Finally Fun In Second Life?

Up until now Second Life has been quite boring for me. I could never find people, I was shy when I found people, and no one talked to me. However, after doing the gender switch project I came to actually find myself laughing at things and talking to everyone. I realized I have nothing to be afraid of and that I had no reason to be shy. I found fun places, and now I even go with my classmates to places and we joke around.

I just went to the Junkyard Blues Club with Meghan and Caroline and we had so much fun. All three of us were in the library laughing each others avatars. I told Caroline she had a cheap ass weave and we just kept poking fun at each other.

After, when me and Meghan signed off I went to ask her a question and by accident I called her Jordin, her avatars name. It made me realize that I was so into Second Life at that time.

House of Usher

If I were able to alter something in Poe's story I would either go for a more gruesome ending rather then a nice ending where the doctor is called to help. Since the house is mysterious, and feels evil I would make sure to pack a gun for my visit. This is for safety reasons and later on would be used to kill Madeline when she is at the door. Or I might have just shot her while she was in the tomb with her rosy cheeks. Since I already read the story I know that she is buried alive, so i would just be making sure that she is dead. I would be saving her since back then everyone was afraid of being buried alive, I would make sure she was dead. I'm aware that this ending isn't normal, but then again neither is Poe's writing.

However, I may have entered the house but not stayed as long as the narrator stayed. I would have brought both Roderick and Madeline to a doctor. Since the narrator did not know Roderick very well (he did not even know Roderick and Madeline were twins until later) then he should have left once he got a bad feeling around the house and Roderick started hearing things.

Got Problems?

I have a problem and it's that I can never find a group of people in Second Life. I can transport to over 10 places and never find an avatar. Why is this still happening to me? My avatar does not have swine so I'm not sure why I can't find anyone. Anyway, I had this great idea to transport to orientation island. It proved to be the best idea I've had since I found loads of avatars! I was so happy that my plan had worked out.

Just then, another problem occurred right when things were going well. I tried to fly over a step then all a sudden my avatar won't land and she keeps flying upwards as if God has some sort of gravitational pull on her. I flew up, up, and away until at one point i was so far in the sky and never coming down that I got frustrated and logged out of Second Life.

This isn't the first time that my avatar has done things when I'm not even commanding her to do so. For example, there will be times when I'm just walking straight and she walks then walks backward to where I started. Or she will just keep walking straight right through the buildings and not stop. It's possibly the most frustrating thing in Second Life besides not find any other avatars.

The Forgotten Blog Post

This September post was supposed to be on a question that I had about Second Life. Even though I am doing it months later, I still have the same question, which is how do people get addicted to Second Life? And what makes Second Life better then the other virtual worlds out there such as World of Warcraft, etc (Why do people play Second Life as opposed to other worlds) ?

Second Life reminds me of the Sims, however, I find the Sims to be more addicting. I haven't been able to use Second Life for a prolong period of time because I feel as if I have nothing to do. However, I do see how some people may play it since the world looks real and you can interact with people.

This leads me to a conclusion that people play Second Life to interact with others. I'm on the fence of what I concluded since now people are able to use facebook, twitter,myspace to connect with people. Therefore, maybe people are really enjoy meeting new people when they aren't themselves and also maybe they enjoy doing things they aren't able to do in real life.

I remember during the summer when my oldest brother and his fiance would play World of Warcraft. I had no concept of the game, nor did I care since I called them losers. Anyway, if I were to tell them about Second Life they would blow the idea away. To them, the idea of Second Life would most likely be ridiculous. But they are playing in a virtual world already so what's the difference? I realized they were playing World Of Warcraft for the fighting aspect. They weren't into the exploring and adventure that Second Life had to offer. From what I have experienced, Second Life does not have this gruesome fighting, which is not what I'm looking for. I would have played Second Life if my friends were on it and people more my age. However, if I was in an older age group I would use it to make connections and try new things.

Houston We've Got a Problem

The biggest problem Second Life faces as a communication technology is it's not as known as facebook, myspace, or twitter therefore it doesn't have as many users. Besides myspace, facebook and twitter are two new communication technologies that have become part of everyday use. Both are used by celebrities, connect people to friends and family, and even help for meeting new people. In Second Life, you are able to connect with people, however, from my experience it is difficult and seems impossible. Second Life seems to not have many users, therefore to me it kind of makes it boring since all you do is explore and take pictures.

Hopefully, in the near future it will become more popular. I cannot see it becoming as popular as facebook or twitter since those are easier to keep in touch with and meet people with.