Scylla Rhiadra

Will no one weed this garden?

Hello James! Still giving out free hugs?

I think it's genius -- although it's pretty clear that LL itself was caught off guard by their own success! I imagine -- I hope -- that the LL brain trust is hard at work right now brainstorming ways to apply the lessons they're learning here to other aspects of SL, perhaps starting with the mainland.

This is amazing. ETA: This reminds me of the wild impromptu dance parties I used to be a part of back in 2008 and 2009, mostly at Mill Pond. I haven't seen anything like that in SL in years.

Beyond what Lil has said in response, I think maybe that LL is playing the long game here. At least, I hope they are, and that this proves a pattern for future decisions. Whatever the immediate impact upon their revenue stream, LL has achieved two things. First, they have generated excitement and enthusiasm of a sort that I haven't seen here forever. Yes, this is almost entirely evident in those who already here, but the word will get out, even if only to a small degree. More than this, however, they have engineered real communities. Nearly everything we've seen them do around this decision -- the provision of attractive communal spaces, the care taken to ensure that there are functional land, water, and air routes through the regions, and the provisions in the covenant regarding ban lines and security orbs -- has explicitly been about creating communities. And that's enormously important for the long term health of SL. One of the most oft heard complaints about SL, from newbies especially, is that it is empty. Where are the people?? Well, LL has ensured that any new resident who chooses premium will be plugged directly into a pre-existing community. And the care they've taken to ensure that these are attractive and bustling places to be means that they will actually be communities, and not merely (as is the case with the old Linden homes) acres of empty and fenced-off houses. In the long term, this will assist retention, and it will, even if only slowly, remake SL's image in the larger VR and social gaming community. At least, I hope it will.

Well, you're MUCH lovelier in RL than the mesh model you posted! I hope we get to see the final results of your search!

Then I would certainly try the "Wanted" subforum. There are people who accept commissions for custom avatars (a quick glance there shows one person advertising "custom mesh," although I don't know if that includes avis), and I don't imagine that yours should be a huge challenge. Good luck! And if you are happy with the results, please come back here and post some pictures of your new look!

If you really and truly want someone to build a custom avatar, your best bet is to look and post in the "Wanted" subforum, under "Commerce." That said, the look you're going for here doesn't look to me too complicated. With a good mesh head and applier skin, and some careful shopping on the MP or at some in-world stores, you should be able to achieve something very like this look, or maybe even nicer (i.e., more detailed and realistic) at a fraction of what you would pay for a custom avatar. I myself own a headscarf (with a more European look) that isn't very much different from the one you're wearing, and I know for a fact that there are many different varieties of these available on the SL Marketplace.

This! How to make a virtual world into a real destination, and a place people want to be. Residents have known this forever. Maybe LL is finally figuring it out.

Skell, your pictures are always brilliant. But these are outstanding. /me swoons

I'm not premium, and if I were, I'm not sure I'd be interested in these anyway (although I'm looking forward to seeing future themes, and may jump on board if I see something I like), so I am watching from the sidelines here, but I have really enjoyed watching the excitement as people awaited, and then got, their homes! It's been pretty adorable, and a lot of fun. I am, of course, sorry that some have been disappointed, but surely that will be alleviated as more homes (esp. houseboats) become available in the future? I do get the frustration and disappointment though. (I'm not so keen on the "But I'm special!" whinging from some quarters. The sense of entitlement is palpable. If only the unwashed masses knew their place, eh?) One thought: might it not have made sense for LL to have canvassed their premium customers about preferences after a preview showing, and used the data to determine their own priorities in building? That might have meant more houseboats to begin with? And fewer disappointments?

Unfortunately, it's not just you of course. The viewers empower users to see pretty much anything the way that they want. If your avatar complexity is above the limit someone has set on their viewer, for instance, your avi will appear as dark blue or black silhouette. Now, one very good remedy is to post pictures of your avi, as you see it, in one of the "vanity" threads here, so we can all enjoy your look! (*hint hint*)

Awww. I'm so sorry, Go. Hugs! The important thing, maybe, is that you are doing it stylishly.

Turning off Advanced Lighting Model (ALM) in graphics preferences should mostly do it, I think. Alternately, you can wear point lights as invisible attachments to fade out shadows by casting direct light over your body.

It's lovely seeing you here again! Of all the Gothlies, you've always been one of my favourites. And sorry to hear about the pumping liquids into your veins thing! I hope that whatever has ailed you is improving from your being up and about again! I've only been back myself, with an regularity anyway, for about 8 months: it's a bit of a learning curve, isn't it? Will you be posting pics of your updated avi here? Was I so foolhardy as to make such a promise? Well, as soon as I actually find a "favourite club," we'll enter into serious negotiations.

OMG. THE Darrius Gothly? As seen on TV, and at better stores everywhere? And renowned for his discerning sensory centers? /me swoons a little

Well, that's the part I don't get. Even I would be interested in one if you could take it out onto the water a bit. As it stands, they're just like slightly more cramped traditional homes, without the charming old-town touches or places to landscape and garden. Now, what I really want is a submarine, like Captain Nemo's, that would allow me to travel the SL oceans underwater, whilst living in High Victorian style. Are you listening LL????? PS. Including an optional Young James Mason as an add-on would be good too.

If you find something good, let me know!! I spent a fair amount of time, when I first started logging in again regularly in October, checking out clubs. Some of my old haunts are gone, some are now virtual deserts, and a few have changed in ways I wasn't big on. There are 2 that I go to reasonably often, and another couple I occasionally visit. My rant about aesthetics notwithstanding, the most important things for me are (obviously) the music, and (less obviously) the social atmosphere. I like clubs that are also social venues, and where there is a lot of chat and banter and a real sense of community. One of my old haunts, a blues club which I am still going to, used to be like that, but has now seemingly become mostly a pick-up joint: chat is nearly all in IM, and I get hit on there more than anywhere else I go. Unfortunately, the music is good, and I have a few friends who also go there, so . . .

As well you may. And I'll sign a notarized letter to that effect too, if you'd like it.

I have three more -- just different versions of the same photograph, a little different from the ones above -- that I've been meaning to send you!! Note to self . . .

So, C- on astronomy, but A+ on aesthetics. (You are wonderful, Maddy: it's so important that there is someone here more pedantic than me.)

Is the point of that to express gratitude to the tipper? Or to shame people into tipping more? One of the reasons I don't like them is that they added to the horrible visual noise at most clubs. Honestly, most clubs in SL fall into one of two camps: they either look like the living room area of a house being rented by college students, or they are kitschy and camp as hell (and not in an ironic or fun way). On top of that, there are huge ugly boards, tip jars all over the place, hideously coloured or glittering dance balls and stands, and floating text over everything. There are of course exceptions, but generally I personally find most clubs are as ugly as sin.

Wow. This is a gorgeous new look for you. Love love love!

All Linden homes are. Houseboats, however, are the hottest ticket right now, for some reason.

Well, the Windlight is lovely. I really need to become better at playing with it. I didn't realize you could get the moon to look like that in Firestorm. The EEP is the Environmental Enhancement Project, a kind of update to Windlight that is supposed to make all sorts of new Windlight effects possible (as well as monetizing aspects of them), and that was rolled out about two months ago despite the fact that no viewers (including LL's own) currently support it. One of the more obvious effects is that the night sky has been badly borked in some old Windlight settings. There is a beta version of the EEP viewer available that allows one to build (and I assume, see properly) these new features, and I've seen some screen caps that do in fact look awesome, but I know too that there have been complaints, especially from the designer of the Black Dragon Viewer, that the project is a mess, and has seriously messed with lighting and shadows. I haven't noticed major issues, other than the stars looking like cigarette burn holes in the sky in some night settings, but the shadow settings on FS phototools are now producing some subtly different effects than they used to.