Chic Aeon

It sounds like Nyx might be correct (and disturbingly so). But that being said there have been lots of posts over at [a popular metaverse blog] about having a black avatar when you were white etc with some folks being very against it. I guess the folks against it might not get that some people actually ADMIRE the look of other races? I personally don't see anything overtly derogatory about "changing your race" unless of course you use that in some sort of hurtful way. Personally I am not sure why it comes up so often on that blog -- pointing to "evidence" from the dark ages of SL which doesn't seem to have much credibility these days. So it could just simply be that.

I think -- much like getting into Linden sponsored events like the Marketplace sales and the Birthday Malls this last year, it would be a SELECT number of people. :D. Some folks I suspect though would be happy to trade some space and lindens per month for a boost up in the search. Of course I am not saying that would be a PUBLIC knowledge thing. I was thinking maybe yesterday that another way to go would be to have the glytches on various lands (somewhat like Fishing) and people would REDEEM their gems AT the place they were getting them. That would give the landowners incentive to make good prizes --- so sort of like the camping for products chairs but more fun (and of course you are actually AROUND while you are hunting glytches). That is likely way too complex to be of much interest to The Lab. I still think the best idea would be to get some worthwhile prizes that more people would want. Honestly the ones you can get at the Apothecary (only a chance at what you want which isn't too helpful either) seem to be aimed at young kids (which in theory aren't playing). So clothes and hair and jewelry and animations --- Unless I missed the comment no one seemed to think THAT "better buyable gifts" was a bad idea. I of course would be happy to make something nice but since I am H and G that wouldn't be as popular as things EVERYONE needs :D. I did put out my first publicized gift for all today (I really hate running groups even though it IS good for business, so I just don't) and that was a popular move. Folks do like free stuff, and honestly there isn't as much of it around as there has been in previous years -- except at events. Now and then something spectacular, but .....

The trick was much like a game. You needed landmarks to all the good ones and then you just kept making the rounds until you found an open spot LOL. The thought of WAITING for a place to come available is mind-boggling LOL. You really did have to look at it as a game I think; most of the folks that I knew did just that. And yes, you could get some nice things on those camp chairs for sure -- and some awful stuff. By the time I was sitting in those (and those you COULD wait for as they normally had the time left showing for everyone to see) I had figures out what was good and what was not. That was all relative of course

I evidently found the best ones. I rarely camped at the 2 for 10 rate LOL. I have also been (and still am) very good finding the best rentals and land sales deals :D. We all have our odd accomplishment!

Oh yes, camping chairs. There was an Asian place that had some stellar things and my "show me how you looked when you were new" photo was taken at Calla where you could camp for hair, watch lucky boards for hair AND play trivia for money. Great place. MANY HOURS there LOL. Actually that wasn't what Phil was talking about -- at least not what I perceived he was talking about. Before camping for products, there was camping for money. You would go hit a board or my favorite was tap on a guitar which would give you a guitar and you would play guitar (or sometime just sit like a zombie) and get paid for being there. That was called CAMPING :D. So people would log on their avatars and usually go AFK which was harder then and you had to wear some scripted thingie so that you could actually stay inworld without being logged off if you didn't move or type or whatever. You could make $18 lindens and hour at a good one and stay for 10 hours. There were better deals I think but that was a really popular one. TONS of people there and lots of conversations going on as well as money trees you could watch and such. You could roam the whole mall area and still get paid. So $180 a day which isn't all that much but in a month $5,400 lindens -- certainly enough to do things with. There was even one where you sat around and smoked waterpipes (presumably with something other than water in them). It was pretty strange and I only went there once. There were some where you played vidoe games or repaired things or washed windows. All sorts of creative products were made back then. It was pretty fun really and you could IM your friends when you were leaving a good spot so that they could come take your place. Good memories.

Actually my OP wasn't specifically targeting attracting new users. I haven't seen that the glytches have done that at all. Granted there are some default avatars running around but I doubt those are new users, just new alts made to play the game. That was done WIDELY when The Realms came on the scene. Many of the people playing with the Magical Glytches are old-timer folks. Of the people of "my generation" and before, I don't know many that DIDN'T camp when they were new. Actually I don't know any at all that are friends, but I suspect I must know some -- maybe you are one @Phil Deakins. So while camping didn't keep everyone here obviously, it did help keep some. I earned all the money I needed to start my first shop and upload textures and pay rent -- all by camping. From there my sales took over. It is more difficult these days to start a business so the new people (and some do come in specifically with business in mind even if that is just part of their personal game within a game) have to get some money somewhere for uploads. In the olden days many things could be created with free textures and prims; your creativity made your product. Now, that's pretty difficult to do. I realize that plenty of people ARE willing to pay in order to make SL their virtual home, but some come into the game with the goal of not spending out of pocket real life money. For those folks, having a way to get some free land down the road might be helpful. Again, my OP was not really aimed at new folks but more at long time residents. The only game that has really brought in new folks has been The Realms and that certainly seems to be because there was a way to get spendable money from playing. Actually, now that I think about it, can't you get money from Paleoquest? The problem was that it was so hard (and especially losing your eggs or whatever if you ran into a trap) that actually earning any money was almost impossible. I never hear folks saying "run over to Paleoquest and earn some money".

Ahhhh -- that is true and I am on mainland (my shop; I am more or less living on my building pad these days) BUT you hadn't read my monetizing the gltyches post yet I gather LOL --- where the mainland could be populated again by letting folks buy the empty lands with gems instead of lindens :D. Personally I like the emptiness of mainland but it is sad as I do remember it when it was teaming with life (long before you came unless you are a family member). It was all pretty ugly then, but it was fun.

Actually there WAS more to my thought but my post was LOONG already. I was thinking that folks that hosted might get special "billing" in Places or search for being "supportive" of SL LOL; a little like a paid ad only more of a trade. I am laughing a bit here but there have been many other odd things happen in the past so not out of the realm of possibilities. There is a current thread going around --- oh the one about the Atlantic article (think that is the magazine anyway) and that it is difficult to get new folks to stay. As mentioned that has always been an issue, but when I was new you could camp -- which actually was a game in itself as getting a spot was often an adventure -- and there were other ways to make money. Now there are the Realms and some other odd private games that seem filled with non-payment issues. So there is one difference now. People do a lot of expensive things to get higher in the search engines, so hosting the game -- along with some possible new customers might be attractive to some.

So that you can have hands that look fantastic and can wear shoes. Almost all dresses except for ho-wear cover a good amount of a mesh body. Here is me, right now. Just a screenshot and I didn't cheat. This is the Maitreya body which has lots of clothes made for it. The folks with classic bodies are having more and more trouble getting clothes as most upscale designers are only making for the top three bodies -- mostly because it is a TON of work to make all the different versions and most of the folks that buy a lot have had a mesh body for years. The whole point was that you COULD have mesh hands and feet and legs and wear Slink shoes and look a step above (or two) the classic avatar for free. If that isn't your preference then that is certainly fine. This will not work for folks that want to change clothes a lot. This was an alt which I talked about earlier in this thread. Most of my friends are pretty clothed over their mesh bodies. I don't have too many that like to show "that much" skin. That's OK too of course as it is great to show off you lovely and smooth body. Just not really my style. I guess I am confused why you think that is a "bad" thing or perhaps I misread your comment. PS. I don't know the technical bit but I would guess that what the viewer can't see (is covered up) doesn't need to be downloaded. I am sure some techie folks have the answer to that. Either way I am no way going back to classic -- even if there were still a bunch of new clothes being made for it. We all make our choices. EDIT and a PS: As I said a time or two with the pants version you could easily just wear the feet (takes Slink shoes) and the hands and that would be fine. The dress of course you would want your smoother legs to show (well some folks would).

I am likely the eldest player of the glytch game, not in RL years but based on the time I entered the game which was just a few hours after it opened -- AND the fact that I am still there . That being said I have a few thoughts on both the glytches and how The Lab could raise some money and maybe not keep making changes that cost the populous more across the board. It became apparent a couple of nights ago that getting the canon was actually the endgame of The Curse of the Magical Glytches. A RL friend who is also playing came to dinner. It was great (thank you Sun Basket). Then we went to try out the bonus areas. We were under the impression that we needed 5, 5 and 10 blue gems in order to enter the areas. We had been working hard to get those. No one passed along the memo that NOW all you need is the entrance fee. I can see the reasoning there, just was surprised as the apparently unannounced change. Anyway, after spending our gems for the entrance fees we each (in different bonus areas) were shaking our heads wondering why we cared. You CAN get a lot of glytches in one of the areas, but after playing awhile in the normal spots you accumulate so many glytches that deletion becomes the rule. Really. Once you have all the rares and epics you really don't need a bunch of copies. So the endgame is the canon (at least for me). Then what? Hmmmmm. I started thinking about why people aren't more enthused with the glytches. They ARE cute -- when they aren't zapping you that is. You get to see a lot of new areas. You get some virtual exercise or for those of us that work way to much -- some off time. BUT, there is no incentive to keep playing. The Realms are still popular because you can earn linden and spend it -- or for some folks cash out. Granted, it isn't near as easy these days with the blues and greens on a skimpy appearance schedule, but still -- over time you have something you can use. Since I love to ponder I succumbed to the muse and came up with a couple of ideas -- all this while hunting glytches, which after some hours at it (like a couple of hundred) gets to be sort of meditative and you don't actually have to pay that much attention. Here are a couple of ideas that might be helpful, both to the game and its participants and to the Lab coffers. People need a reason to play. Beyond getting the glytches. That is pretty much the bottom line. 1. Let people turn in gems to get inworld USABLE virtual goods from various creators. Creators would supply the goods for free. Linden lab would make the redemption vendors and people would pick up their prizes at the participating stores. Traffic and possible customers for the stores. Incentive for the participants to keep hunting. 2. Charge for glytch areas. This may already be the plan as resident owned glytch areas have been talked about since the beginning. But until there are enough players there is really no reason to add new spots. There really wouldn't be that much traffic generated for the hosts. So what else would get a lot of people interested in playing? 3. How about being able to BUY some of endless expanse of mainland with GEMS! This would cost The Lab nothing AND would generate tier revenue. It would also encourage Premium membership as you would need to be Premium to "buy" your land with gems. There could also (possibly) be a way to turn gems into tier payments. Those are my ideas and dinner is done and cooling. But I wanted to get them down for the record while I was thinking about them. I realize that "the Lindens never come here" and I am likely typing to myself, but that's OK. I actually do that quite a bit. It is a mental exercise that I enjoy.

I used to too. Now I let the COMPUTER rest even though it stays on all night LOL

As someone who has been published in national magazines it is very unlikely that the title was HER CHOICE. ^^ Editors do what editors do and it is a rare writer that actually has final say or much of any control over an article after they have sold it. The editors typically go for titles that will catch people's attention --- even if it is incorrect. Been there MANY TIMES LOL.

Basically, as I understand the process, you make your textures with an ALPHA channel and then DRAW the strands on the transparent texture. Sometimes they would be textures that would be "whispy" for the length of the strand and sometimes only on the ends. Depends on their intended use. There use to be transparent hair textures for sale full perm. I am not sure how well or even if they would work for what you want to do with your mesh.

As I understand it from other post here (and logic really) most all mesh body creators want people who have proven that they can make clothes for mesh bodies. It is NOT EASY, really the hardest things (other than perhaps the mesh bodies and huds) to make (well) in SL. And yes you are correct. If you cannot show them that you ALREADY know how to make standard size mesh garments artfully, your chances are pretty much zero. Look at it from the creator's point of view. They don't want you PRACTICING and selling beginner quality items with THEIR bodies. They are trying to protect their brand. So learn how to make fitmesh for classic avatars first, have good looking items on your Marketplace site WITH good vendor photos and you "might" get a body to work with. For a very long time there were only a few people that were able to create mesh for Maitreya WELL, as there were only a few people that had the body for the weight parameters. Now there are more (or a few busy jobber creators that sell a lot to other brands (and good for them). That's the story.

If you can't get the items back into the original box, I would suggest making your own logo like "Morgan's Gacha Resale" and putting that on the outside of the box. Then if you wanted you could put the original packaging into the box also. You are correct though that a plywood box would shock folks as that is what the scammers use ^^.

IF Linden Lab gave folks a 1024 instead of a 512 free (tier of course, not the price of land) I believe that would help some and encourage folks to go premium. BUT if they started cutting prices across the board not only would that hurt their tier income in a much more detrimental way, it would impact the private landlords who pay a lot of tier to The Lab. Probably not good to get your biggest customers unhappy. I have been saying for awhile now that implementing VARS would be a positive step overall. Those are typically 4 x 4 regions but with less prims -- so think of four homesteads together. These are very popular in Opensim. NOW extrapolating from the VAR scenario we can see that mainland would likely get hit MORE as "some" folks moved to the new VARS. But IF The Lab could get more money from the introduction of VARS (and making them available to first time buyers) that would generate capital. They could THEN up the "free with premium" tier bonus to 1024 and hopefully encourage more folks to go premium to get land. I agree that even with extra prims and smart mesh there isn't all that much you can do with a 512 -- well you can but it is an adventure. 1024 would be better and there is certainly enough empty mainland out there (I would think) to make that feasible.

OK Here is another totally free (well $1 look. Going to add it to the blog. You can see there is a small amount of "air" around the collar area. Some bead jewelry could cover that. But you can see the IDEA of what you need anyway.

Actually as I said in my blog post, in THIS case there is no real reason to wear the body LOL. However she does have some spiffy Slink shoes (not shown here) that fit and lovely hands. She can also wear dresses (also mentioned and what works in the blog post). The hands and feet are separate pieces in this mesh body so you could also just wear those. It depends a lot on the outfits. When more outfits for eBody become available then the rules will change because you will likely be able to wear more (again, very big alpha cuts. I wanted to try one new free thing I found, so if that works I'll come back with another photo with more "flesh" :D.

Born to be a star I guess LOL. TY. I wore that hair and skin for a VERY long time. Another Shop Skin (free and controversial because of it) and my camped for hair. Edit: I just went back and looked at the post with the photo. You know when you look at fresh out of the pod (well not quite) Chic and current Chic, we have pretty much the same look, just very updated :D. Interesting.

My alt got a notice that some sweatpants had been added to for the ebody bodies (note the S). Not my style but for those with the body it is good some folks are making clothes. https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/LAVAROCK-CREATIONS-TRICIA-LOW-SWEAT-PANTS-10/13113282

LOL. Well I hadn't seen your comment until now but I resurrected an old blogger challenge and did just that for myself. The VERY long and detailed post is here: https://chicatphilsplace.blogspot.com/2017/11/free-avatar-makeover-with-ebody-mesh.html And here is my final result. Total cost MINUS the patterned sweater ($125) which holds the outfit together in my mind was $1 for the eBody mesh . I think she looks pretty smashing!

Feb 2, 2008 Camping at Calla for hair.

ran off to work on

I think the idea of being able to buy a homestead without a full sim is a possible good suggestion. Personally I am hoping for VAR (4 sim regions) to become available in SL as they are in Opensim. Increasing the stipend is NOT going to happen. You do realize that they are giving you BACK your own money, no? :D.

I gave ya a heart but the bonus prims WERE for everyone, not just premium LOL. But I do get your point. The new "perk" is pretty much insulting and hasn't done anything to foster smiles as far as I can tell.