to offer, with the prime goal of making SL™ more awesome for our residents! SC: What are the top five leastknown features that residents should know about? TW: There’s never a hardcoded list of five. Depending on what else is going on, there are certainly things I feel more strongly about than others. For instance, not necessarily a feature but a SUPER-important skill to have which you can get comfortable with if you practice a bit each day is: how to report bugs effectively. It sounds boring, but that’s deceptive. The process is engaging and involves understanding Second Life® at a deeper-than-surface level, and really, it’s about KNOWING HOW THINGS WORK. Step by step.
If you can report a bug, you can give directions clearly, and that increases your ability to communicate. It also helps you comprehend
the not-so-happy issues we face inworld everyday, and paired with that, can something be done? What can be done? And so on. Bug reporting is also a psychological test. It says a lot about you and the challenges you’re willing to take on in order to accomplish goals. If you dismiss it as, “It’s too hard!” or “It’s someone else’s job!” that points to limits in your perception. Just like Second Life® is resident-created, many of the best bug reports come from residents, too. It’s a different paradigm and one that brings out a surprising amount of creativity in the resourceful. Anyway, as to not cheat you out of your question, “residents” is too vague. Which residents? If it’s content creators, CLICK ACTIONS ARE A MUST. Learn more about that and 4 others here:https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/community/ tnt/blog/2009/04/09/business-5things-every-second-life-shopkeeper-should-know Hey, that’s 5! But seriously: it’s key to know someone’s intentions. Their dreams in Second Life®. What do they want to do? Then, I’ll have a clearer picture of what they should know, if only because it benefits them. But without a doubt, be intimately acquainted with our Knowledge Base @http://secondlife.com/ kb and let us know how we can serve you awesomer. SC: Is there a LL sponsored campaign to consolidate tutorials? There are so many out there in various websites and wikis, is an all-inone OFFICIAL, constantly updated site in the works? TW: There’s an official mandate to provide better support for translated tutorials - ah, internalization
- which some very savvy residents are graciously helping us out with. I may be able to better showcase more resident-created tutorials in the future. Too sketchy to be firm on that, but before that happens, we need to have more prolific moviemakers who excel at teaching (beyond narrative-driven stories). I remember when SL™ photography was such a fringe art and retouching was sort of a novelty and rare. That field has burst out, and just like things advance from text to photos, I’m hoping photos will lead into a new “video wave”. So count on me watching for fresh talent. All official tutorials are always at http://secondlife.com/video ^ Nice ‘n’ easy, huh? That’s how I like it. SC: What advice can you give to those who try to emulate you and help new residents they encounter? TW: This could fill a book. But one of the simplest, surest things I’d say would be to cultivate your own unique avatar personality. Like, I’ve found green and pink neon watermelon to be “my thing”. So find something you’re really passionate about and that’s easy to identify with, and wear this everywhere. Visually. Just like in “RL business”, branding is exceptionally important to making sure other people remember your message and delivering it in an approachable way which sparks further creativity, and ultimately, makes it more fun and fast to learn about Second Life®... or anything! 6+ years later, this will always be true. Special Thanks to Catherine Linden and Linden Lab® for photos and coordination A
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