Marianne Little

If I should guess, @Anna Novasays it is not so "fast and easy" as people claim. I think it is faster to find alphas that comes with demos. Some bodies comes with sets of alpha layers as well, like Slink. Every upload cost 10 L, so it is even worth paying for alpha layer packs, to not have to spend 10 L for every part. There are even free packs with alpha layers. Plus that even the free bodies have alpha cuts, so it is possible to combine alpha layer plus extra cut. So I can follow a tutorial if I really have to, but it will take time since I haven't used PS in many years. And I had to start from scratch with Gimp, if I should do it. Then it is wearing that template stuff, making the alpha layer and upload it. I simply can't be bothered. Making 5 alphas would cost me 50 L and I would have to spend the most of a day doing it. I hate the thought of wasting my time on a task like that.

I had a houseboat for a while, in Shady Corners. I abandoned it because it was boats around, just looking into other boats, boats, boats. It was like a mirror of your place. It was a good place, but I have not missed it. I had a square houseboat in Gaim, but I gave it up bc I was never there. I am more the land person. So I think... if you are not exited about it, you can let it go and try to find one you will get exited over.

Since heads are the most expensive, you can try a 55 L head to begin with. I think this store also has a free group gift head, but when I am looking at this default head, it has a nice jaw and cheekbones. Could be a boy? https://ryanschultz.com/2020/05/31/second-life-steals-deals-and-freebies-the-cat-calm-bento-mesh-head-from-genesis-lab/ You can use the money saved for a wardrobe. Maitreya and Maitreya-compatible feet have an awesome amount of shoes made for them. Totally the best if the footwear matters. That blog post new free bodies all the time, but for one who have money and do not need to hunt for clothes that maybe fit, it is better to get one of the bodies suggested by @Maitimo

Others may have better suggestions, but what I can suggest is filling a ticket for "Land & region" - "Region performance" and write that you can not teleport to your land or have friends over because of the bots that are placed out 24/7. Make sure you have the correct location and attach a screenshot or more. https://lindenlab.freshdesk.com/support/tickets/new I think you have cause to complaint, because they negatively impact you. http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Mainland_policies Policy prohibiting the misuse of bots (scripted agents) While we support the use of scripted agents ("bots") in Second Life, we draw the line when it comes to bots that cause an unreasonable load on our systems or on the regions in which they operate, or where their behavior negatively impacts other residents. Misuse of bots is a violation of this policy. Attempting to gain an unfair advantage in the Second Life search tools, including but not limited to the use of bots or camping for that purpose, is a violation of this policy and (for non-mainland estates) of the Terms of Service.

It has always been like this. The land permissions system could never go into peoples profiles and find every non-active group they belong to. Your friends/alts have to activate your group. Unless the response is: "Unable to create item that has caused problems on this region." , this does not have anything to do with the group permission system.

I like Earthstones, even if it is over my price range. If I buy, I buy in events where it is priced down. Like Hello Tuesday. EDIT: And I like Maxi Gossamer, but her older necklaces does not fit so well. And her long necklaces is only for itty bitty boobs. Maybe that is true for all long necklaces. And Zaara does not make jewelry often, but it is good.

I found a crime author when I was maybe 13-14 years old. It is John Dickson Carr, that also writes as Carter Dickson. Maybe you have heard about "The Burning Court". I am re-reading "The Three Coffins" now. You have no idea how hard it is to find John Dickson Carr in Norway, so I reread the few books I have. It is "the closed room" mysteries that is his specialty, in the time before/during/after WWII. I like Ellis Peters, she writes about a medieval monk detective/investigator. It takes place in and around Shrewsbury, England. I have a problem, it is hard to find new writers that engage me. And I read fast, I started reading in English just so the books last longer. Plus the translations often suck. I like Carl Hiaasen too. It is humorous crime fiction, many of his books involve environmentalism.

@Meg Box, welcome back. ❤️ So many returning residents try to grasp it all at once. It is overwhelming. I think I will begin to advice all to take a deep breath and start with the body, and leave your system head on until you are familiar with the mesh body you have selected. I say this because you can shop clothes, shoes, nail polish and all the new, pretty stuff with a body. You can do it without a head. It is not made any new content for system bodies. Well, maybe a little, but I can say it is so little that it is not worth to mention. If you will ease into shopping without searching for content to buy, you should buy one of the most popular bodies. This is a bit sad because the small brands are left out. But I do not want to buy a small brand and use time searching for who makes things for this one. And I can't buy anything from the stores I like, because they only make things for the most popular bodies. https://www.flickr.com/photos/79511558@N08/40153965104 The survey is 2 years old, but not much has changed in the top 5. It is a new body Meshbody Legacy that has changed name and bodies from the old TMP. I will suggest you read some long threads about Meshbody Legacy here on the forum and have that in mind when you demo it. Because DEMO! Only Slink (Physique, Hourglass) and Meshbody (Lecacy, Legacy Pregnancy, Legacy Perky ) is found on the Marketplace. Also notice that there is no, or few reviews... it was more before, but they take down and upload it to get rid of negative reviews. If you love it, it has enough new content made for it to satisfy the most. Maybe it is in the top 5 now, pushing Physique or Venus down. Inworld, you use search for Maitreya Isle (Maitreya Lara) and Belleza (Freya, Venus, Isis). EDIT: When you turn on BOM on the body, it is a seamless neck fit where your system head with the old skin meet the mesh body, and as already mentioned, it is nail fixers for feet and hands. From free to cheap. And those fixers who cost more have better details, and it is demos for them. Search Marketplace for BOM fix.

Yes, I think it is more the work than the cost. My latest purchases is not just 1 body skin, but the folder has included skins for the most popular bodies, 3 different body types. I believe this is because of nipple, toes, maybe belly button are placed a bit different. I can not think of another reason for them to make specific skins. Then there is cleavage options, freckles etc. Doing this over and over again is more work than doing it once and sell new head styles. I would not buy body skins now, unless they have at least cleavage options. Not full priced skins with only 1 skin in the pack for 500 L, when others give me more options for 450 L.

The mailbox content pack is updated. But you must look for 2 texture packs, not just one.The moles add in new texture packs every time they give us more textures.

I think the trend is a skin for the body and a tattoo layer for the head. That is what I see in the latest purchases. I think this can be to reduce the upload cost and the work? If you sell just a head tattoo, you need one upload, if you sell the whole skin, you need three. Many sell the face/head in events, and then you have to go to the mainstore and buy the body skin. Smart marketing? This last weekend, I saw 4 different head skins to reduced price, and none came with a body skin. If you see a skin ad, you can see if the jaw look "right"? The skin demos come with a shape too. I think it is older skins that have only the brand name. It was one Catwa head (Catya). Same for LeLutka, they had only Simone head. It was not necessary to write more than the brand name. This lasted for a while, and since the heads are expensive, many bought these first ones. I still use the Simone head. If it only says Catwa, I guess they mean Catwa Catya, and if it says Lelutka, I guess they mean Lelutka Simone. Both these first generation Bento heads, has been updated and are not "old". The Lelutka Evolution head in particular, are different from other Lelutka heads, but since they are new, they are named like: "...designed for the Lelutka Evolution line (shown on LAKE Head)" So you can get the demo and know the right head to test it on. I do not buy 3rd party AOs, because I have heads with more than enough animations for my needs.

I also have a 1 L body on an alt. This is good to experiment on since it is 1 L, what to lose? It does not have clothes that is made for it, but it is possible to find clothes and use alpha layers and alpha cuts. And it can use all Legacy shoes! And others too with the alternative feet. It has some issues, sandals that lace up the leg and boots does not fit. But for an alt, it is good enough. The head is a gift head that's not available now (the brand that got DMCA'ed). How to get the body here: https://ryanschultz.com/2020/04/17/second-life-steals-deals-and-freebies-the-meshbody-offers-free-versions-of-their-classic-mesh-bodies-for-men-and-women/ The updates that is added to the end of the long post has important info.

Some skins in this thread:

That is the shape only, not the mesh body and head. You need to buy them to look like this. In my opinion, you only need this to get the style card so you can find the skin and other parts. There are 2 mesh bodies on the MP that I know of, Legacy and Slink (regular and Hourglass). For 2 other popular ones, they are sold only inworld, use inworld search. Type in Maitreya Isle (one body, Maitreya Lara) and the other, Belleza, that has 3 different bodies. It is more bodies, but these are what I remember. You do not want Belleza Freya, it has a more voluptuous form. It is Isis and Venus too. Get the demos and you will see how you like them. Just adjust the body in appearance, as you will edit a classic shape. The head is a head that got a DMCA complaint filed against it. It is not for sale now, but the store told its customers that they disputed it and had a lawyer. So you can wait and hope the store is up again... get the body first. All head brands are compatible with the body necks. All brands I know of. It is possible it is some odd small brand that don't. If you want the Legacy body, read some Legacy threads in the forum first... It is the most expensive body and the body owners are very divided, hate or love.

It is a BOM neck blender on the Marketplace that got many glowing reviews. Just type BOM neck blender in search. The store also have a free demo so you can try it first.

Here are how you do it: https://lindenlab.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/31000135219-abandoning-your-land

Some say they are discriminated or laughed at. I know of one adult place that does not allow people in unless they have a mesh body. I suppose it is so the visitors have more smooth bodies to look at. To get IMs from interested people is probably easier the more sexy you look as in smooth curves and realistic parts. Then there are probably some "mean girls" in clubs, who only buy the newest stuff. I think the hardest part without a mesh body, would be that it is impossible to find new, pretty shoes for a system avatar, and clothing options are limited. A southeast Asian head would depend upon the skin more than the head, I think. It is many female Asian skins. I do not know what that is the characteristics for a particular part of Asia, I only know that some parts have darker skin. The majority of Asian skins in SL is super pale, but I believe you can find skins as dark as your avatar.

If they were named alternative feet, it would be easier to understand. Calling them deformers is just confusing.

I am not good to explain technical things, but complex parts that is set to "Physics none" can revert to "Physics prim" if it is edited. Especially if you change the root prim. Let us say you have an add-on that is set to Physics none to give it lower land impact, and you link something else to it, and the new thing is the now the root prim. I have experienced that linksets can not have individual pieces set to phantom when it is linked. I have to unlink them and set the problem parts to phantom, then link again. I have had problems many times when I edit and link add-ons made both by myself and others. I have learnt to be very careful.

For both @Pris Aquilaand @Aislin Keynes. Different brands of Bento heads comes with their own "facial AO". The most popular brands (and expensive) have static expressions, for posing, full face animation where the avatar wink and point their tongue (<---- like me) and also moods that have names like coy, shy, flirty, neutral, relaxed, pensive... These will let your face be animated all the time in the ways you selected. Instead of having one animation, like the random "Smiler" for classic avatars, these are complex and if you select more than one mood, it gives you a very varied face. The Bento heads let you adjust your face with the sliders, but not so much as your classic head. Different brands can opt out of some sliders, like jowls. You can still adjust your face, but it is best to pick a face you think is close to your look. Things like eyes and mouth respond well to sliders. You should always use the included shape, because the rigging are very specific and you will probably look like a monster with your regular shape. If you want to look like your classic head, it is recommended to stand on a pose stand and take a closeup picture of your classic head face and place that face texture on a prim next to your mesh head. Then you can work on the mesh head and compare it with your classic look with ease. All mesh head demos let you edit them, and also wear demo skins with them. It is the combined effect of head + skin + editing of the head that makes us originals and not clones. You may like how the head looks after you edited it, but the body is not what you want. The only way to do this, is to wear the shape you had before you put on the mesh head, and write down the measurements and change the body. I will try to explain what BOM is... your mesh bodyparts used to cover your avatar and you had to hide the old avatar. All layers under the mesh bodyparts was not visible, so we had to start with appliers that replaced the system layers on our classic body with onion layers over the body and makeup slots on the head. Linden Lab then made a new feature called BOM that let the system layers show up on the mesh bodyparts. Your mesh body parts behave as your system body when BOM is activated for the mesh. So now we can opt out of appliers. We take off the alpha layer included with the mesh bodypart. Then we activate BOM, it is found in the HUD that match the bodypart. For Catwa, it is in the HUD named "Master Hud" on the "skins" page where you can select skins that are included with the head. You find a small button named BOM on this page. Now, your default old skin are showing on your mesh head... like magic. 😊 Same for bodies, Maitreya also has the BOM button on the pace where you select skins. You can admire your old skin on a smoother mesh body and head with expressions. But maybe you will be disappointed. It does not look like you thought it would look. Each mesh head has its own topography. Especially around nostrils, eye corners and mouth corners. It can show as an unattractive stretch or pinch these places. A skin designer has shown how one of the system skins look on 3 different mesh heads: https://www.flickr.com/photos/deetalez/48793553621/ This is why many buy new BOM skins that are made for the head they wear. These new skins will fit correct. There are many BOM "fixers" that can save your old skin, if you feel very attached to it. A common problem is drawn on lashes, they look like dirty streaks now that you have perfect, blinking mesh lashes. They sell concealers for under eye lashes and eyelid changers for smudgy eyelids, nose fix, and many, many more things. The system avatar feet is a paddle without individual toes, and the drawn on nails on pre-mesh skins look wrong. There are fixes for this too. You have to decide now, shall you say bye-bye to your old skin or try to fix it. The best fix'es comes with demos, so you can see how it works, before you buy. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I recommend that you wait with the head, and use a body first with your old, classic head. Ease into mesh. The body is easier because you can wear it with your old shape, it is not so different rigged as a head. You will change some parts here and there, adjust breast buoyancy, hips, etc.. But it will not be so big a job with editing. Using toe and finger fixers is easy compared to changing the look of a head. Using BOM on the body will give it a seamless neck, so it will not look strange. Pick the body you like best, and also filter with body name in the Marketplace, how much is made for this body? You can buy all the new clothes made for the body you pick. And it is sales every weekend, where you can buy things to reduced prices. Plus gifts and hunts. You can also wear your old tattoos, I am using a GoK tattoo that must be 10 years old, with different tattoo layers that let me customize my avatar well. We can wear up to 62 layers. Plus, the most heads and bodies still let you wear appliers. You can have a base lipstick on a tattoo layer and a gloss as an applier over it....

If someone post where the title start with a question: "Do you"... or similar, I could reply with only yes or no. But instead, I explain why I do or do not, so it is no need for "Why do you?" questions. Then I consider myself done with it. I do not read or reply in the thread again. What is the point of writing more versions of the same reply? I already know: My opinion will not change. I will not change others opinion. I think it is pointless to engage in a tired old dance where posts go back and forth, and get more and more heated.

I understand you want a house on the ground, but I would pick a skybox here. I know you have at least a home in Bellisseria. So a skybox might be a change. Plus that you do not need to use LI on the garden, fence, outdoor furniture. I have the Soho loft and have lived in it, but I think the Brooklyn loft is super too. https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/160862?utf8=✓&search[layout]=gallery&search[category_id]=34&search[sort]=land_impact_asc&search[per_page]=96&search[keywords]=&search[price_low]=&search[price_high]=&search[land_impact_low]=&search[land_impact_high]=&search[copy_permission]=0&search[modify_permission]=0&search[transfer_permission]=0&search[limited_quantities]=0&search[is_demo]=0

Are you wearing the body parts? And do you have media turned on? The first time you use this body, either chose the skin or turn on BOM, you must have media on. I have the free body on an alt. I turned off media after I activated BOM, media does not have to be on to change feet height and use alpha cuts. I do not have Legacy, but I think it works the same. I would recommend you are in a region that's not full of things and avatars. They can be laggy.

The Library's mesh avatars are difficult to customize. I suppose the reason for that, is that people will buy something else when they run into the fact that no clothes fit them, except the clothes they come with. But is a lot of nice hairstyles, shoes and such with them, that can fit other. At least the hairs. Your post gives me the impression you haven't worn mesh clothes either? You should start to experiment with mesh clothes that comes with the Library avatars that is not mesh, that has the same kind of shape and skin that you have now. It is many things to learn, if I am correct and you have not used SL for many years. Were you here when Linden Lab introduced tattoo layers, the alpha layer, give us the option to wear multiple layers and objects by selecting "Add" not "Wear"? I would start there and not think about mesh avatars itself. Unfortunately for you, the most of clothes, avatar appearance and accessories is made for mesh avatars. Another thing - you get demos for almost everything you wear. If you can't get a demo and try it on first, that is suspicious. Of course there is no need to demo free stuff, since you do not pay for it. You wear clothes and accessories made for that body part you have bought. But if you do not have a mesh body or head, you shop for "classic" avatars, "standard sizes" and layers. Here is a blog that has the category "Second Life Steals, Deals and Freebies". It is updated frequently. Currently, the cheapest deal for a mesh head (female) is 55 L: https://ryanschultz.com/2020/05/31/second-life-steals-deals-and-freebies-the-cat-calm-bento-mesh-head-from-genesis-lab/ and a mesh body, 1 L. You see that look for 56 L in the bottom post, the one where she is wearing a gold dress. So I suggest you look in that category to get some cheap clothes and update your avatar. It is also the FabFree blog. https://fabfree.wordpress.com/ I have the 1 L meshbody "Classic"* on an alt, and it is not impossible to dress it. But all mesh bodies is a bit different, clothes made for other brand names does not fit it. Designers are creating multiple versions of the same clothing, for the different bodies. Or some creators decide it is too much work, and only create for the 1-3 most popular ones. *It is damned annoying that a meshbody is named "Classic" when we also say that the pre-mesh avatars are classic. It makes things more confusing.

Maybe they meant nipples and bits showing, but does not that show on all mesh bodies before they are loaded and the clothes on. I am using nipple pasties and crotch pasties on layer, so I am always PG. And/or I use underwear on layers. They are baked on and showing even when the body parts are floating around.