Designing Your Second Life (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: dark green shirt, add friend, private island property, Second Life, Linden Lab, Designing Your Persona (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Whether your second, virtual life has just begun, or you’ve been “in-world" for a long time, a successful and rewarding experience depends on your mastery of design. Everything from your avatar to your home, your clothes to your behavior says something about who you are and the way others see you. In this book Rebecca Tapley—“Mera Luan” in SL—shows you how to design everything from bodies to earrings, cars to castles, for improved appearance, function, and usability. Real-world topics such as urban planning, color theory, user experience, interior design, and landscaping are mapped to SL conditions. Learn how to spot the best skin and hair, clothing, architecture and construction, property for sale, and more. In addition, Rebecca’s insights and observations on Second Life etiquette, manners, customs, and other subtle socio-cultural realities will help you make your way through this new and sometimes baffling world. Have a more rewarding second life by learning how to:

• Create a realistic or fantastical avatar
• Make gorgeous clothes and other luxury goods
• Build impressive homes and planned communities
• Develop whole islands
• Establish a social community and career Life.

About the Author

Rebecca Tapley is an author, content management consultant, and jewelry designer in real life, and a virtual island developer in Second Life. Her career as a published writer covers business, graphic design, and Web site design software. Her consultancy client list includes Razorfish, Nexon USA , and Pearson Custom Publishing. Rebecca lives in metro Boston. Visit her blog at www.designingyoursecondlife.blogspot.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: New Riders Press (July 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321503015
• ISBN-13: 978-0321503015
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #729,885 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars promises more than it delivers, August 26, 2007

By	K. Allman (Charlotte, NC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a useful book ONLY if you are terribly new to Second Life. I've only been in SL for 3 months and knew everything in the first half of the book. I learned a few things in the second half, but "designing" implies more than what this book offers. It sounded like a book for those who wanted to go beyond editing appearance, but it's not. It only briefly touches on more advanced concepts. If you need beginner's information, try A Beginner's Guide to Second Life or Second Life: the offical guide for a decent tour book.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not very useful for a non-newbie, December 10, 2007

By	Stephen Gray (New York, US) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Unfortunately this book suffers the same problems as do so many Second Life "tutorials" -- it is written as a beginner's guide rather than a resource for non-newbies. Therefore it re-hashes all the basic subjects that have been dealt with in other places and offer little that is actually new.

If you are completely new to SL, you might want to buy this book. Or the Official Guide, or any of several others. But only buy one of them -- otherwise the information you're paying for is redundant.

21 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointing, August 9, 2007

By	Kenneth Sutton (Boston, Mass., USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Not a how-to (which the author does state), but it does have some how-to-ish sections. There are many misleading opinions, errors of fact, or editorial gaffes:

p. 10: "So using the Search feature in-world is tremendously flexible, scalable, and responsive to whatever updates or other changes might happen to SL at large."

p. 15: "512 sq/m [sic] (the smallest possible parcel)"

p. 16: "Second Life is three hundred and sixty degrees different."

Screen shots are very dark.

Some sections only make sense if you already know what's going on.