Some UD Guides to Get You Started

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A Quick Start to Second Life Through NMC

Welcome to the University of Delaware's Quick Start to Second Life (SL). Before you can visit the University of Delaware's Island in Second Life, you will need to create an avatar to be your representative in that environment.

Once your avatar is created and you have completed your training on the New Media Consortium's (NMC) Orientation Island, you can teleport over to the University of Delaware's Island. http://slurl.com/secondlife/University of Delaware/56/150/26

Second Life is completely free including your avatar(s). (You can have more than one.) Free cloths, vehicles, money, and everything you need to move around in the virtual world is available in any number of places in Second Life. The only time you need money is if you want to purchase land or something that is not free (e.g., a better skin for your avatar, designer clothing, a home, or something that is professionally scripted).

Get Your Avatar On (6 easy steps)
The first thing you need to do is download the software from secondlife.com
http://secondlife.com/community/downloads.php.

After the software is installed on your computer, you should open your web browser and go to the NMC's web site http:/sl.nmc.org/join.

You will receive some instructions and questions about your school's affiliation with the NMC.
Next, you will choose a name from the drop-down selection box and select your avatar's body.
There will be a list of predefined Linden Last names to choose from in the drop-down selection box.

These are the same Last names offered on the SL page and they change regularly.
After you have chosen a Last name, you can pick a First name.

If you choose a combination that is already taken, your choice will be rejected. You will be offered some alternatives. You may choose from the suggested combinations list presented to you, try spelling your first choice in a more unusual way, or choose another name altogether. Remember, you and people looking for you will have to remember your name and how you spelled it, so choose your name wisely.

After you select your SL name, will be presented you with some basic newbie avatars to choose from. Don't fret too long about this choice; you will be changing its appearance shortly and will likely continue to fiddle with the settings for weeks to come. Just pick one you can live with for a little while. You do not have to pick your real life gender either. There are male avatars who are female, females who are males, furry animals, dragons, shoes, etc. You will see them all at some point.

You may be told that an e-mail with a link to activate your account is on its way. If so, be sure to look for this e-mail and use the link to activate your account. If you do not see an e-mail after being instructed that it is being sent, check your junk mail folder for a message that has been filtered as spam. Your avatar is not fully activated until you land on an Orientation Island in SL.

The next step is NMC's Orientation Island. The island is designed to teach you the skills you need to navigate the 3D world of Second Life. You will work your way through a series of stations where you will learn and practice your basic skills. It is a big island with many learning modules and videos.
Take your time on this island. Spend some time learning how to move, change your appearance, read note cards, fly, and communicate with others. Doing so will make your Second Life a much more enjoyable experience.

There also some free items there for you to pick up: complete avatars, skins, some clothes and free educational tools. Look for the Lone Mountain, mission style building on the East side of the island over in the Education in SL District.

Important Newbie Freebies Not to Miss Out On

Getting the Good Stuff
It is important to keep track of your time in world to take advantage of your newbie (noob) status. You are considered a newbie your first 30 days. Even if you never log on again after the first day, when the 30 days expire, you can no longer take advantage of the freebie designer skins and hair for newbies. As soon as you start making your way around the world, you will notice avatars with good skin and nice hair.

Skins
A well designed new skin can dramatically change your general appearance settings and can cost $500-$5000 Lindens (SL currency approx. 266L for $1US). If you are a newbie and under 30 days old, there are a number of well designed ones that various design houses put out for you. Some of the skins that are given away are less detailed versions of the for sale copies. The designers put them out in hopes that you will come back and buy the full version or a different skin.

Hair
There are many good hair makers offering lots of different style and color options. The bigger shops offer one free hair style for newbies. You will have to visit the shop and pick out your hair. Once you make your decision, you will have to fill out a shop-provided voucher with hair details and then send it to the designer.
The voucher is a note card, and you will have to type in the details, search for the owner, and drop the note card onto their inventory area of their profile. It may sound hard, but these are basic skills you will use consistently, and you will learn about them on orientation island.

Because you get the opportunity to receive at least three different designer's hair vouchers, you may want to choose one style from each: maybe a long doo from one, an up doo from another, and a short doo or ponytail from a third.

If You Are No Longer a Newbie
There are lots of free skins and hair in the freebie shops (and in some designer stores) no matter how old you are. Some are very good, made by very professional skin and hair makers, and others are extremely bad. You will have to take your time to go through them and trash the ones that you would obviously never use.

"Another Skins" is a very good skin designer and has generously put out some totally modifiable frees skin which are available in all skin tones.
You can find them in world by going to: Another shop, Lippert (74, 182, 179)

Learning More
There are many non-University of Delaware classes offered in Second Life. Some of these classes are created just for the new avatar and are often offered in the evening or on weekends. Some will help you learn how to use your appearance settings, explain your preference settings, manage your inventory and other useful and practical things a new SL avatar should know about. These classes are free with only a few exceptions. Tipping is appreciated but not necessary.

And, when you are ready to learn how to build and script the things you see in world, there are plenty of classes for that as well.