Scylla Rhiadra

Welcome back. You'll be pleased to know that the forums are still pretty basic too.

This is an excellent question. I am assuming -- hoping -- that some furry or other non-human options will be introduced in the not-too-distant future. The implication from all I've heard is that Jamie and what's-his-face are not the only or last Senra avis that will be made available to noobs. If so, the sooner the better.

I've been trying to think what to say here, Lindal. I'm not usually lost for words, but I kinda am right now. When I first joined the old forums -- Residents' Answers -- and got myself in a lot of trouble very quickly, you were one of the first kind voices I encountered. And you had a lot to do with my eventual ability to rehabilitate myself, so to speak, and become integrated into the community there. In other words, you did what you've always done so well -- lend a hand to people who are a little lost, and help them find their way. SL is going to miss you. The forums is going to miss you; you've been an incredible and important asset to both. Blah blah blah. Here's your engraved watch . . . More to the point, I'm going to miss you. A lot, probably more than you know. You have always been, quietly, a very human and humane presence in my SL. Needless to say, I'm not going to remove you from my friend's list; I thought of you as one long before we formalized it in-world. I entirely understand and respect your reasoning, but I'll be keeping half an eye out for a notification, "Lindal Kidd is online." But even if that never happens again, you'll still be there, in my list of friends. Where I need you.

This had not occurred to me, but makes good sense, and is probably true. LL I'm sure makes more from a few "big" creators than from piles of mum-and-pop stores operating out of 512s. And I suspect you're also right that they had an eye to mobile while designing this.

Very much this. I own and frequently use both Genus and LeLutka EvoX heads -- Genus is my main head, but I use the 7 LeLu heads I own quite a bit for photos. I have a variety of top-of-the-line, expensive and pretty recent skins for both heads, and, sorry, but I defy anyone to spot a real, substantive difference in resolution between the EvoX ones, and the ones employing a standard map for Genus. And at a normal distance, where you're not zooming in to count nostril hairs? Not a chance. The higher resolution thing is maybe 20% fact and about 80% hype. LeLutka undoubtedly makes the "best" head on the market these days. I still, subjectively, prefer my Genus one, but it's got well-publicized issues, and I'll readily concede that LeLutka are, objectively, a better made product. But LeLutka has come to dominate the market in a way that is all out of proportion to the actual superiority of their heads. I won't quote a figure, because someone will come along and correct me, but they represent, by a HUGE margin, the most popular brand today. And although they are very good, they aren't that much better than Genus or Catwa (and I don't even like Catwa), or even some of the less prominent brands like AK. Their commanding dominance is partly the result of their excellence, but is also the result of their productivity, the occasional appearance of free heads (one of the reasons why Genus is still a player in the marketplace), and, frankly, hype. God, SL loves its "new shiny," and we'll all rush to whatever brand has become the "It Store" to buy something new, be it a new head, or "juicy boobs," or whatever. And that is not a good thing. Because while we can agree that competition is one way to generate innovation, the overwhelming success of one particular brand through innovation can actually extinguish competition and create a monopolistic situation. And that's where we are right now: LeLutka has a stranglehold on the market, and that's reflected in the skins, makeup, and other add-ons that are now being created for heads. Monopolies don't encourage innovation: they tend instead to breed complacency. I'd argue that one of the reasons why Maitreya has taken so long to produce an update is because they continue, even now, to be the most dominant body on the market. I don't think it's coincidental that they are now coming out with an update, just as that dominant position is beginning to slip. And THAT is why I think we need broadly accepted standards for things like mapping. We have them for all sorts of other things in SL, and even more so in RL, for a reason: because it hinders competition, slows down innovation, and hurts the economy when everyone is using their own proprietary standard, and can control who has access to it. And please don't tell me that standards, agreed upon by large collective cooperatives like the W3C, hurt innovation. We wouldn't have the internet or the Web without them. Or standards for plugs and electrical devices, screwdrivers, and a whole lot else. If LL convened a large and inclusive consortium of creators to agree on standards for HD mapping of heads and bodies (not to mention rigging!), we'd not have the incredible inefficiency and waste of creators producing clothes for 8 different bodies, or skins and makeup for two different mapping standards. AND you wouldn't need to throw out stuff just because everyone else in SL has rushed to one side of the boat, with the result that the whole vessel is listing in the direction of Reborn, or LeLutka, or Maitreya, or whatever.

Thanks but no thanks. 😬

I really do think this is an issue. Not that they don't consciously know that they're interacting with a real person, but just that they don't care, or are so solipsistic and narcissistic that they don't really know how to engage with others. It's an interesting question whether this is conditioning from video games! Probably some is, but I run into people in RL who do this too -- treating cashiers as though they were vending machines, not acknowledging the existence of people who hold doors open to them, etc. People who wander around apparently unaware that they are not the only "real" people in the world. It probably is more common and pronounced in virtual environments -- maybe because of the prevalence of single player FPS games, as you suggest.

Oh, HIM. The guy who refused to respond to my greeting on two separate occasions because my profile was "too political"? Yeah, I wasn't counting him. I meant serious people. 🙄

I am sure that this is correct. Nonetheless, they have the code now in the viewer that assembles these all for you when you log-in for the first time: that has to be outside of the registration software. Something is converting your choices from the web page to an actual avatar when you first appear. The chief issue, I think, would be integrating existing content into this system: I presume that the new Senra stuff is "tagged" somehow in-world to make it work.

Wow, ok. I hadn't watched the video. THIS IS REALLY GOOD. It does mimic the process of character customization that a lot of platforms and games use. Now, if they can produce something like that works after you initial startup . . . (which, I know, I know, would be immensely difficult, but still . . .)

My understanding is that LL had approached (some) creators about the Senra bodies some time ago, with a view to having have some commercial clothing available for them from the outset. At least, that was my impression (and it would make sense, no?) A quick search of MP for "Senra" finds only one entry this is clearly not about these bodies. Has anyone seen anything available outside of the library for these avatars yet? If there is, LL should publicize a list.

YES YES that is ALSO ME!!! And I thought no one had noticed! 😏

The popularity of the venue obviously has a lot to do with it. I don't tend to go to the really crowded ones. I am seldom in a place with as many as 30 other people. 20 or so is more usual. That said, I do remember in the "old days" that fairly popular places like Junkyard Blue or Fogbound (which is a very different scene now than it used to be) did have a lot of local -- and yes, a lot of gesture spam.

YES YES! That's ME, just off camera! /me jumps up and down excitedly again

More seriously though . . . I think there must be a cultural divide here. The clubs I go to (The Velvet, Tango at Nottoo's, the Mercury Room, Sucker Punch Sally's, to name but the most common ones) all not only feature a lot of local chatter (and real chatter, not gestures), but tend to employ DJs who encourage it. Most of the DJs I know actually get concerned if there isn't any local, and will work to spark some themselves (as they don't usually have hosts or hostesses).

/me jumps up excitedly, waves her hand in the air, then looks around and hurriedly sits down with an embarrassed look on her face.

I don't think they are, although the bodies are really not bad. (The heads, on the other hand, have severe limitations.) What will make a difference is the rigging: Maitreya is still by FAR the best supported brand of mesh body for women. If you want to be able to wear more than what's made available specifically for Senra bodies, you'll still need to upgrade (or spend a lot of time fiddling with alpha layers).

Ok, maybe I misunderstood you? So, getting the dev kit is NOT as simple as applying and agreeing to all of the terms?

I really haven't seen that here? Can you show me someone getting angry that people don't socialize in open chat? The OP suggests that it's the natural tendency of using avatars NOT to socialize, but that's not the same thing as suggesting that people SHOULD.

Then that's an entirely good thing!

Are people getting mad at others for not chit-chatting in local?

Yes, I actually have "Jamie" from when they "accidentally" released it a couple of weeks ago. I was speaking specifically of the developer's kit. Who gets to make clothing for these?

Ah! I missed that. So there is an "application" process. It'll be interesting to see how "exclusively" they are granted.

Do we know that access to these is restricted? I was under the impression (and I may be wrong) that they'd be available to anyone.

LOL @ "darker forces." Possibly, it's a plot to use certain key phrases to implant particular ideas in our heads, that will one day be "activated" by the Dark Lord. And on that terrible day . . . I have no idea why people use these, honestly. They can't think of anything even vaguely interesting to say, but want to be "noticed"? In some ways, it reminds me a bit of one of the things that most annoys me about Facebook: "automated engagement." Like, when Facebook prompts you to comment on someone's post, or asks if you want to leave a Happy Birthday message for them. It takes all of the effort, and hence thought and genuine meaning, out of connecting with someone else. It seriously is just a matter of time before FB starts writing people's responses and comments for them. Want to engage with the crowd, but don't know what to say? Well, WE DO! Just hit this convenient key combo to "engage" with others! And of course, it really does render actual communication in local much more difficult, so it's not even doing what it is, I imagine, "supposed to do."