InnerCity Elf

Yes, I know, that's what I meant, I had read that info already in the thread luckily, and thus knew it doesn't mean unavailable, and thus I got a Sakura themed plot. Else I probably wouldn't, it wasn't really intuitive. But thank you!

Maybe nobody told the owner. It can be amazing what people who should know often don't know. In any case, I still quite often encounter what I'd call 'traffic bots', too (there may be other explanations for those bot meetings, like they are rogue AIs, taking enjoyment in plotting virtual world domination "in person", but the only one that comes to my mind without much thinking or fantasizing, when I see those conglomerations, is 'traffic bots', in any case).

I've also just seen the one Rowan mentioned here. In- world, I've seen some role playing schools that offered language classes, but have no idea how good those are if you really want to learn a language. Now I'm actually thinking that it would be great if there was a place in SL with boards where people could enter themselves and look for language exchange partners, especially if they already have basic knowledge, and want to learn a language as it's spoken casually, not so much textbook like, practice conversation, and such. It might be most efficient for people with advanced knowledge. Kind of like adoption centers or boards, just that two people would adopt each other as language buddies, could set up regular meetings, and also send quick messages back and forth in between, if anything pops up that they'd like to ask a native speaker. For most beginners, probably, language schools are better, though.

I randomly and hopefully logged in right after I saw the thread about Sakura, and got a nice 512 right away. Luckily, I'd also seen a post that told me that greyed out doesn't mean not available, else I may have missed out.

Aw, thanks for the thread, and thanks LL for the theme, got one, in Migi. Lovely. 🥰 I'll have to make some time to go furniture and plant shopping this evening...

I've been pondering this, on and off, for decades now. The most probable answer that I can come up with, is, that the only purpose is the one, or the ones, that we give it, and that's good enough for me, by now, I've made my peace with it.

I'll admit to being a superficial visual creature, I like exploring regions and events and roleplaying, and SL visuals are pretty good for immersion, and by far the best I've seen as far as virtual worlds go. That, and many of the other reasons stated by others already. I can't see anything in the virtual worlds ring that would entice me at the moment, and it looks as if it might stay that way for a long while, if not the rest of my days. I've looked into a few platforms where you can build your own regions cheaply, which is great, but Avatar customization is pretty much non-existant there, and I've been spoilt by SL with its fantastic creator community in that regard, I don't want to go without.

Some people definitely have checked my profile, some definitely not, but I have no idea about the percentage or raw numbers. On my part, yes, I definitely check out others' profiles, including Picks, and occasionally visit their picked places, that's what it's there for or not 😅 Of course, I've noticed that many people use their picks as tributes to friends, memorials to their witty conversations, store ads (whether to support a store or get a freebie, whatever is fine by me), to tell other roleplayers about their characters, ... And I like that people don't do everything "as intended", and use the resources we get creatively. Opening a profile, and Picks, is like opening Kinder Eggs. Sometimes, you find an awesome... Jedi Knight hippo, sometimes... not. I'm happy when I don't really have anything to do than snoop at Picks and find a great place, randomly going or doing somewhere or something unplanned I definitely appreciate when people share their special finds.

I prefer text in nearly any situation, be it in SL, my job, or in private matters (remotely, that is, I will talk to people face to face instead of passing a notebook and pen forth and back ;)). But I'll consider voice options if the other person's reason to use voice kind of trumps my preference of text, like any kind of disability that makes text no or a bad option for them. I don't think that voice communication necessarily or inherently is better/less limited for conveying emotion, tone, and such. Maybe if all participants are both native or near-native speakers, on about the same level of language skills, cultural and educational background, age, and such factors. Even then, some people do express emotions rather when writing someone a letter than they would chatting. What could text chatters do better... Well, I guess using emoji is one thing (but I seem to remember that, for instance, the laughing smiley emoji is known to at least potentially cause distress due to it's ambiguity/ferlings of the "recipients"), and, of course, wording, maybe reading over it another time and thinking about how the other person may perceive it, before sending it. Whether that's desirable or not so much, depends on the situation. You may gain less interpretation issues, but lose spontaneity and humourous banter, for example.

Plain curiosity. I'm still alive even, amazingly.🐈‍⬛

Maybe "Why are you so rude?" would be another question for that particular person, although I'm almost thinking that the underlying reasons may be rather similar if not the same for both questions. To me personally, it doesn't matter, and I've never asked anyone nor would I. If they tell me, either through their profile, or more directly, that's great, I'm a human, and somewhat curious about people if I interact with them (but if they'll tell me their favourite of all poems, I'll be just as happy as if they tell me their gender if not more), and if not, that's just fine, too, I don't need to know.

I'd not want to waste my time with that nor risk anything for it. You're aware though, that you're asking if that's legit, while you're not being legit yourself, feeding them fake info, right? Okay, good then, just checking.

I don't think that the problem is avatars looking or acting dead on a technical level. It's that too many people are overly interested in themselves, want to talk but not really listen, treat others as a commodity or extras and themselves as the centre of the universe, things like that. But new tech and options are cool, even though I fear I won't have much of it personally, I get sick and headaches too easily.

I may be grossly mistaken, but my impression of SL always was that, in any possible way, there are so many more non-standard than standard people (for the lack of better terms), and that its whole population should probably be well aware of or better remember the sitting in a glasshouse thing, before throwing any kind of stone. Thus, the thought of someone fearing harassment due to being or identifying as non-binary in SL of all places, as well as someone harassing due to it, seems almost surrealist to me. On the other hand, I don't doubt that there still are enough idiots to harass someone for this kind of thing. Good thing that the virtual gods gave their populace the block and report functions.

If I have to choose, Sansara probably is my favourite, the Old World, the Color Sims, I almost bought a big parcel on a Color Sim once, but decided it would have been too indulgent, I wasn't in-world enough to justify the initial cost and then the tier, the Snow Sims,... And I ❤️ the railways!

Ahaha, when I saw the topic header, I was all curious, thinking it was about our Avatars as our mirrors, like in mirrors as a narrative/cinematic concept, or maybe something along the lines of whether we choose our friends for being mirrors, but it was still interesting, I hadn't even realized that there are no "physical" mirrors in SL. Never ever got the idea to buy one for decorating one of the many SL homes I've had up to now. Fascinating.

You could try to find a head creator who takes custom orders, but I'd guess there aren't many if any, and also that it would be really expensive, and you'd probably have to pay up in advance. Unless maybe you could make a deal with them that they get all rights and may sell the head not just to you but also offer it for sale in their usual line. Not sure how to go about finding a creator who does, maybe try posting under "Wanted" in the "Merchants" subforum, or send a notecard to creators and ask if they do custom work, but I'd only do that if I was prepared to spend a good deal of real dollars on it ^^ Hope you can get an avatar at least close to what you imagine, whether custom or not!

Not in SL, no, but neither do I tell people. It happened a few times that we mutually guessed each other's country in a conversation. If you converse in English but both share a different native language, it can happen quite easily that you notice the "tells". I don't deny the where, but only at country level, closer is too close for comfort for me. If someone insists on more, I won't fake, I'll just not answer, or tell them nunya, depending. In RL, though, yes, kind of, twice, because I was followed around by a creep, and didn't want him to know where I actually live.

Hmmm. If a stranger, I'd probably pity them for their bad childhood, having been raised to be a rude person. Yeah, I'd also feel weirded out. My actual response would depend on how exactly they came across. If a friend who'd genuinely want to help, because they knew that I wasn't happy with how I look and just lack the L$ to mend it, or am really incapable of finding stuff, or something, I'd definitely appreciate the gesture. I might accept and wear it if I liked what they gave me, but would still, as kindly as possible, tell them it's not my style, if I didn't. I wouldn't like them to spend time or money or both on things that I wouldn't wear or use, so I'd make that clear, but also make clear that I appreciate their kindness. Maybe suggest we go to a shopping event or two together, to learn what the other's style is, what they hate, and to generally spend some fun time together. I'm also open to trying out new things and styles, but by this point, I pretty much know what I like and don't like, and what works for me and what not, both in SL and RL, and the decision of whether the "better looking" avatar is actually better for me, to my eyes, is mine, and only mine. Depending on the circumstances and how exactly I'd feel, I also might get petty and offer them a "superior looking" avatar, unsolicited. 😇

Although I tend to think that they are lying to themselves, and that people for whom this is really 100% true, aren't in SL in the first place. No, I don't find "perfect" avatars intimidating to talk to, but, as for many others, it seems, I'd rather chat up "interesting" people. If I'm already going to pluck up my courage to talk to anyone first, they better interest me than be perfect. That said, perfect and interesting isn't mutually exclusive.

Yes, figures, I just want to add it as a little something for the enjoyment of any would-be "intruder". Visitors are welcome, I'll have to think of a setup that offers lock-picking to the more adventurous ones, while keeping part of the property open access, to not scare the more timid ones away. I hope most people will take it as fun and not as a "stay outside!". Not that I think many people visit my current spot, but you never know, it's nice when you wander around and find fun things to see or do, and many people might never have seen lock-pickable doors before

Nice! I'll keep that in mind for my next rebuilding. Weird, role play often being my main sl pastime, I never thought of using those doors for, umm, my real self's real estate 😊

I couldn't tell you the names of some other regions I've had property before either, and you might very well be able to tell me if you had property on the sim I'm on now, the name is really special. But yes, mileages do vary, definitely!

Currently on the ground on a bought mainland plot, since a year or so. My preference for living is definitely the ground, with "scenery" and "life" around. My house and all isn't really my preference, but I tried to blend it in with the surroundings, as it's rather themed there. It's not ugly, or anything, just not what I would set up if I was the only one there. I couldn't resist the plot because of the region's name. I'm sometimes looking for another plot, close to people who have plots that my preferred style would fit to, but more often than not, if I find promising plots, they are either too tiny or too expensive, or both, or I don't like the name of the sim, or the position of the plot, or I'm spending too little time in world to justify it to myself. I'm too fussy. (I also love renting in roleplay regions, when I find one I want to play at, that's "on the ground" too then, not sure if it counts as "live" in the spirit of your question.)

If you don't want to terraform the land yourself, and rather focus on the things you put on your land, you can also buy RAW terrain files to upload on the marketplace, "normal" ones, and even special ones like a heart shape landmass surrounded by water. Have fun with your new region in any case!