Meh, tried it once then thought it was pointless. Its just a world where you can go and talk to friends, there is instant messanger for that, and IM is free!
The amazing thing about it is its growing fast another million joined it last month with around 17,000 on at any one time. All users have the ability to write scripts and create 3D objects for it and sell them on and offline allowing the 3D world to grow massive rapidly. If you have your own business you can create a virtual version of it in the second world. Any cash you make can be sold for real cash on websites to loaded people wanting to get a head start. Theirs a woman on the news made enough linden dollars to sell for 1 million real dollars she made this much by buying land developing it and selling it. At a first glance it does seem usless and the learning curve is huge but once you start to earn you have buying power to grow your career.
i d/l this game a while back to have a quick go. When i tried to teleport to different places through those signs, it didn't work and took lots of tries. Also, is it normal to be able to fly in the game? lol