Dana in Geeksville

Multitasking Fun in Second Life

It's pretty hard to dance while playing a game, and reading and writing email. In fact, it would just be a bad idea. But in Second Life all of that is possible and more.

This year kicked off with a fun night going from club to club, dancing the night away in various virtual settings. I met lots of nice people, saw wonderful holiday costumes from the typical Santa hat, to snowmen, to walking sparklers. My focus that night was mostly  just on dancing and enjoying the music.

But as I moved into the New Year, I made some other entertainment discoveries in Second Life.

Fishing turned out to be great fun. I don't fish in real life, but in SL I found myself reeling in all kinds of cute sea critters that swim around me as I choose. They are colorful and entertaining. But fish aren't all you reel in. You can also catch various items of clothing, parts to build vehicles, and aquariums to put your fish in if you don't want to wear them. Additionally, you can catch jewelry, or hair and new skin for your avatar. In other words, lots of free stuff! Well, not entirely free. You do have to buy the pole and bait, but those costs are minimal.

Standing there fishing all day can get about as boring as really fishing, however. A friend introduced to me to this wonderful game called Tiny Empires. Tiny Empires is a medieval-themed multiuser online game within the virtual world of Second Life. The goal of the game is to cultivate a cadre of loyal followers (subjects), and ascend ranks by amassing gold and land. You play it via the use of a HUD (Heads Up Display). When you click Wear, the game appears in the corner of your screen in a small area you can also minimize as you see in the picture on the right.

This game is easy to play while you're fishing, dancing, or doing anything else in SL. When offers come in that you need to make decisions on, you are alerted by the sound of a gong. This makes multitasking your fun incredibly easy. So, while you are reeling in fish, jewelry and other goodies, you can also acquire land, buy work equipment, or sell land. Not to mention, checking and responding to email now and then.

Once I got the hang of fishing and playing Tiny Empires, I didn't hesitate to go dancing at Arthur's Tavern, which is near my new house. The community where I live is a fun one. Several nights during the week, and on weekends, the Tavern has dances and contests. The first night I won 105 Linden dollars in a word game, and tonight I got about 40L more from stomping balls that came out of an exploder at the ceiling. The theme for tonight was Best in Red with DJ Kuroda, so we came decked out in our funnest or finest red garb to dance for several hours. Arthur, however, is in his usual black leathers, lol. The owners promise more such events, including possibly having a Slumber Party! I'm looking forward to PJ shopping for that!

Be sure to stop by Arthurn's Tavern one night and join the fun. Make sure you have your Tiny Empires HUD on so you can play the game while dancing and socializing!

Posted at 09:32AM Jan 04, 2009 by dananourie in Virtual Worlds  |  Comments[0]