…So are We Living in “First Life”?

Second Life is probably one of the most puzzling computer programs I have ever used. Not puzzling in the sense that i don’t know what to do in the program, rather Puzzling, meaning; What the hell is the point of this program??

It seems like it is a online RPG for sophisticated adults/young adults. Visually, this game/program looks like the Sims, and after wandering through the 2nd universe i have still little to no understanding of the programs point.

I created my character, Boaggrius Boksernbaum. (Boaggrius is the name of the giant that Achilles slays in the beginning of the movie, Troy)

When you sar SecondLife, it places you on orientation island,  place where you feel out all the concepts of secondlife. I was so lost, the tutorials probably took me a hour before i was free to roam the Second Life.

Just trying to change my characters outfit was daunting. The program ran extremely slow, and doesn’t give very many different clothing options, even though i saw other characters wearing ridiculous items. However, as I continued, i realized thtin Second Life, just like in real life, you need money to do anything fun. However, how do you make money in Second Life?

I felt like alot of interaction between my character and the surroundings is extremely difficult. Not every item in Second Life is tangible, what can i pick up, and what cant I?

The biggest problems I found in second life is the usability of the program, movement is shaky, graphics are poor, it was difficult to control my characters movement. In real life people know how to do things based on situations they have encountered or things they watched on TV and so forth. But in Second life, I have no idea how do do anything other that walk, fly, and teleport to other areas. I feel like  second life’ platform is way to large to have any sort of uniformity and continuity.

It is a fun program to mess around with, but i see no real productive reason for its existence.