Dawn Quest

OK, making a tag that says 'This place is lame'within 30 seconds of landing at Linden Realms was a little harsh. What's a girl to do when the 5 am Airport run has been accomplished on only 3 hours sleep: it's too late to go back to bed. So that leaves the Number 1 Editor's Pick on Showcase: Linden Realms  " - Go on Quests! Win L$$$!" 

I'm in favor of L$$. You need a mesh-enabled viewer for this place: this is the Linden Realms landing place in Imprudence and, below, in Viewer 3. 

Changing viewers borks your clothes, apparently that's a Bonus Quest.

It's basically PacMan for avatars. You arrive at a central portal...

...where  'U got a boyfriend' is still the No. 1 classy pickup line among noobs,  it seems. Multiple offers of voice chat and friendship, yadda yadda yadda.

 

An oldbie who shall be nameless said: "Can someone please explain to me why everyone is flocking to a Linden Mole build sim i.e. a Linden owned and designed sim they featured in their own Destination Guide - it is almost artistic onanism." 

It was a rhetorical question. It often is.

Step through any portal, and LL puts a HUD on you automatically. It detaches when you leave, and remembers your score when you come back. 

Finally I meet the Master...

When you use viewer 3 you realize that people have lost their minds with alternate names and tags. It's like another planet - Planet Tritetag. Upside of Linden Realms, there are a lot of people about, and many are funny and willing to share their grasp of the game with fellow players. I encountered a profile picture which was hands down the most beautiful I have ever seen: kudos Ms Lazy. Sorry i didn't catch her actual name.

I can't really get behind mesh - the trees make me want to shout 'Oh Toodles' and I hate Disney. Now This is a forest:

Straylight/Botanical

not this:

From the starting point, portals radiate out across the realm. Bottom line, you collect crystals (by running through them) and eventually convert them into money. I'm a loooong way from doing that. It's reminiscent of Noob island, aimed at honing your arrow key skills, remember that? Never did really master walking purposefully, as you know. Quick tip:  set Move to 'always run'. With good reason (it is a quest, no cheating!)  point-to-point tp-ing and flying are disabled. 

 Tyrah's workshop contains vials, maps and the machinery for converting your crystals.  She sends you to various destinations, or you can mooch off  independently, towards picturesque sounding places. 

Places that when you get there, all look the same: stones and cone trees on rolling hills. There are rivers of toxic water, they're all toxic, which may be a metaphor, remember I'm operating on 3 hours sleep.

These are the 'monsters'. wwoww. What they lack in cuteness they lack also in menacingness, which is not a word. Menacosity? Again, no.
Sprinkled on the grass are different colored crystals (see me run!) which accrue to your HUD according to colour.

Pacm... - sorry I mean 'rock monsters' ... lurk nearby ready to roll over and eat you, sending you back to a local hub. Which gets old fast.

There are also caves, more of the same, (plus mushrooms) which are even more pacmanic, perhaps, since you're in a tunnel when the rock monsters show up.

Linden Realms is quite fun really. If you're up at a weird tme of day and a bit bored, or if you want to meet some completely different people with whom you can be bemused and frustrated, or if you're a fan of cheesy builds, this could be the place for you.
LM? I think you'll find it easily enough by yourself.