Getting into Second Life

It is somewhat of a challenge getting into Second Life for the first time. There are so many people checking it out that the entry point is really crowded, and griefers tend to target newbies. This document is a guide to quickly getting into SL and through the initial stages to get to a safer place where we can get you oriented.

You can get started by visiting http://www.secondlife.com and hitting the big orange "join now" button.

Basic accounts are free, and premium accounts (that give you an inworld stipend and let you own land on the mainland, as well as other benefits) are $9.95. I recommend the free account; you can always upgrade to premium later.

That said, the Wikipedia article on Second Life makes the following excellent point:

A Premium membership (US$9.95/mo., US$22.50 quarterly, or US$72/yr.) extends access to an increased level of technical support, and also pays an automatic stipend of L$300/week into the member's avatar account (down from an original stipend of L$500, which is still paid to older accounts; certain accounts created during an earlier period may receive L$400). This stipend, paid into the member's avatar account, means that the actual cost for the benefit of extended tech support for an annual payment of US$72 is only US$14.

Be aware that you will need to download and install a software package.

You will get a chance to "Choose a community." Look for a listing on there for "Virtual Ability"; it is the one we recommend. They specifically serve differently abled individuals, but half of their own membership are, as they put it, "not yet disabled." They have been very gracious to allow anyone to use their excellent orientation materials—just be aware that you will see extra information there designed to help people with various impairments get full use of Second Life.

Once you've got an account and the software, there are many different ways to explore and move within the world of Second Life. Our goal is to get you to the PSCC islands as quickly as possible.

Make sure you already have the SL client installed on your computer, and then click this link to our Welcome Area.

If you have trouble inworld, send an IM to Dagmar Kojishi. If I'm available, I'll come help.