Fluffy Sharkfin

I must admit that I've always wondered why people would assume that attacking, belittling or otherwise disparaging a creator will somehow make them more amenable to their requests. I wouldn't go so far as to suggest anyone was jealous or weren't able to create the things they want themselves but there does seem to be this assumption that creating content for SL is gatekept in some way when the reality is that the only gatekeeper to creating any type of content you want in SL is yourself.

I honestly had little doubt that we would see eye to eye on the matter after a brief discussion. I've always had a huge amount of respect for your opinion and in all my years of reading these forums have yet to come across a post of yours that I didn't agree with (on some level if not entirely). You're right that IP rights within SL aren't even a consideration but I've always assumed that the permissions system was put in place more to give creators a sense of control over their creations rather than for the benefits of residents in general. Whether the outcome of that has had a positive or negative effect on the platform as a whole is certainly debatable but then you also have to wonder how many creators would not have made content for SL if the permissions system hadn't been put in place.

I think for the most part people do, and for the rare times when differences are irreconcilable I think there should be weekly LL sponsored in-world snowball fights where participants from each side of the discussion can meet on a snowy field of battle and resolve the matter honorably... I'd even provide the snowballs (modifiable ones of course!)

Respectfully, I wasn't the one that tried to draw an equivalence between granting mod permissions to residents and agreeing to the section of the TOS that you quoted. The truth is I agree with you entirely on the benefits of modifiable content and the effect of no-mod content on the platform as a whole. Furthermore I would encourage anyone who wants to see more modifiable content in SL to reach out to creators and (respectfully) try to persuade them of the benefits and failing that to support those creators that do provide content that's modifiable! I just can't get behind the idea of labelling individuals as selfish, egotistical or greedy simply because they don't want to license their creations based on the dictates of others who had no part in the creative process.

I absolutely agree, and I for one trust LL not to abuse their assumed ownership of my IP (as I recall several creators didn't and simply left SL or stopped creating). LL were very clear about what the intentions of this section of the TOS was in order to try and placate some of the creators who were incensed by its implications and, while they could change their minds at any time, doing so would alienate a significant portion of their user base and make for some very bad publicity.

I remember the outrage that erupted on the forums when LL first introduced this into the TOS, I can only imagine how much worse it would have been if they'd so much as hinted that it applied not only to LL but also SL residents in general.

Does it? I mean essentially we're talking about intellectual property rights at this point. If a creator uploads their intellectual property to a platform with the understanding that they will have a certain amount of control over how that IP will be used then it seems reasonable that they can expect the terms under which that content is licensed to be respected. The fundamental principle behind this isn't all that different from creators being outraged that their content was misappropriated en masse to train generative AI without any attempt to gain their permission, along with a similar argument that the people training AI were "democratizing creativity" for the good of the masses and that somehow superseded the rights that individual creators have over their intellectual property.

No, you're talking about forcing creators to provide the content they create with the permissions that you want rather than allowing them to choose for themselves. Well the very fact that LL gave creators the ability to set no-mod permissions seems to suggest that as far as LL are concerned it is blanket-acceptable for them to do so?! Wait, so you are just gonna "shut up and accept it."? Now I am confused! 😕

Having access to the creative tools and options provided by the platform and having unlimited access to the content that other residents have created are two very different things.

To be completely clear, I'm not an advocate of no-mod content, I prefer modifiable content both when purchasing and creating things for others. If someone purchases something that's advertised as modifiable and it's not then that is definitely an example of the creator being in the wrong, but as long as the content is labelled as no modify then everyone has the option to not purchase that content, and that's the extent of their rights as a consumer in SL. I just think that it crosses a line when you start telling fellow residents that if they don't create content the way you want them to then they don't belong in Second Life and should go find another platform.

Well I'm afraid that's where our opinions differ because my opinion is that everyone has the right to create their own content, that doesn't mean they have an automatic right to do whatever they please with the other peoples creations, that right is granted by each individual creator and nobody but the creator should have any say in whether they choose to grant that right or not.

Sounds entirely reasonable to me. They make content for people using specific bodies, if you want to purchase and use their content then you need to buy a compatible body. I've never personally had an unsolicited IM from a random creator demanding to know why I haven't bought any of their products but if others have experienced this I'd be fascinated to know how frequently it happens! It almost sounds like you're suggesting that any creator who doesn't conform to the "standards" that you (and a few other vocal opponents of no-mod content) expect and desire should stop creating content for SL entirely and just find another platform? Well that's certainly going to help with the current decline in population. 🙄 I'm not a huge proponent of no mod content, but I'm even less a fan of people trying to bully others into doing things their way instead of allowing everyone to have the creative freedom to do whatever the platform allows! Creating in SL is something anyone can do if they're willing to dedicate the time to learn and develop the necessary skills. If there is content out there that doesn't quite meet your requirements then perhaps you should try creating something that better suits your needs rather than trying to browbeat other creators into doing it for you!

Hmmm, maybe that's why some people don't like short avatars, it's easier for them to sneak up on you because they seem further away?! 🤔

Awesome! Now if they could just add a slider to profiles so folks can adjust the scale at which they see other avatars then maybe people would finally stop getting so offended over how short or tall everyone else is!

I've often wondered how well a combination of sculpted megaprims and large scale mesh would work for sim surrounds, sculpties can extend the visible terrain by an additional 128 meters along each edge and the mesh could add additional details to the foreground while providing a barrier to stop people getting close enough to the sim edge to see the transition.

Yes, I spotted that line immediately after hitting the Submit button and thought "oh, wait..." but then after consideration figured that it's unlikely they'd allow anything that large. As useful as it may be for well-intentioned residents they ultimately have to (hopefully) consider how open to abuse it is and how much chaos it could potentially cause.

In this instance the term "scene" refers to a collection of (mesh) objects that can be imported as a single file rather than having anything to do with "scenery". ETA: Assuming that they don't leave the scene size at "miles wild", which would seem unlikely since having the ability to rez "miles wide" coalesced objects would be insane!

Me travelling from the past to the present to read this post...

You can use LLDetectedTouchST to detect the surface coordinates at which a prim has been touched, then it's just a case of having a lookup table of acceptable coordinate ranges for each "button" on the texture for that face. When a user touches a face you can test to see if it falls within valid coordinates for a button on the texture for that face and if so trigger the correct corresponding function in the script.

Alternatively, since it probably gets lonely standing around all day creating things, maybe they just do it in the hope that one of their customers will IM them asking for modifiable versions and then they'll have someone to talk to? 🤔

I wouldn't be so sure. While a lot of the current 3D generative AI tools do produce some truly atrocious topology there are some that have made significant improvements. The topology of the results displayed in the video below may not be perfect or particularly well optimized it's still on par with some of the content I've seen in SL Additionally since the resulting topology is quad based it would be very easy to optimize by hand if you really wanted to maximize performance. Generative AI is still in its infancy and, while it may not be ready to produce content entirely unaided yet, as a tool for creatives it's already becoming a part of artists workflows and is being incorporated into industry standard software.

That's already inevitable unfortunately. A brief google search for "AI generated 3D models" yields plenty of results, including an article listing the seventy best AI tools for creating 3D content, and that list will only grow over time. There's no stuffing the AI genie back in its bottle, if you aren't creating mesh purely for the enjoyment of it then you may as well stop now, or at least pivot to incorporating AI into your workflow. The only benefit to having existing 3D skills is if you understand enough of the theory behind 3D creation to enable you to refine and optimize the sorts of results that AI is capable of producing thereby allowing you to produce a better final product than those who use generative AI without any "post production" process.

In light of recent developments in this discussion I'd like to revise my previous answer and suggest that, in lieu of free animesh ponies, LL distribute wearable saddles to all new residents which can be "hired" via a tip jar so that they can earn money by giving people rides to and from the newly re-instated telehubs!

I'll admit I've got way more experience working with the Maitreya body and haven't really bothered with the Legacy. I guess since most people go with the typical hourglass or pear shapes I just assumed Legacy wasn't as versatile as the Maitreya. I agree you can definitely create a wider variety of shapes than you normally see around SL, it's just a matter of choosing the right bodies for the right shapes.

I'd say it's even easier to achieve a wide variety of shapes with the maitreya body, especially if you use deformers and add-ons. Certain bodies just aren't going to work for certain shapes because the creators have already accentuated some aspects of the anatomy beyond what the appearance sliders can compensate for, but there are enough popular bodies that you can find one or two that will accommodate almost any shape.