Second Life has been around since 2003. While many regard it as a vestigial relic, bygone of internet long-past, you may be surprised to know that many people still log into this massively-multiplayer online sim game every single day.
Inquiring minds want to know what Second Life’s secret is? Exotic vistas, virtual reality support, and an enormous community to get involved with make Second Life an experience unlike any other.
Do People Still Play Second Life?
The short answer: Absolutely. More than 900,000 users actively play in this vast virtual world despite its age.
Second Life unleashes you onto what is, essentially, a giant sandbox environment. Players hang out in real-time, attending events like concerts, parties, and digital seances with other users remotely. It’s an incredibly social experience, which may have something to do with why it’s been able to stick around for so long.
Customization is definitely another—user-contributed expressions, outfits, objects, hairstyles, and scripted events can all be used to personalize your world and your avatar’s appearance. With players constantly creating new in-game elements, there’s always something fresh and new to see or partake in.
What You’ll Need to Play Second Life: How to Get Started
Joining the Second Life Community is as easy as downloading Second Life and diving right in. While an advanced graphics card and plenty of RAM are always ideal, those balling on a budget will be glad to know that Second Life demands relatively little of your system.
The recommended system requirements for Second Life include the following:
- Windows 8.1 and up, or the latest macOS release
- A 2 GHz computer processor
- At least 4 GB of memory
- A high-end graphics card, although this isn’t a hard requirement
After downloading and installing the game, we recommend checking it out for a while before laying down any cash on a premium account. If it ends up being something you love, you can sign up for Second Life Premium for access to the entire Second Life universe, unrestricted, uncensored, and unabridged.
How Much Does Second Life Cost?
The Second Life pricing sheet is a lot to take in at first; you can sign up for a Second Life premium account on a monthly, quarterly, or annual basis—$11.99/month, $10.99/month, and $8.25/month, respectively.
It’s totally free to play Second Life with a basic account alone, but a premium Second Life subscription includes all of the following:
- Your own Linden Home within the game
- Virtual goodies and rewards
- Premium-exclusive regions, sandboxes, highly-populated locations, events, experiences, and adult-only areas
- Live chat and an increased cap on missed instant messages
- Voice morphing
- An in-game currency transaction history
Buying land is another consideration for hardcore Second Life players; moving, transferring, or purchasing a region will cost you dearly. Private region sales run $349 per region. And, just like in the real world, you’ll also need to pay property taxes on anything that you buy. You can see for yourself how this works on the Second Life Pricing List.
You can choose to pay your dues either in US dollars or through the Lindex system, a currency exchange service that converts real money into Linden Dollars, Second Life’s national currency. You can also use this money within the game to buy assets, objects, and additional real estate within the Second Life world.
Second Life Lives to See Another Day
We’ll be honest: in our short time playing Second Life, we found it a downright bizarre experience, but it was far from an unpleasant one. It’s an uncanny escape into cyber-reality, and the Second Life community cannot get enough.
If you love to explore, build, and boogie down virtually with strangers, Second Life just might scratch the itch for you.
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