This is the 11th 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.

I met up with 1angelcares at JJ's Coffee Bar in Shawangunk, where the fire light set off 1angelcares' skin perfectly. One of her missions in Second Life is to have her avatar look as much like herself as possible so as to increase the feeling of her own personal immersion in the fantasy of Second Life; she took digital photos of herself and did a side-by-side comparison so as to improve verismilitude. She feels that "In SL, looking like a 'real' person is being a rebellious non-conformist," and suggests the tag line, "SL, where the abnormal is normal."

Second Life Name? 1angelcares Writer

Second Life Age? 16 days

Where did you hear about Second Life? (Be as specific as you are able.)
It was a free class offered through my city's continuing education system. I had taken a typography class with that instructor and got on his mailing list. When he offered the class, he e-mailed us to let us know about it. That's how I "discovered" SL.

The instructor of my class suggested we create our avatars before our first class meeting, but I didn't stop there and jumped right in a week ahead of time! Despite my being pretty clueless at first, it was easy to teach myself. I also went online and read some articles. I was actually helping other students once class began! (I have "helpful Tourretts" syndrome. I just can't stop myself from helping people!)

[I certainly know what that feels like -- Tat]

Which aspect of orientation do you remember best?
Learning to fly! That's something I couldn't do in other virtual experiences. I thought the "falling and landing on your face" animation was quite hilarious, also.

What did you like/dislike about about the orientation process?
It was pretty well organized, but I never did figure out how to get that third star in the "moving around" section. The completist in me was bothered by that.

One thing I wish I'd known as a newbie was that, once you leave Orientation Island, you can never get back! That confused me for a while, because I kept trying to find it again!

[There is of course Orientation Island Public, but it is a copy of one of the old ones, not the current new kind -- Tat]

Do you remember anything about camera controls from the orientation process?
I didn't find out that clicking "alt" lets you see your avatar from the front. Maybe that's why I never got that third star in Orientation? I learned camera controls by reading about it in an outworld article. Oh, and learned about "alt" showing your av's face from another newbie!

Is Second Life different to how you expected it to be, in what way is it different?
Oh, looking back, I was hopelessly naive not to realize that there would be TONS of sex. A couple of times it's been, like, "Hey, there are a bunch of people over there! Whoops!" *teleporting away quickly* I was so used to the sanitized world of The Sims, I just wasn't expecting SL to be so hypersexualized. No, seriously! You'll just be walking around and, whoops! there it is! But when you are at a tiki bar and there is a pose ball that says "Make love" on the countertop... well, that's SL for ya! I just take it all in. My av's eyes are wide open for a reason!

[Must have been to the Maldives Islands sim. It's PG, but I remember tiki bars and lots of public sex-balls --Tat]

It was also pretty hilarious when I realized "camping" didn't mean putting up tents and making s'mores.

How have articles about Linden Lab and Second Life affected your experiences and participation in Second Life?
I didn't read [any negative articles] until after I had already made the jump inworld, but now that I've read them, I find myself more leery of spending any real money here. Like buying property or investing too much in "virtual" items that may disappear with LL should they go under.

What do you like/dislike about the user interface for Second Life?
I like it. It's pretty intuitive. I read about how to bring up the Client menu and that made it even better.