Stuff to Do in Second Life
Second Life is mysterious, not boring.
I felt like I should do something positive after the last two snarky posts, so here we go. Second Life is weird in that all of the fun stuff is user-created but not easy to find. There is no big directory— Search doesn’t show anything other than weird sex clubs with AFK bots— and the Welcome Hubs range from sterile starter places to troll-infested spam dumps (I love you, Boardroom Infohub). Here are some actually fun things you can do in SL.
Exploring
Second Life is huge. It was about 1019 miles of land in 2015, according to an old estimate. You can find all kinds of things, particularly on Mainland, which is a huge trashdump of resident-owned content. Most of this stuff isn’t logged at all. I have found crazy castles, shrines to Prince and Michael Jackson, and all kinds of insane things. Fortunately, the Lindens are very good about keeping roads open so you can drive all the way or even take the Second Life Railroad across the continents. There’s also Blake Sea and a variety of waterways over which you can go sailing or flying, should you prefer water. I often do this with new players to show them the scale of the grid.
Combat
SL should be awful for combat, due to weird user specs, poorly optimized content, etc, but I personally find it riveting. You can literally use any weapon or any avatar you want, from German to space marine to future commie space hobo, and weapons range from swords to autonomous bot nets that murder everything in sight. If you want it, build it or buy it from someone who can build it. I belong to a combat group, [The Guild of Limitless Crime], which allows you to buy weapons through Crimebucks that you earn for raids and kills. I also started my personal cat-themed combat group. It’s a great community, if a bit insane. I definitely suggest checking it out, as these groups often want new recruits.
Fashion
Fashion is the driving force of the SL economy. It drove innovations, such as mesh bodies and graphical updates. You can wear anything you want at any time, whether it’s stripper-wear, ballgowns, fantasy glamor, or suits. You can even change on the top of a hat. I personally have several looks, ranging from Victorian to extremely blonde, for fun. The downside is that you have to pay for quality. However, LL recently gave everyone a great new body that replaces the trash starters of the past, so there is no time like the present to try.
Sailing/Flying/Driving
The huge size of SL means that there is a big market for cool vehicles. While there is nothing stopping you from showing up in a spaceship, realistic vehicles are more engaging. There are even cars with fully featured interiors with working buttons, and sailboats with realistic wind modelling. Flight is another story. Basically, any vehicle you can imagine is represented, and they range from X-wings to realistic flight sim-worth aircraft. SL vehicles are not perfect. Occasionally, you will get devoured by a bad border. However, that’s just part of the fun!
Socializing
Second Life is best, like most things, in the small communities. You can set up your own base and just hang out. I personally have a space station with cats and various toys, among other places. It’s probably the best bang for your buck on entertainment if you want to do your own dream house online. There are entire continents of communities of Linden Homes, or you can buy land anywhere, including on beachfronts, and create a mansion, a spaceship, a castle, or whatever you want. SL is unique in that regard. You can even make your own sex dungeon 3000 meters in the sky if you want. I won’t tell anyone. Have fun!