Help Need Please!!!!!!

[Phil Deakins]

31 minutes ago, Aethelwine said:

I got positive reactions from people in world when I dressed like a pirate, so I got myself a pirate outfit in real life to wear. I recommend it it brightens people up

When is Talk Like A Pirate Day? Do you wear it for that, and talk like a pirate?

[CaerolleClaudel]

On 9/19/2023 at 12:39 AM, Persephone Emerald said:

I'm too poor to shop in RL, but playing in SL did inspire me to get an expensive Alienware computer, then cause me to need a new battery and keyboard for it.

Being able to have plenty of virtual stuff makes me feel like I don't need much RL stuff.

Same. I bought my first gaming computer in the mid aughts in an attempt to make SL work better, and have maintained one ever since. I stopped using SL but got into digital photography and found that gaming computers worked really well for that, also.

My first gaming computer was also Alienware!! I kept the same system for over 15 years, but upgraded the CPU and water cooler, motherboard, memory, graphics card, hard drive to SSD as time went on. I finally replaced that system earlier this year with another Alienware, and I love it. Since have upgraded the memory from 16 GB to 32 GB.

I also got a pretty nice set of headphones, as my main thing was going to clubs and listening to music. More recently I upgrades those to a *really* decent set, and bought a nice DAC/amp to go with them. That was mostly due to Apple adding Classical Music to their Music service, but SL got me thinking about nice audio in the first place, I think.

So while SL did not lead me to buying clothes IRL, I have spent quite a lot on electronics either directly or indirectly because of SL. I might have gotten into the more powerful computers and better audio without SL eventually, but SL did trigger my purchases in the first place.

[Aethelwine]

5 minutes ago, Phil Deakins said:

When is Talk Like A Pirate Day? Do you wear it for that, and talk like a pirate?

Ahoy me old mate, the talk like a pirate day been on Tuesday, 19 September, so ye 'ave a year to wait fer the next'un

[Phil Deakins]

1 minute ago, Aethelwine said:

Ahoy me old mate, the talk like a pirate day been on Tuesday, 19 September, so ye 'ave a year to wait fer the next'un

Oh

Then DID you use it for that day?

[Aethelwine]

14 minutes ago, Phil Deakins said:

Oh

Then DID you use it for that day?

It was just a throwaway comment I thought funny at the time. 😀

I have tried out dance moves I have learnt in SL, but I haven't started dressing like I do in world. Although if I could knit I might make the knitted shark outfit I get out for Halloween when I try to look scarey.

[Phil Deakins]

Aaw. So you don't have an RL pirate costume . Still, you can add it to your New Year Resolutions, to get one in time for next year's Talk Like A Pirate Day, me 'earty 

 

[Prokofy Neva]

On 9/18/2023 at 6:46 AM, Xiyuanbbb said:

Hi everyone, I am a Ph.D. student from Victory University of Wellington😀. I am doing a study on how your virtual experience in SL affects your RL consumption practices/patterns. Could you please share your experience with me😍?  If you could share some insightful ideas to me, I can be your girl in SL!  Thanks heaps for your help. 🤩🤑🤗

Hi, I think broadly speaking, consumption in SL and RL are unrelated for obvious reasons. This is very important for the brands to understand -- presumably the motivation for a study like yours. When Sears came into SL, perhaps they thought that people would click on a miniature representation of a washer and dryer and go online and buy real ones. But that's not how virtuality works. Sears would have done better to sell those miniature versions of their wares to avatars for use in virtuality. Sure, the revenue would be negligible with micro-currency in Lindens, but it would help spread the brand identity. Same with Coke; same with every other business that tried and failed to get traction in SL and blamed it on the lack of infrastructure in the Metaverse. The Metaverse is virtual; the goods for sale have to be virtual.

People don't want to make an actual representation of their RL persona and "try before you buy" -- American Apparel and others could see that quickly enough. Again, it's not how virtuality works. Virtuality is for the ideal, the virtual, on a scale of verisimilitude to fantasy, and that will produce its own dynamics of needs and wares.

How about decorating your home with virtual samples and buying real furniture? Again, that isn't happening and it's important to accept that and not keep hammering on the virtual to become real, but to enhance the virtual which eventually will be better blended with the real. Clicks that use an URL to simply take you out of the world to an Internet site aren't so attractive as people come to virtual worlds to be immersed in them, not as a means to go look at appliances online. Computer companies, crafts pages on Etsy -- very few of these have been able to use SL to sell things because there isn't the demand.

If anything, the time spent in virtual worlds consuming virtual goods and experiences REDUCES the demand for real goods. I don't go to the movies, buy a magazine, eat out in a restaurant if I spend 4 hours a night on SL. The virtual world is also expensive, so if you pay for SL servers for your business or even all  you do is kit out your avatar and go to clubs and leave tips for musicians, your RL money has to go toward that, which means less expenditures in real life for entertainment.

In conclusions, the answer is:

To the extent that SL even affects RL consumption, it is to reduce it at the expense of consumption of SL goods and experiences. 

There isn't a parallel to a fashion in SL then converting to one in RL -- if anything, it's the reverse.

[Prokofy Neva]

On 9/19/2023 at 1:32 AM, Xiyuanbbb said:

I appreciate your perspective and understand your points about the distinct differences between virtual worlds like Second Life and real life. It's true that buying groceries and making everyday choices aren't directly affected by our virtual experiences. However, I believe there are indirect ways in which virtual experiences can influence and relate to our real lives.

For instance, engaging in Second Life can enhance creativity and design skills, which can carry over into the real world. Many people use virtual environments to learn about digital design, architecture, programming, and even marketing. These skills and experiences can be beneficial for career development and personal growth. Moreover, the social interactions and relationships we build in virtual worlds can enhance our communication skills and understanding of diverse perspectives, which can positively impact our real-life relationships and interactions.

I would be genuinely interested in hearing more about your perspective and understanding if you've had any experiences or observations that led you to your current viewpoint. It's essential to have a respectful exchange of ideas to better comprehend different perspectives on this matter.😍

That's a valid point, but it's not consumption, it's building capacity.

I agree that SL can build skills. I now have a PhD in physics for having run SL servers for 19 years LOL : )

Seriously, my son, who was on the teen grid, and later spent a bit of time as an adult in regular SL, puts SL in his resume to this day and it actually helps him get follow-up queries and clients. It's not ridiculed by people in technology as you would think from the tech media that often scorns it. My son and his friends learned business, technology, and social skills as young teens by having a mall and quest game on an SL sim that they ran for several years. They became proficient in managing at least this little virtual business and in making content. To some extent, this is transferable.

Although I do think that in some ways, SL is a skills backwater. That is, unless you are very good in blender and a top creator, you can't really use the inworld tools or even just Photoshop and MidJourney (as I do) to build a business. It's a small enhancement at best. Even so, I love doing it. 

I don't know if it has ever been studied and measured -- whether SL skills acquired in management and content creation help gets jobs elsewhere. I can only say anecdotally that it has for some. For others, hoping to make a big splash in SL and amplify their skills, it has been a disappointment and they left.

SL is mainly for communing with the souls of others, often their best parts. Virtuality brings forward the parts where people can get along and thrive, and hides the parts that divide and annoy them -- generally speaking. Of course, it's also for some about the virtual body -- but that is part of the ideal soul as well. 

So it's the social aspect that drives SL and the consumption to support that is also within the virtual world itself, in terms of land and clothing and mesh bodies, etc. That's why people are saying that the most expensive consumption they have done since joining SL is to get a better computer or graphics card.

 

[Prokofy Neva]

On 9/20/2023 at 12:49 AM, kisket said:

This seems like a person who has just discovered SL and is possibly overwhelmed by the descriptive information available online. Everything written shows lack of knowledge. There are references to dating  "I can be your girl in SL!," and not knowing the difference between SL and RL brands "For the brand I knew from SL, I will try to buy the product from the same brand in my real life." The unusual use of the word consumption "RL consumption practises/patterns," with the misspelling of the word practices, and the use of emojis show either an attempt to elicit responses, an attempt to relate to others, or might just be a mediocre translation from a foreign language. The person might be attempting to appear knowledgeable and educated in order to have the post appear valid and be accepted. This may be someone who is confused about what SL is, perhaps a parent of a child who uses SL, and is quickly trying to find out what SL is about without actually participating.

I understood the awkward phrase "I can be your girl" as not any sort of RP reference or dating, but a female variation of "I'm your man!" meaning -- I'm the go-to guy. She is styling herself as the go-to person on this question. I think that's all there is to it. 

[Randall Ahren]

22 minutes ago, Prokofy Neva said:

That's why people are saying that the most expensive consumption they have done since joining SL is to get a better computer or graphics card.

Who has been saying that?

[Aethelwine]

42 minutes ago, Randall Ahren said:

Who has been saying that?

rasterscan on page 2 said it, I think others may have said similar.

I upgraded my internet connection partly for SL, but I think upgrades I have done for my PC would have happened regardless of SL, although certainly nice for it. 

[Persephone Emerald]

3 hours ago, Randall Ahren said:

Who has been saying that?

A couple of us said "Alienware", which is an expensive computer brand. We've also referenced servers and replacing parts.

[Rowan Amore]

8 minutes ago, Persephone Emerald said:

A couple of us said "Alienware", which is an expensive computer brand. We've also referenced servers and replacing parts.

My previous laptop and current laptop are both Omen gaming set ups from HP...and I don't game.

[AmeliaJ08]

I'm just such a nerd that the thought of owning a machine without dedicated graphics hardware makes me want to cry even if the most graphically demanding thing I do is Second Life.

That said when Cities Skylines 2 comes out I'll maybe feel a little more justified.

 

[Love Zhaoying]

19 minutes ago, Rowan Amore said:

My previous laptop and current laptop are both Omen gaming set ups from HP...and I don't game.

Love my new Acer Nitro 5 "gaming" notebook - works fine with SL. (I had no idea what to expect.)

[Randall Ahren]

4 hours ago, Persephone Emerald said:

A couple of us said "Alienware", which is an expensive computer brand. We've also referenced servers and replacing parts.

Cool. Thought it was just me that thought SL was too expensive because of the hardware required to get those flying body parts to coalesce in less than five minutes.

[Kathlen Onyx]

12 minutes ago, Randall Ahren said:

Cool. Thought it was just me that thought SL was too expensive because of the hardware required to get those flying body parts to coalesce in less than five minutes.

Shrugs, I have a run of the mill Dell and it works fine.

[colleen Criss]

On 9/22/2023 at 4:13 AM, Xiyuanbbb said:

Yes, your guessing is correct, I admit I have not used and experienced for a long time. So, if you played it for a long time, how did it affect your real-life consumption|?

It has no affect on RL. Why would it?

[Sid Nagy]

11 hours ago, Randall Ahren said:

Cool. Thought it was just me that thought SL was too expensive because of the hardware required to get those flying body parts to coalesce in less than five minutes.

Says the one who wants to make SL even more expensive by introducing expiring licenses for bought products in another thread.
What is it? "I like a cheaper SL"  or "I like a more expensive SL"? 
I'm a bit confused now.

[Arielle Popstar]

17 minutes ago, Sid Nagy said:

Says the one who wants to make SL even more expensive by introducing expiring licenses for bought products in another thread.
What is it? "I like a cheaper SL"  or "I like a more expensive SL"? 
I'm a bit confused now.

Probably wants a more expensive SL for thee but not for me!

[Randall Ahren]

5 hours ago, Sid Nagy said:

What is it? "I like a cheaper SL"  or "I like a more expensive SL"? 
I'm a bit confused now.

Creators don't have a monopoly on the market, unlike the Lindex, Marketplace, the exchange for cashing out,  and premium subscriptions. There is only one party that runs that, and it's pay the price or do without.

If you think a creator's product is too expensive for the features provided, don't buy it and buy a cheaper competing product.

Edited September 25, 2023 by Randall Ahren
Correct typo.