There is so much to do in Second Life, and all of the things you can do have so many subcategories. In my early days I used to go exploring. Today I had nothing better to do, so I took a tour of my favourite sandboxes, just to look at the things others are building.
For me, this is as exciting as it gets because you get to see the start of something that you might be the next big thing in SL. What if that prim that woman just rezed is the start of the next breedable pet? That big box with holes in it, might that be the new building for that sim I use to go to?
As an aspiring builder myself, I love to watch other people build. Every time I see it, I pick up something new. I learned how to align prims better, some texturing tips, what shapes fits for what purpose and many other things. The most important thing to learn can’t be teached by any school, it can’t be picked up by watching others and that is how YOU work best. There are several ways to do the same things, and some people find one method easier, others find another method easier and the only way for you to find out is by doing it yourself, experiment.
Sandboxes are public areas, so when you build you have already agreed that others will see what you build. Many don’t have a choice, they need the extended prim limit that a sandbox offers, but most people don’t think what they build is secret. After all, it is in the mind of the builder that all the secrets lie. With this in mind, there are a few things you need to conciser when on a Sandbox Safari (and this will mostly be a rehearsal from the Sandbox Etiquette article):
- Don’t go into other peoples builds. You might be in the way of the builder or distract the person.
- Don’t IM people you see building. If you want to know how that person did something, walk within 20m of him/her and ask in local chat. If the person is willing/able to answer, it’s fine, if not they will at least not be distracted.
- Don’t TP to an occupied skybox/sky platform without permission. These are ways of getting privacy and it is rude to go there unannounced.
With this in mind, go out there, look for popular sandboxes and see what ideas sparks in your mind. Or you can try to guess what the person is making before it is done. You could even try to guess if what the person is making is going to be sold, used privately or if it may be the next big thing in SL.
If you have some time to kill, go to a sandbox and get your thrills.