Welcome Area Thoughts

There are two main questions that I get asked when I'm standing in the welcome area and have my "I help people - let me know if I can help" tag on. The first of which is "Where can I go to grief?" (although it's never quite put that way - it's always termed 'shoot people/throw bombs/kill people/fight') and the second of which, from those on free accounts, is "How can I get money?"

With regards to the first question, I generally refuse to offer any suggestions. I tell them that Second Life isn't about killing people and blowing things up. Normally they either become abusive (and get reported for it) or just ignore me.

With regards to the second question, I tell people about camping. Camping, for those new to second life, involves going to an area where the owner has set up special scripted chairs. These are normally casinos or clubs. For sitting in the camping chairs you can get paid an average of 3 lindens per 10 minutes. Yes, it's not much - but what do you expect for nothing? If you're on a paid (or 'premium' account) you get pocket money every week; several hundred Lindens - but if you choose a free account, and don't put any "real money in" then you don't get simply given any free in-game currency. You have to earn it or be given it by other residents, or buy it yourself (free accounts can still buy Linden Dollars using a number of different methods, credit or debit cards or even paypal.

The internet is a fascinating place. I think people get to used to having something for nothing, particularly those who've grown up used to being able to download music and films for free. I'm not in favour of banning free accounts in Second Life, but it is important that those who use them recognise they don't have an automatic entitlement to either the free account or to be given in-game currency. It's particularly upsetting to either see people begging in the welcome area, or to get a mouthful of abuse because you won't give people lots of game currency.

Heh... just wanted to kick this blog off gently. Next tuesday I'm in the Metaverse Messenger newspaper having a rant about Support, of which I'll say more in a future post. In the meantime, welcome to my ramblings.