Jennifer Boyle

Animats, you are absolutely right. That is exactly what LL needs to do. You should submit a feature request. (I know this isn't a feature, but that's a way to make a suggestion to LL.)

If the store is small, it's not a problem, which is why I asked specifically about large stores.

I know that this isn't exactly what the OP was talking about, but it does address the new user experience and the daunting learning curve for new SL users. Some years ago LL tried to address the issue by having a basic level of functionality of the viewer that was less complicated and easier to use. They had the right idea, but they botched the execution, IMHO because they didn't understand what residents want. At the time, around 2010, I spent a lot of time volunteering at a sim dedicated to helping new users, so I learned what new users wanted and how the basic version of the viewer was received. The problem with it was that it limited avatar customization way too much. If memory serves, which it may not very well, users couldn't replace their beginner skin with painted-on underwear. If it wasn't that, it was something equally as limiting. In any case, I think multiple, CAREFULLY-SELECTED, levels of user-selectable viewer functionality could help improve the new user experience. I think something like Beginner, Apprentice, Standard, Builder, and Ultimate, might be appropriate. I am very impressed with how content creators have been made video tutorials that are very short but tell people what they need to know about how to use their complex products. Perhaps LL should emulate them. Finally, I recently made a new alt just to see what new users see. It is the same as it has been for years. There is nothing that tells them the the username is anything more than a login ID , and that it will actually be visible inworld. There is nothing that suggests a related but different name when they try one that is already taken, like many, if not most, sites have. And there is nothing that tells them that the username will actually be visible inworld, A LOT. It seems that chat from scripted objects always uses usernames, not display names. Why is that? Are scripts unable to use display names? If so, LL should fix it. If not, LL should announce, with plenty of lead time, that it will deprecate scripts' ability to say usernames in chat unless the account has no display name. I use display names because I think people should be known by the names they want to be known by. Many times, I have been puzzled when scripted objects said things about cryptic names I didn't recognize.

I'd kill for that!

Everything in SL is actually a collection of numbers intended to be interpreted a certain way by software. An avatar shape is just a collection of numbers that, when processed by an algorithm, let software render a three-dimensional object. I do not understand the process, but it seems obvious that the reason that different shapes are required to achieve (nearly) the same appearance is that the algorithm is different for different mesh heads. That being the case, it should be possible for software to produce a shape for one head that produces an appearance close to the appearance produced by another shape for another head. SL residents have spent thousands, if not millions, of hours tweaking shapes while trying to keep their same features when they've got a new mesh head. Even if the task is very complex, and there is no better approach than brute force trial-and-error, surely it could be completed within a short enough time to be useful. It would be useful even if the result was not perfect, because one just closer to the desired appearance than the original would be easier for a person to use as a starting point for tweaking. I'm now, with a new generation of improved mesh heads, facing the daunting task of trying to produce a shape for a new one that result in a face that looks like mine. I would gladly spend some money to decrease the amount of work it will take, and I would gladly run a program for days, if that's what it took. I'll bet thousands of others would, too. Why doesn't such software exist?

Thanks for posting the link; it was fun. I tried a couple dozen different pics. The lowest age was 23 and the highest was 33; the most frequent was 27, which is about the age I want to be in SL.

When I was new, I indiscriminately collected all of the free stuff I could find, resulting in my having a large, unorganized collection of mostly junk that kept growing because I was afraid to delete anything. I strongly advise against doing what I did. The free promotional items from nice shops are generally of good quality. Seek those out inworld and on marketplace. Right now, as has already been mentioned, the Stay at Home group is providing some good opportunities to get some good stuff free. SL is not necessarily expensive as hobbies go. If you don't own or rent land, ongoing expenses once you have what you need are limited to costs associated with upgrading your avatar and wardrobe to keep up with technical improvements and whatever you choose to spend on additional clothing and avatar components and accessories. It is a lot easier to make a nice avatar and wardrobe with just a little money than no money because a lot of nice promotional merchandise is offered at low prices, and because some groups that offer nice group gifts have nominal joining fees. (Some have substantial joining fees; I avoid those. ) If you got nothing free, but did pay attention to avoiding overpriced stuff and getting good value for your money, you could have an very nice up-to-date avatar and a more-than-adequate wardrobe for 50-60 USD. Unless you do stick to freebies, don't rush too much, unless you don't mind replacing things that you got before you understood what you needed with better things later. It takes some time to learn what goes into a good avatar. I hope you enjoy SL as much as I do. Look me up inworld, if you wish, and I'll help you, if I can. I can show you a few stores with good group gifts.

I learn a lot, and I get to vent.

No, but I will now. Thanks.

Yes, some cheapskates might do that, but they probably wouldn't have paid for it anyway, so the storekeeper lost nothing, but, by angering people like me, who likely would have bought it, and likely would have come back and bought more of their stuff, they actually lost income. They are cutting off their nose to spite their face.

In my case, I may be shopping for a particular type of item and simply run out of time for SL, so that I have to continent another time, which could be as long as a few days later.

What do you think a seller would lose by doing that?

A part of the floor in my house often disappears for a few seconds and then reappears. When this happens, avatars fall to the ground. It is a part of a linkset of seven prims, all of which are convex hull, none of which is phantom, and none of which contains any scripts. The linkset is locked except while being worked on. Does anyone know what could cause this problem or how to solve it. Any help will be appreciated.

Yes, and it's my choice to not return to the store. I am losing patience with stores that are not respectful of their customers' preferences.

I often go to a store looking for a specific item that I have seen or seen an ad for. In a large store, unless the item is prominently displayed near the entrance, the easiest way to find something is to use area search. Once it's found, the easiest way to get to it is to teleport. Often when I try to do that, I land at the landing point instead of near the item, which is frustrating. Why do so many shopkeepers follow a practice that makes it harder for shoppers to buy their products?

Yesterday, I went shopping for clothing. I was looking for two specific outfits that I'd seen ads for from stores that were new to me. I went to the first store, found the outfit, got the demo and put it on. I liked it a lot and was 95 per cent sure I would buy it. The outfit included a hat without hair, and I was still trying different hairs with the hat after 15 minutes, when the outfit timed out and disappeared. I instantly changed my mind about buying it, put on some clothes, deleted the demo, and left. At the second store, I had to search for ten minutes or so before I found the outfit for which I was looking, but I found it, got the demo, and put it one. It looked even better than the picture had, and I loved it. I had almost decided to buy it. It had four different changeable textures with several colors for each. I was fiddling with the HUD, trying different color combinations, when the demo timed out and disappeared after only five minutes. The outcome for the seller was the same as for the first one. Both of the would-be sellers lost an almost sure sale and, likely, several future sales, because I liked their products. No matter how good their products are, I am not going to buy from people who are so disrespectful and inconsiderate of their customers. What are people thinking when they set demos to expire after such ridiculously short times? An hour might be reasonable; two would definitely be. I'm sure there are people who would take the trouble get a demo and use it in place of the actual item until it expired. They wouldn't buy it anyway. Ethical issues aside, I wouldn't take the trouble to get, unpack, and select other items to wear with clothing that would only last hours, and I'll bet the same is true of most people who regularly spend money on clothing. It's angering people like me, who spend a lot on clothes, and would would buy something if an obnoxious timed demo hadn't angered them, that sellers need to be concerned about. When we decide not to buy an item, the would-be seller loses income. When a cheapskate who wouldn't have bought it anyway abuses a demo for a few hours, they lose nothing.

Thanks.

Thanks for the replies.

My avatar has my RL character. Her personality is different; she is far less inhibited. Her body is very different: she is younger, prettier, more buxom, and has a nicer body in other ways. She dresses differently, in much sexier clothes.

Thank you.

Thank You! I only want it to be mod so I can add scripts. I have been so frustrated at not being able to do that.

Are there shops that sell good quality modifiable women's fitmesh clothing?

I want to use a combination lock for a swinging door. The functionality I visualize is that one would click on the door, and either a menu with numbered buttons or a prompt to type the combination in chat would appear, and when the correct combination was entered, the door would open. Is such a script available anywhere?

I have not read most of the posts. Since at at least April, PayPal has been characterizing my payments to LL as money transfers, but AMEX, who funds the payments, has not been charging me fees,

I wear a Lelutka head and Maitreya body. The only was that I've found to get rid of the line completely is to use a single BOM skin for the head and body. Right now, I'm tolerating a faint line because I haven't found a head-and-body BOM skin that I like.