KeeperS Karu

At this point in time, especially after having just bought Poser Pro 2010, I'm not in a position to upgrade, tempting as the discount for pre-orders may be. I'll call SmithMicro technical support, tomorrow, to see if there are any compatiblity issues between it and SL. I hope not. I'll also be running some experimental tests on the beta server, as LL suggests on their wiki page on mesh, to see how things turn out. I was just hoping that others with Poser 8/Pro 2010 might be able to say whether they've had any problems, and whether they've been able to successfully work around those problems.

Heyla and well met! I've been trying to learn as much about uploading meshes as possible. LL's definition of mesh is as follows: "Mesh - A collection of triangles with a single transformation matrix, roughly equivalent to a "Prim" in SL". This definition made me pause, because when playing around with meshes, over the years, the faces on the mesh were always referred to as polygons in the modelling software I've played around with. More, the polygons in the mesh don't necessarily begin as triangles. Some may end up that way, but not all of them. It just depends on how things turn out while I'm shaping things. Does the fact that the polygons aren't actually triangles matter when uploading them to SL? Or will I need to pop the mesh into yet another program that will convert the polygons into the acceptable format? Or, perhaps, is this something that is automatically accomplished when the mesh is exported as a COLLADA file? For reference, I have found that I actually enjoy using Anim8or to create my models. I've tried both Wings3D and Blender, but the UI in either programs were simply not user-friendly for beginners. When creating my models in Anim8or, I would then export the models in .OBL format, UVMap the model, create groups and material regions, import them into Poser, rig them, if necessary, then use them, as needed, in my Poser scenes. After some reading, my process seems to remain the same, with the only additional step being that, when my project is complete, I will need to export the scene in COLLADA format, which Poser Pro 2010 seems to support (I'll be doing some experimentation to see how well this actually works, in practice). However, after reading about the reference to triangles, rather than polygons, I'm wondering if I need additional steps in order for my meshes to work within SL? Thank you for your help! Keeper S. Karu

Heyla and well met! I'm actually a little puzzled as to why people are puzzled at the fact that SL is having difficulty retaining new users, and why people who do stay aren't online, as much. In real life, times are really tough. I have quite a few friends who are out of work, literally trying to figure out how they're going to pay this month's rent. I and my husband, while financially stable enough to know that we have rent and bills covered, are trying to do what we can to improve our situation by pursuing higher education. Studying for school, going to work, making sure that children, if any, get fed, are top priorities for people, right now. Unless and until the REAL economy is stable enough that people can actually afford to spend time and money on a game like SL, we should expect to have difficulty retaining users, new and old, alike. Frankly, the question isn't about what can be done within SL to improve the situation; rather, the question is what people can do in the real world that will help improve the economic situation, as a whole, because a healthy SL economy is dependent on a healthy real-world economy. In other words, I think LL and SL's residents have done as much as can be done. All we can do is wait and hope that the real-world economy improves. Anyhow, that's just my opinion, Keeper S. Karu --EDIT-- After reading past the posts genuinely wondering why SL is having difficulty retaining users, I've come across the posts that provide their take on what's wrong with SL. I don't think that LL doesn't care. I do suspect that they've backed themselves into a corner with the way they do things so that making the changes that seem obvious, such as lowering tier or doing what can be done to bring people back from shopping via the Marketplace to shopping in-world, may not be quite as simple as we would like to think. But, frankly, I have to say that I really don't know, as I don't have the priveledge (?) of working for LL and seeing what's going on behind the scenes. This being said, if people still believe that more can be done, and they are determined to make these things happen, there are tools, such as the User Groups. In-world, perhaps active residents can try to rally others to participate in these User Group discussions and make their voices heard. Spread the word about the JIRA issues you want residents to hear about and show their support by voting on it (or is it just watching, now? I can't recall). As has often been mentioned, there are quite a few residents who feel strongly about certain issues, but they tend to be fairly silent about these feelings, for a variety of reasons. Among those reasons could simply be that they are not aware of the tools they possess to make their voices heard. Worse, I think LL is genuinely basing their decisions on the number of votes a feature suggestion receives through their JIRA system. All around, not a very good situation. I found a really nifty article in the wiki: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Proposing_Features_to_LL_FAQ For those who may still have shops, perhaps a link to this article can be placed, somewhere. For those without shops, but socialize quite a bit, pass this link around, along with your own concerns. Spread the word around, enough, and perhaps LL will finally take notice of the fact that people really do want many of the features suggested. But they won't know unless they see tangible numbers. And, much as people don't like this, the blog and forum posts don't count, especially because of the sheer volume of posts that the small number of LL staff would have to wade their way through. The JIRA system is meant to streamline this, allowing staff to look in on the issues and say, "Hey! Look, here, there are a ton of people who seem to like this posted suggestion. There might be something, here." Listening works both ways. In order for LL to hear what we have to say, we have to actually listen to what they have to say regarding the proper procedures for making our voices heard.

Yeah, I've tried Blender, and its interface scared me off. I've been a long-time user of Poser 5, but I just bought an upgrade to Poser Pro 2010 when I went to the San Deigo Comic-Con, a month ago. I had a feeling, though, that they were ready to upgrade their software, as their prices for Poser Pro 2010 made it seem like they were practically giving it away. (They let me buy Poser Pro 2010 for only $99, based soley on the word that I had Poser 5. I had actually meant to bring my disks with me as proof, but I completely forgot, but they never even asked.) Ah, well. I'm hoping that exporting in the COLLADA format works well with Poser, because I really like working with both it and Anim8or, and I really hate having to spend a lot of time learning to use new sofware.

Heyla and well met! I've been trying to look up as much as possible on the subject of how uploading mesh works in SL. Before mesh went world-wide, I was planning on creating the raw .OBJ file in Anim8or, get it mapped in UVMapper, then import it into Poser, if it needed rigging. Now that mesh is available, I see I need my mesh files to be in .dae format. Poser supports the importation and exportation of .dae files. My question is whether or not Poser has been successfully used to create the .dae files to import into SL? If this is the case, then I'll be glad, as it means I don't need to concern myself with accquiring new software--and learning it--in order to participate in mesh creation on SL. Thanks for your help! Keeper S. Karu EDIT 1: The answer to my original question seems to be that there shouldn't be any real issues exporting files from Poser for import into SL. According to SmithMicro Tech Support, Poser Pro 2010 uses the latest version of COLLADA. However, with the upcoming release of Poser 9.Pro 2012, any further support for 8/2010 will no longer be available. My own solution is to simply use what I have, and if, in the future, there any compatibility problems arise due to 2010 no longer being supported, I'll simply use Daz|Studio 4 to export my meshes, after they've been rigged in Poser, as Daz3D will continue to support its software. Another alternative to explore is using Blender for exporting the final product in COLLADA format. But I'm trying to do what I can to avoid using Blender as much as possible, for a variety of reasons. (See EDIT 3; I got this incorrect, the first time) I've discovered that, in regards to the question of Polygons vs. Triangles, http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Mesh/Polygons-vs-Triangles/td-p/1089127, I was advised that when one has completed the mesh in one's preferred modelling program, one should convert it to triangular faces before UVMapping and rigging the mesh, as the automatic triangulation done by exporting it in COLLADA format after these steps are completed can cause potential distortions and problems. I've read that Blender is actually very good at such conversions, creating as few triangles as possible, thus keeping the polygon count low. I may have to break and make use of Blender for this feature. (See EDIT 3; I got this incorrect, the first time) In regards to creating clothing meshes for attachment to the avatar, I've learned that it's very important to not skip the step of properly grouping the mesh to match the groups used in the SL avatar mesh: http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Mesh/Maya-Mesh-rigged-but-does-not-attach-in-SL/td-p/1087463 . For those familiar with making conforming clothing for Poser figures, this should be a familiar step. I've yet to receive any answers regarding the scaling of mesh objects when exported from Poser, yet. I may have to find out about this when I'm finally able to get to the experimentation phase in all this. At this particular moment, I'm still trying to work out what mesh is all about, and how to adapt creating and uploading meshes using my preferred software, so I at least have some idea of what I'm doing. After reading through the wiki, watching the Kettle Quest videos, and asking some questions concerning the use of Poser, specifically, I now seem to have some kind of basic idea of what I need to do when playing around with meshes in SL. I'll probably start trying a few things on the SL Beta Grid, as recommended in the wiki, to get some practice before committing some actual L$ to uploading mesh on the main grid. My hope is that, once I've figured out how to properly bring my models in-world using Poser, I'l be able to go over my steps for others who are just as interested in using Poser for rigging and exporting meshes. EDIT 2: Of course, just as soon as I hit the post button, I discovered that someone was actually able to give me a pretty good answer to the issue of scaling. Apparently, scaling, in theory, at least, shouldn't be a real issue, as the Mesh/Upload Model UI has, on its third tab, the option to adjust the object's scaling. Further, as long as the original object, such as a piece of mesh clothing, was built around a reference object from SL, such as one of the avatar's the mesh clothing was meant for, the mesh should scale properly even when using the in-world building tools. I'll definitely still be experimenting with all of this, though, just to make sure things work as they ought to, and to iron out any problems, if and when they don't! EDIT 3: I've received a bit more advice in the Polygons vs. Triangles thread. The recommendation is to actually go about your regular business, modelling, UVMapping, rigging, etc. Some say that, since COLLADA converts the meshand such to triangles, anyhow, it's easier to simply see how the mesh reacts after it's been converted to this formtat. If any problems occur, go back and edit the mesh BEFORE the conversion, as triangles can actually make editing a bit awkward. Some actually prefer, once everything else is completed, to triangulate the mesh through Blender, to get a truer polygon count and to view if anything is amiss, before exporting the mesh into COLLADA format. Either way, the consensus is the same: I got the workflow incorrect: Triangluation is the LAST thing you do, not something you do early on in the creation process. The information concerning errors to the UVMapping was probably something I read about in another circumstance, and misapplied it, here.

=D I love the conversation this is stirring. My husband and I have had many long talks about whether or not a 3D web would actually replace the 2D web. Our conclusion is that neither will replace the other. Rather, they'll both work together, givng the user a richer experience. This makes sense, especially when you realize that there are people who may not be able to use a 3D internet, such as the blind. Since we're so dependent upon the internet, now, for information and communication, being able to do one's best to anticpate everyone's needs is important, I'd think. =D I've tried a lot of virtual worlds, mostly by "necessity," desperate to play at being Hiro Protagonist, back when I couldn't run Second Life. I can say that, while they were okay, they still didn't dazzle me the way Second Life has and still does. Every now and then, I go and try something new that comes up, like Blue Mars, but there's just something about Second Life that keeps me coming back. A bit part of it, I think, is the fact that I just feel like I have so much more room to work with, here, so much more flexibility. As far as copyright issues goes... That's very definitely something that's a bit difficult to handle. Indeed, copyright issues are a big problem in the 2D world. The 3D world and the advent of birtual goods simply gives it an added dimension to the problem. Personally, I'm thinking we may have to look to how the music and film industry have come to terms with limiting theft, and likely make use of the similar methods. The one thing content creators will likely have to accept is the very simple fact that no method of protection is going to be 100% perfect. When people are determined to steal, they're going to find ways to do so. All we can do is make it so that only the hard-core theives will go through such trouble to try to steal, while most people will feel it to be too troublesome to deal with.

Somehow, knowing they actually did help develop this, only to walk away from it, is worse. Oh, well. We'll see how things go, eh?

Heyla and well met! A couple of friends introduced me to OpenSim over the weekend, and I have to say it was an amazing experience, especially when I saw the following: http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Hypergrid My first thought when I saw that page was, "OMG! The Metaverse has truly arrived! Let me sharpen my blades!" My husband had introduced me to Neal Stephonson's Snow Crash way back in 2001, and I was incredibly fascinated by the concept of a three-dimensional, totally immersive, virtual internet. When one of my friends introduced me to Second Life, I was incredibly eager to be a part of it, because I knew exactly what it was. Alas, at the time, the computer I had couldn't run it (although, interestingly enough, it's capable of running games like WoW and DDO). When I finally had the opportunity to finally be a part of Second Life, it was almost everything I thought a Metaverse should be... almost. The original Metaverse of the novel WAS the internet, whereas SL is simply a small piece of it, in the real world. And while that really didn't bother me, I often wondered why no one has actually tried to see if they can really come close to creating a true Metaverse. Well, apparently, someone has, but I have to wonder, further, why Linden Lab didn't think of it, first. I mean, if they had, they could have set themselves up as the hub of such a Metaverse, the place where everyone begins and ends their 3D online internet experience.You know, kind of like the Google of the 3D internets. Oh, well, I just couldn't help but feel like this is a potentially missed opportunity for LL. I love and enjoy Second Life, and it would be really great to see it evolve into something that's truly thriving and successful.

Heyla and well met! I apologize if this actually turns out to be the incorrect place to post this. However, to my thinking, it seems appropriate, as I'm hoping that, somehow, someway, I can make changes to the viewer that will help solve my problem. You see, after a long absence from SL, I returned to find that, after only a few weeks of being in-world, my right wrist began aching and hurting, again, after actually having gotten better, over the last year or so, to the point where it simply didn't hurt, anymore. It turns out that the reason for the pain is actually directly related to my use of mouse steering, which allows me to move with greater precision within Second Life. At first, I couldn't understand why this would cause problems, as I use a similar method of movement on another platform, an MMORPG. However, I soon realized that the difference was that, on that other platform, mouse steering was done through holding down the RIGHT mouse button. This apparently makes a very BIG difference, as using my middle finger to hold down the right mouse button is actually much less stressful and ergonomic upon the wrist joint, while continual use of the index finger to hold down the left mouse button can actually cause genuine physical health issues. So, I have a few options. One of them is to wear my old wrist brace to help reduce the pain. Unfortunately, it's not a real fix, as the wrist still experiences pain, just not as much. In addition, wearing the brace for that long tends to eventually cause a minor rash and other skin problems for me. The other alternative, the one I like best, as well as the reason why I'm posting this, here, involves the following: I know that, by going into the keys.xml files in the SecondLifeViewer2--app_settings folder, I can actually customize many of my keyboard controls, which I have. My hope is that someone, here, might actually know if there is a similar file hiding somewhere for the mouse settings of the viewer, allowing me to change things so that the right mouse button, by default, controls mouse steering, while using something such as ALT + "right click" will bring up the drop-down menu, instead of simply right-clicking. Anyhow, if anyone has any information that can help me altar the viewer in such a way, I'd be incredibly grateful! Thank you for your help, KeeperS Karu (Keeper S. Karu)

Heyla, I've been looking for a clear-cut answer to this question, but what I've found so far has been pretty vague: If you happen to own all the parcles on a mainland sim, can you change the maturity rating from general to mature?

Heyla and well met! As I've come to familiarize myself with the many melee combat systems available within Second Life, I've come accross the term "Safe-Zone Melee Style Systems." If I understand this correctly, this system relies upon detecting certain key presses to note whether or not you've made a melee attack. From what I've seen, this basically means detecting whethor or not you have the left mouse button held down when pressing any of the directional keys. If my understanding is correct, does this mean that a melee weapon that uses this particular method of attacking should be compatible for basic use in these types of systems? I do understand, for very specific abilities, such as assigning power attacks to your weapon or the specific kinds of damage a weapon can do, registering with a specific system's develpoer group is required, if they have one available, but if I'm simply looking to make a melee weapon with basic functions that can work with Safe-Zone type systems, in general, would this work? Thank you for takling the time to respond, KeeperS Karu (Keeper S. Karu)

Actually, I found the following link to be pretty helpful: https://marketplace.secondlife.com/listing_guidelines Scroll down to "Maturity Guidelines," and it will tell you what is acceptable for marketing in each category. It's clearer than the wiki on each maturity rating, in my opionion, settling my own axiety as to what is acceptable to sell under the General category (I sell weapons and weapon animations). ---EDIT--- I decided to also include the following quote from the section I mentioned, above, just to reduce an inordinate amount of scrolling: Mature Content Guidelines All uploaded or posted content must be rated as “General,” “Moderate,” or “Adult” based on the maturity definitions below. A rating is for everything on a listing page, including the item listed for sale, the item description, and any images or keywords used. Items or content that fall within multiple categories must be rated using the most mature rating applicable. Items or content that fall within the “Banned” category below are not allowed to be uploaded or posted on the SL marketplace under any circumstances. We may remove listings or change the ratings of listings that we deem to be in the wrong or inappropriate category in our sole discretion. General Content Is For All Residents. Avatar goods that may be sexy, but are not sexual, including:Avatars and avatar skins as long as they do not show anatomical nudity. They must not depict genitals or female nipples in either the listing image or the inworld item. Avatar accessories, including sexy clothes and undergarments, as long as they do not expose genitals or female nipples. Avatar animations, as long as they do not depict sexual activity. Mildly violent content, including:Virtual weapons, depicted realistically or non-realistically. Virtual blood that is not excessive or gratuitous. Depictions of violence that are easily distinguished from real life, such as: Cartoon-like violence that does not harm others Fantasy violence Violence that does not involve human avatars Mild language, including crude, suggestive or bathroom humor, as long as it does not involve profanity, sexual references, or descriptions of violent acts. Informational or educational content, including content about breast cancer and sex education. Games, including games of chance, as long as they do not involve betting or wagering real or virtual currency, including Linden dollars Moderate Content Is Only For 18+ Year-Old Residents. Mildly sexual content, including:References to sex, as long as they are not explicit or frequent. Intimate avatar animations, as long as they do not depict sexual activity that is explicit or highly realistic. Violent content, including:Graphic depictions of bodily injury or death, as long as they are not extreme or highly realistic. Descriptions of violent acts, as long as they are not excessive or designed to shock. Depictions of or references to alcohol or tobacco use. Listings for full homesteads or islands, which may be sold only to residents who are at least 18 years of age. Wagering games that comply with our Policy Regarding Wagering in Second Life Adult Content Is Only For 18+ Year-Old Residents. Strong sexual content, including:Depictions of anatomical nudity, including exposed genitals and/or female nipples. Sexual avatar animations, including ones depicting explicit or highly-realistic sexual intercourse or oral sex. Content or items intended for use in, or primarily associated with, erotic or sexual roleplay. Explicit or frequent references to sex or sexual activity. Extremely violent content, including:Blood and gore that is extreme or highly realistic. Explicit depictions of serious bodily injury, mutilation of body parts, dismemberment, or death. Explicit or detailed descriptions of violent acts. Profanity in the listing or item content. Depictions of or references to illegal drug use. Banned Content Is Not Allowed For Any Residents. Non-consensual sexual content, or any content or items that depict or suggest sexual activity that all parties involved did not consent to. Sexual content involving minors, or any sexually explicit or suggestive content or items depicting minors. Cruel or hateful content, or content or items that depict or suggest cruelty or hatred towards individuals or animals ---EDIT 2--- After going through the list, it seems that violent sports would very likely fall into the mature category, because it depicts violence of one avatar against another. After searching through the "Sports and Hobbies" section of the Destination Guide, this seems to be confirms, as wrestling and MMA sims are very clearly labeled "mature." So, I would think that the answer is that your sports center will need to be labeled "mature."

Darrius Gothly wrote: Phil Deakins wrote: Astonishing. Incidentally, scripts do run even when nobody is using them - they have to if they are to perform when someone wants something of them. But they shouldn't be chewing large amounts of time. Yup, but there is a massive difference between "Event Driven" coding style and "forever loop" coding. The worst offenders tend to be written so that they are continually running some task ... be it from a timer or in a continuous polled mode. Newer scripts tend to be more Event Driven and mostly stay asleep. I was quite frankly astonished when I saw the script time stats on the Photo Studio I mentioned. I even went and "visited" it to see what it might be doing .. on the assumption is was randomly changing backgrounds or something similar. Nope, everything I could "see" was static. However I did notice that the other very high usage scripted object was the detached control panel for it. Apparently the two parts are continually chatting back and forth .. perhaps repeating the same settings over and over again. Whatever the cause, I know from talking to others that this particular model is one of the most famous and most popular (owing to its long-term presence in the market). I'm quite sure newer competing devices of the same capabilities probably are much more sophisticated and much less consumptive of script time, but because of the name recognition and history of this one, it will continue to dominate and lag well into the future. I'm just thankful it's the only one on the entire Sim. If someone else moves in and rezzes another one, we'll be rubber-banding no end .. just because of two devices. OUCH! Yeah, it was actually because of the comments about scripts and vendors that, after a bit of a hiatus from SL, due to university, I decided to go in and see just how badly my vendors at my shop were affecting things. Everyone esle's vendors only took up about 64kb each, while mine EACH took 640. Ywoch! That was a pretty big difference, there, so I went to see if Hippo had updated their vendors. Turns out, yes and no. I had to buy an add-on to get my vendors down to 64kb each. If it weren't for the sales logs, I would have just used the vendors my buddy made. Oh, well. I have to say that that's the one thing I DO like that LL did: being able to see just how much in the way of resources one's toys are taking up can be a real eye-opener. I'm going to have to take some time to go and retake some scripting workshops, so I can learn how to build some of my scripts so they don't lag out the sim.

Well, I suppose I was incorrect in thinking that Linden Lab didn't care about what their customers think. Up until last year, Linden Lab actually had an F rating with the Better Business Bureau. But it seems that, in September of 2010, Linden Lab went out of its way to gain an A+ rating with them. This explains why Linden Lab was suddenly concerned with closing and resolving all of its complaints and tickets. I guess they're actually trying to do what they can to restore their repuation with both present and future consumers. That's actually a pretty good sign, in my opinion. If they care enough to try, then maybe they'll really care enough to listen.

Mila Edelman wrote: It's just a childish and stupid retort. It annoys me, because it's similar to the Godwin, or the threat of a lawsuit. A person no longer wants to think rationally, or argue with intelligence, so they say something that dumb. In real life, the perception of authority has become increasingly frightening, especially the courts. People threaten to sue over the dumbest things, because they believe that the threat alone will get you to do whatever it is they want. The hoped effect is practically identical to that of telling someone you'll AR them over something dumb. They know that folks (especially Americans) are so afraid of having to enter the court system because it appears to be very complicated and scary, so, if the "s word" is mentioned, they often will give in. 7 years of my 14 year career were spent with the most well-known lawyer in the US (not to mention his entire team) as a client. While what I did for them had nothing to do with law, you spend enough time in that environment, you make a few friends, and you learn a few things. I, for one, learned not to quake when some idiot threatens to sue, or AR. When folks threaten to sue over something stupid, or to AR over something stupid, I simply say: "Good luck with that." In 1920's Berlin, we've had a LOT of people threaten to AR when we've had to ask them to leave (for not following the most basic rules, like wearing clothes...any clothes). "Good luck with that" usually shuts them up. I did once speak to a CSR about the problem of AR threats, and did receive actual confirmation that there's nothing to worry about. If it's not against TOS, or intellectual property laws, you're fine. If, for some reason, you get dinged by LL, it can be reversed if you raise hell. One jackass (who shall remain nameless) threatened also to sue (yes, sue) for a few dollars lost when we had to ban his group from our property (we did, however, give a partial refund for another piece of property, and removed them, because we no longer wanted them around, at all). However, it's in the rental agreement: you grief, you lose your spot immediately, no refund. He genuinely threatened an international lawsuit over a few dollars. Overdramatic, AND he had no case. Ahh, people. While it should seem obvious, I really need to ask what people mean by "raising hell" if they are banned on a false AR? It's the one thing that DOES concern me, because of the fact that it happens. I had no idea that LL bans people without fully investigating the alleged offense.

Phil Deakins wrote: Knowl Paine wrote: The greatest fallacy of modern economics is the belief that perpetually accelerating growth is possible. Linden Labs Can do anything they want. What LL should do is absolutely nothing. Resident created, the good the bad and the ugly. The thing is, LL have been trying to increase usership. That was the purpose of the failed display names. So they *want* to increase it, and this thread is about ideas of what might work. The idea that "LL should do absolutely nothing" doesn't come into it. When a business is struggling, regardless of the reason (such as the global economy), it has to take steps to try and improve things. When the economy is really bad, it isn't the businesses that save money by not spending on advertising that survive - it's those that keep on spending on advertising, even though they can barely afford it. The SL system can handle a lot more users - it did in the past - and LL have been trying, and failing, to increase the usership. Imo, there are a lot of non-users who would take to SL if they got into it. For me, that means making SL more attractive - more desirable. The initial time (when a person joins) is paramount, and some great suggestions have been made. I particularly like the idea of small "quests", designed to teach new people about SL and how it works, and going up beginner levels when completing the quests so that new people can start out being quite familiar with what SL is and the way that it works. After that, it's making full participation more attractive by greatly improving the land ownership system., plus a huge change in LL's attitude to users - support, etc. It's common knowledge that LL doesn't care about their customers, and new people no doubt soon discover it. It's a big reason why many people leave (including me when I go in the not too distant future). Without putting that right, their attempts to increase usership is like running as hard as you can but staying on the same spot. Getting people in is good, but not so good when you are leaking people at the other end all the time. In a way, he's correct, to a certain extent. We can come up with many and valid ideas for what Linden Lab can do to not only draw people in, but keep the people who are already here, but in the end, it's up to Linden Lab as to whether or not they wish to listen. In many ways, I often wonder if they really ARE interested in hearing what their residents have to say on the matter of improving Second Life. In other platforms, there is always a suggestions forum for customers to post their suggestions on how they think their experience could be improved. LL doesn't even offer us that. Certainly, they have other ways of supposedly communicating with residents, but how difficult or easy is it, when compared to simply posting one's idea on the forums? In any event, while I actually do hope that some Linden, out there, will actually see this thread and take notes about what is being said in it, I do think there ought to be another thread on what residents can do to help improve the SL experience of all, new and experienced. Because, in the end, even if Linden Lab followed through on every suggestion we make, here, Second Life is such that what will ultimately keep residents continually logging in are the residents, themselves. If anyone is interested in starting such a thread, here are a few ideas (I don't seem to have much luck in making threads that can stay alive--reference my MMORPG thread, if you don't believe me; I'm now posting there, all by my lonesome!): 1. The community, as a whole, needs to come to terms with the fact that LL is NOT going to interfere in what it considers private disputes between residents, and that includes arguments over trade. As such, I think it is up to residents, as a community, to decide how best to go about handling such situations. Many suggestions have been made in the past. My favorite is the idea of a Second Life Better Business/Resident Bureau, where people can look up the reputations of businesses and individuals, and choose whether or not to deal with them, based on their reputation. 2. Many people mourn the loss of the mentoring program that LL once had in place. Like another resident noted, I didn't even know that such a program existed, until it had been taken away. This being said, there's nothing that says that people who really feel comfortable in their knowledge of SL can't go to these newbie island places and give new people a hand in familiarizing themselves with SL. 3. Along the same vein of idea number two, if there are people with the resources who are genuinely concerned, perhaps they can turn their sim, or at least a part of it, into the type of introductory quest system that allows new people to get to know how to use their viewers and navigate through the world. 4. In addition to the quest tutorial system, perhaps the rest of the sim can be constructed such that it gives new people a chance to get a taste of the many things that people can do, in-world, from shopping, to clubbing, to dueling with swords, to fishing, to bowling, to golfing, to roleplaying, to building, etc. Did you know that there are places where people can go to seek counseling and therapy for free? And while people speak of education, it would be nice to have the reputable educational institutions in SL be represented among these small areas on the resident-run newbie island. The point, of course, of having these little areas means that each area can then have a list of places that they can further explore, that allows them to fully engage in these activities. 5. Of course, this means that, to make these things work, volunteers would be needed to greet new people and bring them to these places. These could be the same greeters who have decided to help new people familiarize themselves with SL. 6. As much as we talk about the "blight" of the mainland, in all honesty, that really isn't within LL purview, I would think. Again, the residents of each mainland sim will have to be willing to come together and come to a compromise on what can be done to make their sim beautiful, by their standards.

Venus Petrov wrote: I like the suggestions so far. With regards to starter 'quests', I would have benefited from a simple 'rez a box, position it, rotate it, etc' lesson. Drop down blue boxes would tell me what to do and congratulate me on each step..maybe give me L$10 for meeting each objective. I think LL should charge a nominal fee (USD10) for the creation of each avatar after the first one. Two objectives to this: increase revenue and reduce the proliferation of griefer or one-off avatars. (Apologies for the lack of formatting). One idea I keep revisitng is the ability to create more than one avatar under a single account. I know I keep referencing MMO's, and DDO, in particular, but they are my models for the various things I like, especially this one: DDO has a system in which, under one account, you start out with two character slots to create two different kinds of characters. If you go premium, you get an extra two character slots, giving you a total of four. If you go VIP, you get an extra ten character slots to the original two you had. If you want more character slots, you can buy them, individually, at the DDO shop, until you reach a maximum of thirty character slots. The user has the option to keep each character they play anonymous to the general player population, or to let people know what alts they possess. And because all of the characters are under one account, you have access to things like shared bank space, and Turbine Points, which you can use to buy your characters things in the games. I think SL should have a similar system in which users have the option to have one master account to manage all of their alternates. They can even all share access to the user's L$. Perhaps, to start, a master account can have, say, two to four available avatar slots, with premium accounts having access to more. And, of course, if the user wants more avatar slots available, they can buy more slots from LL. In addition, since all of the alts are connected to one master account, then the avatars can have access to a shared inventory space. All the user's avatar's are strictly anonymous to begin with; if the user wants others to know of her alts, she can do so, if she wishes. I think this will do a lot to help with alt management, something I hear people speak about, a lot. My hope is that this would also help reduce problems with griefers, as this would mean that LL can actually require people to have only a certain number of master accounts (I'm thinking that machinima makers might need more than one, in order to get the kind of camera angles they need), with all of them connected to each other by the same user information. Anyone caught using false information to create an account, especially for the purposes of griefing, gets ALL of their accounts banned. Certainly, since some people really do make mistakes, having some kind of three strikes rule or something of that sort is also reasonable. At this point, I'm aware that this might actually make some residents a bit nervous, because I know that some residents simply don't trust LL to keep their real life contact information safe. So, this definitely brings up another thing LL has to work on, before they even implement something like the above system: They need to focus upon making user data as safe as they possibly can. Right now, there are a lot of people who feel that LL doesn'tt care about the safety of their user data, so they go out of their way to protect themselves the best way they can: by using false data. But that can cause just as many issues, as solve them. So, I think LL needs to do what they can to keep user data safe, and prove to their customers that they care about keeping it safe. Perhaps, by actually doing what they can to keep such data secure, people can learn to trust LL, again, something I haven't seen in a very long while.

Phil Deakins wrote: Your friends can run WoW but not SL? I'm amazed. That really is a biggie. SL can't avoid some lag like WoW does but I'm astonished that system that can run WoW can't run SL. Yup! I was pretty surprised by that, myself. I had thought, for the longest time, that my own first laptop couldn't run WoW, because it couldn't run SL. It turns out that it isn't so, at all. It can run Wow, with some lag, but it can run it, but NOT SL. Same with the systems of my friends. I have friends that enjoy playing WoW, but when they try to run SL, it doesn't even load.

Pussycat Catnap wrote: My second issue to address retention wouldbe to make the UI more like an MMO. One of the simplest changes would be an auto-walk feature. Hit the 'walk' key (whatever it would be) and my avatar should just keep on walking until I tell her to stop, and I could then turn with my mouse only. Every MMO, every 3D environment but those based on SL-code, does this. Holding both mouse buttons should move me forward. Left clicking a spot on the screen should try to walk me there. The second biggest change I would suggest would be keybind remapping. Let people change their keybinds. If I want 'M' to open chat and '/' to open my map - let me do it with a simple keybind setup window to remap all my keys... SL is to virtual worlds what AutoCad is to art programs... its the 'exception' that uses a UI different from the industry standard. That hurts it a lot. SL's UI is one only SL people can use. To join SL you have to 'learn' it. You can log into any other virtual platform out there and start going right away with a set of keys and clicks people have learned how to to do since the days of Super Mario Brothers... If we're going to suggest that LL brings the veiwer more in line with other MMO's, the one important thing I would like to point out is that LL needs to STOP confusing SL residents by familiarizing themselves with common gaming terms. For example, in the general gaming world, mouselook simply means the ability to steer with the mouse, regardless of whether or not you are in third or first person mode. After learning how to use mouselook in my favorite MMO, I returned to SL eager to learn how to enable this feature. Unfortunately, the only references to mouselook I could find were all related to running SL in first person. Only because of my own stubborn nature did I eventually discover that, what the rest of the gaming world terms as mouselook in the third person, LL terms "mouse steering.." Many people who log into SL for the first time are experienced gamers who expect certain terms to be fairly common. If they, too, are trying to figure out how to perform certain actions, but are having trouble doing so because SL uses a different lexicon, they are likely to move on to something else, assuming that these actions simply don't exist, as many of them aren't as patient and tenacious as I am. And speaking of mouselook, custom mouse binding is deserately needed in SL, moreso than custom keyboard binding, because we can already customize some of our key bindings by editing the keys.xml file in the SecondLifeViewer2/app_settings folder. When I finally learned how to use mouselook/mouse steering in the third person, I found myself incredibly frustrated, because it's also the button used to activate sword swings. Furthermore, I've found that I've grown quite comfortable and happy with the mouse bindings I use in other games, with holding down the right mouse button used to activate mouselook. By simply being able to switch mouselook to another mouse button, while leaving everything else alone, my SL experience would be improved, drammatically. How many others are out there, like me, wishing they can change the way their mouse bindings functioned? For the autorun, click to walk, and hold mouse button to walk, I would say that these features should be optional. I, personally, prefer using the WASD keys with mouselook/mouse steering in order to get around, and I hate for that to be taken away in favor of these other modes of movement.

/Begin Shamless Plug Ahem. I would recommend visiting the Cosplay Co-Op Marketplace located at Sea Monk. Hehe. http://world.secondlife.com/place/2fb87980-08f5-bba1-d14f-648e4240b403 /End Shameless Plug In all honesty, though, when looking for such shops, try typing in "cosplay" in your search, as that seems to bring up a wealth of shops that are likely up your alley, as such shops do tend to really go out of their way to provide everything you could possibly think of for your cosplay needs, such as, yes, backpacks and other items you never would ahve even thought of. Or, if you specifically know the kind of things you like, such as kimonos, you can type those in your search options, as well. It's how I found a lot of the things I like. Sorry, I'd give more specific recommendations, but without further details, it's a bit difficult, as I'm still unsure as to what, exactly, you're looking for.

I'm glad to hear that things were settled in a satisfactory manner. I was hoping that, with the offer of a place to stay with the first month free, it would have ended happily, anyhow, but it's nice to hear that things didn't have to become ugly with your current landlord. I hope you continue to enjoy SL!

In all honesty, the first and biggest hurdle Linden Labs must come to terms with is the fact that, even in this day and age, Second Life still isn't very accessible to the general population. Many of my friends and family have very simple systems that can do what they want: surf the internet, watch movies, and post on social sites such as Facebook. They even have the bonus of being able to run MMO's such as DDO and WoW. Unfortunately, these very same basic systems are NOT capable of running Second Life. They simply don't have a good enough video card/memory/etc. to handle it. And as much as my friends and family are intrigued by SL, they aren't going to buy a whole new system just for the sake of running it, either. In other words, Linden Labs is going to have to realize that they AREN'T going to capture the general population the way they hoped they would, because they're not about to upgrade their systems for a "game" that they really don't understand, not when their systems are sufficient for all the things they do understand. I also have friends accross the country who participate on other platforms that are specifically designed to allow those with dial-up connections to participate. They live in areas of the United States in which their choices are dial-up, or a highly expensive satellite system. So even when their computers are fully capable of handling SL, and then some, their connections can not. I think that's a concept that the rest of the SL population must also accept, as well. Accquiring new users is going to be a slow and difficult process unless and until Linden Labs can figure out how to make SL more accessible to less sophisticated systems, and I am unsure of whether that's really possible, to be honest. That aside, even those with the computer systems capable of handling SL have certain issues with it. My husband, for example, really dislikes SL because he feels he's bombarded with advertisements at every turn. I was fairly baffled by his observation, because I didn't see it, myself, until he gave me the following example: He'll be exploring a beautiful build of the Starship Enterprise, and just when he's enjoying himself, right there, on the bridge, is an ad to buy an Uhura costume. For him, this is an incredible turnoff. While he doesn't mind a gift shop in a spot on the ship that is appropriate, he doesn't like the fact that, to him, SL seems to be geared towards selling him something at every turn. I admit, this is actually an issue that is outside of Linden Labs' purview, and more within the realm of what the SL community can do to help make new resident experiences better, but I thought it might be an important enough issue to bring up, anyhow.

I think I may have found someone who created a very intelligent way to handle NPC mobs in SL: https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Monster-Spawner-Series-I-Zombie-Beast-Mummy-Monkey-Girl/1913237 In this person's product, the mobs only spwn when you step over the trigger item, and no further mobs can spawn until the current batch of mobs have been dealt with. That seems like an incredibly wonderful way to handle issues of lag, to me. Rather than populate a sim with several mobs waiting to be killed and respawn, you populate the sim with something like these, and the monsters spawn and react as they should. A very nice solution! Things like this are what I'm hoping to find in this discussion. Maybe, after we've all pooled our thoughts and ideas, some clever person with the right resources can add to the collection of wonderfully entertaining sims in SL. That's my hope, from all this.

It greatly depends on the situation. If someone bought the sim for their own pleasure, then it's something they're already paying for, anyway, whether or not they're selling something on they're land. In my case, I just own a few parcels, so my tier isn't all that bad. But the thing is, with or without my shop, I'd still be paying for the tier, because I like having the property. So, for me, the cost of tier doesn't actually factor into the cost of making one of my parcels into a shop. As for the transaction history, you're assuming that my only concern is being able to deal with failed deliveries. That is not so. A few years ago, I had updated all of my inventory. Rather than expect my customers to pay for the items, again, I decided to simply go through my transaction history to send each and every one of them the updated items. I was pretty upset when I discovered that the history only went so far. I did the best I could with what I had, but that was the incident that decided things for me: I got the Hippo vendors to ensure that I had a full and complete transaction history. Certainly, while I've also included an updater for all my items, I still wanted to make sure that, in case something else came up, my transaction history is complete. Anyhow, that's about all I have to say on this subject, now. Take care, and I hope you find something that fills you with joy!

I think the best way to make sure that one's children aren't seeing what they shouldn't is for the parents to be actively watching what their children are doing on the internet and elsewhere. I have family and friends who have children, and they do not allow their children to watch television or go on the internet or play video games, etc., without their active supervision. In other words, their children can not engage in these activities unless their parents are there and watching them and what they do. In many cases, their children are only allowed to go to certain places on the internet, for example. If their children should engage in these activities without parental permission AND supervision, that child is punished. And this is how it should be. I think it's about time for the responsibility to be put back where it belongs: In the hands of the parents.