Tips & Tricks

A Little Background...

Starting with an earlier issue of The Second Opinion, I posted my very first video tutorial. Despite my happy voice, this was borne out of SHEER FRUSTRATION. I found it difficult to understand some concepts effectively through words alone so I added pictures. But even with pix, a lot was missing. After all, there's a big difference between show and tell, as one of my fave comics illustrates.

After tying up some loose ends this month, the tradition continues! Inspired by the ideas of Lindens and Residents alike, I've been working on a series of video tutorials such as:

How to Fill in Your Profile

This is one of the most basic yet useful Second Life skills because sharing who you are helps you make new friends and discover fun stuff!

If you enjoyed that, you may also wish to see:

And if you missed them the first time around, watch:

The importance of memorable education

Again, video tutorials can be a fun way to learn because they don't just tell you what to do by proxy they show you Second Life itself! One of my passions is sharing info that some might think is obvious but difficult-to-find and even harder to demonstrate. This is especially to the benefit of our newer Residents!

With their fluid transitions, sound cues, text captions, and even voiceover narration, video tutorials are a multimedia boon if you're more comfortable learning in an "over-your-shoulder" way.

Resident-created video tutorials

The following is part of a much bigger (motion) picture. Since "vidtuts" are currently a scarce species, Residents are calling out for them out of frustration. Thus, it's severely smile-inducing for me to see other Residents making movies to teach our community. For example:

That should get you rocking 'n' rolling! If you make video tutorials or want to recommend someone who does, or if you have ideas for future topics, please email me, Torley Linden!

Role Playing Games

Vampire or Panther? Tribal Elder or Elf? There are many options at Second Life for role-playing games. Some emphasize combat, others are driven by stories. All characters play a part in the drama, and often a friendly Resident can show you the ropes. A lot of thought goes into creating games of complexity and nuance, and Residents work hard to keep it fun, so make sure to read the rules carefully. You don't want to wind up on the cranky side of a gun.

  1. City of Unity: Medieval Fantasy

  2. Avilon Grove: Medieval Community

  3. City of Lost Angels: Dark RP and Combat

  4. Tarnburg Woods: Gorean Role Playing

  5. Tombstone: 1870's Western town

Voice in Second Life: Beta Test Opens!

A private beta program on a test-grid for 1,000 users will be launched early in March before a Grid-wide beta trial. This will give current Second Life Residents the opportunity to explore the benefits of voice-enabled communication. A formal launch is scheduled for Q2, 2007.

During the beta program Residents will be able to test the use of voice under three scenarios:

Scenario 1 - Residents can teleport to voice-enabled land and automatically start speaking. The volume of speech is then modified according to their spatial relationship with others. Up to 100 users can be present in the same audio channel at once.

Scenario 2 - Group conference calls for two or more Residents, enabling large groups to communicate across geographical boundaries (e.g. concert setting, or between pockets of land etc).

Scenario 3 - Two Residents can privately share a conversation, initiated by an Instant Message. Residents don't have to be on voice-enabled land to do this.

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