT choose Copy and Wear - you will end up wearing only that item!!
Sitting is not too complex but is used for many things in Second Life. Quite apart from simply sitting on the ground, a prim or in a chair, this is how you will use a vehicle, any pose ball such as a dance or to board a vehicle and even for some short range teleport objects.
To sit on something, simply right click on it and on the pie menu select the Sit Here menu item. To stand up, click the Stand Up button near the bottom of your screen. Sometimes the "Sit Here" text will have been replaced with something else, like "Dance", "Ride" or "Teleport".
What happens when you sit depends on the kind of thing you clicked on:
1) If it has been scripted, it will sit you in a specific place, with a specific pose,
2) If it has no script, you will sit where you clicked, facing in the opposite direction to the direction you were facing when you clicked
3) If you clicked on the ground, you will sit on the ground, facing the same direction you were facing when you clicked
Often you will see a pose ball on a scripted piece of furniture. In this case use this as the target for your first right click and it will automatically put you in the right position when you sit.
Gestures are various animations, poses, sounds, text and facial animations. Unlike other animations gestures are different in that they can be triggered as follows:
1) Selecting the gesture from the "Gesture" menu, which is on the bottom right of the Second Life viewer.
2) Type in the name of the gesture, as it appears in the inventory, into the chat bar. Type the characters within the quotes. For example, type "afk" to trigger the pose assumed when you are away from your keyboard. Type "/yes" to trigger an animation that nods your head. You can see the Chat shortcuts in the Gesture menu.
CONTROL-G toggles your master gestures panel, which shows you all your currently active gestures, allows you to modify existing gestures, create new ones from the sounds and animations in your inventory, and also to see and modify the shortcuts and chat-triggers for a gesture. Default gestures are found in "Library -> Gestures" and in "My Inventory -> Gestures" folders in your inventory.
In order to use your gestures, you will need to activate them. Open the folder containing the gesture, right click on the gesture, and from the pop up menu select "Activate". You can now use your gestures as described above. When you first arrive you have a set of default gestures provided to everyone in Second Life. If at any time your active gestures may deactivated just follow the process above to reactivate them.
Everything in Second Life is made by someone. Clothes, Jewellery, hats and accessories, shoes, buildings, furniture. It's all made by someone like you and me. Some things you can get for free but most need to be bought either in a shop or via one of the marketplace websites like www.slexchange.com or www.onrez.com.
All the objects around you in Second Life are made out of 'prims'. Simple 3d solids that can be stretched, cut and twisted, hollowed and textured, then linked together into groups to form a single larger object. Whether it's a tree, a car, a chair or the building you are standing in, it is all made by the same process. Some prims have a script added - a little bit of programming to make it do cool stuff like spin or bling all the way up to vehicles and anything anyone can imagine!
Many groups offer building courses which teach you all the basics of building to get you started. It is not hard to learn, but it does require time and persistence to master. Try looking in the Events listing of Search to find a class at a time that suits you.
Scripts in Second Life can be attached to any object in the world, or any object worn by an avatar, but not to an avatar itself.
Scripts can make an object move, listen, talk, operate as a vehicle or weapon, change colour, size or shape. Many of the objects you see around you have scripts attached to them to allow them to do something, or to allow you to interact with them. They allow simple prims to become chairs, or hot air balloons or vendors or any of the interactive elements you see around you in Second Life.
Scripting is harder to learn than basic object manipulation, but like any skill if you invest some time and effort you will soon be on the road to creating your own scripts.
Many groups offer scripting courses which teach you all the basics to get you started. It is not hard to learn, but it does require time and persistence to master. Try looking in the Events listing of Search to find a class at a time that suits you. A good resource for scripting is the official LSL wiki:
Just like in any community there are things that you ought not to do to avoid annoying your fellow Residents. While the exact social standards vary from community to community within Second Life there are a few basics that are worth observing.
1) Don't shout in text: capital letters for Chat are perceived as shouting and can annoy readers,
2) Don't enter a private house uninvited. Just because you can get into everywhere does not mean it is polite to do so!
3) Don't prim litter. When you are done with objects it's a good idea to clean up. Either, right click on the object and select "Take" from the menu, to move it to your inventory, or right click and select "More>Delete",
4) Observe the PG and Mature rating of the sim you are in, it can be seen next to your location on the top menu bar. Just because a sim is rated mature doesn't mean anything goes though and is not an invitation to say or do absolutely anything you want.
5) Second Life is all about community and just saying hi to people is highly encouraged.Keep in mind that they might be shopping, building or just passing through and can’t talk at the moment. If they don’t say hi back then don’t pester them or get annoyed, but also don’t get scared off from saying hello to the next person,
6) Some sims are Roleplay Sims and they follow strict rules. They will often give you something to wear when you arrive to show you are not involved in the game and with their own rules,
7) Not everyone is happy to answer questions about Real Life. Do not be offended if someone chooses not to reply to one,
8) Although there are weapon systems available these are really intended for specific war game sims or for defence from griefers. It is a violation of the Terms of Service to use them on just anyone and could lead to punishment for griefing,
This is by no means a comprehensive list! Just some basic pointers. Generally behave as you would in life and you will not go far wrong.