Starting out in Second Life I had some trouble because evidently the wireless network could not handle the amount of information. I started late, after buying an ethernet cord, but I did manage to visit a few locations in the time since. First off I noticed that other people are hard to find! I ran into a few people but they didn't seem to want to talk very much. OK, that initial bias out of the way I would like to talk about the scavenger hunt.
I enjoyed visiting all the landmarks, but the Sistine Chapel was absolutely amazing. The fact that you could create such a replica and be able to walk through it is crazy! Now let me unpack crazy, the initial thought behind it is fairly radical, to take something so well known and redo it to scale on a computer screen might have made some people very mad. The Chapel required a code of conduct, to prevent people from making anyone else mad while visiting. The second part of crazy is the fact that they could recreate all of the images from the actual Sistine Chapel so well on a screen. Also while I was in the Sistine Chapel, I noticed something peculiar. There was a man and a woman in the Chapel as well with whom I tried to initiate conversation, but was not rudely ignored but clearly shown that they did not have time to talk. It was not obvious but I believe that they were having a quarrel. When I stopped by orientation island, people were having conversations in the local chat mode and welcoming other people to join in but in the Sistine Chapel the pair were just standing there facing each other, not saying anything that I could read or hear. Then I realized that the avatars must be mimicking the actions of the emotions of the people controlling them. The two avatars were looking at each other, not at the world around them. Then the man turned away and walked a few paces and the woman turned her back as well and it wasn't until he returned that she turned back around. During this they only responded when I asked if I could take a picture, other than that I might as well have been invisible.
Less exciting I also visited the Men in Bronze and had quite a good time flying through the buildings there. One thing that I really enjoyed was the fact that each location had its own time of day or night so when I was at the Chapel, the day was bright but as soon as I teleported to the Men in Bronze, the Moon was full and high.
This could be my favorite picture, even if it was not my favorite location. One thing that I did not like about Men in Bronze was I couldn't find anyone to talk to!I can't wait to continue my time in SL and look forward to visiting all the sites I haven't had time for yet on Iggy's list, and then the ones he didn't list!
Good work unpacking the "crazy" suitcase! And yes, the bias was stated early, but a good claim can develop from the question, "why is SL so often empty?" To answer it, you'd have to gather more information about a few issues. Is it the education sites only? Is it the time of day when you go?
ReplyDeleteThere's good insight about the couple, when you write "It was not obvious but I believe that they were having a quarrel."
It's usual to have private conversations in IM. Another polite method in SL is to use IM in crowded areas; believe it or not, they do exist.