interview | Nissa Nightfire

Posted on October 14, 2009 by Ana Lutetia | 1 Comment

Second Life name: Nissa Nightfire
Rez Date: 11/14/07

evoke-ribbonslingback, originally uploaded by nissa.nightfire.

1 – How did you discover Second Life and what made you create an account?
I first became aware of Second Life through my professional life. I’m a librarian specializing in web and educational technologies, and many people in my field have been experimenting with providing information sources and services inside a virtual world. I have to put a plug in here for the amazing information professionals I’ve come to know. Librarians often suffer from an antiquated public image. But, in fact, most of the librarians I know are working fast and furiously to stay on top of advancements and trends in technology, and to stay relevant to their “customers”. Librarians are in Second Life just in case it, or something like it, becomes a place for them to be effective professionally (I don’t think we are quite there yet). I created my first account just to get a personal peek behind the curtain.

2 – How did you come up with your Second Life name?
That was a really arduous process! I didn’t know anything about SL Name Watch then, so was haunting the SL account creation page, looking for something that caught my eye. And, I had a vague idea of creating a fairy-type AV. “Nightfire” spoke to me because I’m very attracted to the element of fire, and it seemed to serve well as a fairy name. I googled “fairy names” and looked for one that went with Nightfire. I like alliteration — so Nissa was born. Those of you who know me, know that I am not anything remotely resembling a fairy now …. but my name seems to translate well enough, so I’ve stuck with it. (And, I have nothing against fairies — I love them — I just am not one after all)

3 – Lots of people only stay inSL for a week or a month after creating an account. What made you stay and what motivates you to log back in?
The first time I logged in (not with Nissa, but another account) — I stayed a couple of hours… felt uncomfortable with the whole experience, and was frustrated that I could not begin to make my AV look like some of the pictures on the website. That was before I knew anything about prim hair, or skins. The resources for new residents then were not even close to what they are now. And being completely foreign to all kinds of gaming environments — I was completely a fish out of water. I went away and didn’t return for almost a year. I finally decided to give it another shot (still being talked about in my professional reading) — and I started from scratch. Like any librarian worth her salt, I researched Second Life extensively. I discovered a wealth of information on the internet — mostly blogs (and fashion blogs, at that), and was finally armed with enough guidance to make a go of it. I created Nissa, logged in, and never looked back.
What keeps me coming back is the creative community, which I admire tremendously, and the terrific people I’ve come to know, and in some cases, to love dearly. As much as I enjoy my First Life (and I do), Second Life gives me a unique opportunity to imagine and experience new pathways — and I feel completely enriched by it.

4 – What have you been doing in SL? Tell us your story: what have you been up to or what have you created.
Due to my frustration with adjusting the “look” of my AV that I mentioned above, I spent a whole lot of time early on delving into the depths of the fashion industry. In fact, I still spend a whole lot of time thinking about avatar identity. I spent some time reading fashion blogs, consuming virtual goods — and eventually became a fashion blogger myself. Someday, I’ll write an entire post about all the slife skills I learned from involvement with the SL fashion industry! I am still blogging — altho’ sporadically at times
I’ve dabbled in a few other areas of SL business — opening my own shop, managing rental properties, drafting business documents, working with the administration a service business — I like to learn by doing, and how people conduct business in SL is a big interest of mine.
More recently, and perhaps most importantly, I’ve tried to spend very intentional time and energy fostering relationships in SL. That is a whole other topic all by itself!

5 – Have you found, developed or improved any skills because of SL?
I have actually found SL to be one big educational environment … so this could be a very long list! I won’t list them all Perhaps the area of skills and knowledge that has most impacted both my lives is the use of social media tools. The ability to connect with personalities and expertise from all around the world has been astounding — not to mention extraordinarily useful.

6 – Could you share a funny or awkward story that happened to you inSL?
I have apparently blocked all of these out of my mind!

7 – What would you change or improve in Second Life?
At the risk of sounding too much like Miss Pollyanna — I’m usually reasonably happy with my SL experiences. I have a fairly high tolerance for borkedness. The things that make me bang my head on the table are usually on my end of the internet connection. I would, however, love to see some changes in the avatar mesh — especially whatever it is that makes your crotch area look terrible in lingerie or short shorts. I’d love to see clothes and jewelry and hair that can hang naturally and not poke in weird places. And better facial expression would be absolutely lovely!

8 – Can you share your current and/or future projects for SL?
As I approach the start of my third year in SL, I’m looking to focus a lot of my efforts on building up my store, Mapgie. I participated in my first trade show this year — the Jewelry Fair– and was very encouraged by the response. My plans for the upcoming year include expanding my building and texturing skills, and improving the construction and design of my jewelry.

9 – Have you ever had any issues whatsoever within Second Life? If so, how did you reported and was the feedback positive?
The issues that I’ve had that required LL support have really been few and quite small. I’m a premium member, and have relied on tickets, or occasionally Live Help. I feel like I’ve always gotten prompt and polite help. With Live Help — I had to escalate the issue beyond the front-line responder — but even the front-line person was courteous and attempting to be helpful I have not yet had any issues with other SL residents, thankfully.

10 – Is Second Life merely an online game or do you consider it more of a metaverse or a virtual world?
Perhaps because I have had absolutely no experience with gaming previously, I have never considered Second Life a game. I definitely think of it as a metaverse or virtual world.

11 – Imagine a new resident asks for your help. What would do? What would you tell him/her?
I love the idea of helping a new resident who is willing to ask for help. I think the most important things to tackle first are appearance (in the sense that you look the way you would like to look — not necessarily like a model), and making friends (even a small community will help to sustain you while you are finding your way) I would probably point them in the direction of some of the excellent resources available — depending on what exactly they are interested in doing in SL. I do expect people to do some of their own homework and practice…. but I love an opportunity to fill in some of the gaps, or explain something a different way if it is still baffling. And — if we seem to be compatible in personality or interests, I’d love to become friends, and be part of a new resident’s social community. My best words of encouragement would be to give it patience and time.

12 – How would you describe yourself in one word?
Open

tuli-luck-yuli_005, originally uploaded by nissa.nightfire.

Your urls
Blog: http://magpiemetaverse.wordpress.com
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21080218@N07/
Plurk: http://www.plurk.com/Nissa_Nightfire
SLurls:
Magpie: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Osa%20Menor/29/76/23
Magpie: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Juicy/173/38/24

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