Avatar Styles

[emodorito]

Hey all, 

So I have had my account for over a year now, but just got into SL properly recently. I really love all the different styles of avatars, so I feel somewhat conflicted over what kind of avatar to make.

My main questions I'm asking myself is:

• Should I make a separate avatar for each style I admire? (human, anime, animal) or stick with one avatar to explore all styles on? 
• Do SL citizens not like others who switch up their avatar styles? I'm not sure why this thought popped in my head but I wondered if people would be put off if they see me looking different.

What is your experience with exploring different styles? 

[Charalyne Blackwood]

Be whomever you wish to be. Have one avatar with 10,000 styles, or have 10,000 avatars with their own style. I'm either a petite woman or a tall slender demon or a drow vampire. Be you at all times and the people who matter will enjoy your presence no matter what you look like.

[Echelon Alcott]

Your imagination is the limit.

I have tons of different styles/looks for my avatar. From human (multiple iterations), cyber, neko, furry, tiny, animals (many types), and so on.

14 minutes ago, emodorito said:

• Should I make a separate avatar for each style I admire? (human, anime, animal) or stick with one avatar to explore all styles on? 

It is really up to you. I personally keep all styles in my avatar. Having said that, people do have alts; for instance, it is common for people to have an avatar of one gender, and an alt of the opposite gender. It is also quite common to have multiple alts; for instance, one alt for fun and a different one to conduct business. Hope you get the idea.

18 minutes ago, emodorito said:

• Do SL citizens not like others who switch up their avatar styles? I'm not sure why this thought popped in my head but I wondered if people would be put off if they see me looking different.

I don't have first hand experience, as I usually stick to my human avatar, and usually its most recent iteration. From reading these forums, I understand that this can be bothersome to some people. But honestly, this is YOUR second life; don't be bound by what other people think. We already have all those societal constraints in RL.

21 minutes ago, emodorito said:

What is your experience with exploring different styles? 

It is fun! 

[LilNosferatu]

You should be perfectly fine having several avatar styles on one account! For instance, my mainly used avatar is anime-style catgirl, but I also have a furry version, and then I have a normie human style for when I feel like conforming with everyone else. 😋 It's super easy too since you can save each one as an "outfit" and then change between various complete avatars in a single click, and it's convenient since you wouldn't have to log out and log into a different alt just to go from a typical human club to a furry one.

People usually don't seem to mind if someone has multiple avatars! I'm sure they might feel odd suddenly hanging out with a big rainbow colored dragon if they were expecting another human, but you can always just poof back into your human body so it's all good. 😄 You can always put it in your profile that you use a variety of avatar styles, or "shapeshift" as a lot of people call it, then friends will be more aware that you could potentially look very different from time to time~

That said, even if people did have a problem with it????? Screw 'em. Make whatever avatar you want, go wild. It's your SL experience. ^^

[Ayashe Ninetails]

11 minutes ago, emodorito said:

What is your experience with exploring different styles? 

You can pretty much do it any way you want. All of my avatar styles are on this single account (humans, aliens, mermaids, a vampire, demons, a rather fashionable orc who loves her evening gowns, fairies, a siren, elves, a rusalka, a stone statue with animated waterfall and birds perched on my head, ball-jointed dolls, used to have a marionette with custom animations I made for myself but it's ancient so I may have to revisit that to update everything, zombies, some bony-clawed nightmare with a missing torso and visible skeleton wearing the cutest dress with pretty roses (I'm fun at parties), got some reptile skins somewhere I need to dig out one of these days, a creepy Queen of Hearts in progress, a fox, and a deer with delicious food or wilderness survival gear stuck in my antlers - depending on how hungry I am at the time). I just put a note in my profile that I'm pretty fluid and entirely ridiculous and not always human, not that it really matters. People who know me know to expect shenanigans. People who don't know me that well - welp, they learn really fast. I just find it easier shopping with one single account for all my skins, bodies, heads, hair, accessories, etc. Though, my inventory probably doesn't like it. 

The only real somewhat negative experience I have is when I swap between furry and human heads using Outfits. Terrible, vile things can happen to mesh when you do that too much and I look like something out of a horror movie (unintentionally, for once). A quick relog fixes it, but sometimes I forget and run around with my jaw 8 feet in front of me (that's one of those fun glitches that I don't always see, but other people tell me they do!). Though if we're being honest here, I've worn that glitch with pride on purpose, too.

Other than that, some of those avatars just aren't ideal for wandering around. My mermaid AO has me soaring through the air, and forget trying to walk around as a large stone fountain with flowing water. It looks even more ridiculous than I'd like it to when outside of a staged environment (like for photos). I just sort of...glide, as one does... 

[Maitimo]

I do all my different styles on the same account, so I doint have to buy new bodies and heads for loads of alts. Its MUCH cheaper to do it all on one account

[Orwar]

   It's entirely up to you how you want to organise your SL, which styles to pursue and how to accommodate them.

   When it comes to deciding whether to make multiple avatars with their individual style(s) or keeping everything on one avatar, there are a few pros and cons to consider, such as:

• If you have everything on one avatar, you can mix and match stuff across the styles.
• A single avatar with multiple styles is likely to have a larger inventory to keep neat and tidy.
• If you have several styles on the same avatars, you can't* take group pics with all your styles in the same shot. *Well, you can, with some photo editing trickery.
• If you want to have multiple styles based off of the same body, having multiple avatar would require you to purchase the same body for each individually.

   Personally I currently use 3 avies (which can be broadly categorised as my 'main'/'me', a male with a predominantly Gothic style, a female which reflects the same type of style who gets access to the much more varied female clothing supply, and another female avatar that was supposed to be a photo double/prop who quickly went off becoming her own thing). For me that works well enough, I've had to buy a few doubles for the gals, but for the most part they're individual enough that they can get similar but not the same to accommodate a bit more variety. They're all predominantly human, though they all do have some different extra bits such as wings, horns, tails, hooves, and the like.

   The one thing I have failed to organise properly is who gets to buy furniture and such. Currently my stuff is pretty spread out across all three, as I'll just pick stuff up as I come across it, and it's just convenient to buy furniture on whichever one I'm raiding the weekend sales with. Vehicles is another such thing, where one has my train, another has a few cars and boats, and the third some other cars, a helicopter, and a horse - so if I want to go boating or horse riding I have to choose which avatar to use based on who has what. It's not really an issue, but it's something which, in hindsight, I could have solved more intelligently.

[Marigold Devin]

6 hours ago, emodorito said:

Hey all, 

So I have had my account for over a year now, but just got into SL properly recently. I really love all the different styles of avatars, so I feel somewhat conflicted over what kind of avatar to make.

My main questions I'm asking myself is:

• Should I make a separate avatar for each style I admire? (human, anime, animal) or stick with one avatar to explore all styles on? 
• Do SL citizens not like others who switch up their avatar styles? I'm not sure why this thought popped in my head but I wondered if people would be put off if they see me looking different.

What is your experience with exploring different styles? 

Welcome to Second Life forums, emodorito.

This is my main account, and she is old-style non-mesh, at least for now. I have been in Second Life for 14 years and this avatar reflects mostly my personality, and used to always have red hair because I have red hair in real life, but I got a bit more 'adventurous' with that (laughs). 

Personally I like to have different avatars for different moods, and used to spend a long time in world on other avatars as well as this main one, and they are all very different; a male human, a female child, a cat (basic avatar found in the inventory's library section), a couple of other female avatars.  

This main one has an out-of-control inventory and my new year's resolution is to finally get to grips with it. All the others I have kept quite basic. 

People won't be put off if you change your style on a regular basis, and by doing that you will probably find one particular style that will fit and that you will possibly lean more towards. 

Go with the flow and just enjoy yourself. 

And please take some photographs and bung them on this other thread too. (Take a look for more inspiration - there are all kinds of shapes and sizes and species among us.)

 

[Marigold Devin]

This is also an interesting read. 

 

 

[DemeraraGirl]

@emodorito I believe everyone here have great points about multiple styles of avatars. It's really up to you.

In my experience, when I made my first two alts, I created them because I wanted to play with different styles, but then I wanted to try more and more styles, so I realized that it's much cheaper and easier to keep everything on my main avatar. 

[Marianne Little]

I think you should maybe have one alt, because it is really handy to have.

If you will set up security and wonder if you really did it right and it works? Do not add the avatars name and let him/her try to enter. If you will test animations for two persons and will not ask an unknown person: "Hey will you try this bed with me so I can see if I like the poses?" 😟

If you want to buy Mainland and use the group bonus, you should really, really use an alt as the second person. If you like to take pictures, the alt can pose with you.

The economy is a factor. It is expensive to have more than one account. But now these days we have a free great quality head for both male and female, better use that opportunity.

If you will have 2 avatars, I suggest you use one for the furry, especially if you want a body that is furry and not human. Also if you use a human body with furry head, legs, paws and such, the furry parts will need special items like skins, eyes and more. A furry head will often use a bit different hairstyles and an AO.

It is easier to imagine human/amine sharing stuff. Amine is a very special human, but still human. Same head can look very different with a special skin. I am thinking about skins like Heaux compared to Lara Hurley skin. (Both are free now and made for the free female head.) They can perhaps share hair and accessories too.

For changing between different kind of avatars... It would not matter to me. I think I have heard others say it. Some have a strong prejudice to furries, or they call amine underage. People will always have something to complain about. You can not please all, and why should you, it is your account, your Second Life and if people give you crap, mute and move on.

[Echelon Alcott]

6 hours ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

The only real somewhat negative experience I have is when I swap between furry and human heads using Outfits. Terrible, vile things can happen to mesh when you do that too much and I look like something out of a horror movie (unintentionally, for once). A quick relog fixes it, but sometimes I forget and run around with my jaw 8 feet in front of me (that's one of those fun glitches that I don't always see, but other people tell me they do!).

I'm wondering if Avatar > Avatar Health > Undeform Avatar will address the issue you've experienced in the past, without having to perform a relog.

[Ayashe Ninetails]

5 minutes ago, Echelon Alcott said:

I'm wondering if Avatar > Avatar Health > Undeform Avatar will address the issue you've experienced in the past, without having to perform a relog.

Funny enough, I was told about it after doing Undeform! I saw it, did a quick undeform, refresh attachments, rebake routine, etc. and looked fine on my end. A friend who was standing right next to me while I swapped still said...uhhh..ummmm errrr ahhhh I see your face is a bit.. uhhh ummm... Bwahahaha. Did it again. It didn't fix itself on his end until I relogged. It's such a funny glitch that I don't mind it, but I got in the habit of doing a quick relog before leaving my place if I've been shapeshifting a bit too much, lmao.

[Wulfie Reanimator]

8 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

Funny enough, I was told about it after doing Undeform! I saw it, did a quick undeform, refresh attachments, rebake routine, etc. and looked fine on my end. A friend who was standing right next to me while I swapped still said...uhhh..ummmm errrr ahhhh I see your face is a bit.. uhhh ummm... Bwahahaha. Did it again. It didn't fix itself on his end until I relogged. It's such a funny glitch that I don't mind it, but I got in the habit of doing a quick relog before leaving my place if I've been shapeshifting a bit too much, lmao.

Those are "local" fixes as you discovered! Your friend can undeform you on their own screen as well.

Or, once you've done it on yourself, you can just move out of their view or teleport to another region.

Anyone who comes around to see you after you have undeformed yourself won't see you messed up either, even if your friend still does.

[Rowan Amore]

10 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

Funny enough, I was told about it after doing Undeform! I saw it, did a quick undeform, refresh attachments, rebake routine, etc. and looked fine on my end. A friend who was standing right next to me while I swapped still said...uhhh..ummmm errrr ahhhh I see your face is a bit.. uhhh ummm... Bwahahaha. Did it again. It didn't fix itself on his end until I relogged. It's such a funny glitch that I don't mind it, but I got in the habit of doing a quick relog before leaving my place if I've been shapeshifting a bit too much, lmao.

Reset skeleton and animations from the pie menu?

[Ayashe Ninetails]

1 minute ago, Wulfie Reanimator said:

Those are "local" fixes as you discovered! Your friend can undeform you on their own screen as well.

Or, once you've done it on yourself, you can just move out of their view or teleport to another region.

Anyone who comes around to see you after you have undeformed yourself won't see you messed up either, even if your friend still does.

LOL thank you! That is so good to know.

[Nalates Urriah]

@emodorito I think you will have gotten the idea you can do whatever you want in regard to avatar appearance and do it with a single avatar. So, I'll touch on some nuanced points.

In the Appearance panel we have OUTFITS. With a click you can totally change your avatar appearance from a gerbil to a mermaid to a hot babe. Most Alts (aka alternate avatars in separate accounts) are made for accounting or inventory control. Think of someone with a store with an inventory 10,000 items and all the things it takes to make the various items in SL. Inventory management gets REALLY complicated.

As to what people think... there is no one on the planet that knows what SL residents think... other then we do not all think the same way. Don't worry about it. We have people from hundreds of countries and cultures participating. Some are tolerant and others still think it is a good idea to kill those that do not conform to their ideas... the later group is growing in the Western countries.

You will find communities and games in SL that have 'appearance requirements'. It isn't that they don't like other styles, well... may be a few do - we have our share of haters, they just want a certain style for their game. Take the Amazon River RP game as an example. The idea is to be playing in the current day Amazon. So humans and animals are acceptable. Everything else breaks the fantasy, Space aliens and furies don't fit.

As you look through the groups in SL you will find a group for everything of which you can think. In the Destination Guide you can find regions dedicated to hundreds of styles of play. So if you identify as a female Gorean or a furry fox there is a group and place for that.

As to whether you will be liked or accepted... SL has a collection of wonderfully gracious people and total a__hole jerks and every possible mix in between. You'll meet them. I am sure you'll readily identify in which group they belong. Select your friends here as carefully as you would in real life.

Enjoy... and welcome to SL.

 

[BelindaN]

My preference is to use alts for experimentation. My main avi has a big enough inventory without adding more!

[Tama Suki]

14 hours ago, emodorito said:

Hey all, 

So I have had my account for over a year now, but just got into SL properly recently. I really love all the different styles of avatars, so I feel somewhat conflicted over what kind of avatar to make.

My main questions I'm asking myself is:

• Should I make a separate avatar for each style I admire? (human, anime, animal) or stick with one avatar to explore all styles on? 
• Do SL citizens not like others who switch up their avatar styles? I'm not sure why this thought popped in my head but I wondered if people would be put off if they see me looking different.

What is your experience with exploring different styles? 

I don't understand why anyone should care about the avatar you decide to wear as long as it's not offensive in some way. I don't think there is a need for etiquette around here.
The beauty of SL is that there are no limits in this sense.

[emodorito]

Thank you all for your input and the warm welcome!! I really appreciate all the responses. It really helped me decide that I don't need a bunch of alts. I am going to have 2 accounts for a female and male avi that I will explore all styles on.