Book Report

Second Life is exactly that to the people involved with it. It is a not a game as many assume, but a simulations where people can go and experience a life that they do not or cannot have in real life. In Second Life they are not limited to where they are or by what is physically possible. In Second Life you can do anything and be anything you want with only limits are you imagination and money you are willing to put in to your Second Life. Second Life for Dummies by Sarah Robbins, Mark Bell is a great book for helping someone jump into Second Life for the first time or a regular user looking to expand their knowledge of Second life.

The book starts off with a brief explanation of what second life is and some interesting facts about the origins and culture of Second Life. It then goes on to getting Second Life to run smoothly on your computer by making sure all your hardware and software is set up correctly. Then with very detailed instructions accompanied by pictures the book walks the new user step by step from choosing which account type is best to getting through the first login tutorial. Following that it familiarizes the user with the interface and going into enough detail to entertain someone who is already involved with Second Life. The book then goes into great detail about customizing your character to look how you want. It then shows how to change every aspect of your character and how to organize your character’s inventory of items. Following that it shows you techniques to contact and increase your social network by inviting and finding friends and join social groups with similar interests as you. The last half of the book is on something that affects your daily life whether real or in the Second Life universe, money. It goes through everything from describing how the economy works and how you can exchange the in-game currency for real world money. It gives helpful tips and example on how you can secure your Second Life income whether it is selling a product or providing a service.

Second Life for Dummies while being a very detailed and helpful book, it is not for everyone. It is not for people who have no or little interest in Second Life or those who have trouble operating basic computer functions. For people that interested in Second Life, but not sure where to start and those already involved in Second Life and want find out what more they can do. I would recommend this book to them as the valuable resource it is.

The strong points of the book is how well organized it is. Fining information in the book is very easy and logically placed. The clear step by step instructions along with the pictures showing the screen at every step is extremely usefully ensuring that the reader following along keeps up with the book and does not get lost. I did not identify any weak points in the book. It accomplished what the book intended to from the beginning and it did with clarity and focus. It did not make the mistake a lot of other how to books do by over reaching its topic and being too detailed in some areas and not enough in others.

At first I was not particular interested in Second Life. I had heard about it before, but assumed it was just another game and left it at that. When I first choose this book, I did so only with the intention of increasing my general knowledge and had no intention of starting a Second Life. After reading Second Life for Dummies by Sarah Robbins, Mark Bell I am now quite interested and will soon be starting my own Second Life.