Propaganda in Second Life

Music is one thing but when a sim plays right-wing talk radio from conspiracy nut Alex Jones, it's another thing entirely. Using Second Life to promote political causes is something that I've always been against mostly since it's a fantasy world and sims should be apolitical and for everyone. At least that's my opinion.

Now it's fine to express an opinion in an IM but using your music settings to broadcast you personal politics crosses a serious line for me. Truth be told, I'd rather that sims not have an agenda since that makes people who disagree feel persecuted and like they don't belong and it's even worse for people outside of the country.

VWPBE

I attended the conference on prejudice in virtual worlds and it was really just a quick presentation on creating a sexist sim that openly discriminates against women called Maletopia. I was hoping for a bigger discussion on why there were so few black avatars in SL but sadly things didn't really deviate from the script or scratch below the surface. This isn't counting how both presenters were late to arrive and how they didn't give me a landmark until a day later. I didn't really learn much aside from what somebody else's sim was. So I wasn't all that impressed and ultimately left feeling like I just wasted enough of my time that I didn't bother with any of the other presenters.

Maletopia is still under construction and not available to the public without an LM. I'll still give one to anyone who asks but it didn't really get it's point across as well as it could and just felt like Gor-lite instead of a real commentary on sexism online. There needs to be more discussion of the issues rather than just a satirical sim. It's one thing to point out a problem but it's a weak argument without any solutions presented.

Navigation Benchmark

First I headed to see a DJ playing at Deranged. I only stayed for a few minutes since the DJ wasn't playing much of what I'd call “real” metal. The club is usually cool and the crowd is sometimes okay but oftentimes, the people there are obnoxious and the music sucks. They’re just spinning often so I show up since I'll at least find a live DJ.

I left shortly after once they started playing post-grunge in a metal club. That to me crossed a serious moral boundary.

I then headed to a small art gallery in a log cabin. I only really went there for this class so I just took a snapshot and then left.

I then headed to a weapons shop since it's the only store who's name I could remember at the time. I didn't buy anything since I was flat broke in RL so I just took another snapshot.

Prim Limits

Renting land in Second Life is great. It also has limitations since too many objects will clutter up any space and make the lag unbearable, especially since so many people think that adding in objects with textures at 2560X1600 isn't going to adversely affect performance. That's why lots have prim limits, meaning that once you own a home, you can't junk it up with your collection of anything and everything since you'll just make the sim crash.

When you have a lot, it's your choice between whether you want to have a house with less privacy but more space or a skybox with less space but nobody will bother you. To be fair, people will sometimes try to be voyeurs if they hear music playing on an empty lot and will fly up to see your skybox. That's why tinted windows and the ability to contact your landlord happen to be important.

Regardless, there are ways to save on prims. For one thing, always check to lower the complexity of your prims and meshes. Lower prim counts and less complex meshes will always be a good idea even if it means less detail. This is especially important if physics are added and doubly so if they're clothing items or attachments that use avatar physics.

Also keep in mind that lots are often small and less is sometimes more, particularly if you're trying to invite multiple people over. Furnish your home with only a small handful of objects. While I'm sadly a sucker for bars, stick to the basics and only put in one or two luxury items. Also, don’t be afraid to swap things out. If you want to rearrange things, feel free to do so.

Even if you can pay more money to overload your lot with prims, it's not a good idea since it's not only expensive, but you're paying to cause lag. Especially if you're using large textures, cramped spaces with prims and textures everywhere is both a system hog and really works to ruin your bandwidth. When searching on the marketplace, look at an object's prim count and then compare it to your land's limit. That really expensive $10,000 Linden bed might sound great but it you have to lose most of your posters, it'll just give your home that much less character.

Now when building your own furniture and meshes, keep them as low poly objects with simple textures. Not everything needs to look like something out of Crysis. Usually if people can tell what something is, they'll use it.

Now when it comes to land that has a very high prim limit because the builders had this great vision for how their sim could turn out, they more often than not find that people with weaker computers can't use their sim without crashing. Even now with an Intel Core i7 and an NVIDIA GTX 560 ti, I still have trouble maintaining a good frame rate when maxing out the added effects on third party viewers. User created content is great, just be sure that others are able to use what you make if you choose to sell objects.

My costume

If it weren't for the jacket, you'd be able to see my shirt image.

My stuff

The final object is called a Rant In A Box. When clicked, it says angry Mel Gibson quotes.

The Joys of the Search Button

I strongly, strongly approve of people using the magnifying glass on the left side of the screen since let’s face it, Columbia Island sucks compared to everything that you can find in SL. Anything that you want to find, and I mean anything, is available to you. Whether it’s people, places or events, if it exists, there is usually a place for it.

Classifieds is reserved for advertisements. Unless you own a sim or a shop, you won't be listed on there but a number of good sales can be found. Keep an eye out for interesting sims and shops that might pique your interest.

Events details upcoming shows, parties, RP events and other notable things happening in the near future. If there’s something notable going on, it'll be listed. Keep checking it since there will always be something to do.

The Destination Guide only shows off the best, most professional sims in SL. There are categories detailing everything from religion (including education about often misunderstood religions like Mormonism, Wicca and Islam) to virtual art galleries to zombie hunting sims. While there are way more than just these categories, the sims selected will always have a professional quality to them.

Land Rentals shows sims and lots for rent so you can build outside the Columbia sim. Get people to visit what you make. Want to create a new game in Second Life? Maybe build a home or better yet, an apartment building. The choice is up to you with what you do on your land. Keep in mind that land is incredibly expensive and generally not worth purchasing until enough places have been explored and friends made. Plus, the Columbia College Sandbox is still available as long as you’re a student.

People is kind of a useless tab since it's way better to meet people on your own but if you want to check to see if there’s anyone with a certain name, feel free to look around. Just keep in mind that random IMs from across the grid to people you've never met is incredibly intrusive and not something that I personally would do. It's best use if if somebody mentions that they have an alt.

Groups allows you to join a group to display your inters to the world. Are you a gamer? Are you interested in jazz music? Are you a dog owner in RL? Join up with like-minded people for group chat while displaying your interests to everyone you meet.

Places is a more in depth version of the Destination Guide. Every sim on the grid is displayed but there's also a lot of unfinished crap out there and seeing something with an great description and then looking at it and seeing how it's unfinished and nobody's there is always a bummer. Then again, some of the best sims in SL aren't listed on the DG so feel free to search here.

Support is for when you're stuck and you need answers. You'll find questions that have already been answered on the forums so if you don't know how to do something, ask your question here and hopefully you'll find an answer.

Noname Donthaveone

There's FUN to be Had...

As somebody who's been a resident since 2009, I feel that I know my way around Second Life and which places are worth seeing. Or more importantly, how many different types of places there are in SL. In Second Life, you can be anything from a zombie hunter to a DJ.



First things first, Second Life is one of the best sources, if not the best for internet radio, catering to all genres of music so that your personal tastes aren't abandoned.

Deranged is a metal club with a biker bar theme. Now celebrating its four year anniversary and catering to both the mainstream and the extreme, Deranged is the premiere metal venue in Second Life. Most importantly, Deranged is highly organized. There always hosts, contests, events, etc going on each and every day that keep the club vibrant and alive.

Hardbeatz Island is Second Life's Source for hardcore techno. For those into the harsher side of electronic music look no further. The best part of the island is that there are multiple venues for multiple DJs to play music at once so if the current set isn't to your taste, all you have to do is move a few steps in another direction to find something you like.

For all who are currently buying into the dubstep craze, check out Mostly Harmless. Not only does it focus on the cutting edge of music, but it's in a spaceship. That makes it a mega win.


If you're more interested in combat, there are both PvP and PvE environments to explore. The most popular of which are sims in which players fight zombies.

One of the best, or at least one that has less laggy zombies and a decent HUD is Bloodbath and Beyond. Imagine you and a group of friends having to fight your way through a post-apocalyptic city infested with endless waves of zombies. Grab your weapon, whether it be a sword or a gun and kick some undead ass.

Or if you'd rather take on your friends, try New Jessie. It's an open free for all deathmatch sim that relies upon players shooting each other or doing acrobatic maneuvers to bludgeon each other to death. Just remember to keep score amongst those you're playing with.



Finally, there's RP. You get to play as a character of your choice and tell a story through that character. If there's a genre, you can be part of it. Western, sci-fi, etc. There are certain rules to role playing that need to be followed which are too long to discuss here.

Insilico is a science fiction sim with mild combat elements set in a dystopian cyberpunk world. Different factions war against each other for control over trade within the walls of Insilico City. Terrorist, cop, mercenary, vigilante or crime lord? It's your choice. The sim is rated adult for some risque items sold in the mall as well as the presence of a stripper pole in a club but actual sexual content is rare to find within the sim itself and certainly not the point of it.

Tombstone is a sim based on the late 1800s and set within the old west. Outlaws fight against lawmen while most of the population is content to be simple townfolk tending bars or running the local shops. Feel free to play it however you want.

Combat Samurai Island is for those looking for a more intense and battle-focused role-playing experience than Insilico and Tombstone. For those looking to have awesome ninja swordfights, large-scale battles and a strong historical setting, look no further.