A "game" that is not for everyone.
Having been around this game since its beta days, I can say that SL has definitely progressed over time. Think of it along the lines of moving from the 1800s into the modern era.
"But how could it be in the 1800s?" you ask. Let me cite a few things that SL use to be back in it's first year and things it didn't have:
1) SL use to tax players - Yup! Taxes! Scary huh. Back in the early days of SL people were charged $10L to rezz 1 prim. On top of that there were light taxes, height taxes (in reference to how high an object was off the ground), land taxes, and so on. Bet you're glad those aren't around anymore.
2) No Teleport system - Oh my. However would we get around without the ability to teleport places? In the early days, people had to physically fly to the sims they wanted to visit.
3) No Ability to Track/Teleport players - Are you 5 sims over and have a friend wanting to visit? Well, get ready to fly for numerous minutes because back then there, again, no ability to teleport.
4) No player status in sims - Back in the days you had to physically fly into and around in the sim in order to find any "green dots" on the map (signifying players). The main overhead map didn't have this feature yet.
5) No custom animations - Yup, players were stuck with F1 through F11 for anything remotely animated.
6) "Vote" boxes - I'm sure at some point you've seen those little square green boxes that say "Vote" on them and record your vote. Guess what? Those use to be used for daily stipend, meaning the more people who clicked it, the more money you were given. This was discontinued around 2005 or so. In essence, the Vote Box is still considered 'active' to the misinformed player out there. Now you know!
Overall this is not a game for everyone. Some players come in expecting a guided plot or something to give it meaning. To put it simply, SL is a huge 'sandbox', meaning you are free to do and be just about anything you want. Creativity is only limited by ones imagination.
If you love to socialize, love to chat and interact, love to explore, or just love to dabble in things then SL is definitely still a game to consider trying.
Getting the basic controls and movements down can be daunting but if you stick through that phase you'll find a massively populated game (though even more empty sim) full of creativity places and people.
Best of all this game is Free To Play (FTP). With any FTP game, you also have the option of subscribing which will give you the benefits of weekly stipend (money) and a small plot of land.
And if you want a quick friend, just look me up in world ("Lynn Terra"). See ya there!