Freebies! Places where I got free swag!

So, as part of my journey in not taking money from my own account or getting a stipend from Second Life, I need to find free swag. There are places you can go where EVERYTHING is free. That doesn't mean it's all high-end stuff. In fact, some of the places I went to existed for nearly as long as Second Life has been around. Which means, for Classic Avatars, you can find a lot of old clothes. It's interesting to see how fashion has changed over the years.

Just to let you all know, when I get new clothes, I find a place to try them on. The Free Dove (below) does have changing rooms for those who wear the Free Dove tag. I have found a sandbox I like where I go for privacy. Trying on what you buy is important! I've found that some things don't look the same on my avatar as it does on the model, or that some places don't have the best alpha layers for their clothing, leaving the strangest amounts of skin showing. So, try on before you decide to keep it. Free is wonderful, but it should also look good on you.

((The Free Dove, the picture was taken from Second Life Destinations Page))

The Free Dove

I think this is the oldest Freebie spot in all of Second Life. I know it's one of the ones I remembered from my first time around. Now, it's changed since then. Back when I first found out about Second Life, The Free Dove was a mess. That's not to say it wasn't a great place, but I remember it being very chaotic back in the day. It was filled with freebies and was very popular. The store I encountered this time around was more organized. It felt like there was less, but (as you can see in the picture, there are stairs) I never left the main floor. So, maybe feeling like there is less was my own fault. 

I highly recommend this store. There are some really nice, name-brand items here. I found a gown from a store called Mariposa, which my main account avatar has been through. Dresses there are (for me) expensive and you really get what you pay for. So, to get a gown from there for free...yes, please! The Free Dove is a very respectable store, and even if you don't need free clothes, I suggest you go here. There is a reason why it's still in business today.

((Freebie Galaxy, taken from Second Life Destinations Page))

Freebie Galaxy

This is possibly the second oldest freebie place in Second Life. I say possibly, only because it was also around my first time around, and it hasn't changed since then. If you want to really see what people thought was cutting edge back in 2007, go here. Not to say you can't find some good items here, but there is really a sense of time stopping here.

It's huge! Something like ten floors, all filled with free clothes, hair, skins, and other items. I am sure you'll find something you'd like here. 

((Freebie Megastore, taken from Second Life Destinations Page))

Freebie Megastore

I admit this was not my favorite store. I felt like it didn't have as much, or as quality items. I did get a few things, but of those things, I only kept a small handful. But, go and check it out! You never know if you'll find what you need there.

Ajuda SL Brasil

No picture for this one, sorry. But, on the bright side, this place was awesome! I got the most clothes from here and I found the best clothes here. The Free Dove has a lot of great things, and this place just expands on that. It was only two floors, I think, but it was just jammed packed. There was also a free mesh body for women there. I did get it and try it, but I wasn't very happy with it. That, and I didn't have the money to buy clothes for that body.

As I said, I got a lot here. I might go back to get more. This is the second best freebie store next to The Free Dove. I highly recommend it!

Money Making: Weeks 1 and 2

Hello, darlings! So, the first two weeks are gone, and that means a money update. There are several ways to earn Lindens in Second Life, though some of them require you to either have payment on file or be over a certain age (such as 90 days). As I am trying to go through this as long as possible without access to my real life bank accounts, I'm rather limited. So, I decided to start off with some simple ways of making Lindens and worry about the job portion of it when my avatar is older. Each way has some pros and cons, which will be listed. I do have a con listing at the end because there are some things that transcend all of the ways I've tried to make Lindens.

Taken from Second Life Destination Guide: Games

Fish Hunt

This was the first thing I started on. When you TP to the headquarters, you can get a free fishing rod. It comes with 50 small worms for bait to get you started. With worms, you only have to wait like a minute or so to catch a fish. Each fish is worth like 0.02 Lindens or so. It takes a while to build up your reserves, so this is not for making a lot of money in a short period of time. It is good for beginners and I found it relaxing. You can even fish if you run out of worms, but your wait time is like eight minutes. They, of course, have better rods you can buy.

Pros: 

Free Rod is free! Trust me, that's important. I tried the Seven Seas Fishing, but you need to pay $1L for a demo rod that apparently stops working after a certain number of casts. This rod not only was really free but at 50 worms, I got to use the "demo" longer. And, as I said, you can still use it after the worms are gone.

Easy to use and easy to earn Lindens. If you're like me and have, like, a million things going on at once, that eight-minute timeframe can be a blessing. Just fish and check back every once in a while.

Cons:

Buying more worms. Once you run out of your 50 worms, you can buy more to keep fishing. Now, as I said, you can still fish without them, but if you're going for fast earnings, you need worms. There are four kinds, but I've only used the cheapest called "small worms". I pay $1L for four of them every one in a while. The reason why I find this to be in the con list is not that you need to buy the worms, I actually find that to be rather normal, but because there is really no set price. They're like being bought or sold on a stock market? I'm not sure, but it's not really a set price. I can't look at it and see that I get four small worms for $1L. It goes by how many one worm costs, so the barrel says "0.22L for one worm". Which, if you math, means I bought four small worms for $0.88L and the extra $0.12L that didn't make up a fifth worm is profit in the barrel and not in my pocket. It's a good gig if you can sell the worms, but I wish I could keep my change.

Taken from Second Life Destinations: Games

Gold Hunt

This is by the same people who do the Fish Hunt. In fact, I mainly use the hunt on the headquarters. Again, each coin is mostly like $0.02L, so it can take a while. Unlike fishing, this involves a chance to steal coins. Say you are doing this and you see three coins in a row. You can click all three coins, which will activate them. You must wait a certain period of time with the smallest amount having the shortest wait time. Once the time is up, if you are close, you get a pop-up box asking you to select a certain number. 

Now, here is where the stealing comes in. If you are not close enough, the pop-up box won't show up and the coin will declare you are the one who activated it, but anyone can steal it. All they have to do is touch it so they get the pop-up box.

I am not a fan of stealing. I only do one coin at a time, so I, for the most part, will ignore a coin if I notice another has a claim to it. Now, I said for the most part. If I notice the person is nowhere in the area, I'll take the coin. But if the person is a reasonable distance and can make it back to the coin, I won't.

Pros: 

You can make a bit more Lindens playing this than the Fish Hunt. I average at least 2-3 Lindens a game versus the 1-2 Lindens I make fishing.

Cons:

Please see the below Con list for the cons of this way.

Taken from Second Life Destinations: Games

The Artifact Hunt

This one is a lot of fun. You TP to headquarters to get a free hud that allows you to TP to the puzzle boxes. Depending on the box, you can win Lindens or other prizes. It's normally one Linden if you win any money. I haven't checked out the non-monetary gift prizes, so I can't comment on them.

Pros:

You can, technically, make money faster. As mentioned, it's like one Linden per box that has a monetary prize. And the boxes will let you know the prize (Lindens or not) before you open them so you can decide if you want to try. There are four box types that I've come across: Memory, Riddle, 3x3, and 4x4. Now, I personally detest the 3x3 and 4x4. They're like those slider puzzles where you move a tile around to form a picture. I cannot figure them out. I happen to enjoy the Memory or Riddle boxes.

Cons: 

Beyond the list below, this one has some unexpected issues. The timer for how long you have to finish a puzzle is set by the person putting it up (I think). I've come across a few where the timer is set too low. Like one minute to solve the Memory game or a minute and a half for the 4x4. By the time you get a grip on the puzzle or are barely halfway through, your time is up. It's very frustrating when that happens.

Major Con List

Now, most of these puzzles have the same downsides. I don't mean Con as in they are doing something bad, but Con as in it might make thing difficult for certain players.

1. Some of the landmarks these places will send you to are not Newbie Friendly. Not that you'll know until you get there. I can't count how many times I've landed and then been TPed immediately out. Sometimes, if I'm lucky, I get a message with why and a link to the land's TOS. Mostly it's because they don't want new avatars there. I would need payment on file or be of a certain age, anywhere between 90 and 180 days old.

2. Some of the landmarks no longer exist. Places move or shut down. I get that. But when you TP in thinking you're going to be doing a gold hunt or look for a box, and the land is no longer part of the activity, it's discouraging. And, as above, some of those lands are not Newbie Friendly. 

Just what is this all about?

Hello, my darlings! This is a new day, a new start, and a new adventure! You're probably wondering about the title of this little blog: Iphigena's Journey, a classic system avatar in a mesh avatar world. Well, it's about Second Life. Yes, my darlings, if any of you thought Second Life was gone, it's still alive and kicking.

For those who don't know what Second Life is, it's...Well, to be fair, it's not easy to explain. I can say it's a simulation game, but it's more than that. It's really not a game at all, but a whole virtual world with its own money system. Very much like the real world, you need money (or Lindens) to get by.

I first encountered Second Life back in 2007. I believe I played various accounts until about 2010. I think that's the right date because I remember "building" homes in my mind as I tried to sleep at the hospital, waiting on word about my mother. (Spoiler: the news wasn't good)

I went back in late 2018. This account, Iphigena, is not my main one. Instead, I am challenging myself to be different. Or difficult. See, if you were to log on to Second Life now, you'd be amazed at how much it grew and the fashion changes. Among those changes is mesh bodies. Everything is made for these mesh bodies, and the classic system avatars of 2007 are, well, a thing of the past. Thus, I have challenged myself to go through as long as I can with a free account and no mesh body. I will earn my own Lindens and only buy what I can, as long as it serves on a classic avatar body.

So, a history lesson. As I said, I originally started back in 2007. I remember my first avatar well. I really liked her, and wish I had some way of saving her. Alas, she is gone. A moment of silence for my first fallen.

Since I don't have any pictures of her anymore (and, indeed my darlings, I don't think I ever saved any pictures, to begin with) I must rely on the internet and pray I could find what looked right. I will admit now, I have shamelessly stolen the following pictures. But never fear darlings, I did put in their original URL so the original posters do get credit.

From https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-get-started-in-second-life-in-10-easy-steps/

Now, I swear my first avatar was the second female down. If not her, then I ended up making my avatar very similar. I'm also almost positive I used or looked at the last female avatar on that row. But I will tell you, darlings, my memory is not the best. I forget what I had for breakfast five minutes after eating. I think I may be part cat in that aspect.

From http://adam-n-eve.co.uk/

Now, I think she may have been the start of an ALT of mine back in the day. From the webpage, she was part of a new default avatar set around 2008 or so. So, that's roughly right. Plus, to those starting Second Life, she is available for free in your Default Library as "The Girl Next Door". 

So, even in the little time I started, you can see a difference in the avatars. Our little woman in the pink dress was, at that time, considered the height of awesome for default avatars. Ah, but times have changed.

Which brings me to now and my challenge. While I do love many of the mesh advancements, I believe we can all agree they can get expensive. So, my challenge is to live in Second Life for as long as I can, as close to a classic system avatar as possible. Not only that but as a full free avatar, meaning I will not "pay" myself or use my main account to "gift" this account with anything. For now, anything I buy will be through Lindens earned through working in Second Life or finding ways to make money. I will post on those later.

So, let's see Iphigena, shall we?

Iphigena, the Default

Here she is, darlings! This is who I started life as this time around. Not bad, given that she is a default avatar. In fact, had I used her back in 2007, I would have been considered beautiful and on the cutting edge. She's rather cute, really. But, alas, as cute as she is, she's still a default.

I went out and made a few Lindens first. I spent those Lindens to fix myself up. 

Iphigena, the Second

Not too shabby, and she cost me only about $5L. The shape was handmade by modifying a default shape. As I sorta mentioned, Iphigena is not my main account. She's an ALT. In my main account, I have a habit of writing the portions of shapes I like and saving them on my computer. I pulled those measurements up and created a shape all my own. Shapes are the cheapest things you can make. As I said, this one didn't cost me a Linden, as I modified it to fit my needs.

The skin is from Seven Deadly S{k}ins. It's a $1L system skin called Kandice v 2, probably the only system skin they have now. I love their store, and use them for my main account. So, the skin is quality, and a real steal at that price. 

The hair is from Rezology, called Breakthrough. Again, only cost $1L. This company has a few $1L items to buy, and they are quality as well. I have a few of them saved for when I go shopping.

The shirt is from Sea Hole, where everything is $1L and basically made for classic avatars. I think I found my first favorite shop.

The pants are from Larry Jeans. It's from the Dollarabie pack, so guess how much it was. Yep. $1L. So nice, darlings.

The shoes, though you can't see them, are free flats I got on Orientation Island. You can complete some obstacles to help you learn how to do various skills in Second Life and are rewarded with fake dollars that you can use only there to learn how to buy. I got the shoes and that was it.

So, for about $5L, I was able to create a very nice avatar to start off with. I headed to some Freebie shops and hunted in the Marketplace for deals. I am continuing to make my Lindens, though only a few a day. I'm eager to see how far this journey will take me.

Next up: My attempts at money-making, week 1 and 2.