I’ve now wandered around a little in Second Life. I read about the virtual world in the Ocotber issue of Wired magazine, and it seemed a lot like the Megaverse in the book “Snow Crash”,

But it also seemed like it was very time-consuming.

I have played Star Wars Galaxies since virtually the first month it was online (it started in July, my subscription was a birthday present and my birthday isn’t until August, so I was a little late). In recent months they’ve ruined the game, but it has always been cool playing in the Star Wars universe.

Second Life is both less-fulfilling and harder, since it isn’t a game, with specific tasks to carry out. You just wander around and hang out, maybe earn some money. So I resisted, until the Swedish Institute announced it was setting up the first official embassy in Second Life. Then Radio Sweden had to sign up with them, and that meant I had to get involved.

I opened my Second Life account last weekend, right after the Swedish Institute announcement. I logged into Second Life, which takes us noobs to a place called Orientation Island, where you learn how to use the interface.

Let it be said at once, the interface to Second Life sucks. It is nowhere as good as the interface to Star Wars Galaxies, which is, in my mapping, mouse-driven. This arrow driven in Second Life interface is horrible.

That might have been one of the reasons I didn’t hang around. I logged in, walked around, and got kicked out after 30 minutes of not doing anything.

A couple of days ago I decided to check out what Reuters is doing in Second Life. I knew they had a presence from the Al-Jazeera report I posted on YouTube. I found the Reuters Second Life website, and clicked on a click, and suddenly realized it was opening the “game”. But I didn’t want to go to Reuters in Second Life, since I really did want to do the orientation, and work out how to work the clunky interface. So I logged out right away.

So today I finally had time to check it out. I logged in, only to find myself in the Reuters building anyway. I wandered about a bit, because if Radio Sweden is to have a presence in Second Life, I need to now what Reuters is doing there.

I wasn’t impressed. There seemed to be posters here and there with headlines, and if you clicked on them your browser opened on a Reuters story in the Internet. Big deal. I wanted scrolling headlines, like at Times Square.

I finally worked out how to teleport back to Orientation Island (only there were around a dozen of them). Then I could do the orientation, which didn’t go nearly far enough in explaining the clunky interface, and certainly didn’t explain how you make stuff in Second Life, which seems to be the major activity.

When you finished you got teleported to someone’s used vehicle lot, which was a bit of a disappointment. Who needs a vehicle in Second Life, when you can fly?

Anyway, the article in “Wired” talked about a place where you could get “clothes” that turned you into a dragon. Sounded like a good way to get out of my noobie garb. So I found their website, and teleported to the coordinates.

Only Luskwood Creatures wasn’t at the coordinates in their website. I had to wander around a bit (and my wandering is still pretty shaky) before I finally found it. I also had to buy some more money from the Second Life website so I could afford new clothes.

So now I am inside the shop and I see all the dragon costumes. But there isn’t a sign as to how one buys one. I think I had to go up a spiral stairway, which is not the easiest thing in the world with the Second Life interface. I wonder if they really want to sell stuff?

Star Wars Galaxies is a lot easier than this place.