Day 20- The final conclusion

Click here for the conclusion AFTER you've read the blog ;)

So, 20 days has past, and I'm sitting here trying to write a conclusion. Most of you probably expect me to be really negative and condescending about the program, but I actually don't feel like it. On one hand, I don't think it was a lot of fun, BUT it was actually an adventure doing these 20 days. Since I HAD to do new things everyday, I thought of it as something interesting, since I mostly wanted to find fun things to write about on this blog, but also really wanted to understand why people like it so much. It was a sincere attempt from my side- and as I said before- I REALLY tried to be positive all the way.

One comment I got from Eveline Nixdorf (on the day 18 post), she says some interesting things: "Hi Natalie. I think you're missing the essence, which isn't unusual:) The people who become deeply involved in SL are usually "immersionists" - they "feel" the environment that they project themselves into through their avatars." Hm. Yes, I can understand that it is probably necessary to do that to really have fun and "feel" with your avatar. But do you have to be a specific type of person to get there? I don't think I could get that involved even if I tried... Eveline continues: "The psychological mechanisms behind that haven't been well explored, but lots of people seem to "immerse" very readily. It also seems you've not connected with anyone, and becoming immersed often has a lot to do with finding good company. (This can be hard to do :))" Maybe I didn't try reaaally hard to get new friends, but I'm not that kind of person in real life either. Friends just "happen"- you meet people, and suddenly you connect. I'm not gonna go hunting for friends in SL either, sorry... "It's really surprising how sweet it can feel to dress your avatar up nicely, in just your own style, and "go out dancing". Try it with someone you trust not to push you into other activities:)" Yeah, this I can understand, it was "fun" to dress up- just like when I was 12 playing with my Barbie- just a bit more complex. But it's the dancing part that really doesn't attract me as much as it obviously does to others. Yes, it was fun to try out, and I was laughing a lot because my avatar was doing some crazy moves. BUT I didn't want to go back to dance more after trying it a couple of times. I LOOOVE dancing in Real Life- so it has nothing to do with that either...

After asking many people in Second Life about relationships, it seems like most of them are positive, and believe it's a great solution in our society today. Here in "real life" (the blog), people seem more sceptic. Most people answered that they have heard about it, but never want to try it themselves, or dosen't believe in it because of the lack of touch and intimacy. I think SL can be a nice solution for people in a long distance relationship, but I don't think it's something I want to try out myself. One girl in SL said that it's just like MSN, but 3D, and that's what she used it for mainly, and that is probably what I would have used it for (if I HAD to use it), but actually I prefer the other MSN, mainly since SL is so heavy, and I don't think I will open it again, maybe for a "House of Sweden"-kind of activity one day- MAYBE...

I asked people on this blog what they thought about Second Life, and they answered mainly negative things. The most frequent answer was, "Not my cup of tea- never tried it!", and I find it interesting that so many people make a judgement on something they never tried - which was the reason why I did this experiment in the first place.
Anyway, now I can say, I tried it out, and it's not my cup of tea. Or my cup of coffee. I think SL is great for people like these "immersionists" that Eveline Nixdorf mentioned above, but I'm definitely not one of them.

I think it's safe to say by now, that Second Life is NOT for everyone - at least not for me, mainly because I have enough things going on in my first life, so I really don't need a second one.

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Day 19

My goal for today:
Find events linking Real Life and Second Life together

A girl tipped my to check out this project that the embassy of Sweden in the USA (Washington) has done in "coorporation" with Second Life. Finally I found one relation to SL that actually is a bit interesting and makes it easier for people to interact with events happening on the other side of the world. It is difficult to explain in few words, but this Fox tv coverage of the event a couple of months ago, explains it really good. See it here.

Here is the link to the website.


I went online (SL) to see the Second House of Sweden, and walked around outside and inside, and it was really well done.



The architecture and interior are pretty great, and you can even find some well-known design pieces if you look closely (on the right in this picture; the tree 'coat hanger' from the design company Swedese).



You can also find a wall with different places to go in SL that is swedish initiatives.





Another link I got, was to a dance project that was interesting too:

The installation MDT to Second Life and Back is based on an event happening simultaneously at The Office (92,59,30) in SL and at the School of Architecture in Stockholm. The project aims to explore the borders between Second Life and First Life.
Here is the link to their website and a short presentation of the project:




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Day 18

My goal for today:
Hmm... Getting sick and tired from SL... It HAS to be something more to it!!?

Yeah, so you probably noticed- I'm getting bored of this SL thing- and I really have tried to be positive all the way- honestly!! It is just that I don't get the part of doing stuff through an avatar. I like to experience smells, touch and sounds with my own senses- and in real life. But I'll enter SL today, too, maybe find another museum that is interesting... Ok, let's try.


The only thing I found interesting on the museum list (I searched again...), was the Second Life Museum. So I went there. It was not very advanced but I took a look around, and you could see the history of SL, but pretty random- some snapshots and a couple of old SL graphics.





This was a snapshot of the SL map from 2003...



Hmm, not very interesting this either (sorry!), but I have to say- at least the sunsets are pretty beautiful in Second Life:)



____________

Soooo... I logged off, and checked the forums I have written on, to see if anybody had written somthing interesting. (I reeeally need some interesting news about SL at this point- only got 2 days left!)
And actually- they had! I got some tips on what to do- that I already have done mostly, and also of course a lot of sympathy for my negativity. People love to be negative about Second Life, it has "computer geek" written all over it- kind of the reason I wanted to give it a chance. I don't like saying I don't like something- without trying it first! One girl told me about a project she had worked on with the Swedish embassy, that I actually found really interesting, and some other stuff, so I am definitely going to check them out tomorrow!
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Day 17

My goal for today:
Try to do some intellectual stuff... Maybe a museum?

I opened SL, and searched for "museum". The first possibilty I got on the list, was the International Spaceflight Museum, that I have actually heard of many times before. It is famous for being one of the most authentic and interestic things to do in SL, so of course- I clicked on teleport. I gave it a while to download the graphics- no point of even trying to move around before anyway. I went over to the "famous" site- where you can see all the missils and rockets...


The first thing I saw was a sign that explained that this was a private and NOT a NASA initiative. Wow- immagine all that work for no "commercial value"... (Hm- NASA is happy anyway- there's a lot of Nasa signs everywhere.)



I have to admit, I don't really get what the fun is here either. Yeah, it is great to see (and scary at the same time) all the work it has been put into this complex site, but still I lost my interest really quick. I fly around for a while, but don't really understand what to do either. Go to a museum? with only rockets?? Hmm, not my cup of tea. In real life- maybe.

Hmm, I found solar panel on the site, too... I wonder how they use the energy from them;)



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Day 16

My goal for today:
More fun events..

I got two landmarks from my friends at the beach, and the second one (I tried the first one yesterday)- was a place calles "Greenies Home", and I have no idea what it is. They sent it to me since it was something really fun- so I am definitely checking it out. So off I go... When I arrive, I see this big room, and don't really understand what to do, since there are no signs or nothing around to explain. I walk into the room, and see some oversized furniture, and some people in front of me, so I walk over to them. "What can I do in here?" I ask them, and they answer "Oh, it is soo much fun! You can check out all the things- just like you are a kid again!"

So I asked "So it is not something special like a ride or something?" And the one girl says "No, here u just explore all the fun stuff- you can check out the doll house, or see what is in the purse! Haha- it's so much fun!" So I said thank you, and left to explore.

(I put an arrow pointing at me in the pictures- look closely!)



So the point is that everything is oversized, so you feel like a miniature figure, or a kid's doll maybe (reminds me of a child book I once read "the Borrowers")- and you can see everything from a different perspective, you can say. Hm.. Ok, it is well made and everything (it looks pretty real), but I don't really get the fun of it (Oh, sorry. I'll check it out before I am negative...)





Ok, that's me flying to take a good picture of the room- but the other pictures are better to get the feeling of the room size compared to my size.



I looked for the "fun" purse the girl talked about, and I finally found it almost hidden under a chair. I was really curious to see what was inside the purse, since that was one of the main attraction in here...



Hmm, can't see anything special about this... Let see, a pen, a book, a sorry- two pens, some coins...



Yeah- and some chewing gum I think that is. WOW. Really worth spending an hour on my computer for... (Ah, sorry!! Being negative again...)



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Day 15

My goal for today:
Try to go to the places I tried to yesterday...

Yesterday I couldn't open the landmarks I got, so when I logged on today, it was not water anymore but a lot of graphic downloading. After waiting a while for it do download, it was pretty dark and I saw a forrest and a big sign. The place is called "Tunnel of light", so it is probably why it is dark, and after reading the sign, I walk down to the boat as told, and click it...



I clicked on the boat and I fell down this tunnel of lights...



And landed outside a new light tunnel...



And walked through the tunnel I came to a new place where I had to push a button again...



And a tea cup arrived and I sat down on it... Just like another amusement park ride- and off we went!



The ride lasted for a while, but you could really see that this has taken time doing... (and I quickly turned off the background music since it was teeeerrible techno music..)
Here is the different things I saw on the way...







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Day 14

My goal for today:
Going to the beach, maybe do some swimming:)

In one of the articles, I was recommended to go to some places, and today I decided to go to the beach. I find the beach club with the search tool- and teleport there.
It looks pretty beautiful, and I fly around to check it out. Suddenly I get a message that it is a private area, and if I don't leave within 20 sec, I will be thrown out! So I hurry up and turn around, until the message goes away. A little dissapointed I land, and look around, and I spot a nice place to sit down to enjoy the view...




After I sat there 2 minutes, I felt restless, and searched for a different beach in events. I teleported there, and of course it was three dance floors by the beach. Allways the dancing, I'm not up for that right now. So I walked around for a bit, and found some towels and I layed down to get some tan (haha, with my kimono on...)





After turning around two times, I got bored (again), and walked around to find somebody to talk to- I need to get some advice on what to do in this place.. It can't be dancing that is keeping all these people logged on all day and night??!!
I met some people, and asked them "What you could do besides dancing that is fun?"
They said wrestling, wind surfing, sky diving and shopping, and sent me some landmarks they suggested me to go to, and also a parachute! But most of it I could do on this island, so I thanked them and flew over to the sport activity side that they had explained me.
But I didn't find anything else then a bar and another dancefloor, so I searched for sky diving in the search tool, and I teleported to a big place, so big I didn't have a clue where to go or what to do. I walked around for 15 minutes, and didn't understand ANYTHING, so I didn't feel like sky diving anymore, and teleported to one of the landmarks they had sent me; "Tunnel of light- Glow your mind"... But it was just water all around, and I couldn't move. I assumed it was because it was heavy to download the graphics so I waited 5, 10 and 15 minutes and nothing else happened, my whole computer worked incredibily slow, so I logged off...

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Day 13

My goal for today:
I'm loosing my motivation again... I have to do some real life-research...

Yeah, I know I look good in my new Kimono, but after going to Tokyo and Kyoto, I really didn't find any motivation in my mind for finding new places to go to.. I'm bored quite frankly, and I am not giving up yet, so I need to try new methods of finding things to do. I have to ask the Real World.

I googled "Cool places in Second Life", and got some Slurl's that I will save for later. There is no point of going into SL if you have no motivation for it- so I decided to dedicate the day to research.
I found some articles again, and some of the places people recommend seems ok, like Venice, Italy, BBC cinema, Caribbean Breezes Club and Resort, Frank' Place (the most popular jazz club in SL- 10.000 visitors a day, and some famous discoteques.
I decided to set up a plan, and try to go to some of the places I've written over, the next days.
I'm also part of different forums on the internet, so I posted some questions to people out there if they had any suggestions or experiences they want to share with me. So we'll see what people suggests...

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Day 12

My goal for today:
I want a Kimono- and I want to see Japan!!

Yesterday I went to the amusement park, and when I logged on today, I was still there, and it was still empty. But on the mini-map I could see some green dots in an area not far away, so I double-clicked on it, and suddenly I was in a asian-style shopping area. There were Kimonos and Samurai-swords in every color and size. But it was expensive. I decided I really wanted a Kimono, so I searched on events for "free kimonos", and found a lot of sites, so I clicked one of them...



It felt like I arrived in Japan, everybody looked different, and of course the architecture, too. I walked around in this beautiful replica of a classic Japanese small town (I know- since was in the "real" Japan last year for 4 weeks).



I looked for free stuff, and first the only thing I found was some shoes, so I took them. Here you can see the lovely shoes I got:



Yeah, I know they are hidious, so I had to look for something else, and I really wanted a Kimono. On my way I found this little wish "shrine" and made a wish, as I remember doing many times when I was in real-Japan.



I walked into the next clothing house, and I was amased how different the shopping "look" is here compared to what I have seen before. I like this much better. I find a couple of things that are free; a paper lamp and a stone with Japanese inscription on it.



I suddenly find the Kimono room- and they have one free kimono!! Jippi- I put it on in a hurry. Don't I look great?



So I keep walking around the small town, and I come up to a big shrine, and outside there is a thing to put your donation in before you enter the shrine (like in real life- I learned it meant good fortune) so I left 1 of my 4 linden dollars there;)



I entered the shrine, tried to kneel down, but it didn't work, so I left again. I was pretty amazed (for the 1st time) of the archittecture- not to crowded, not to open, but small, personal and authentic.


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Day 11

My goal for today:
Continuing checking out events...

Yesterday I was choo-choo-training around, and today I am gonna check out if there is more fun events to find. There is something called "Treasure Hunting- find the hidden objects and win nice prizes", so again, I think, "Why not?", and teleport there. My first impression was that it seems like every other shopping location, so I get the feeling that this is just some kind of stupid game to make people buy more stuff. But still, I am curious, so I start looking. I find two coins after some minutes, but after that I found nothing. After looking around for a while, I give up- since it seems more and more pointless. I have checked "everywhere", and I am still missing 3!

Behind this area I am in, I can see some big constructions, so I went over there. It was a big amusement park, with lots of different things to do. I went over to see if it was for free, and if I could use it, and maybe it was closed, I don't know- since there was not a single soul in the whole area. And I could- just push the button "Sit on", and wooosh! It moved!



It is something about beeing in an amusement park all alone- first of all it is no fun bumping your bumping-car into the wall- but also you feel really lonely... And it actually freaks me out a little, too;)




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Day 10

My goal for today:
Check out the Events and see where that takes me

So finally it was time to check out the events. There was sooo many things written on the events list, and as people have told me before, a lot of spam. But you see pretty quickly what is the spam, since it mostly involves sex. So the first thing I saw was a train ride "Take the train ride through tunnels and hills, and beautiful views" and I thought, why not? So I teleported to a place called Mackinac Island...




Ok, the train I immagined in my head was a little different then this you can say, (the train I envisioned, was something I have seen in a documentary about the mountains in Switzerland or something;) Haha.. This one reminded me more like a kids ride in a theme park, but ok- I still wanted to try it. After trying to undestand how to get the ticket and sitting down on the train, I finally managed to start the train! Here we go!! ...Sloooowly, we moved forward, and up and down hills and into a tunnel, the view was pretty great, and there were many stops on the way, were you can get off and get on when you like to. I even saw a sculpture, too!



Infact on my way, a girl sat down on my train with me, and I was happy, since it was pretty lonely, and there wasn't any people in the area earlier. She started talking to me first (for once!), and asked me where I was from, how old I was ecc. I told her I was Norwegian,28, and she told me she was Italian,17. I could then tell her that I actually live in Milan- she was veeery happy, and switched over to italian pretty quick. She said she was new in SL, and that it was a littlebit difficult for her since people mainly speak english, and her english was pretty bad. "But what a great way to learn and practice your english then!" I said, and she had to agree, but we kept speaking in italian...
I started asking her about the relationship project I'm working on, and she explained me that she really thought that realtionships, marriage etc in Second Life was great, and that she thought that it was something everybody should try at least once. Though, she was totally new in SL, she said she really wanted to learn this "game" properly, since she really liked it. She wanted to try to get a job and a place to live. That is actually the first time I met someone who is positive to SL so early on! Wow. We talked a bit more, but she decided to go explore other things, and she added me ass a friend. MY FIRST FRIEND IN SECOND LIFE. A 17 year old Sicilian girl. Great! I am eleven years older than her. Haha. But who cares- it's Second Life!


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