Second Life

Remember Second Life? Maybe you haven't heard of it in a few years. Maybe you've never heard of it. Maybe you thought it was a video game. Maybe you thought it no longer existed. But it does, and it had a great year during the pandemic, and I would like to tell you why, and what it has been for me, and invite you to give it a try.

What is Second Life? Second Life is a virtual world, open to anyone over sixteen. On any given day, there may be fifty thousand people logging in to Second Life. They go to shop, to go dancing, to go to classes, to build, to teach, and to role play. There are music festivals happening, movies being made, art installations being built, book clubs meeting, and amazing communities thriving.

The first thing to know about Second Life is that it's free. You don't need to have a premium membership unless you want to run a business or own land on the mainland (land owned by Second Life itself). If you do decide on a premium membership, you can get a free house with it, and some of the designs are very cool. But that is unnecessary. You can join for free, create an avatar, and try it out. Explore. Go to events, gatherings, dances, lectures, whatever. There are loads of "freebies" available to make your avatar into almost anything you can imagine.

The second thing to know about Second Life is that it is not a game. There are no rules, unless you are participating in one of the many role play communities. There is nothing to win, and no end point. No final boss. There is something for everyone. As in, one of my friends in Second Life is a large black unicorn. Another is a small otter. He usually wears a top hat. Yesterday I visited a friend at his Japanese estate. He spends every Thursday studying and practicing the Japanese tea ceremony. In Second Life. Which is, in its way, just like real life.

The third thing to know is that you can make money in Second Life. Real money. There is an economy in Second Life. I have taken real money out of my eight SL businesses. The Linden Dollar exchanges to the U.S. dollar at around L$250 = $1. You can buy Linden Dollars on the exchange. Second Life is the shopping spree of a lifetime. Google the Second Life Marketplace and see what is available. Want a twelve dollar Lamborghini?

So what do I do in Second Life? Today I went to a lecture and then to a lantern lighting as part of Second Life's extensive Relay for Life presence. Last year alone the Relay season raised over $300,000 U.S. dollars for the American Cancer Society. The Relay season includes several large events: The Christmas Expo, the Home & Garden Expo, The Fantasy Faire, and the Relay itself, starting this year on June 12, 2021. There are also numerous fundraisers by Relay teams. I attend the Relay dressed as a large purple bunny. I used to run for the whole twenty-four hours when I was a younger bunny.

But I digress...

As I mentioned, I run eight businesses in Second Life. All focus on 3D modeling I do with the free application Blender. Second Life uses basic modeling shapes available to anyone, and allows uploading of more coomplex mesh shapes via the Collada upload regime. Second Life also has texture businesses, animation sellers, scripting, live performers, and endless fashion and real estate enterprises. There are large sailing and horseback riding communities. There are *ahem* adult activities and items available on one continent. You must prove your age to visit there. The lecture I went to today was by two people who run a central website for events and bloggers in Second Life. The first person to become a real-life millionaire from money made in Second Life did it managing virtual real estate.

Most people don't start businesses. Most people use Second Life as the Great Escape. Maybe just to go dancing. Maybe to go shopping. Maybe to visit the far-flung corners of the world, or places of the imagination. Want to visit Hogwarts? How about a blighted, post-apocalyptic realm? 1920s Berlin? I have a home in the privately-owned steampunk wonderland of New Babbage, and a waterfront tropical home on the mainland. I have a third home perched high in the air over my workshop. I run a pub and a teahouse and I own three cats, one horse, a manatee, and a narwhal. I bought a classic lake boat last year. Did I mention you can fly in Second Life?

Second Life had a great year in 2020. If you wanted to hang out with friends, go dancing with strangers, or just sit in a lecture hall, all were mostly impossible during the pandemic, but not in Second Life. As weird as it often is, Second Life became oddly normal last year. I bought my avatar a mask, but she only wore it once. Because here was a place where life continued without illness, without social distancing, and without masks. Where you can see real-life family and friends in safety. This is why I invite you to try Second Life. It's the strangest normal I've ever known.