Ayashe Ninetails

Wat. I was talking about SL. And lol at Hot Topic. Not going there, though. Unless you've got some reason to believe child avatars are rockin' Erik Sprague looks in SL, I wouldn't agree that piercings and tattoos are popular among people roleplaying pre-teens here. In the older teens and above crowd, I don't think it contributes much to an avatar's age, though.

Honestly, I used to stick to goth outfits a lot more faithfully in pre-mesh days. Some of the flexi gowns were soooooo pretty! Once things went full mesh, though, I've fallen off that. I do still rock gowns, but I favor much slimmer evening wear. With the way mesh dresses and skirts flip up over our heads when we walk (ugh, don't get me started on that), it's just harder to make those large gowns work. I'll still wear one on occasion, but meeeeeeh. As for piercings, it's funny because I don't have ANY (and no tats either) in RL, but that's solely because I've got no pain tolerance, lol. I'm the most squeamish baby ever. If not for that, I would have a face and head full of piercings. In fact, I have thing for body modification and used to read BME quite a lot back in the day - to the point of wanting full body tats and transdermal and subdermal implants, but I knew I'd never realistically survive that mess if it took me until 18 years old to brave Claire's for my first pair of normal earrings done with a stupid piercing gun. 🤣 I got as far as walking into a tattoo shop and requesting an armband that quickly progressed into "okay, so let's tattoo this entire tarot card design on your back, for a start..." and then chickened out. So guess what? I do that here! And yes, I admit, I'm a bit over the top with it (up to about 12 or 13 rings and studs in my face with another dozen or so in my ears), but that's pretty much how I'd look in RL if I weren't so squeamish. As for age, even combined with height and everything else, I doubt that contributes much to it in either direction, except it's highly, highly unlikely a 10-year-old will have a face full of metal and tattoos all over, so there's that, I suppose.

Agree! And honestly, I don't think you'll ever be able to gather a group of people in one room and all magically agree on what age someone (or their avatar) is. It's just way too subjective. My face every time Paul Rudd trends on his birthday, for instance. To me, that man never ages. Small details do work wonders generally, but we all know people can miss stuff like that, too. I agree with what @brodiac90 said - governance is going to be looking for very obvious cases.

Okay so for just general over 18, there's stuff you could do to emphasize that if you wanted to, but I think you'd be fine as is. I wouldn't worry about it. I could nitpick things, but that's just me being overly picky. Like, there are better bunny ears on the market - bento, that animate and come with a tail that responds to your AO so it bounces and twitches when you walk/run and looks SO CUTE OMG. 😄

Oh, I think I missed this. And Arielle!!! I'll have no more of this goth slander. 😂 There used to be 60+ goths and punks in the clubs I went to in my 20s. My love of goth stuffs surely ain't going anywhere now that I'm older, just as theirs didn't. You stop dat, lmao. At any rate, there's no point debating piercings/tats as BilliJo likely won't be adopting those (unless she wants to, at which point I have suggestionnnnnns), but yeah - 16 year olds get them. 42 year olds get them. 60 year olds get them. Proves nothing about age whatsoever.

Lol, actually to be serious for a second, you did hit on some of the common tricks I use. Brow shape can be HUGE when aging up or down. Skin detail layers and materials, too. Makeup. Fashion very obviously (though I still rock very dark colors because I love those). Accessories like jewelry/held items. Hair can help sometimes as a finishing touch. Overall face shape does make a huge difference, too (for the photo references I use, they all have very prominent cheeks, and I find mimicking that does help quite a bit). I generally start with a photo reference in their 50s and age them down into their 30s. For some reason, that tends to work a lot better for me than starting with a photo of someone who is about 30 years old. Just personal preference. I did grab a head with built-in wrinkles and skin effects and a ton of material styles that I adoooore, but I'm saving it to make some 60+ male and female fantasy avatars.

I don't think anyone adds piercings or tats to age an avatar considering many people get piercings and tattoos before they hit full-time working age where you basically have to hide all that to avoid negatively impacting the company's image (massive eyeroll).

Hey, I resemble that remark! Not the wannabe part, tho. 😆 Is this a serious request, though? Aging up avatars is something I do quite often just given the fact that base heads always seem to start in the 20s. Sigh.

Keeping in mind I'm 6'6" on a day without massive heels and any need to be taller, avatar height isn't something I would ever even look at to begin with. Tall, medium, short - I can't see that being the sole indicator of anything. Unless your avatar is designed to be a toddler and showing up somewhere inappropriate, it's just not that serious. That said, it would help if you told us (if you haven't already - it's possible I missed it) what age range you're targeting. If you're concerned you look too young, you can age up easily without having to touch your base avatar. I find working with photo references very helpful when I'm making an avatar in a certain age range (for both face/body shaping and fashion/accessorizing).

Asking the right questions. 😆

I'm disappointed it took us 3 pages to get to this joke. I'm also going to be equally disappointed if someone isn't running around SL as Bear Grylls already. That would be such an easy look to put together. Come on, slackers. Make it happen!

Oh I agree. *hugs back* Sometimes, though, one might wonder "am I feeling bra today?," (hell, I ask myself that often in RL and the answer is usually no, lol - glad I work at home, wheeeee) so I can understand why some might be having a difficult time with these new rules. Having something else to worry about (need to cover up, or else!!! *waves TOS around*) is extra weight when you're already struggling with expression and/or identity. I know I used to get very frustrated reading dress rules at school/work. Ugh. Women/girls must do thisss men/boys must do thaaaat. Oh I understand that completely! Some do get very, very attached to their avatar. I've known people I couldn't convince to even pick up a free Lelutka head during Christmas!!! Meanwhile, I could change my ENTIRE appearance (species, gender, outfits, heads, skin, shape included) 5 or more times in a 1-hour session. I'm terrible. 😂

And this is why I'm very, very glad I don't pilot a child or teen avatar in SL. Everything you said here just made me short circuit. 😂 My males would be in the gown/bow/long hair and my females in the shaved head and plaid (I lived in flannels and combat boots and Timbs in the 90s). The middle - anyone's guess - flannels and stiletto heels on a male with long hair and an undercut. And glitter makeup. I'm too fluid for my own good, I tell ya.

That would've been horrrrrrrible!

Lol, I was going to say. Men (and boys!) shop just as much as we do sometimes. I will say the modesty layers are pretty much what I expected them to be, though I was pleasantly surprised they went for a strapless design for the bras. This is good, at least.

Considering the question is about Second Life, I'm very disappointed in those of you who didn't jump at the chance to hang out with a dadbod-rockin' bear with tummy and butt jiggle physics. I mean come onnnnnnnnnn. Live a little. Sheesh. 😂 And no, I'm not making that up. It exists. If you don't think I'm going to make an avatar like this someday, well... https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/RB-Bear-Physics/24613953

This is another question that could be brought up at the meeting, though I don't personally think there'd be much wrong with a creator making a skin with a modesty bra that can accommodate a top or gown with a lower cut or cutouts or straps (in the back). As long as the front has full-coverage, of course, like one of those magical bras. Teens do wear prom dresses, after all.

I feel your pain! I always find myself wanting ear piercings for all kinds of fantasy and furry ears (elf is the least of my worries - try finding piercings for mermaid ear fin thinggiemadoohickeys and floppy bunny ears!). Peeve! Pre-mesh, I used to make all my own jewelry and piercings, but now...eehhhhhhh. Not messing with that! I will build my own horns and antlers, though, but none of that needs rigging, so slapping some full perm mesh together for that is a much easier process.

I don't want to delve too deep into off-topic with this (and Scylla's right - perhaps we'd be fine discussing it in its own thread), but I do want to stress that you don't have to worry about violating the TOS at all just by being somewhere. There are G and M-rated LGBTQ+ friendly destinations in the guide, for example.

Okay good. If they do answer that question (and I'm hoping they do - even if it seems obvious, some people are understandably a bit unsure of things right now), it'd be helpful if they add the response to the FAQ, too. In the meantime, I'd tell those asking that the topic will be brought up tomorrow.

This is a very good question, Madi. If you're going to the meeting tomorrow, I'd suggest bringing that up as a question for LL to answer. If you won't be there, perhaps someone else who is going can ask.

Welcome! Now I'm wondering how I look under Midday. 👀 What's LL trying to say with that, LOL. "Well, if they still look like kids in THAT busted lighting that generally adds 10 years to everyone, then..." 😂 Damn, Scylla, ya beat me to the joke, lmao.

I'm almost sorry that "how old do I look today?" thread got a little borked and disappeared. It would've been amusing to see how that turned out. Maybe LL would've learned some useful data from that, as well (not to trust our judgment, mostly, lol). As for windlight settings, I noticed the FAQ mentioned taking AR snapshots in Midday. I haven't used that setting in a million years (nor do I AR anyone, so there's that), so I have no idea why that would be a thing.

I know, V-Tech stopped supporting Maitreya quite a bit ago. I still use it, though, because some stores don't support Lara Flat but do still carry older stuff they'd made for V-Tech Lara. I swap back and forth based on what I want to wear and where I'm shopping, basically. Lara Flat doesn't have quite as large an inventory as V-Tech did (and LaraX's offerings are even more slim). Especially for skins. I mean technically, Catwa only makes human heads, but I've used mine to create an orc. I've used my very human Maitreya body to create very not human mermaids and creatures. I've worn my living room chandelier on my head as a hat. There's nothing that says someone can't use a body or mod designed for X to create Y.

There's not much difference between Lara Flat and V-Tech at all. I wear both. You could very easily make a teen male (or female) avatar using either one.