Nuhai Ling
-
Posts
210 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Forums
Blogs
Knowledge Base
Posts posted by Nuhai Ling
-
-
Ha ha! Your excitement is so indicative of what most residents experience at least once; getting a computer that runs the full range of SL features after living without for a long time! I don't want to burst your bubble though by saying it will only last a year before Linden Lab "upgrades" beyond your current system but don't be surprised. It is one of those concepts that Linden Lab has never understood; don't outprogram your user base. For most of us we enjoy one good year with all the full features, another two years with a so-so experience, and then a year or more dumbing down the settings while we save up for a new system. Its the main reason why viewer 2.0 took a couple of years to catch on and why mesh will still be largely ignored through 2013. In the end though we all have that new computer excitement and it sounds like you are enjoying yours early! Merry Christmas and have fun running from your shadow!
-
I missed seeing this thread earlier but thought I would bring a late ray of sunshine in to brighten things up. It looks like the day after you wrote, Linden Lab posted, "A Look Back at Improvements to Second Life in 2012 and Forward to 2013" in the blogs. According to their statement, all is going spectacularly well in SL with many fine improvements this year and more to come in 2013! Of course a lot of people said the world was suppose to end on the 21st too but Linden Lab has more integrity and intelligence than those bunch of lunatics, right?
Don't worry about all the small things you brought up, just come skip through the fields of virtual daisies with me and realize what a perfect paradise Second Life is every day! La la-la-la....
-
R: Want sex?
Me: Yes, all the time!
R: With me?
Me: No.
R: Hi, I am new here.
Me: Welcome to Second Life!
R: Want sex?
Me: Sorry, your avi is underage and that is against Linden Lab's TOS.
R: Hi, I'm bored.
Me: What kind? I dig maple!
R: What do you do here?
Me: Less than real life.
R: Are you a real girl?
Me: Why, are you a real dick?
And my all-time favorite...
R: Hi
Me: Hello
R: How are you?
Me: Automated.
R: What?
Me: Touch me for menu.
R: Touches Nu...
Me: Offline.
-
Dear SLanta,
I know I have been naughty a lot this year but as often as I feel you watching me in your crystal snowball I figured you would have said something by now. Maybe you are just making sure I really like that little outfit you brought me last year? Anyway, I hope you still visit and I will hang my garter and stockings out just in case.
This year my big present wish is to have Second Life become a priority for Linden Lab again, or at least have them try to fake their concern by acknowledging us with more than a bi-annual freebie gift announcement. If that is impossible, then can you hand the grid over to another set of toy elves that know our world is more than a source of income to fund the Linden's flights of fancy?
For stocky stuffers, I would like to see a unified world where adults and moderates can live in harmony, mesh clothing that can be adjusted to my firm b-cups, and a market economy where residents spend money in-world again. Oh, and I would love another cute little lace outfit like last year in baby blue or maybe a teal color!
Thank you Santa! I promise I will be asleep this year when you peek into my room!
Love, kisses, and cookies,
Nu
-
The best advice I received in Second Life was given to me 6 months after first arriving, and it is so simple!
Become an avid profile reader!
Reading someone's profile before even saying hello can make things so much easier its almost scary. Within a short time you will be able to get someone's "vibe" from a quick glance at their age, groups, and what they write about themselves (among other things). Then when you say hello you can add an ice-breaker that usually prompts a happy response rather than a brush-off. For example, if you see someone with a great Goth outfit but discover they belong to a lot of steampunk groups, you know right away not to start a conversation with, "Hi! I love your vampire outfit! Where did you get it?" Within a few hours of learning this trick I was able to avoid the bots, sex fiends, and other odd sorts and gravitate to potential friends. I have been an avid reader ever since.
Aside from profile reading, I also recommend finding a home base that is comfortable and affords some privacy. You want a place to rez boxes of goodies, try on cloths, play with you shape, and test your genitals without getting hit on. And speaking of genitals, get over the notion you won't have SLex at least once! To quote a very old but wise philosopher, "Come on, you do it. You love to do it. We all do it. You do it, I do it, I love to do it. I just did it and I'm ready to do it again, don't tell me you don't do it!" :matte-motes-bashful-cute-2:
-
/ swells up with pride and a little tear in her eye...
I am just so proud of eveyone that has replied so far to this thread. Not one of you has said, "Seriously, your whining about being banned from the Star Trek Museum? What a fricking geek!" :matte-motes-nerdy:
/ group hugs everyone
I love you all so much! :matte-motes-smitten:
-
Sure, sure there are great designers in SL with fabulous cloths but no matter how stylish or conservative we dress, a good portion of men will always look at us as objects. If you accept that, then I would say, "Nope, not a chance in heck that we won't look like "bleeps" in SL!" :matte-motes-big-grin-wink:
BTW, I am not objecting... I take it as a compliment. In fact, it would stink if I wasn't getting attention from men! I even enjoy getting IMed by the shoe fetish men; it makes all the hours of shopping for the perfect pair worth it!:matte-motes-smitten:
-
Oh cr*p, its Skynet's first assault! :robotmad:
Help! Can anyone here us? Is anyone else out there? :mansad:
This is John... John Connor.
John? Where are you? What's going on?
Nothing... I am over at OSgrid... in OpenSim... Do you want to come over?
We do now!!!! :matte-motes-sunglasses-3:
-
For a room-sized area I would go with a multi-layer animated texture first. It provides complete coverage, is less likely to be seen oddly at angles, and a lot less lag-inducing than multiple particle emitters. Plus it should be subtle rather than looking like the fire department needs to be on the way!
One other important thing; if you own the sim you have a great tool in region settings to create haze and ambient mood lighting. Check out any of the zombie / / vampire /apocalyptic sims to see the affect.
Hope that helps!
-
I think everyone understands your frustration with sim owners not considering (or even knowing) that lag is an issue on their own land and how many variables they have to juggle to control it. Some of more common causes are too many textures (not to be confused with prims or prim faces), large textures, number of scripts, rotating / spinning / slideshow functions, environmental settings, and avatars themselves. I think the problem though, is the recent loss of experienced builders in SL this year and the inflow of new owners that either do not want to learn or can't find anyone knowledgeable to teach them. For example, a sim I used to build and help manage for years was bought by a newbie owner in February. At first he talked a good game but shortly afterward it became obvious he had no interest in learning how to run a functional region; he thought it was a simple matter of buying things off the market and plopping them on the ground. He also has no clue how to hire good people in SL. The outcome was quick and expected; visitation dropped more than 80% by August and only picked up recently with the inflow of newbies that don't know better. This seems to be the trend in SL right now that may or may not work out. Owners with poor regions will either learn to improve them, sell in frustration, or keep paying for unvisited spaces. Hopefully more will learn and stay but not having as many old-school residents around to teach is a big factor which will prohibit significant and fast improvement.
I think the best thing to do when you come across a well done but non-functional region is send the owner a short note about when you visited, how many other people were on the sim, and what issues you had. If they don't know what is going on - and many don't because a sim behaves differently for an owner than a visitor - then they will stay blissfully unaware of why their place remains a vacant square on the map.
-
Welcome back to SL! A few of us are still here but as you have perceived a lot has changed...
I know that goes against the previous replies above but from my chair / couch / dance pole (in SL anyway), I completely understand your questions about traffic, old places, etc. Change occurs in SL all the time. People come and go, inovative places rise and fall, new viewer(s) and features create discord, etc. but I think most would agree a deeper shift than normal has occurred during the last year. The numbers tell a third of the story; visitation is down significantly, private regions have declined more than 10% with two months left to go, and marketplace sales have replaced in-world business transactions. Another third of the story is Linden Lab's abandonment of Second Life in pursuit of other start-up projects. For example, this year they pulled all support from the Second Life Conference (canceled) and Second Life Birthday (sponsored instead by generous residents), discontinued providing grid metrix (now performed by third parties), and discussed only their new app projects in the news media. Finally there is the last third which you noticed right away; the loss of great long-time places and uber-experienced residents. Remaining in SL is a personal decision for every resident and RL factors play an important part, but people do wonder why places that have been around for years and are widely popular suddenly closed now. This is not the first time SL has seen massive drops in visitors, an exodus of businesses, and hatred / confusion of viewers, etc. (those who survived the first 6 months of Viewer 2 know what I am talking about), but there seems to be a deeper and more fundamental loss going on this year than previous times.
Talking about all of this, I might sound like a doom and gloom girl spouting off that Second Life is about to end but that is not the case. In fact, I think Linden Lab has to keep the grid power on to pay for all their new tablet products. Basically I am betting they will squeeze SL for all its worth (and then some because I don't think they know blood does not come from rocks) before they shut it down. How long that will take is anyone's guess but I have a feeling I will be spouting off absurd statements here for at least another two years...
Hmm, maybe that does make me a gloom and doom girl, but in a happy kind of way, right?!
Anyway, back to the question at hand. Yes, SL has changed but being physically different (virtually speaking) with an altered in-world economy, set of core values and company goals is not really good or bad, its just.... different. Coming back after such a long absence will make you feel like a noob in some ways but your previous experiences will make re-learning faster and less awkward. Enjoy SL for what it is today and remember the golden rule; always have fun first!
-
What you have noticed about the moon has been consistent since at least 2006 and likely earlier. Suprisingly, the stars are closer than the moon which is why you can see them overlap. I can't give you the technical reason why but I can illustrate it. Find an object that has little dot details you can see up close, then walk away about 20 meters and look at it again. No matter how good the texture, the dots disappear because of how the viewer "sees" things. The solution then is that the stars are a layer quite close to the avatar that is superseded by inworld objects. The moon is similar but layered deeper than the stars to fool the eye most of the time.
The dim moon on the horizon happens because of the default "haze" placed in SL. As it rises it becomes clearer. If you eliminate the haze in your environmental settings it is as bright and bold at sunset as it is around midnight.
Hope that helps!
-
Looking at the time between Linden's Labs past announcements and actual implementation, I would estimate at least another six months before SL is available on Steam. The lab has a very bad - but exceptionally consistent - habit of thinking they are ready to roll something out only to discover they are not even close. One of two things then happens; either the release is put on hold for months on end or code is released that is so borked it causes more grief than good... and takes months to fix. Either way, those of us that have been around for a while to see this happen over and over again normally say, "That's nice" and then forget until it actually happens. Some of the replies above prove my point. Sorry that waiting is par for the course but since you know now have some fun in the meantime and check back around March.
-
Two words: sex sim! There are not enough GOOD ones left but obviously there is a demand!
Kidding aside, I just had this discussion with another builder and we specifically talked about the multiple theme zone idea. The problem with what you described is that you are really making a lot of small places disconnected from each other, so they will always look like 50 others in-world and have stiff competition. Instead, stick with one theme and then fold the various room ideas into it. Use the Deep Space 9 concept for instance. It had a bar, games, shooting (occasionally), dancing, quiet areas, etc. but all as part of the themed community as a whole.
I also recommend the age-old rule that form follows function. Decide what you want people to see, do and experience on your sim first and then develop a theme around it.
Personally, I think one of the hardest ideas you have but with the largest potential is the 1950's era black and white television theme. Making a complete sim in grey where the only color comes from the avis would be incredibly difficult to pull off but I doubt anyone would forget. That is why the Greenie sim was so popular; it was a great concept pulled off very well in its use of perception and detail.
Don't forget whatever you decide you have to enjoy too! Fun is the reason we are here!
-
Welcome back to SL Grunt! You must have been gone for the last year. Linden Lab no longer produces economic data, sponsors / supports a Second Life Convention, or hosts its own events such as the SL Birthday parties. They make sure the SL grid servers have power and are busy developing iPad apps. For more info, check out this thread:
You can look up 3rd Party economic information instead. The two I most reference are:
http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/virtual-business/8523-new-sl-sims-past-week-78.html
Hope that helps!
-
East coast here too, watching the reports and staying safe...
Been through many hurricanes and the best things to do are charge everything up, have plenty of snacks on hand, be with at least one friend or relative, and stay flexible...
All the comments about boinking through the storm do have some validity. For those that stress or get anxious watching the news reports and hearing the wind hitting the house, doing something to get your mind off of it works best. A good game of Monopoly or an insane puzzle work pretty well. The downside of boinking your brains out is that if you loose power its a choice of a cold shower or smelling like sex for the next week! Of course it does happen because there is always a surge of births 9 months after major power outages, but still...
Latest reports have Atlantic CIty completely underwater already and this is not highest tide point yet. New York seems to be ok so far; all their expendable people are still on the street in front of The Today show window. The HMS Bounty, a sail ship used in The Pirates of the Caribbean and other movies sunk earlier off the NC coast with 15 of 17 crew rescued. Sadly, that area has been known as the graveyard of the Atlantic for centuries and keeps living up to its name.
Keep safe, dry, and inside everyone!
-
Thank you for some really good replies so far! A lot of what is being tossed around was part of the discussion I had that prompted this thread. Let me add a few things to expand the thought process...
This hypothetical assumes that some company would purchase and invest in Second Life as a community, however unlikely that might be.
The reboot would include two major changes to the land masses. First, mainland would be redesigned to make it more efficient. For example, roadways would not straddle sim crossings and bridges would connect smaller island groups to create additional waterfront land. Increasing the smallest sized parcel from 16 sq/M to 512 sg/M would resolve other land issues. Second, the total amount of land - main and private regions - would be set at a particular amount, i.e. 15,000 regions. This would re-establish a land market in-world and allow Community Company X to better maintain servers, provide upgrades, etc.
Banking and gambling were included because litigation and legal considerations for both are not nearly as confining as Linden Lab states, and in most instances has been resolved in favor of allowing both. Of course the new TOS would include regulations for both so they are not abused.
Deciding to have Firestorm build the viewer was not as important as having only one viewer developed either by Community Company X or a subcontracted company in-tune with what users need and request. If it helps, replace Firestorm in that instance with Reliable Subcontractor Z.
A tier reduction was not mentioned because everyone would like it to be less. On the other hand, discounts for whatever reason - including previously grandfathered rates and bulk rebates the land barons receive - would be eliminated.
I think that covers the major questions everyone had. I hope people keep contributing because its a fun hypothetical and it looks like a majority of us are on the same page. Another interesting fact is that no one wants to be Neo and save SL as it is... shame shame! :matte-motes-big-grin-wink:
-
A recent thread made me think back about a conversation with another content provider about the future of Second Life and some fun hypotheticals. One of those held particular interest; what if Second Life was sold to a company that cared about it as a community rather than a revenue source? The question led immediately to another one; would it even be possible using Second Life as we know it today or would it require a reboot to sort out fundamental problems? For instance, how could the new operators back out of competitive programs like Linden Homes, correct the massive Resident family tree, institute an enforceable TOS code, fix land-masses to function more effectively, bring back gambling & banking, etc. without a major overhaul of the entire grid? As we thought more about this we suddenly had flashbacks to The Architect of the Matrix telling Neo the grid is going down, it’s just a matter of how that he is left to choose. Thinking about that, what would your choice be as a resident if given the chance to “fix” Second Life? Would you embrace a new architect promoting a greater vision or fight to keep all you know and love? Before answering, here is the summery my friend and I envisioned of the new community-based overhaul:
Community Company X is going to wipe clean the Second Life grid and rebuild its fundamental structure. In its place will be a uniform and enforceable TOS code, redesigned efficient continents, a pre-determined total land mass, one viewer designed by the Firestorm team, a free-economy financial structure, in-world building codes & arbitration system, and unbiased tier structure among other things. Residents will retain their avatar names but those belonging to the “Resident” family tree will have to choose new first and second names. Residents will keep their linden balances, current inventory, and given land credit to acquire parcels on the new grid during a pre-sale period. To enforce the TOS code and accommodate a stream-lined transaction system, ALL residents will be required to provide proof of age and a financial account such as a credit card. The SL Market will also have changes made to encourage more in-world product distribution and sales. Last but not least, all previous in-world corporate programs such as Linden Homes and Linden Realms will be eliminated.
So what would you do Neo?
-
Fastrez, when you get done reading the 10 pages of discussing why SL is not a game - or that it is - feel free to give me a ring. I fit your criteria and will be happy to talk with you. Better yet, let me take you to one of my cozy rooms and we will get comfortable. Like many have mentioned above, there is no better way to learn about SL than experiencing some of it! I promise to give you a thorough, in-depth interview that I guarantee will show you why so many come to Second Life day after day!
-
The simple answer to your question is no, there is no stigma attached to leaving out a 1st Life picture in your profile.
Residents coming in for fun and social reasons have normally left real life images off their profiles. Others like business professionals and educators that Second Life promoted itself to years ago were the people normally using the 1st Life tab. Since most of them have left and the few still here keep to their sims, it may seem like everyone in SL skips that part of their profile.
Even if the 1st Life information is filled out, I still don't give it much credit. Check out a resident's group list instead, that will give you some real insight into the person! :matte-motes-big-grin-wink:
-
Who let all the newbies answer this! LOL! Just kidding... there are solutions to your questions but few people left around to teach the tips and tricks.
If you have a photo gallery set up to show your work, there are ways to keep people from taking screen shots and then making copies. First, put a watermark over your images. People understand why they are there while on public display and you can include a notecard or sign saying purchased images are clean. Second, do not display your images in "full bright" mode. This allows the true color to appear and makes it very easy for screen-shot copiers to steal the image. Third, sold images should be copy only, no mod or transfer. This does not prevent the purchaser from making a screen shot copy BUT if you find your images "made" by someone else you can file a very strong TOS claim to Linden Lab. If a buyer wants a full-perm copy of an image expect it to be used all over and charge extra for it, usually 3-5 times the rate of a copy-only image.
Concerning contracts and content transfer, DO NOT TRUST ANYONE, even your best friend, wife, or playmate on the side. Rez a box, put the items - images, objects, notecards, etc. - in them, and place it for sale at the price agreed on. Have the buyer then come and purchase the box. This guarantees the transfer on both sides without the hassle.
Hope that helps make your Second Life financial empire dreams come true!
-
On a more official note, here is AvaCon's official announcement:
-
Czari and Daja, you know better than to speak of things that shall not be spoken of... let others do it for you!
On this topic, here is the most refered to "unofficial" announcement concerning the SL Conventions. Hope you enjoy!
http://www.metaversejournal.com/2012/07/16/the-end-of-the-second-life-community-convention/
-
There was no formal announcement but the organizers of the CL conventions have discontinued them. There were many factors such as a drop in interest because of the mass exodus of educators and non-profits last winter, but mostly it was due to Linden Lab no longer assisting or willing to show up. This is in line with the lab's recent change of priorities away from SL and to their new app projects.
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
YouTube
Flickr
Merry Christmas! What presents did you get?
in General Discussion Forum
Posted
In RL I got what I asked for, a lot of gift cards to go buy cloths I normally can't afford during the year! I am not as poor as that makes me sound but I do work for a place where I have to dress professionally and office apparel is not cheap!
In SL I did not get much yet but most of my friends took the holiday "off" this year. We are all about to pop in today though so I am hoping I get a lot of marketplace notifications in my mailbox, especially from casual wear, shoe, and lingerie places! To any secret santa's reading the forum, I look good in teal, blue, plum or white and I prefer jeans / shorts over skirts. :matte-motes-bashful-cute-2:
Happy holidays and warm wishes to everyone!