Today I was caught in a dreaded region restart, the bane of Second Life.  I decided while I waited for my home region to be brought back online, I would head out and see how the other half lives. By other half I am referring to the avatars that don’t spend their time in shops, or clubs, or role playing.  For them Second Life is an interactive, virtual chat room.  I searched for and teleported my way to Ahern, and immediately discovered that the welcome area was the social heart of Second Life.  There are conversations galore taking place there.  I landed and there was one group arguing, one group talking about education in second life, and another couple of people talking about romantic connections.

Of course I have been there for about five minutes when one of the welcome area guests decided he would try and draw me into a conversation, first with a silly question about my group tag, and then moving onto a little flattery.  He was a perfect gentleman and never tried to get me involved in anything more than a flirty chat, but so is the way of the welcome area. He wanted to talk about the site, about my home that was restarting, and about the weather in my real world.  This was a welcome change for me, when I hang out in clubs; a lot of the random conversation tends to be geared towards finding a couple of poseballs and getting to know each other a lot better.

If you are anything like me and you enjoy a good relaxing bout of people watching, I suggest you pull up that second life search box and type in “welcome area”.  The welcome areas always have a nice crowd, and it’s one of the few places on the grid that all types mix.  There are noobs sitting on a bench talking with second life super models. There are furies running around holding conversations with aliens.  It is the melting pot of our second life, and a place often forgotten by us fashionistas and club bunnies, until the grid goes down.

Your assignment this week is to find your way to a welcome area, engage in conversation with someone that you normally would not give a second look too.  It is time all of us who have been in our virtual world for so long to step outside of our little boxes. We need to go back to our roots and remember what it is that makes our Second Life so rich. It is more than just the shopping or the fashion shows or the clubbing.  It is a social world and too many of us forget that when we get caught up in the latest grid wide hunt or hottest live performers. I have been to too many places in my two years on this grid where everyone just stands around and no one chats.  Thank You Linden Labs for forcing me to return to my roots and remember what this life is all about.