Second Life

This was my first experience with second life or any kind of simulated world, and I found most of it easy to use. The initial demonstration island helped me with anything that may have posed a challenge. I enjoyed the flying feature, not having to walk or drive everywhere would be nice. I built my avatar as much as I could in the tutorial and tried to get off the island. Once I figured out how to get out of the tutorial I looked for a few spots to explore. I went to Boston Island, and Boston Nightlife but there was no one there.
Hawaii was next, went to the beach but I was a little overdressed. There weren't any people around there either, and it was nothing like the real Oahu. There were just a couple of houses that I couldn't enter. I took advantage of an outdoor bathtub at one house and took a bath with my clothes on.
Next I went to Dublin. Dublin was pretty cool. The Sim-Dublin is based on the real city and it has the Guinness Brewery, Trinity College, St. Stephen's Green, O'Connell Street, and Grafton Street. It also has a few pubs and stores. I found a free tour and gift pack which included a Guinness and a "Blarney Stoned" t-shirt. I went into a pub and immediately saw a woman get knocked out by a man, and two guys grinding on a girl. Good times.
I can see why this virtual world is popular. You can travel to places you may never get to opportunity to see in real life, and interact with the city and the "people" who live there. Its an appealing idea, but one that I don't find personally very interesting. I cannot see myself devoting the time an energy into this game to make it worthwhile. Investing actual money into an online personality and life doesn't seem like something could justify doing. I understand that some people who are into this game actually make money at it, and I applaud them, but I prefer to keep my time and money invested in reality.