Will Ross here.  Welcome to The Traveling Avatar’s Quick and Dirty tips for a Better Second Life. On this show we discuss tips and tricks for the game Second Life, created by Linden Labs.  Today’s topic: Denoobing on a budget--how to look good without breaking the bank. 

Second Life is, unfortunately, very similar to high school when it comes to what you wear and how you look. Some people spend hundreds of real life dollars on shapes, skins, outfits, hair, and accessories for their avatars, even going so far as getting Second Life jobs to make money for future spending sprees. Now, for a new player ,this can make you feel a little like Quasimodo visiting the playboy mansion grotto. 

But have no fear, you don’t have to spend a lot of money to shake off that “noob” tag. With a little time and clever searching, you can find everything you need to start out your Second life looking respectable on a budget of zero Lindens. All it takes is a little searching and a process I like to call “binge and purge.”

Search for terms like “free” and “freebie,” and you can even modify the search with things you want like “hair,” “shapes,” “skins,” or “vehicles.” Now you get what you pay for, and a lot of freebies are essentially advertising or junk. The trick to this process is that you don’t want to shop carefully. Load up on every free item you can find from every area you can get to. Think about it in terms of a free shopping spree: You are there to load your cart and sort it out later. This is the binge process. So, after an hour or so your inventory should be stuffed full of goodies.

Next, find a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed and start going through the items. Try them on, test them out, and purge all of the items from your inventory that you don’t like. This doesn’t have to be done in one sitting, either, so feel free to make multiple trips for free schwag. After a few trips through the freebie stores, you’ll be looking cool.  I won’t tell anyone it was free if you don’t.

Today’s term to know is “primitive” or “prim” for short. A prim is a basic shape. All objects, buildings, and some parts of clothing are made up of groups of these primitives. Now, every parcel of land in Second Life only allows a certain number of prims to be placed on it. So when shopping for land remember the higher the prim count is, the more valuable the land is. Now, if someone uses “prim” as a modifier to another word, for example “prim hair,” it just means an object that attaches to your avatar in some way. 

Finally, we are going to end the show with our Second life etiquette tip.  Today’s tip is concerning littering. Don’t build or leave your objects on someone else’s land. Prim littering is considered very rude. Now, if you need to unpack a box, just make sure that you delete the box when you’re finished with it. If you’re looking for a place to practice building, don’t use a strangers front yard. Just search for “sand box” and you’ll find sims specifically designed for building and experimentation.

That’s it for this episode! Send your feedback or question to secondlife@quickanddirtytips.com, and the comment line is 206-888-6975, that’s 206-888-MYSL. The Traveling Avatar’s Quick and Dirty Tips for a Better Second Life is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips network, so be sure to check out other great shows like Grammar Girl, Mr. Manners, and Money Girl, at QuickAndDirtyTips.com. 

Until then, may your Second Life be as happy as your first!

The Traveling Avatar theme song is B-Roll by Kevin MacLeod.