Before playing Secondlife i played Sims 2 but i wanted a game that was like that but with complete freedom, no goals, or quests, or tasks you had to complete in order to do things. it wasn’t until 2007 that i stumbled upon Secondlife. It was my first semester of college and i was home sick from classes and i happened to be watching MSNBC and a clip about second life’s economy came on. I was amazed that a game would have its own economy so i decided to go Google search it. When i got to the second life website i was amazed! it was exactly the game i had searched for for years. I knew right then that i had found something that would change my life. I created my first avatar Rebecca Caudron. I named her after my real life name so i wouldn’t get confused (I would later regret this so very much). I was in, i remember being on help island trying to figure out what to do. since i didn’t really find anything because i didn’t really know how to find anything. I signed off. I didnt logg back in for days, finally i decided to try again. i remember i tried to find a house so i could have a place in this strange place to call my own. I had found it a nice green area with grass that has a for sale sign on it. I look up and see a money sign on my dashboard, oh that must be to give me money. I saw a screen to enter my credit card number. So i click the little x on the window and just start building anyway. I had rezzed a wonderful little shack and placed my cot down when the sim owner came and told me that i could be there. I was so ashamed i felt like i had finally gotten a piece for myself of this vast gorgeous world. Now when i hear my SL sim owner friends bad mouth newbs who land on theirs i just think of my first days. I think we all are new, probably that newb they are talking about might just one day be one of the top designers in SL, you don’t know. That is why i love SL, you have to get through that first hard time to get to the true wonders of Second life.
As i got more aware of my Second life surroundings, I began trying to find work and friends. Being in SL alone wasn’t much fun for me. After a few meaningless jobs spamming people (which at that time i didn’t know that was bad), then i found the club scene, and where i found my SL brother, bluerose. I remember walking into bluerose’s club and asking for an application. I still remember the design of the first club. I remember the DJ’s i remember the dancer’s. I learned the in’s and out’s of clubs. I learned what roles every person played in making an event successful. I Learned as much as i could. Eventually i got to host position, and then DJ. I could run events by myself, i could do it all. That is also where i met my sl brother. Bluerose is one of the closest friends i have. He is now part of my real life. He is one of the driving forces in why my Second life experience has been so good. He has been there for me for everything, SL weddings, SL babies, break ups and make ups. Everytime i showed up with freaky cloths on, or purple hair he was there to lend a hand or guide me in some way. Then my real life took a turn for the worst and SL morphed its role in my life, and became more like a crutch for me. I had problems going into public in real life, but in second life all my troubles were gone, i could be as skinny or pretty as i wanted to be in SL. So, i would spend all day building and hanging out with my friends, i even spent some time in a SL rock band. I tried and did anything and everything i could. One day while i was at a club where one of my friends Djed, i met a guy ( i forget what his name is now) i started to hang out with him. And through him i met my SL sister bloodhex. We just clicked right away. she was like my best friend from them on. I dont know how i could survive without talking to her at least once in awhile, making sure everything’s ok with our lives, getting updates and such. Even though we have moved from avie to avie or sim to sim we will always be sisters. After 2 years in SL i didn’t play as much. MY real life started to become better and i was finally able to let go of Second life being my crutch in life. Now, i use it for fun and art. I was a RL painter but now i only edit SL photos and do photo shoots. SL has been soo many different wonderful and monumental things in my life. So, i ask you what has SL done for you? Has it given you a creative outlet? Friendships that effect your real life also? Changed your life for the better? In the end, it is definitively NOT just a game.
“Thank you second life, for being my medium, my crutch, and exactly what i need you to be when i need it.” – Aergia Macbeth
Posted in An Adventure Down the Rabbit Hole