stores with live models

[leyna1488303852]

I was shopping last night and TPd to a store that on the map looked to be pretty busy.  When I got there I realized that all the green dots were actually models on posestands. I'm sure they weren't all cammed in on me and watching my every move, certainly they had better things to do like sort inventory or IM friends while standing there, but I felt really awkward for some reason.   

Does anyone else feel like this when shopping in these places?  I think part of what seemed odd was that there was no conversation at all, here are all these people relatively close together and not a word being spoken (in open chat anyway).  

[Kylie Jaxxon]

Yea...I think they are always busy doing something with inventory, etc or AFK a lot.  I've never had one speak to me or seen conversation between themselves...doesn't bother me in the least, I ignore them.

ETA: spelling

[Sylvia Tamalyn]

I've always assumed that they're just an army of alts and no one is actually operating them beyond logging them in and parking them on a pose stand. 

[Six Igaly]

They most likely are scripted agents aka bots. You can create alts and then mark them as scripted agent in your dashboard to use as a model.

Bots usually do not chat together.

[leyna1488303852]

Oh okay, that makes sense.  I was also wondering how they got so many people willing to be stuck to a posestand for that long. 

[Rin Tae]

A very good freind of mine is actually one of such store models and I guess many more of them are actual people then one might think. Bots need to be registered and while I am sure many also use soem alts, it might be more convinient to hire some peopel who are able to put their avi on a pose stand for a few hours while they work in RL, sleep or do other things.

 

I don't think any of them ever watches what is going on but once I had a short conversation with one of them about the clothing she was shwing. It was really nice and she has been very helpful and freindly. But for the most part store models are AFK and in my opinion their use is great because it shows much better how somethign looks inworld then many of the heavily photoshoped pictures on many vendors.

[Claireschen Hesten]

i can't say i am a fan of live models if i've been to a store with one i always feel a bit creeped out and awkward about spending money there i'm sure the models are useful but when they're just standing there all quiet they don't really add anything that a picture and a board or vendor couldn't do

[Venus Petrov]

I worked for several months as a store model.  No bots were used in this particular shop but there were usually at least four models working in two-hour shifts.  We greeted customers and let them know we were available to help if they had questions.

The shop was a lot of fun to work for and we would usually chat and joke in local amongst ourselves.  We were paid in clothing.  In all the months I worked there I think I was asked for help 1/2 dozen times.  It was a friendly atmosphere.

[Sae Luan]

The live model thing annoys me.  One or two is fine,  but a store full is silly.  I just don't like it, personally.  I've never needed to see an outfit or accessory modeled to know if I want to buy it, and I've been in SL since 2006.

[leyna1488303852]

If they'd been greeting people or chatting I think it would have seemed less odd, I think I might have appreciated that someone was letting me know they were available to help if I needed it. 

There were probably about 12 of them and I kept having this urge to go up and poke one to see if they were real avatars.  That doesn't even really make sense and I'm not sure how I'd have accomplished it but it was fun to think about.   

[Renee Montpenier]

Bliss Couture has one at entrance to help direct- it is huge store. A high end jewelry store has 1 or 2 but they only get paid 10L per hour so they are mostly AFK. Others have fake avies that don't talk.

 

Once I was a model at Bliss. It was on a weekend at night. All the models were gone. The model stands at end of runway which is right by front door. There were lots of women there shopping. So I put on a ball gown from Bliss and hopped up on the runway and welcomed everyone. Since I had spent lots of time in store I could tell the ladies shopping where something was that they were looking for. HAHAHA!!! The owner never knew, but I did a good job. I should put it in my profile- "Blis Couture model" hahaha!!!

[Ishtara Rothschild]

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Six Igaly wrote:

They most likely are scripted agents aka bots. You can create alts and then mark them as scripted agent in your dashboard to use as a model.

Bots usually do not chat together.

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I wish we had a way of verifying if all those models really have scripted agent status, because if they don't, the store owner is basically paying for fake traffic. I suspect that most models are regular avatars instead of scripted agents.

 

 

[Six Igaly]

I hear you. Well.

If the store owner is paying regular avatars for being a model it is for fake traffic as well don't you think? Or all these models are standing there for the good cause. Then there is not payed for fake traffic. One thing i do know. I do not envy this models!:smileyvery-happy:

[Tiffy Vella]

I really like to see a live model in a store, as long as it's a registered bot. It's a very fair way to see products in the flesh. With so many clothing vendors showing front and back views only, it's useful to inspect the side seams, and see how the attachments really appear. Fashion shots are very glamourous, and good for creating a feel, but I want to see what the product looks like inworld.

I hope none of them mind me coming in and poking and clicking at them, feeling the quality of the fabrics, and making personal comments about them.

 

leyna, I used to sometimes hunt hidden traffic bots for fun a long time ago, and walking into a skybox full of zombified newbs all vacant-eyed was really really creepy. Imagine the sound of 40 people all slowly breathing and staring at you...with their dead fish eyes..../me shivers

[Ann Otoole]

Traffic has not been a factor in search for a very long time. I.e.;, "models" have no effect on anything.

If a venue operator wants to expose his/her works to copybotters by having "models" wear his/her works while paying the "models" some minor amount of L$ then it is the venue operator's business.

Nothing to be concerned about.

[Dilbert Dilweg]

Traffic will always be a factor as long as Phoenix still uses the old search methods and there are thousands of phoenix users.

Firestorm also can use old search

guess again

Its Payed campers lol

There is a bot that can act as a model and change clothing regualry. If they are standing on a platform, then thats their Base station so the bots know where they go

 

Hopefully the release of AI will solve this issue where their AI systems willl not be counted as traffic.............

[Kazimira McConnell]

I have been a store model and I have to say It was fun we cahtted and our job was also to be kind ofd customer services from the stand. Personaly i've seen two types of live models I like the first is a setup with the live models being expected to greet and talk to customers the second is one i've seen where the bot was set up with RLV that changed outfits when you picked them from a list on an object.

It would be nice to see some live models that walked about and did things in the store so you can make sure they are real people.

[JoJo Aurelia]

Many models get their start that way.  

[Melita Magic]

Half of them are probably asleep. (i.e. the owner's alts.)

I think the other half should probably be engaging the customers but they figure what the boss doesn't know won't hurt 'em.

So, they are texting their friends, doing their nails, playing WoW, etc.

[Wicked Galaxy]

Im am currently a model in a women's clothing store.. have been for over a year now.

I love it.  Yes, we are parked on a pose stand moving us around every 30 seconds or so, but we are not camped.  We greet each customer when they arrive, post information on any new release/promo and offer assistance.  We even will change outfits if a customer wants to see something in particular (provided one of the girls working at the time has the item in their inventory).  We chat with each other and with customers.  If the store is quiet, we may be chatting in group chat instead of local.

The store owner has an *idle* clock that every so often (the time varies) you get a pop up simple math question, answer it wrong or not in time and you are logged out of the payment time clock.  Get logged out of there enough times and you will be let go.

We make an hourly wage and are also allowed one free item every week we complete our 10 hour weekly minimum.  We are allowed to work our own hours, no set schedule and can work as many hours as we want (over the 10 minimum).   A lot of the time when the owner has a new release to promote, she will give us all the item (in addition to our weekly item) sometimes in more than one color choice and request we all wear it for a certain time period.

When the store is quiet, yes I do other things such as emails, chatting in IM, but I am always watching for my radar to tell me someone is in the store so that I can stop and greet them and offer assistance.  It may not be very exciting, but I work with a great bunch of girls and most customers welcome knowing we are not *bots*

Wiki

[Christa Thespian]

Leyna I am live model for a store, we are not allowed to go afk because there's like this math equation that pops up that lets the clock in machine know if were still there or not. 

I greet the customers, tell them what's new, tell them if their letter is on our lucky board, and I do talk to them in local. I do talk to my fellow models in local. We joke we have fun but we actually don't stand on pose stands we just kind of stand around. I do help customers to I get a lot of them iming asking me questions on the store or products.

Though I did find out that today the store is dropping us live models, so I will be out of a job soon. 

[Phil Deakins]

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Ann Otoole wrote:

Traffic has not been a factor in search for a very long time. I.e.;, "models" have no effect on anything.

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Traffic was never removed as a factor in search. The V1 places tab ranks on traffic, the GSA search always used traffic as a small factor, and, from what I understand, because I stopped taking any interest in search a long time ago, the current All search makes a bigger use of traffic as a factor.

 

On the discussion of live and bot models: to comply with the ToS, they must all be registered as scripted agents at the time they are modelling - live or bots - or they must be on land that is not set to show in search. Maybe those that greet and help customers would be ok, but those that just stand silently must be registered as scripted agents whether they are bots or real people's avs. That presents a problem for the store owner, because s/he has no way of knowing whether or not a person's av is registered at the time of working, and it's the store owner who risks being in trouble for it.