Scylla Rhiadra

I wasn't at all referencing you, Ceka. And I don't think people are being "rude" or even deliberately unkind. They are being a little unthinking, and not working to imagine the kinds of issues that some people may have to deal with, nor the disadvantages some might have in responding to these kinds of behaviour.

It is absolutely the case that permitting people to appear as invisible to others of their choice would be a very bad idea. It would immediately become a tool for griefers, harassers, and stalkers. It would create far worse problems than it might solve. I do wish, however, people would express a bit more sympathy to those who find merely blocking others inadequate. There are legitimate reasons why one might not want to be seen by someone. After all, blocking someone does not prevent them from insulting, harassing, or undermining you -- or even engaging in worse things, such as pushing, using suggestive dress (or undress) around you, etc. Blocking means you don't witness these things, and the social damage that they can potentially cause: it doesn't prevent them from happening. And suggestions like "don't log in" or "buy your own private estate" aren't merely unhelpful: they are frankly a form of victim blaming. How would we respond to someone telling the victim of homophobic remarks in RL to just plug their ears, or go elsewhere? If SL had a decent abuse reporting system, none of this might matter much, but it doesn't, and expecting those who are the targets of abuse to either shrug off the abuse, or run away from it, is just . . . crappy, frankly. Again, I don't have a solution for this. But can we please try to show a bit more empathy for those who are tired of being targeted for in-world abuse?

Maybe you shouldn't. He is probably a better conversationalist than most.

Does he hit on you in IM while dancing?

You're of course correct. Really, what she should be doing is going where the people are! I'm sure that IMing patrons at Frank's and Fogbound with a link to her survey would result in an absolute flood of data.

I'm sorry, Cinn! It was certainly meant to be provocative, but I do very much apologize if it caused you upset! 😔

Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. (Matthew 2:16-18)

I have no idea on the basis of the OP's statement what she knows, or where she is coming from. This might be course work for a PhD (in my program, we had two years of residency before starting the thesis), in which case it might very well be something new! Or, maybe she has a background and interest in eCommerce or economics that is leading her in this direction because it seems fascinating and new and important? Whatever . . . there's no way of knowing. I'd agree that undertaking a PhD in subject one knows nothing about seems odd. But it would be even odder for an institution to admit her to a program in which she had absolutely no background -- so I'm going to assume that she does have a foundation in a subject that is related and relevant. And I'm going to applaud her for being willing to explore something new. That is, in fact, what a PhD is supposed to be about, even if one is starting from a solid foundation.

Why would you think the OP is not knowledgeable about and invested in their subject? I'm pretty sure, from the survey, that Second Life is not itself her focus.

This reminds me, @GuliaMCR -- will the results of your research be at all available to those whom you are surveying? I assume that this is for a thesis, in which case it should eventually be public. Promising to make your results public tends to make us feel a little less like rats in a maze.

I've just done the survey, which is generally not badly designed, although a few of the questions are a tiny bit odd in the context of Second Life. For those who worry about data and bona fides, you'll find information about the institution, the RL identity of the poster, and a statement that the data collection conforms to GDPR in the "Informed Consent" document linked in the survey itself. None of the questions involved disclosing identifying information about myself (beyond the usual generalities of sex, age, etc.) I have no hesitation in accepting this as genuine (although I suppose it's possible web addresses could be spoofed, or whatever). @GuliaMCR, you might want (without revealing your RL identity here) to point people to the Informed Consent, and be a bit more forthcoming about the purpose of the research, the nature of the institution, etc.: people here are understandably wary about sharing information and the more you can provide upfront, the more likely you are to get a response. The other thing is that people here -- again understandably -- tend to be critical of those who simply create accounts to set surveys here, rather than spending time in-world and learning at least the rudiments of the platform. If you have done this, you should say so. My last point is that your survey casts a very wide net in terms of "metaverse" platforms. SL is not at all like Decentraland, VRChat, etc., for a great many reasons. For instance, your questions about data harvesting from vendors really don't apply -- in terms of RL information, anyway -- in Second Life. I think that the form and function of different platforms are very diverse, and lumping them altogether without making any attempt to distinguish particular systems and experiences is likely to render your data much less useful. Second Life, remember, has been around for 19 years -- it, and its philosophy and function -- predate the current metaverse craze substantially. Good luck with your survey!

RUDE!!

... follows everyone with a fire extinguisher and a vat of aloe vera.

Oh, I get it. I am not "complaining," in the sense of blaming creators for this. I'm even willing to accept the justification that some are giving for dropping Maitreya, despite it continuing to be the most popular body worn -- that it's a pain to rig for, and that Maitreya badly needs to update and expand access to its developer's kit. Many creators are, after all, essentially "hobbyists," and I'm not about to blame them for refusing to spend time rigging for a particular body, whatever their reason. Their time is theirs to expend as they wish, and they presumably understand the possible consequences of their decisions. Equally, of course, there is a notable tendency for consumers to chase after new shiny. I don't always understand the reasoning: I can't explain why LeLutka has come to so completely dominate the market for mesh heads, for instance, even though I do understand the drawbacks associated with some of the main competitors. This is just how the consumer / creator ecosystem works here. And, really, I don't have a workable alternative.

In fairness to Lindal -- I bought my Slink Physique almost exactly 4 years ago, and at that time, and for at least the next year or so, it was still reasonably rare that I'd run across a garment in which I was interested that was not rigged for it. It was about 3 years ago that I began to notice that it was disappearing from the available options on clothing. So, while it certainly didn't happen "overnight," I think it's more recent than 4 or 5 years ago. When it did begin to disappear, however, it happened surprisingly quickly. It was very noticeable within a few months (although Hourglass hung on for longer).

I so much wanted to like those bodies. And boy, did I not. They just looked awful.

I said LL-led, although i can see why you'd read "from LL" as implying that it was their idea. That was poorly expressed on my part. But the actual development, which required significant changes to the platform's code, was, of necessity from LL. I am not advocating that LL should take over technological changes to the exclusion of user-generated innovation. That would be foolish. What I've argued is that LL should work with creators to coordinate and standardize (to a reasonable degree) approaches.

This is simply not true. BOM, a major game-changing innovation that was led by LL, is all about rationalizing and improving how mesh bodies work. It has enormously simplified how we add features to our bodies, reduced scripts, and improved performance. And, again, it was an initiative from LL.

Speaking purely in my capacity as a photographer (of course) . . . I can get behind that. SL totally needs more rippling muscles. For . . . aesthetic reasons! *coughs*

Overheard at the gym: "Wow. Check out the triangles and PBR on that guy!"

While I'd agree that porn is an important driver for higher quality graphics, there are a great many other reasons, and communities, that are behind the push for this. I don't do sex here, but I'm an SL photographer, for instance: high graphic quality is important for me for that reason alone. None of this is really about that, however: it's about preferences and decisions made about managing existing mesh bodies. All I've really argued is that LL should be taking a more proactive role in coordinating and establishing best practices for these things.

I really really don't want to get embroiled in this fight, but I do want to suggest that this mess -- and it is a mess, with different competing systems that are more or less impactful on the performance of the platform and other people's experience of it -- is at least in part the result of LL's resolute and self-defeating determination to provide almost zero guidance and standards for new products. I will agree absolutely that the innovation engine that has driven SL from the start has been the creativity of individual residents. But there should be a middle ground between an almost entirely hands-off, "let them do what they want" approach, and one that attempts to control and in effect stifle creativity. LL's interventions have not always been happy ones, but some, such as BOM, have worked very well. I think LL has a role, that it has largely shrugged off, to, at the very least, coordinate technical innovation within the platform, and to work with creators to collectively establish standards and guidelines that at least ensure that such innovations are not impacting negatively upon the experience of the platform. Mesh avatars would be a great deal easier to use had they taken steps 7 or 8 years ago to establish standards for how these worked. The fact that they have utterly failed to do so is one of the main reasons why avatar customization in general is an utter fustercluck here.

I got an offline message from her mentioning that you had dropped by (although she didn't give your name). I think the plagiarism thing is a confusion about my Twitter identity, for which I use my alt Laskya (whom you will also find here, although I haven't posted using her account much for some time).

I sadly missed the opening, but I was able to swing around tonight to visit a new gallery opened by Lizabeth Morningstar, the Starborn Gallery. She's fairly new to SL herself, but has thrown herself right into the arts scene here, and created an impressive and interesting venue for images, which (at the moment) include some of her own, as well as those of a guest artist, Pedro. Really worth a visit. http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Starborn/87/26/22

I've only seen this problem with Black Dragon: things will just be missing entirely. A few friends of mine have had similar issues with that viewer. It's easily fixed by TPing away and back again. But I don't know if this is the same issue you've been experiencing, animats, although it sounds the same.