Out of Date Tools + Upload Fees = Gouging Creators

[Lauren Mortal]

I just got done making a new tattoo for my MP store, an activity that was beyond frustrating.

This is how many upload attempts were needed to get the positioning just right. This is also due to the way mesh bodies stretch and deform textures if you don't get the positioning just right.

That's 13 attempts. 13 times 40L = 520L

Since there's no way in-world to freely adjust the positioning of the tattoo, creators are getting hit with a fee for every single bump in the road on their project! It is beyond ridiculous at this point. Even a game from 2014, The Sims 4, allows players to freely move a tattoo around the body without the need to re-upload a texture more than one time.

I understand that uploading should cost something, because it's data being stored on a server somewhere. That is not the point I'm trying to make here. The problem is that SL's creator tools are completely inadequate for creators at this point, so much so they're having to upload way more than they should need to. At the end of the day a simple tattoo like this will only sell for about 120L - 250L, since that's about as much as a customer would be willing to pay for a simple tattoo. Why should I even bother? 

If Creators get fed up with this outdated platform, we all lose. Including Linden Labs. It was either greedy or shortsighted (or both) of them to increase the upload fees for 2k textures but not improving creator tools along with it. Needing to re-upload a texture over and over again was always a problem, only LL just went and made it a 4x as expensive problem.

 

Edited November 19 by Lauren Mortal

[Rowan Amore]

Can't you use the beta grid and upload for free or use local textures?

[Nuuna Nitely]

Use local textures, it's great for tattoo alignment. Every time you save a change to your texture, it will be updated in world too. I often have Photoshop open on one screen and SL on the other, so I can easily see the changes right away. Just don't forget to actually upload the final texture when you are done.

 

[Lauren Mortal]

I didn't know you could do that..

[Eddy Vortex]

My friend, an older avatar who rezzed in the aughts, once told me that the local texture preview feature didn't exist until 2012. Those who didn't know about the beta grid had to waste $10L for each unsatisfactory upload. The preview feature is a godsend.  Did you know you can also preview animations as well? Firestorm would give you a better preview before committing to a real upload.

The $40L upload is for textures 2048x2048 in size. You need to first reduce them to 1024x1024 pixels in order to bring the cost down to $10L.