Reaction to First "Official" Second Life Experience

This past Thursday, when our class visited Second Life as a group, I was really impressed with the way things went. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the experience, as I’ve not really gotten the hang of Second Life yet. It took me a while to get my avatar situated. I went through getting kicked out of Second Life a few times, losing my avatar a million times, and then battling getting her wardrobe situated. Now that my avatar is ready to interact, and I think I’ve completed the Orientation Island requirements, I feel a little more adjusted to the program.

I think once we interacted with the Dean on Thursday, it really hit me out real Second Life is. As funny as it is to imagine that the Dean is sitting in his office, playing on Second Life, it’s surreal to know that something done through a computer can be computed into something so “real life”. The way in which we were able to talk to the Dean and with each other was neat because we were essentially talking instantaneously to each other, as if we were sending an instant message to one another. The progressions that Clemson has made on its construction in the Second Life world are amazing because it is merely an exact replica of how certain locations on campus actually look.

I feel more connected with my avatar simply through the control that I have over here. It’s obvious that I feel connected with her because I made her look like me- very girl next door, plain and simple- but I like the way that every move that I make on the keyboard controls what she does. I can make her do anything from run, fly, or even dance, and the dance moves that she does are based on what I choose for her to do. It was hard to “develop a relationship” with my avatar for the first few days of Second Life trial because I was having so many problems understanding how to create and update her. Once I got settled last Wednesday and Thursday, and our class interacted as a group, I felt a little better about my understanding of my avatar. It’s as if I’m walking in her shoes in another world.