As I mentioned earlier, I found out the hard way that buying land isn't that easy, and provides a quick barrier to entry when you're trying to jump in and experiment with objects right away. That's why I created my Metaverse Playpen.

But I wanted to step back a minute and talk about the public sandboxes (Teleport Now), because they are very useful and entertaining places to visit for lots of reasons.

They're fun in a Mad Maxxy kind of way. There are explosions and funny noises going off everywhere. People running into you for no reason, and just scuttling away. Intimidating messages being broadcast from Big Brother overhead. The whole nine yards.

I'm working on finding a movie, or making a new one of it.

So sandboxes are fun, but they're a little crowded, and made me want a sandbox of my own.

Me at the public sandbox

To my right are three open windows that you use a lot in SL:

1) Friends - how you see who's online and send them messages and object using their "profile" window

2) Build - how you create, modify, and program objects.

3) IM - how you communicate privately (There is also a public "chat" window where everyone in the room can "see" what you are saying. The chat window is often also used to communicate with objects you've created.)

Second Life A-Z