Away From Second Life

Recent changes in RL routine and work schedules keep me away from SL these days. I have told a few friends in SL that I will be away for quite some time, not exactly because I am waxing sentimental, but because recent global events (you know, natural disasters like earthquakes, uprisings, nuclear crisis and such) have made me quite of a paranoid.

When you have established some form of friendships in the virtual world, you will find that it is harder to keep track of their safety. Think Japan tragedy. I have a number of Japanese friends in SL and I honestly was so worried about them that I was overjoyed to see them get back online.

At any rate, I remember talking to a friend in-world about the amount of time most people spend in Second Life. I came across a few interesting articles about Second Life addiction. No, I do not wish to pass any judgment on people who spend hours in SL. Certainly people have various reasons for doing so, and definitely NOT ALL of these people are sad. I am quite sure that in spite of the statistics, NOT ALL people in SL are depressed. (Many are, but it will not be fair to generalize.)

The issue of Second Life addiction crossed my mind recently because I am presently spending my “away time” from SL, and I wonder how other people fare in keeping themselves off the virtual world. For me, it is quite easy to do this. Why is that?

The idea is to have many various things to do in RL. I quote these symptoms from a related post. (Read the entire article HERE.)

SYMPTOMS of SECOND LIFE ADDICTION

Psychological Symptoms

Having a sense of well-being or euphoria while playing SL
Difficulty to stop the activity
Craving more and more time at the computer
Neglect of friends and family
Feeling empty, depressed, irritable when not in Second Life
Lying to family  and employees about SL
Problems with job or school

Physical Symptoms

Headaches
Backaches
Eating irregularities
Failure to attend to personal hygiene
Sleep disturbances

Ever have any of these?^^

If you think you have been spending a lot of time in-world (like more than 12 hours a day), I seriously suggest learning a new hobby, or add a little more dimension to your RL, like running or taking photos. 🙂

There is no need to be too rash. It would be too radical to quit SL; it would not be wise, really. Emotions and values of loyalty and fealty do exist and are valid values in SL. Some friendships in SL are actually genuine and I believe in this – frankly, my friends are my biggest reasons for staying on in SL.

My take on the issue of SL addiction is, I am for anything that adds dimension to life, and anything that drags your life and relationships down … should not be encouraged.

See you all soon in-world. 😉

Another website of interest HERE.

Valentines Day SL Musings: Some Icky Experiences and Pick-Up Lines In My Entire SL Existence

I have been in SL for like over 900 days, and my SL is replete with the most incredible, banal, mind-boggling, boring, and generally, interesting experiences.

Perhaps the experiences of many other girls in SL may be more graphic, but I, too, have my own share of instances of getting picked up. Luckily in the C:SI community there are not much of these lecherous guys (but there are still a few, trust me on this!), which is why I feel very secured hanging around in C:SI SIMs more than anywhere else in SL. Why, it appears that even a very harmless store like a Japanese gesture shop can be invaded by men who would force you into dating them, hahahah! Besides, only a few non-sword wielding men would even dare mess around with a female samurai or ninja, yes?

On a more serious side though, I am a victim of multiple stalking, thus accounting for the creation of alts for my security. This, by far, has been one of my graver experiences, and many times I have contemplated on deleting the marika410 account.

But heck, it’s SL and like in RL we find ways to circumvent things and eventually laugh at crazy instances. Let me enumerate some lines and instances:

1. I used a slightly svelte alt one time and tried to use a nagi (a long combat stick) in one of my spars. One of the opponents commented: “You not need nagi because you have nice legs.” Eow, that sucks.

2. One time my alt wore something with a plunging neckline. It was a combat outfit and a samurai, whom I have previously observed to get easily titillated, remarked: “Please, can I say something? Your chest is pretty and I do not know where else to look.”

3. I accepted an invitation of a relatively new acquaintance. Nothing romantic in my mind really. It was an air ride on what appears to be a flying cup zooming around the forest. The guy often remarked: “Ohh, do not hold my hand too much.” Duh, presumptuous. It’s the first and last time I accepted an invitation from him.

4. A Portuguese man friended me after a few meetings. He one time brought me to a cove filled with pose balls. I obliged, the noob that I was then. He said: “Sit on the pink ball.” I sat and suddenly I saw him without clothes with a penis to boot, quickly sitting on a blue ball and starting humping. Ugh. I don’t like, I said. He unfriended me promptly.

5. I showed my house to a male friend, whom I have overestimated. I thought it would be ok. My house has a Japanese bath. He saw the Japanese bath tub and he remarked: “So, what do you want to do next?” I said quickly, we go back to the main area. The nerve!

6. In my early years I was playing Zyngo and this Brazilian dude suddenly came up to me and attached his penis over his jeans. LOL! It was so crude!

7. Probably one of the biggest lies I heard: someone telling me, “You are adorable.” Because a few months after he said that, he was saying the opposite. Hahahahah!

So really, I have learned much since I was born in SL sometime 2008. And I have chosen this way to be less exposed to icky men, icky pick-up lines, and icky experiences.

That is, to be a samurai. 😀 😀 😀

As my good friend Ai Ugimachi would say, “Only sex and katana for Marika!” LOL!

So, Happy Valentines Day y’all!

[photo courtesy of RainO Tenk by way of Jiryn Mhia^^]

How To Play The Latest Version Of Zyngo (2011)

I am writing this post because I get asked (randomly) about the seemingly confusing new game mechanics in playing Zyngo.

For SL regulars who have had the chance to pass by gaming areas, you would probably know what a Zyngo machine is. Playing it is akin to playing a Bingo game. A spinner at the bottom flashes 5 numbers per round, and you just click the corresponding numbers on the board until you fill it up.

Now for you who have played Zyngo at some points in your SL existence, you may have found out by now that the way to play Zyngo has been changed. I do not want to explain the reasons anymore. Instead, I will just show you how different it is now to play Zyngo.

A few of my friends know that I have a gaming account. This is the only account that I use to visit the gaming areas. So with this alt, I entered one of my favorite gaming centers, Arcadium.

I picked out a freeplay Zyngo machine. For those who are very new to playing freeplays, you need at least 1 Linden to play. The system will ask you to pay 1 Linden. The machine starts to run and the Linden is returned back to you.

1. The start of the game. Note the spinner below (the row with four numbers plus the angel.) One of the newest feature of the machine is that there are letters at the bottom left corner of the numbers and the angel. These letters are only to indicate the corresponding score that the number will produced when matched to the same number on the board. Letter Z yields the highest score, and letter O the lowest.

2. In the course of the game you will see numbers that appear in some boxes that you clicked. The number indicates the number of “special symbols” that are adjacent to the box (EXCLUDING the boxes in diagonal position). Think similarity to Minesweeper.

There are 4 symbols on the board that correspond to a bonus: the blue joker, green joker, angel, and diamond. When a spinner reveals a number that produces any one of these symbols, you get a bonus. The same case when the spinner reveals a joker and you use it to click a special.

However, you get an even bigger bonus when you do not use the numbers or jokers revealed in the spinner to guess the box with the special symbol.

3.  So in this case, I have just clicked on a box which flashed the red number two. This means the box has two special symbols around it. These symbols, the green joker and the angel, has already been opened. I need not guess where the other two symbols are (blue joker and diamond) since they too have already been found. This means that I should not waste my time clicking on the other numbers blindly anymore. Doing so will lead to a DEDUCTION in score. This is another feature that is not present in the old Zyngo gaming system.

4. I just placed some red marks on the special symbols.

5. Wow! I completed the board. 😀

Now take note of this. I completed the board at Round 12. There are 20 rounds for a single Zyngo game. What does this mean? See the next photo.

6. The board refills, giving me more chances to increase my score even more. Yet another feature not found in the old Zyngo game.

You will find these instructions a little easier to understand when you have been playing Zyngo for quite some time. Otherwise, this would probably mean hardly anything to you.

A detailed description of the mechanics can be found in-world. Just click on a Zyngo machine and it will dispense a notecard that will guide you on how to play the game.

One more thing. I do most of my gaming at Arcadium. The people here are nice, the machines are fair, and I have really sentimental and fond memories of the SIM. Check out Arcadium here.  http://slurl.com/secondlife/Saphoria/89/183/22

And, hey, see you around. 😀