MoiraKathleen

For the majority of my clothes, I either had alphas because they came with standard sizes as well as mesh-specific sizes, or I was able to find an alpha that would work from the two sets available through SLink or from ones I had with existing clothes. I have maybe a handful of clothes where I couldn't find a ready-made alpha that would work for them. Often you don't need an alpha that covers everything that a piece of clothing does - often you just need one for specific areas of the body, so sometimes a specific alpha will work with multiple clothing items, and I copy and paste the alpha layer into all the applicable clothing folders that it works with. Perhaps I've just been lucky with the types of clothing that I wear. I am also thrilled to be easily able to wear a system layer shirt under a mesh jacket, or system layer leggings under a mesh tunic - I prefer this to having to use appliers for a layered look and to having to use an alpha HUD.

In addition to providing an assortment of alphas, Slink also included some info on making alphas with the Redux body and on the BOM faq on their web page, and made video tutorials (one using Photoshop and one using Gimp) showing how to make alphas. My prior experience with Gimp was limited to just being able to resize a picture, so I was really excited that I was able to follow her tutorial and be successful in creating and uploading an alpha layer I needed for one of my shirts that I couldn't use other existing alphas for.

Ready, Set

Happy 3rd Rez Day

spilled milk

I agree. I have Lara as well as Slink Physique, but Slink has been my preferred body, and after Redux came out, I boxed up Lara and all the Lara specific stuff I had.

Wily Suggestion

Peryda, I remember the Exploratorium region - it was one of the first places I visited when I was new In SL, having been to the San Francisco Exploratorium many times over the years in real life. However, I do not think that Linden Lab has an obligation to keep science or other education regions alive in-world, beyond the region cost discount that they provide for non-profits. If in fact they did host the sims for a number of months without requiring payment, than to me it sounds as if Linden Lab was working with the organizations and giving them time to work out future funding sources. Your open letter might be better sent to the Board of Directors of the organizations behind the Exploratorium regions and the SciLands regions. Perhaps there are reasons why they are deciding not to continue with funding the SL regions? I would imagine that there are more internal expenses involved than just the monthly tier cost to Linden Lab - I'm thinking internal staff costs for planning/running the projects, builds, presentations, etc., on the SL regions. I imagine those expenses might be bigger monthly costs than the region tier. Do we know how much of a priority these regions are for the overall mission of the organizations? Are the regions still meeting the goals that they had when they created the regions? Have you reached out to their Board of Directors to let them know how much you value the regions being in SL, and your wish to have them remain there?

Garden Gnome

Over there is mayhem everywhere CHAOS

Lacking Subtlety

I wear alphas that came with some of the older mesh outfits on Slink's version of the BOM body. I also went with one of Slink's new bento/BOM heads. I am more than pleased with the reduced number of scripts I'm wearing, the lower complexity readings and just the ease of dressing due to no longer having to worry about alpha cuts and appliers.

Just curious if this is the first time that you have tried to get one of the new Linden homes. There were plentiful Victorians available all the time for the first 5 days that they were released earlier this month. Also, that same release also included traditionals and house boats and was the first time that I can remember that all types of the new homes were available pretty much every day. Right now, there are available traditionals, house boats and campers - that was not something that was seen prior to the major December release. New Linden homes have never been as available as they are right now. The best locations that I've personally come across have been locations someone else had abandoned. In earlier releases (prior to this month) I always kept the first location I got because there was so much demand that they did not stay readily available for a week or two like they did this month. This time, I did abandon and then retry on this single account for maybe 6 or 7 times, and al most of the retries were better locations that the first Victorian I had received. I ended up back at with Traditionals because I decided I like them better than the Victorians, and ended up with a wonderful parcel there after a couple of retries. The conversation over alts being used to get new Linden homes, as well as who should have first choice on the new Linden homes (new accounts, old accounts, those with old Linden homes, those without old Linden homes, etc., etc. ) were common in the forums here all the time when the first homes were released and almost immediately sold out last Spring.

I'd say my bliss is walking - when I'm not in a rush to get to a particular place. It doesn't matter if it's around town or out at a park, though I do walk far more around town than outside of town. I like to listen to the sounds of where ever I'm walking, so I don't listen to music or books on headphones. When the grandsons were small enough to still be pushed in a stroller, walking was my fall-back when they needed a nap or we all just needed a break from chaos. I'm a little sad now that only one of them is still small/young enough for stroller rides. This month has been hard for getting walks in between rain, shorter hours of daylight and grandchild watching schedules. I think that's partly why I haven't been feeling quite up to par lately.

Putting words on pictures seems like a difficult task for me most of the time, but I've been forcing myself to practice a bit more

Last minute holiday baking...

Wishing everyone a joyous holiday and best wishes for the coming New Year.

If one of my often-purchased from clothing creators changed to that paradigm, it's very likely I would stop purchasing from them if I was able to find what I was looking for from other creators where I also shop. Clearly, it's the creator's choice as to how they want to package their items, but I wanted to mention my perspective as additional food for thought on that subject.

I can understand why you're suggesting this, in terms of a creator being able to know their market and know that they are spending their creation time most efficiently. However, I'm not sure that, as a consumer, I would buy very much - if any - from a creator who packaged clothing as you suggested. I have three different bodies, and it has only been since BOM came out that I have definitively chosen just one to wear all the time. Prior to that I switched between them, and I appreciated that almost all of the clothing I purchased included versions for at least 2, and oftentimes all 3, of the bodies that I used. I have not seen anyone boxing a clothing item separately for each unique body - at least not so far - and because of that, I would not buy the same clothing item 2 or 3 times in order to get a version for each body that I own. There are many clothing creators out there, so I would pass that one by and find one that included clothing for multiple bodies in one sales box.

If you're new to buying land, there is a very good class about buying and renting land offered at Caledon Oxbridge University in-world Saturdays at noon time SLT. It is a free class, and I would suggest taking that class before making any purchases. The class covers things such as differences between mainland and estates, buying versus renting, how to find land that is for sale and things to look out for when looking at a parcel for sale.

I just got one in Banebury

The majority of the types of things you've listed are 'no transfer' which means they can not be given to another avatar. There are a lot of gifts this time of year with many stores participating in Advent calendars or having sales or other specials. There are a couple of blogs that specialize in listing 'steals and deals' in SL, highlighting freebies (or items very close to fee). If you filter the marketplace searching based on cost ranges, you can find free or inexpensive clothes, hair, etc. (though probably not for mesh bodies or mesh heads).

by the fire on a cold winter's eve...

Dancing at the grand opening celebration for Antiquity Brunswick. It was a lot of fun - period music and dances

at Mieville's Christmas in Wonderland