There is a continuing supply of new free accounts in Second Life each expecting exciting new adventures. Which they will surely get, but how do they emulate the older residents with their cool clothes, beautiful hair, bodies and skins? Of course there are the ubiquitous freebies, hundreds of outlets and thousands of products, so many of them repeated in each yard sale or freebie mall and they soon find that everybody else has got the same hair, skirt or jeans. “You can spot a Newbie a mile off” with the plastic hair and unrealistic face.

Apparently there a three questions that new accounts ask: 1. How do I get money?

2. How do I get a job? 3. Where do I go for sex? There may be others but these are the favourites.

Well it would appear logical that if question 2 were answered, question 1 would be answered and there would be no need for begging. Problem solved! Ah, but how do you get a job? There’s the rub. So, I went looking for jobs.

Well camping seemed to be thought of as a job, so I had a go. There are different levels of activity in camping. Your avatar can do nothing, scrub the floor or clean the windows for, say, L$2 for 50 minutes. One camper I saw had achieved a level of over 1000 minutes. They must have left their computer on continuously for over 17 hours(I wonder how much that cost?). You can work in nightclubs as escorts, dancers or bouncers. These jobs apparently pay quite well. There are higher levels of pay but some I would rather not discuss how they are earned.

So, you can earn money by doing a “proper” job. So why beg, at all? I can only think it’s because it’s the first “real life” thing you learn in Second Life. Even before you register, you’re told about begging. It’s also naughty, therefore fun! Also it’s not REAL work.

But there are enough residents in Second Life who get upset about begging and believe that something ought to be done about it, for it to be taken seriously by “The Authorities”.

“Ban them “, I am told. “Kick them about a bit and THEN ban them” Phew; strong feelings! “How do they know that begging is wrong?” I ask “Common sense”, “It’s obvious”, “Of course, they should know, “everybody knows it’s wrong” come the replies.

There are two sides to this argument, The “Newbies” and their helpers. On the one side and those of us who are settled in and living and working in a real world, on the other. So, what can be done about it? I asked some residents... Without exception, they were strongly opposed to it and suggested strong action against it, from the residents and from Linden Lab, themselves. It is believed that beggars will go to dozens of groups with the same message and some residents respond by paying the L$1 required. Apparently this can mount up to enough money to buy a shape or a skin. A big prize; indeed.

There does seem to be a problem, but it is on one side, apparently. There is a great divide between “Newbies” and long-term settled residents, with homes and work or jobs and a history in Second Life. So where does the solution come from?

People will soon learn the etiquette of Second life and find work or dip into their RL pockets to fund their lives here, or leave. Very many have done that. There are job agencies in SL, there are valuable skills to be learned which will earn a good income, once mastered. For the individual who started off begging, then learned trade or started a business, found his or her funding, the problem is over. But a new wave join up and it starts all over again.

So, it is an SL-wide problem and will never go away unless tackled on that scale. Banning it, punishing the perpetrators as criminals, as some have suggested, is too totalitarian and leaving it to the offended resident to complain and ban or mute the offending party is too lax. Perhaps more emphasis should be put on teaching Second Life etiquette on the Help Island, making sure that the newcomers REALLY know not to beg and what to do so that they don’t need to beg. Also a more concerted effort in creating and finding jobs and opportunities for new residents and bringing it to their attention.

There ARE agencies out there but they are competing with each other and most offer very little. Several I have seen have huge walls covered with empty posters with a scattered few announcing camping or FREE MONEY. It is hardly enough to meet the reportedly huge demand from the daily influx of “Newbies”.

Perhaps there should be a Grid-wide network of Job Centres, financed and monitored by Linden Lab, sharing work and training information, to ensure that everyone, wherever they arrive or live in Second life has access to them. Or is that too much like Big Brother, too much like Real Life? Maybe begging is just something we can decide to accept or do something about, on an individual basis Second life is like that, isn’t ?

Kim Trefusis

Newbie in Second Life

Let’s be honest here, all of us have been through the “Newbie” stage in Second Life. It’s a stage full of mixed emotions. You feel happy for being part of a new evolution in the game world. You feel confused because you have no idea what to do in the game. But, mainly, you feel excited as you learn to play and learn the tricks to survive in such a strange world.
Survival! Yes, I never thought that would play such a great role in a game!

A few months ago, I was persuaded to join Second Life by some friends. It was not long after when I decided to try it out. My first day was a pretty normal, nice people were talking to me, others simply ignored me, and one girl Vikky Palianta, was very kind to take me to a freebie store so that I could get new clothes. The next day I logged in and was very lost, I had no idea where to go, what to do and what to expect, that’s when I met Dalton Lytton, who is now my friend and somewhat of a mentor; he helps me out every time I need a new Second Life Lesson.

I thought SL, as it’s called by all the residents, would be fun and interactive, but I soon learned that many of the residents had other intentions. I thought I could trust everyone in SL, but many residents have been disrespectful, mean and have taken advantage of the “Newbie” situation. I will not generalize; there have also been very nice people that have helped me out many times, like Vikky and Dalton. I have run into griefers, spammers and many other people that just look to harm others and their properties. I never thought Second Life could be such a dangerous place if you are weak and an easy catch to these types of people. It is truly a resemblance of Real Life.

Second Life is full of surprises, no one can know what to expect in every sim. You can find a sim where you can enjoy a pleasant time, meet new people and experience what SL should really be about. Other times you will find sims that are full of “pervs” that only want to harass you. I had that experience my very first week. I was exploring SL, when I got a TP from a person I had met, so I took it. I ended up at a sex island sim and that person just left me there when I said I did not want to have “sex” with him. I walked all around asking people how I could get out, but no one helped me. There was one man that treated me nicely and told me to have a sit with him and I did. After a few exchanged words, he began asking me if he could touch me in a sexual way, I got mad and left. He kept sending me IM’s telling me how sexy I was and what he could do to me in Real Life; I got so scared that I even thought about closing my SL account.

After talking to my friend Dalton, I learned that I could report a person, but I had forgotten his name. Now, things have been much easier for me. I have learned to “put my guard up” and not let anyone take advantage of me for being a “Newbie”. I can now say that with a very tough lesson learned I can enjoy Second Life as it should be enjoyed. “Newbies” don’t get fooled by nice faces or people treating you nice, you can never know their true intentions.

Lizzy Arriaga

Well its news to me! - Once bitten twice shy?

A good place to learn stuff while on SL is a place called Help Island. I was there and had a bad experience because I didn't ask questions, I hope by telling you about it you can learn from my mistakes:
I was at Help Island walking around and learning and exploring, when a girl walked up me and asked if she could bite me and that she needed to bite 25 people before she could get a badge.
I asked her if anything would happen to my avatar and she said no, nothing at all, so I let her bite me.
It appeared that nothing was wrong.
Then I talked to someone, who I knew, who happened to be a healer. She healed me and it took about 15 minutes. So my health was lowered by letting her bite me? I was told I would vanish had I not been healed.
Not good:(
When going to help island and if you have questions always ask someone who is a mentor, or ask questions from someone you might know in SL who has been here awhile, and if you're uncertain about anything then use your good judgement and don't let them do something to you.
Some people just might tell you something that isn't quite true, like your avatar being hurt.
Your avatar can never be hurt.
There is no health or death to an avatar unless you're in a role playing battle sim and even then as soon as you go to a different sim the health is reset.
I'm still a newbie myself and learning, I hope I can help you to avoid some of the common pitfalls and decoys in SL for us newbies.
Remember to always have fun here on SL
Glitter Xeltentat

Well its news to me:

I came Across this and although there is some strong language it is just absolutely brilliant, both informative and amusing for all not just the newbies its aimed at. Please go ahead and click PLAY and see if this looks familiar to anyone :)

Have fun!

Second Life... A peaceful society ?

Being a first time Second Life user, the first couple of days inside where great... Maybe even beyond great ! But as with all social interaction(which is going around a lot in SL ;-), I was bound to learn fast.
Sitting in the train (in RL that is), I was going over the ways I would like to set up things in SL. Going to a pub once in a while, have a drink and chat and start building my own club, invite other avatars. Set up a streaming server... and me and the guys would going to perform live music here. (We still going to... I or we won't be chased away that easily... hehehe). But as I was saying...
I was going to learn fast !
In Second Life avatars must feel a little bit too invincible. Avatars believe they can't be hurt and believing that, they go around hurting others. Especially the other avatars feelings... And so it goes... I was harassed. Me!
Responding in a funny mood that I was in, as stated previously... for SL brings this mindset. I just feel free around here and don't feel acting upon anybody else's feel of freedom in any way. 'Don't be a funny guy... or you'll be next buddy !'
What was that? What was I hearing there... I felt like I was in a pub alright... but then full of drunk people with a hostile feel against me.
That was not why I came to SL. I came here to enjoy myself and have some 'nice' social interaction, and investigate social behavior in SL, hoping to find it less hostile than in RL...
So, 'they' gave me some social interaction alright, but just the kind I was not hoping to find.
Well, maybe I'm being a wimp and just got to get used to this. Or maybe, I don't !
There seems to be a lot of (maybe being just funny) aggressiveness going round... even it's only verbal... it's still aggressive.
I would like to option for an SL vote... not for who is to be the president or something, but one that questions whether avatars would like to see their world evolve into a peaceful society or a hostile one ?!
I'd be very curious as to the outcome.