Rufferto

Here is part of the main room I decorated using only a few of the freebies from the Chic Buildings 2017 and 2018 Advent Calendar. I re-sized and re-colored a few of the pieces, but they were all low impact.

lucagrabacr wrote: I think for a platform as versatile as SL, the promotional videos they made are a bit lacking and bland, and they don't do the platform justice at all in showing what it's capable of. I'm talking about the promotional videos here, not the videos targeted to SL's existing users, but to possible new residents or players. I mean, to me personally, and I do think this also applies to more people out there - the literally unlimited customizations you can do to your avatar/character alone is a HUGE selling point, and then there's the fact that you can use 3rd party 3d modelling tools to create anything you want, and upload it inworld (given you passed the mesh upload permission test, which is easy anyway) then use them however you want, and with the addition of scripting, you can literally create and do anything you can imagine. But none of them are explicitly mentioned in SL's promotional videos. Why? I've been on SL for 3 years, not that long really, compared to other long-time residents, but it sure gave me an idea of what SL is technically capable of as a platform. Yet if I were to put myself in the shoes of people who have little clue of what SL is, and then watch the promotional videos from their perspective, I'd say "Oh, okay" - at best. To be fair though, sure there is a lot of people out there who might be interested to SL for it being a "Virtual world where you can be anything and do everything you want" But "be anything and do everything" is very ambigous and non-technical. There are many video games out there using that phrase, "be anything you want" yet their level of character customization is very, very limited. Or, "do everything you want" but "everything" is limited by the fact that the players are stuck with what the game has to offer in the first place. So because of these widely-used phrases, skeptical prospects most likely won't buy those kinda implications, they want technical and factual details to support those kinda statements or implications. And in SL you can literally be anything and do everything. So why don't the promotional videos pointed those points out explicitly? Here's one for example, see how boring and stereotype-inducing that is? At least for me. ........................... I watched the video on youtube, and I agree that it does not show all the possibilities for creativity in Second Life. I also saw a quick shot that showed part of the Destination Guide in the background, and there was a mention of "Wet Willies" - was that a subliminal? I also feel that most of the avatars shown represent the "beautiful people". How about showing some senior, sedate avatars, in modest clothing? Also, don't forget those who would like to be furries, or tinies, or dinosaurs. I think that there is a great niche in Second Life for people my age (70's) who can no longer travel in real life comfortably, but who would still like to 'visit' other places, but they won't be lured here by pictures of avatars dancing or riding roller coasters. I also agree that the youtube video should include segments showing how architects could model virtual buildings, clothing designers could create beautiful outfits, artists could create works that are not limited by the cost of materials or by limitations of space, and so on. How about showing someone creating a statue in mesh, but include a comment that there is a steep learning curve, so people won't feel like a failure when they can't create the Taj Majal on their first day. And as for changing into different avatars - isn't one of America's favorite holidays Halloween? I confess that I seldom wear the same avatar/outfit all the time, and shopping for new shapes, skins, clothing, etc...is always fun. The 'five easy steps' thing is also deceptive - I've been here quite a while, but I'm still learning.

ChinRey wrote: Completely forgot to mention three important free texture places: Moard Ling's Freebie Folly Help Island Freebie Store Jubjub's Makersmart Thank you! I will add these to my next update. I also recently found a free texture-giver on Hobo Island. As for re-distributing them, my idea was that these could be used by residents on their own builds. If someone finds a texture at one of the sites that aren't really full perm, please let me know. I would also check with the original creator before putting any of these textures on an item to be sold or given away - it's only fair.

Mochadaisy, don't give up.... One thing you might try is to find out if the merchants where you bought the hair and furniture have a re-delivery box in their stores. I was pushed out of SL a few days ago just after making a purchase, and what I bought disappeared, but I got another copy from the re-delivery kiosk. Hope you find a place you like, and get your things back.

Confession - even though I've been here for a while, I often wear an off-the-rack avatar, partly because it is anonymous, and maybe partly because I figure people might forgive my 'eternal noob' mistakes more readily. It was fairly recently that I got "all dressed up" and walked into a public venue. Realizing I was still wearing the HUD from a hunt I had been on, I tried to detach it and ended up detaching my skirt instead. From the bar, a chat message "Well, that's a start." I fled in embarrassment.

ChinRey wrote: The problem is that comnmercial textures must be full perm and unfortunately over the years many builders have been a bit thoughtless about sharing them with friends who again shared them with their friends and so on. There are lots of genuine good (and even more genuine not-very-good) freebie textures all over Second Life but it can often be very hard to determine which are legit and which aren't. BUt here are a few places with confirmed legal freebie textures: Denise Unicorn FairChange Calypso The Linda Kellie Collection at Coniston There are others too of course. I'll se if I can remember more. Ubnfortunately you just missed one of the msot important sources of freebie textures, Yadni's Junkyard. It closed down less than a week ago. The University of North Carolina used to have a nice collection of old freebie textures too but then somebody there must have discovered they had forgotten to cancel their SL bill all those years ago. The campus was abandoned in January. No Yadni's? (sound of quiet sobbing) But - much obliged for the new links - looks like I will spend my day off re-doing everything - and mourning Yadni's. Any idea if Stillman/Nix is in danger?

Thanks, all! I guess I must have arrived just as they were re-booting. I'm going back and taking more pictures.

I just wanted to say how amazed I was by the displays at the sims devoted to the Birthday Party. Even though I went back numerous times I wasn't able to see it all, and at my last visit things were going dark and it looked as if they were dismantling everything. Very sad. Wish I had had more time, or the party had lasted longer. I'm wondering if anyone has thought of saving some of the most interesting structures the way that some cities in real life have kept remnants of former World's Fairs?

ChinRey wrote: Awww, the ZIndra collection was supposed to be a secret!!! Anyway, you seems to have missed the biggest collection of official LL textures, the one at Stillman. There may be a few at Nix too, can't remember for sure. As for non-LL free textures, you should be very, very careful. There is a lot of genuinely free textures around but also lots of pirated copies of commercial ones. Thank you! I will double-check to make sure that I have Stillman and Nix on my list. I started this collection for myself back when I couldn't make heads or tails of some commercial texture's permissions. Right now I have so many that I haven't finished cataloging them. I am not aware of having bought any pirated textures, but I have seen some of the free textures for Shareta Osumai offered as "free asian textures" on the marketplace, I guess to get people to visit their stores. I've also seen other 'freebies' for sale at a store I will refer to as "F.G." I complained about it, but nothing was done.

I've put together a guide to finding collections of free textures in Second Life* I'm on Version 3 because I'm constantly finding new ones. I've listed the ones in the Library, Newcomer Island, freebie and welcome centers, Soj's Land, the four Linden Subdivisions, Molemart, Aley Mart, and The Market at Nautilus. Yesterday I found out that there are two places in Bay City that have collections of textures appropriate for that community. It seems as if when the Linden Moles created new lands they often provided textures for the people who were moving in. My question is, when they created Zindra did they make textures for that continent? If so, where could I find them? Also, if anyone knows of a place I've missed I'd appreciate the information. *(for sale on the marketplace but you can see it for free, without landmarks, at http://wartybliggensthetoad.blogspot.com under the May entries.)

What, you aren't supposed to edit your appearance in the middle of the road? I'm not a new noob, just an eternal one. I do notice that the very new noobs have trouble navigating. One fell on me the other day after trying to walk up a cliff. I have trouble navigating sometimes too - I'm wondering if a joystick controller would help?

Decisions, decisions...If you were happy with your old alt, why change? Only problem might be if had a premium account and left without going through the proper procedures, there may be a small fee to reactivate your account.

I'm no graphics expert, but I often use a program called Grab (for Mac) to select an area on the screen, rather than using the SL camera. I'm not sure what screen capture app would work on a PC. See: http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-to-take-a-screenshot-on-pc/ I'm sure someone here can explain how to adjust the viewer settings for best definition. (The Blender icon is just for show, like my running shoes.)

Thank you for clarifying things. 4994 it is.

Clicking both "Allow Public Access" and also clicking "Group Access" will create ban lines around your property for everyone who is not listed as part of the group owning the land. I am an eternal newbie, so when one of my avatars couldn't access my parcel I at first thought it was griefers. Then I finally figured it out - had the owner unclick the "group access" button, and then it was OK. Linden support called this glitch 4995*. I had kept quiet about this as I was embarrassed, but I recently was using an alt to look at property for sale**. Twice I ran across "For Sale" property that had ban lines around them because of this situation*** and the sellers were older and wiser than I, so I thought I would mention it on the forum. *I couldn't find "4995" listed on the JIRA. **She doesn't carry a lot of money so that she can't click "Buy it Now" by accident. ***I hate ban lines, but now realize that they can be set up by accident.