PheebyKatz

I think someone is taking themselves way too seriously, and it isn't me this time.

This is super important. When I see an empty profile, I assume they want to be left alone, or they're a predator. Also seconding the post above me, because Love makes a really good point. Making friends with someone who joined close to the same time you did helps a lot. It gives you a common ground that can't be changed on a whim, makes the connection meaningful, and you get to discover something new together, with someone there who is sharing the same feelings and understands what you're saying. Having a new person friend when you're new is about as important as meeting someone who is willing to act as a mentor and teach you the ropes. I think both are integral to a good start in SL, and also play a role in normal, healthy social development. The relationships we make in here are real, and we learn as much from them as we do in our "realer" life and its relationships.

I'm not as experienced with what's at the forefront of the mesh avatar spectrum, but you'll certainly get good answers from whoever posts after me. My avatar body and head are by Rebirth, and my head uses the old SL UV map and all, unlike a lot of the newer heads. My current avatar is my third mesh incarnation, and I went in the order: Classic, Kemono, Tweenster, Rebirth, over the course of about 6 years. I do know that BoM is the way to go (probably an unspoken thing by now), because even old system layer stuff can be put on it, and a lot of that old stuff even looks really good on a newer avi. Some of it even maps a little more accurately. You'll want to avoid any body or head that still uses appliers. I do have a Lucybody avatar, and it's compatible with all of the clothing for the Maitreya Lara, though I don't think most of the top name avatars are going to have much crossover with clothes. Fortunately, unlike earlier mesh stuff that came in 5 sizes and still looked wonky, most good designers these days are including versions for several different brands of mesh avatars. Always check the ad to make sure they have your body covered, no pun intended.

I always sort of just sit on the prim, and then type in the height I want it to go to, then settle for the height it parks me at, and then scoot it down a few meters so I have room to rezz stuff on it without it going straight to my Lost & Found. When I unsit, I hit Home so I fly, or quickly double-click the prim so I TP onto it, and don't fall. It's a long way down, and there's a lot of stuff to hit on the way, lol. But yeah, I'm totally using this now that I know about it, too.

That's what really happened. Philosophers showed up. Once you've got 4 philosophers in one region, best to just hang it up. Neo-neo-Platonic Sophists are the worst. I give them a wide berth.

Double-posting but I don't care. I have to say this, for the same reason it's polite to post the solution to a scripting problem when you figure it out, instead of leaving all the scripters hanging. I like this Community Exhibit thing. I like anything that makes it easier for new people to spend time in SL. I like that we have more than one version of each kind of community in SL. And I especially like that, if one is patient enough, one can, in fact, find the people they vibe with, and that is their community. Even if the Exhibit ends up with people standing around talking about how they find this and that wrong with that particular community, and they think others are better. Why? Because the more a new person is exposed to the truth of SL, the more likely they are to stick around until they find their community/communities. There are communities here who are so niche a person might think they were all alone in the whole world if they didn't go exploring one day and stumble upon them. Not every region bothers with showing up in Search either, because it took them this long to find their special place where they can be themselves and not have to deal with judgemental people, and they aren't always going to be the most open to fresh traffic. Having non-toxic places where people can spend a little time and sort themselves out, maybe even meet others who share their niche weirdnesses and show them more of the grid than they could find on their own, once they get to know them anyway, I think that's awesome. I especially like that one can actually meet official staff. A lot of the new user help sims I visited when I was new hadn't seen a Linden in their lives, and quoted outdated stuff from the wiki at everyone like it was cult dogma, and on final initiation would try to sell you a timeshare. Having something official is great, and I think the Moles help that a lot. Before they came along it was different, somehow. Anything that contributes to giving new users a healthy and non-craptastically-loathesome first few weeks inworld is worthy of support. I'm totally down with all of this.

I can totally see this being a major contributing factor. A lot of the more deeply-into-it SL people do far more than use it as a social platform. Creative people aren't always the most social, but when they are, you've got the makings of good friendships, if you're also creatively inclined. There's so much in SL besides hanging out and chatting, it makes sense that people who prefer hanging out and chatting would gravitate to more chat-oriented platforms, especially if it's all (or most of what) they're into. They probably get bored watching people grow grass. I could build, or watch others build, for hours, but that's me. I think this is also why so many people actually stick with SL for over 15 years, too. I haven't found another platform yet that could handle me as I am, give me everything I want from it, and let me socialize only when I feel like it, besides SL.

Well, they better be all-inclusive, or they're bad people.

See? Marketing works! Now, we just have to get the driving community on board with this. My fee is reasonable. We can talk about branding any time. Have some free samples in the meantime: StickShifters HardDrivers 4-on-a-Floor You want people, you gotta give 'em what they want! I have a free go-kart too, if anyone wants it.

I was going to say you're wearing your pants too tight at the waist, but the above poster is probably closer to the actual solution.

I'll settle for their godlike powers. I'd love to be able to delete stuff on the mainland, lol.

Don't anyone ever feel bad for not knowing it all, because I think it's like mathematics. I doubt any one person anywhere knows everything about SL. It's just too much to cram and retain. It took me 8 years to realize I didn't have to sit there and keep typing numbers into the rotations slots in the editor. You can just hit CTRL and grab a wheel and rotate the dern thing. It hurts to sit now, from kicking myself so hard.

I figured it out. Like anything else in this virtual world, it's what we make of it.

I saw some pink clouds, but I always get that. Maybe more people go now than at first, iunno. Either way, it's what we make of it, so yeah. If enough people go, there will be more. Overall impression is very good, I kinda wish it had been like that when I was new. I'm probably going to make a habit of visiting again, at least sometimes. It's nice knowing there's somewhere I can drop in and ride my bike around without too many people flipping out, lol.

Been to the Community Exhibit, it is nice. Anyone with a little sense could make really good use of a spot there, because the kiosks are big enough to put a little representation of your region's contents with lots of room around it for visibility. Kiosks are round, for ease of navigation. Dots all over the map, and I still managed around 20 FPS with my gfx on my "building mode" setting. Not bad, least for me. Violet Mole is cool. We had a nice conversation. My overall feeling on attending the Welcome Hub and Community Exhibit is very positive. If I had ended up there when I was new, I would probably have had a much better time of it than I did at first. That's my opinion, for what it's worth.

Exploring the Welcome Hub, met Violet Mole, everyone is nice. I can now have an opinion on this. It is a good one.

I'm going to go see the exhibit, and then I have a world to build, I'll see you guys inworld, if y'all do that kinda thing.

You're right, I'm going to all of those niche-specific sims and demanding right now that they rebrand for the general public, and all of the colors on the emotional spectrum. First I'll go to all of the "women's safe space" sims owned by lesbians, and demand they call them "people-welcome sims", and encourage more male avis to visit. What IJS, since it's too much work to type it out, and I'm cool cos internet, is that it's SL. People can like what they like. Nobody has to bow down to what uninterested parties would have them do with their region they are paying for, and you can be inclusive while still identifying as a specific. Branding is a practical thing. You use it to get more of what you like. At least they don't say that everyone without a thingy has to go away. Ease up, people. You know, judging every little fart and poot of everything the way people do, it just shows me over and over that the ones trying to correct me are the ones who need to look at themselves. You want everyone to be so accepting of everyone, and all you do is look for what's wrong with it all. Then you complain about feeling unaccepted everywhere, when you yourselves wouldn't find your own behaviors acceptable if you met you. Let's neg on everyone, it's how we show we're better than them, right? Pick, pick, pick.

If a Mediterranean restaurant advertises as Greek, it's probably owned by a Greek person, and the core customer base that made the restaurant possible in the first place is probably Greek. Calling it Greek doesn't mean they hate Anatolians. It just means they like other Greek people. If they call it an international restaurant, people will expect to find as much sushi as falafel, and then what? Does inclusivity exclude the persons who make the place and community happen? Then why bother? I wouldn't go to a sim called Waifu Central and expect it all to be yaoi, but that doesn't mean they're being unwelcoming. What, were you hoping to find more lesbians? You know they're all being played by dudes, right?

This is why I can't fly off the handle at people using words like "lolita", or such like. Words and names of things get associated with "adult activities", become secret code words and signs for clandestine communities, and eventually end up applied to fashion trends, or even come full circle and end up G-rated again. Look at how much of what used to be adult stuff is now considered beneath adults, and ends up belonging to the kids, like maypole dances, and musical chairs, and the farmer in the dell game. Personally I don't see anything wrong with a bunch of boys who like boys calling their town Boystown (quite a few gay men I know identify as boys, actually, and not men). At least anyone with half a brain cell would realize within a few minutes of arrival that they were in the online equivalent of a gay bar, if the name didn't give it away. And besides, I'm sure "Good Friends" and "The Corner Pocket" were already taken. Marketing is just marketing, whether it's social or commercial. You use what works, and change it when it stops working.

They had a Boystown in my hometown IRL, but it got shut down. Something about a sex scandal, and human trafficking. In SL, I don't think it matters. If it did, all those sims with "Playground" in their names would be shut down, probably. And daddy-doms would all be hiding in dark corners. Sugar babies would all be wards of the Lindens. It does its job as branding, it's memetic, and it obviously works, as they're a successful community. I think people just look for things to be wrong because it's fun.

I have no idea which hobbit that was, but I can look it up, I have all of Tolkien's stuff somewhere. Oh wait, I can google it. 5 minutes later: *MY EYES! OH, MY POOR, VIRGIN EYES!*

I'm seconding the above. Be stubborn, and give it time. SL has people from all over the world, and they're from all sorts of RL-local cultures (which can vary even from city to city and state to state), and they're all on a platform that (to a degree) facilitates the rapid exchange of information. We also have some pretty expressive people, so you have lots of people expressing a multitude of differences, and each with their own idiosyncrasies, because it's not just a bunch of people, it's individuals, and every single one is different. People who have been all up in that for a while tend to behave in a certain manner when meeting new life forms. Some rush headlong into meeting them and take an open and friendly approach, so as not to discourage newcomers, and some close themselves up and get all uptight, because "oh lord, another noob". I think of it as accelerated socializing when someone who would normally hang out at home after work plugs into a night club online. And in RL, going to a night club can be a diplomatic nightmare, if you're tired and not normally the most social person, perhaps more bookish, into roleplay, and computers. So just take the time to get used to it. Take the time for others to get used to you. Nothing of lasting value was ever built with the push of a button, it all takes time. Fortunately SL is a pastime, so spending time in it is kind of a thing. Makes it easier, having that built in.

Baby steps. One day you'll look back and every obstacle in your path will be seen for what it is, just another baby step. Be stubborn, and keep at it!

I think I just found a piece of kryptonite. Iunno what to do with it. *throws it into the water purification system, it can't hurt*