James Samiam

But a majority of potential new users are not looking for that type of challenge and we lose a lot of potential residents because of this. New users are looking for intuitive outlets for their creativity. They want to be given powerful and intuitive tools to be able to create, and they want it to be as easy as 1, 2, 3. 1. Make Account 2. Install Software 3. Start Creating Immediately That isn't to say challenges can't still exist for those who want it. There will always be those who take the hobby even further by creating more complex custom content or using custom content created by others. That is never going away, as SL should always support user created content. But this is why I bring up Inzoi because all you need to do is pay attention to the way people are responding to the character creator. It's revealing what people want and what excites them about new PC software. Powerful tools, Customization, and most of all Accessibility. SL has only 2 of these things at most, when it could have all 3.

I get where you're coming from, and that isn't a bad avatar at all. However, your current avatar's pivot points, adjustments angles, and skeleton are 20 years old, and has a very limited amount of attachment points. Now imagine all of this gets upgraded, and that is just scratching the surface of the new possibilities? It might make all the difference by extending your hobby into the next 20 years.

It's a nice sentiment but sentiment alone isn't what attracts new residents in the first place.

This is simply not good enough. Joining SL should not feel like an aptitude test that weeds out the unworthy. It's true, every game takes a little work to understand. But there is a certain threshhold where a game can be so poorly designed that it detracts from the overall experience. And I believe SL surpasses this threshhold way beyond any reasonable doubt. This should be seen as a design challenge for LL to solve, and NOT used as an ad hoc aptitude test.

What do you think happened to the noobs that came after you stepped back that couldn't find someone else who was willing to spend the time and effort to hold their hand? And that's the crux of the issue right there. It should not require so much time investment and hand holding from somebody else just so they can get their avatar straight. And we should not expect any new resident to want to deal with a platform that isn't even going to try to improve the experience for them. They just leave with a bad impression, which is justified.

This should only be the case if the SL avatars were even half as accessible as the Inzoi ones. But with the hoops that new users have to jump through to get a SL avatar, they might as well not exist. New users come to realize how complex the process is and they just dip out. And that's assuming they didn't already dip out the moment they saw the Senra avatar at account creation.

And I'm advocating that SL, as a platform, take a few queues from advancing technologies in order to improve itself and make it more attractive and accessible to new users. I just can't buy into this excuse that SL must have such a horrible new user experience because it's a platform and not a game? Where has all the innovation and forward thinking gone?

You didn't say that word for word, no. But you are heavily implying that the SL character creator cannot be compared to Inzoi becase they are different genres. Since when were good character creators synonymous with only one type of game or another? I've seen great character creators in RPG's, Simulators, and action/adventure games alike. The broader community by and large want good character creators in their games and they absolutely will compare SL to other offerings when considering signing up. SL will not just magically get a free pass because of your reasons.

And you made your stance quite clear as well. Other games are free to have up to date, attractive and intuitive character creators. But SL is not allowed to have this kind of feature because .. "reasons". Good character creators should be reserved for life simulator games only.

This is what denial looks like. Deny, Deny, Deny.. They are absolutely comparable. They are both character creators. They both offer customization. Which one is more likely to attract new customers? First impressions are everything. Think about it.. What are you going to do any time someone says they are not interested in trying SL because it looks old and outdated compared to other offerings? Are you going to tell them their observation is meaningless? Good luck with that.

Hyperbole much?

You're downplaying the idea when you sum it up as simply LL putting out a nice head and body, since we're not talking about "mesh" heads and bodies as we currently know them. Go look at the Inzoi character creator then get back to me.

Now you're just being childish..

LL would not be competing with it's residents. They would be upgrading SL and providing creators with a better avatar framework and more powerful tools to create. All this while improving the experience for new Residents. You say they'll lose money from this, but what about the potential new Residents it may bring with improved retention? And what about the plethora of new content that will hit the market, such new clothes and accessories and modded overhauls for the new bodies that takes advantage of new technology? You are conveniently ignoring all of this to suit your point of view that LL shouldn't be allowed to do anything but maintain the servers and kick the can down the road once in a while. It's got us nowhere the last few years and it won't get us anywhere soon.

So as a consumer, what's the issue with my ideas? Have you formed an attachment to your pixels? I never said anything about taking those away from you. I'm proposing new avatar technology for all new Residents that is also available to older Residents. As a consumer this is a win-win for you. And please don't hit me with the plight of the creators. They always have and always will have plenty of opportunities and tools to adapt and create new content.

Then I assume you are a mesh body and head creator and you are worried about your creations becoming outdated? Welcome to technology! You Gotta go faster or fall behind. It's not going to slow down for anyone.

That isn't what I'm saying. A body and head that's up to today's standards in fidelity and optimization should be standard for every new Resident. When SL first went online and we had those funny system avatars, did you groan about it being free back then? I firmly believe that a newly build system avatar should be free, yes. But the rest, such as modded body shapes, additional clothing, accessories, hairstyles, and everything else will remain in the hands of Residents like it always has been. Linden Labs just has to give us the development tools for the new bodies and skeletons so we can take the reigns and help drive SL forward with new content. I honestly believe in the creativity and drive of SL creators to see this through.

What happened to prim products? sculpts? mesh bodies need to go the same way. And LL needs to lead the way. The rest will follow.. If I'm a creator, I would pull my boots up by their bootstraps, accept that old content inevitably goes out of date, and if I'm savy enough I would learn to use the new tools available to produce new creations. It's really that simple.. Why should the whole of SL be held back because of something I made a couple of years ago?

I responded to all of your responses consistent with my own point of view. In what way am I insulating? But suit yourself..

I myself am deeply invested in SL, both as a Resident and a Creator. I'm not bored with SL and I'm not picking faults without providing solutions. I'm not advocating we "copy" anything. Why do you interpret upgrading and evolving with technology as copying others? With this kind of mindset we'd all still be on 2d pixelated graphics... and we'd never have something like SL to begin with. I disagree that the starting avs are acceptable. They are not acceptable because they are too low of a bar and are not attractive to anybody. They look like mobile game avatars. This is not what the broader community of potential new residents wants to look at, especially those who are looking for an immersive virtual world where they can escape everyday reality. And with this they want avatars that are attractive and high fidelity that don't look like cartoon cutouts. This is true for new and old residents and creators alike.

Then they should collaborate. Even hire them, if they must, to make SL better. Isn't that what everyone wants? However, with your logic we shouldn't have Linden homes, either. Because it's in competition with private estates. The truth is; LL has to step in sometimes to make SL more user friendly and accessible to new residents and to move us forward. And we shouldn't allow a handful of creators who have a monopoly on the marketplace stand in the way of that. New avatar technology could be done in collaboration with creators, giving them new and improved tools and ways to create content for them. Any self described content creator should be encouraged by this prospect, not discouraged. If a creator is discouraged, then they are probably resting on their laurels and are content with SL being a stagnant, unoptimised mess so long as the Linden dollars keep rolling in. Are those the content creators LL should be adhering to? Or should they adhere to creators who are willing and able to adapt, and are encouraged by new opportunities?

Creators are not going to make content for a mesh body that only new residents without payment info have. This is obvious. LL needs to develop a starter avatar that even existing Residents will want to use. How can they do this? Look at Legacy body as an example; It has multiple types depending on the shape you want. Classic, Perky, and Bombshell. What if a new LL mesh body could do all body types by simply changing body sliders? You could say goodbye to attaching different body parts forever and have something more intuitive and optimized.

Senra was a small step into the right direction. LL might have just been testing the waters (being optimistic), but the next avatar needs to be a big leap forward, including a complete revamp of the edit appearance menu. And it needs to be a big enough leap that it entices existing residents to switch over to it as well. If LL can capture existing residents with a new body, they will win over content creators as well, as they always go where the customers are. This will benefit everyone including new residents who will now have an up to date and currently trending mesh body right out the gate.

New mesh bodies and mesh heads come out all of the time. Are those compatible with the huge amount of content which came before it? What is the difference between Legacy Mesh Body making a new body shape and Lelutka making a Evox 2.0, and Linden Labs making a starting avatar creator that blows out of the water anything that's been made before? I'm not suggesting that old content disappear. It should always remain for those who want it (as it always has). But old content is not a reason to never upgrade. Remember when we never wanted to leave our Catwa heads and maitreya bodies behind? How fast did that change when something better came along? All those outfits fitted for maitreya and hairstyles for catwa suddenly became incompatible. Did the sky start to fall, or did the community adapt to their new heads and bodies and move on from the old? Keep the Legacy bodies and appearance editor for those who want it and give us something new to breath new energy into SL. They need to make SL marketable to potential new residents, similar to what Inzoi is doing. There is a reason that Inzoi puts their character editor front and center in all of their marketing and even released a demo. They know what draws new customers. Linden Labs should be paying attention to this instead of trying to capture the mobile phone audience who have no interest in virtual worlds to begin with.. Too many residents like yourself seem to be complacent with SL not moving forward. We are going to find out in the next few years that this was a very poor decision as technology keeps improving and LL is stuck trying to keep a dwindling user-base from complaining about having to buy a new GPU once in a while.

Don't you think SL would benefit by upgrading it's starting avatar creator closer to current year standards? Currently it is very unattractive to any potential new Residents. Why does this community not seem to think this is an issue? Is this what gatekeeping looks like? You've invested years into the product already and you have a great avatar and a nice house already. So you don't care about new residents because you've already got yours?