2. SL location Review

During my time getting acquainted with Second Life, I  have visited a variety of different places. I would like to address here, three very different locations and my thoughts on how they compare and how they fit in to the wider world of Second Life.

One place that I found remarkable for its accuracy is Venezia City http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Yumix%20Prada/138/107/22

Here is a photo I took in RL Venice

I recently visited Venice in RL and I stood in this very same spot on the Rialto Bridge looking over the Grand Canal. The view in this SL created Venice is very much the same. The narrow streets ending canals and the souvenir and clothing shops that line the streets are just as I remember them. What is noticeably lacking  are the tourists taking "selfies" every few feet. When I stood on this bridge in RL I was surrounded by people jostling to get a better view. This is an experience I have frequently had in SL, in which I visit a "recommended" place and find it virtually deserted no matter what time of day or night I choose to log in. It is somewhat disconcerting to see a place one has been and has experienced in  RL and then see that same place in SL, looking very much as it does in reality, but almost as if all of the humans have been removed. The sensation for me at least is one of discomfort, that makes me contemplate the ephemeral nature of human life in comparison to the things we make and leave behind us. Embedded in this thought process is the question of the permanence of virtual worlds, will this Venice out last the real life version?

                                                                          This is my own "selfie" in SL Venezia

Moving on...

Another location I  visited in SL is 2014 Easter Town http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Elizabeth%20Town/66/75/22

This is an example of an entirely fictional place that takes elements of the Easter holiday and Louis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland to create an entirely unique and fantastic environment. This particular space was designed for the Easter Holiday for 2014. The name implies that this is one of a number of virtual spaces that exist for a particular time or event. The purpose and ascetic of this space is in direct contrast to "Venezia City".  Interestingly this location had several other SL citizens visiting while I was there and seemed to be generating some interest. 

The last place I would like to address has elements of both of the above locations, but also has some aspects that make it really very unique. Creative Fantasy at Shadow Brook http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Shadow%20Brook/171/211/26 is a beautifully designed fantasy space. It has natural outdoor settings, quaint cottages, walled gardens with unicorns and other fantasy creatures. Where Venizia City is a realistic representation of a RL place, this is a believable fantasy. It is believable in the sense that it is carefully rendered and includes natural settings that could exist in some form in RL, but that would never actually be seen together in such a pristine state. It is much like the 17th century Dutch floral paintings, in which carefully rendered flowers are portrayed in a vase arrangement that looks believable but would in fact have been impossible due to their different growing seasons. It is an idealized version of the most beautiful aspects of the natural world. The times I have visited this location, I have been the only one present in the area. The solitude adds to the ethereal sense created by the design, although it is likely that it was the intention of its creator that many people would visit. 

These three very different locations showcase a small number of the possible types of SL experiences one can have. While these places really don't address the social aspects of SL that many users are after, They appealed to me for their ascetic and experiential aspects.