Part three - my story continues.

Part three:

So after a few days experimentation, I was happy with my Avi, and my look. I continued to look at the marketplace and I continued to buy a few items, but for now I was happy to explore and to chat to people when I could. 

I explored beauty spots, beaches, and clubs. I discovered that for the first 30 days I couldn't teleport to Adult sims. Almost from day 1, I was being hit on by guys.I hadn't reckoned on this aspect of SL, but I should have done!!  Most guys were reasonable enough, but some asked for sex in the first sentence! I didn't come into SL to have sex, and I made that clear, but in some cases I think I used too many words, when 'no chance' (or similar) would have sufficed. The hits seemed to come in waves, often two or three in a session, but then sometimes none for a few days. Very occasionally I got a message, other than "Hi" from a guy who was actually quite nice, and where I agreed to continue the conversation, these developed into friendships, and I friended these guys. But many guys want to friend after one chat, and although I did this at the start, it soon became apparent that too many 'friends' were unmanageable!!  And so I became more selective.

I hung out at the newbie friendly locations, joined the NCI Group, and soon got to know some of the regulars. I love to chat and some of these friendships are valuable to me. I was offered the use of a skybox. This is a private sand box which floats in the air, and is the perfect place to change outfits in private. I was very lucky to receive this offer!!! With the benefit of the skybox I was able to spend more private time testing new outfits, and my Inventory slowly grew.  I learned about body shape sliders and spent more time getting my Avi exactly as I wanted it. I started to buy lingerie, jeans and tops. I started to buy hair!!! It was all very exciting as each day I learned something new. All this was by searching the Marketplace. My style is a bit quirky and I have stuck with my RL style here in SL. 

So what had I learned by this point?
That the Marketplace was such good fun to search in. That making up outfits after a shopping spree was really good fun. That dancing at the clubs was as enjoyable as the real thing. And that the way to make friends was to stick around a sim, and talk a lot!!!!!

I'd learned the basics of sand boxes, and how to unpack items. I knew how to wear or add clothes and shoes. I'd learned about Alpha layers. An Alpha layer is used to mask the layer below, so for some items of clothing, the body underneath needs to be made invisible, and the Alpha layer does this when you add it.  You also need Alpha layers when you move into adding mesh bodies and replacement heads, but more of this later.

I found out what animations were. This is something you wear which moves your Avatar beyond the system default movements, which are limited. A good friend started me off by giving me a simple animation, and the change in the way my Avi moved was astonishing. I also learned about dance balls, and that by touching one, you can access a dance animation, either as a single or a couple. I soon started to enjoy dancing as a couple, with a friend. Dance animations are also available to add to your Avi, and some have the option of inviting anyone close by to dance with you. There is an extensive range of animations which go well beyond dancing!!!!  At this point I was very happy in SL, and spent most of my time socialising. My Avi was made welcome wherever I went and my time in SL was very enjoyable. How could it be any better than this!!!!!!!!!