This is the tenth in a series of interviews that are being conducted with new residents, in order to gauge the effectiveness of the orientation process, and to gauge disparities between the preconceptions and the realities of Second Life. The questions may be tailored slightly for each interview; responses may be edited for purposes of clarity.

Tirellia Zenkova is a new friend of a friend in Second Life. Despite being so recently arrived in Second Life, Zenkova already feels that she has found a place in Second Life where she is comfortable and is among friends: unlike many people who enter Second Life, she arrived with a purpose in mind - to become a roleplayer in Saijo City. Having a goal in mind, and timely and helpful intervention during her earliest hours, kept Zenkova inworld long enough to start enjoying things.

Second Life Name? Tirellia Zenkova.
Second Life Age? 24 days.

Where did you hear about Second Life?
I think I first saw something in a newspaper article. Might have been The Sunday Times. I have seen mention of it online before but didn't pay much notice. It was the newspaper article that told me a bit more.

What was it about the article that made you decide to try Second Life?
Nothing. I filed the information away for later. It was only when I read about Spin Martin's Saijo City project that I decided to sign up and join Second Life. I suppose the things I'd seen before made it sound like SL was like the Sims games. The article suggested there was more to it, and Saijo made it worth joining.

Which portal did you come through, if you did not come through the standard process? (for example, "The L Word", NBC, Azure Islands, Mainland Brazil, Big Pond, NMC Campus, Anshe Chung Dreamlands (chinese), Second House of Sweden, etc)
The standard process. I didn't know there was another way.

Which aspect of orientation do you remember best? What did you like/dislike about about the orientation process?
Hah. Well, the thing is, I don't remember anything about it. I hadn't a clue what I was doing and ended up on one of the Help Islands almost immediately. So I missed all the basic things which might have been helpful. [On Help Island], I wandered round aimlessly and it was very frustrating but then someone just appeared in front of me and started to explain how I could do things, showered me with free gifts and gave me some Landmarks. Without her I'd probably have given up.

If Second Life different to how you expected it to be, in what way is it different?
Two things. The level of creativity here exceeds what I was expecting. Everything from chairs to plants and spaceships and hair and clothes, all designed by the residents of SL. I had no idea. And secondly I have been lucky to meet a good number of very nice people. I was expecting more rudeness from what little I'd read.

What do you like/dislike about the user interface for Second Life?
I find things like the camera controls hard to use but they are very flexible. I find the Inventory hugely frustrating, but generally I suppose it is pretty good. I suppose the biggest annoyance is having it all crammed into the same window. It's not like MS Office or web browsing with tabs. Everything is in the same window and that gets a bit cramped.