Have you read it? Editorial: Why Second Life is the perfect model for a mature, fully evolved virtual world capable of emulating modern social VR platforms (Has anyone ever wondered why I bother writing about 20-year-old Second Life when there are so many other new metaverse platforms I could cover on my blog?).
For most of the past 17 years, I’ve been in the virtual world of Second Life, spending a lot of time alone fiddling and fiddling with the endless options for avatar customization that the platform truly excels at. In fact, I got (and still get) great personal satisfaction from designing complete avatar shapes from head to toe as cheaply as possible. Because this hobby was basically a solo activity, I didn’t feel the need to hang out with many people. In fact, I often wanted to be alone and work in peace.
But sometimes, especially during the last four years of the pandemic, I find myself actively seeking out crowds. Maybe I want to attend an event where a bunch of other avatars will be there to show off what I just put together. Maybe I wanted to investigate something a little secretly different What my avatar was wearing to get some fashion ideas to style my avatar. (In fact, I get to know many creators’ stores this way!)
Whatever the reason, it’s natural to want to be around other people sometimes. Even if the place to do so is in the virtual world! Here are some tips and tricks for finding popular places in Second Life.
Search: Sort places by traffic
The oldest, perhaps most common, and controversial method is to perform a keyword search from a place in the search menu and sort by traffic. Linden Lab calculates this metric as follows (source):
Traffic volume is a numerical metric calculated for every land parcel in the world. This score can be summarized as the cumulative minutes spent on the parcel by all visitors who visited it in the previous day. (The values ​​shown in About land (Based on data collected from midnight to 11:59 PM Pacific Time) Calculated by dividing the total number of seconds spent on a parcel by 60 and rounding to the nearest minute. For example, if a parcel’s cumulative time during the day is 121 seconds, its transit score is 2.
Why is transportation controversial? This is because many stores, clubs, and other venues sometimes “park” Alts (i.e., additional dummy avatars created explicitly for this purpose) for system games. Sometimes these replacement objects will be parked at the venue itself, and other times they will be hidden in a skybox high above the venue, out of sight.
For example (yes, in this case is Name the place and try to shame it) Foxxies Banquet Hall is known for appearing high on venue lists when searching for terms like ‘official’ sorted by traffic. But every time I’ve visited over the past few years, I’ve seen so many green dots on the map that I thought it was busy, and every time I visited, I saw dozens of the same couples “dancing” and even some “playing instruments” – all bots! So please be aware that many places use this technique to game the system and make it seem like they are more popular than they really are. Foxxie’s is serious about this, and honestly, they deserve to be called out on it!
Bonnie Bots: Regions sorted by number of avatars
If you have money to spend finding crowded places using hourly updated metrics, the Bonnie Bots website has you covered! Because it’s updated hourly (rather than daily like traffic information), I’ve found it to be one of the best places to find hot events and parties. However, you should be aware that this also applies to the same kinds of “games” as described in the previous section (in fact, there is no way to avoid it).
Also here is the list of Bonnie Bots: regionWhat we old-timers often call “the Sim” (256 x 256 square kilometers), and not a parcel, The same goes for traffic information under place search. That said, this method of detecting hotspots is less detailed. One of the sought-after parcels in SL that is abandoned and neglected could push Bonnie Bot higher up the rankings.
While a painfully large number of the most popular locations tend to fall into the Adult/Gender category (if you look at the location listings, you’ll see that each location is categorized as General, Moderate, or Mature), the website can also provide some surprising information. . Famous places you’ve never been to. For example, the Bonnie Bots list brings you to the Empire Club, an upscale theater where every Friday night, packed houses gather on comfy couches to watch choreographed shows set to various musical numbers, followed by performances. I found a place called . We invite you to come on stage to dance to more music! Otherwise I would never have found this place.
Destination Guides: A New Way to Find Popular Places
Linden Lab recently released another update to its destination guide, which now displays the number of avatars currently in that area.
You can also perform a keyword search and choose to sort your search results based on the number of avatars in the searched local list. (Unfortunately, sometimes the search options don’t include this new feature, so I haven’t figured out why I sometimes see it and sometimes don’t!)
Other Tips and Tricks
- If you have a favorite club or a place you frequent, you almost certainly have a group of some sort (either a regular SL group or a subscriber group that doesn’t take up valuable group spots!). Join the group and stay updated on what events are happening!
- Chat with friends, acquaintances, and even strangers in Second Life. Ask them what their favorite places are. You might even find a new place to spend time!
- I have a nasty (but enlightening) habit of perusing other avatars’ profiles, where I usually check two main areas to find out about popular places they frequent. First, find out what groups they belong to (if they’re not hidden, you can usually click on them to find out more about each group and the club or venue it’s associated with). Second, click the Featured tab on your profile and see if you have any locations listed there. This is usually how you find out which stores they own.
Something your What are some tips and tricks for finding busy places in Second Life? Please feel free to leave a comment, thank you!
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