My Newbie Note for men

I've gotten a lot of requests to post this...


Hello!

One thing you will find is that on Second Life there are lots of guys, and very few men. It is not easy being a man in Second Life. The fashion is not as good, the rules are complicated... And you may have noticed that you didn't come into SL with everything that nature gave you in RL.

This freebies box is here to help fix some of that, but of course you have to use it well to do well in Second Life. Over time you will want to do better, making or buying more things, however these will take you from cartoon newbie status, "playdo" is the term we often use here, to something more presentable.

The first thing that is you is your shape and skin. They work together to be how your body looks to other people. First try on shapes until you see one that you like the basic idea of, pay attention to your face, trust me, the ladies will.

Then you try on skins one at a time, until you find one that really works well with the shape you have picked. Don't be afraid to try a different shape. Some of these shapes can be edited in the "Edit Appearance."

These are just to start, and you will eventually want to work your shape and skin, or buy better ones. But these are *the best* free ones you will find, and many businesses will try and *sell* them to you. Don't fall for it.

Next is hair. Unfortunately men's hair in Second Life is one of the areas where the deficiency for gentlemen is most pronounced. However, the basic rule of hair for both genders is simple: unless there are special reasons, prim hair is good, "clothing" hair is bad. Hair in SL works this way: you wear the "bald" first. Many men do just that, and either have a buzz cut from their skin, or that classic masculine look of shaved scalp. For the right kind of man, it can work very well.

But for most people, you will then wear "prim hair." It is an object, not "hair" per se, and it attaches to your skull. We've included a clean cut look here, but there are others out there for you to choose from.

Next is clothes. There is a selection of simple evening clothes here, which you can take to any formal club in Second Life.

Then there are shoes, which are also prims, only they attach to your feet.

But we aren't done yet! Have you noticed how you walk? Not really graceful. That's why you want to wear the powerwalk attachment. This is actually an AO (animation override), to which you can eventually add other animations, especially to get rid of that ugly crash landing animation. But for now, you can just wear it and make a better impression.

But let me tell you one of the most important secrets of second life.... Make outfit. Once you have an outfit assembled... shape, skin, eyes, hair, shoes, dress and so on, go to edit appearance. Then click on "Make Outfit." You will get a menu. Check all the boxes, clothes, attachments and so on. Then in the text box, give the outfit a better name than "New Outfit." Save it. Close the appearance menu. Click on inventory, and in the white text box at the top, type in the name of the outfit. You should see a folder with that name. If you drag this folder on to your avatar, it will take off everything you are wearing, and replace it with the outfit you just created. Do this for all your outfits. The folders will be in your "Clothing" folder. This means less fiddling around looking for the right clothes if you keep things organized. More time for what is important, less time fishing in inventory.

As you've noticed, there are many guys on SL, they don't behave well, and really, don't tend to do well. Good manners and knowing your way around is very important in Second Life, and men who know how to treat a lady tend to have as much company as they can handle.

So what happens when you have gotten that far? We've included a few things that will help. These are some things you don't need to wear all the time, like hug and kiss attachments. You wear these, type in /hug or /kiss .

There's also the matter of, well, manhood. Because things just aren't the same without it. In here is a penis and HUD. You don't want to put those on quite yet, but instead want to wait until you are alone with that special some one. These are scripted, and have options for cybering and responses. There are definitely better ones on Second Life, such as Sensations and Xcite, but don't settle for less than what is in here.

Second Life can be very good to men who know how to live the good life here, and know how to show a lady a good time. At in SL, we appreciate the good life, and have put this package together to help you get going on it quickly, rather than spending hours fishing through freebie warehouses.

The rest is in your hands.