vanettda Lassard

The Wild West of forum rants and raves. Loved it then — will love it again.

Thanks for this thread. I created my model of a teddy bear and it registered as 30Li! I removed hidden faces and deleted alternate edge loops and the Li lowered to 13--close but no cigar. The model is created with four pieces (head, body, arms, legs) that I exported together. I reread this thread and wondered if these four pieces "jutting into each other" was causing some confusion in the upload? So I uploaded the four pieces separately and reassembled in world THEN linked them together. The result is 4Li. ! Perfect. This was my first organic, non hard surface modeling Ive created. Sure did learn a lot. thanks for your help here!

I’ve been acquainted with and even casually used RLV (In Firestorm) for years. I had no idea of it’s depth or full capabilities until reading this thread. Thanks for for the enlightening info!

Thanks for all your comments😊 Yeah I could get Lucy back. For me, the longing is more nostalgic. I miss being 17 in real life, but I wouldn't want to relive the teen-age angst. I miss Lucy, I miss her color and boldness, and the shopping I could do under her possession. (No, a 59 yr old six foot-three inch, barrel-chested man with a white beard and hair, playing Barbie is not creepy. I’m Santa. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.) Overall, however, I like the avi me I’ve become.

Thank you Anne for setting me up with the perfect home space for my flying peach!

Lately--absolutely. I've been literally confined to a bed for the past nine-months (and still counting). SL provides me with virtual mobility. Who knew that a bed could be a prison? I am very grateful for SL's distractions. When I first joined--a big yes. I taught college students real life applications of basic 3D modeling, UV texturing, alpha channels and virtual worlds using raster and vector applications within SL. A few of my students have gone on and worked for gaming companies and app developers. This feels very cool. All that time in the middle? Well, I almost killed my relationship with my wife. I exposed, and then let run rampant, parts of my psyche that were best left buried. I've spent as many hours and years that a Doctor sacrifices to learn a vocation without the advanced degree to show for it. Also, I was not as gentle and kind as I should/could have been. Did I mention that living 24/7 in a bed is a special kind of torture? So yeah. SL is a gift that can uplift, inspire, be a respite and an escape. It also can be a very dark place (for me). It's a lot like RL. It is what I choose it to be. Right now? I'm just trying to be a better human in-world and out. Thats got to be good, right?

When I paint a particularly awesome painting I invite everybody to enjoy my expository emotion and artistic torment. Mostly they don’t “get it.” They say, “Why don’t you paint flowers? Everybody loves flowers. Van Gogh painted flowers,” When a client asks for illustrated wheel barrows, THEN my family and friends “get it.” They swoon over my wheel barrows (I added flowers to the bin). I have no emotional connection to the work, but it pays the bills. When I was a n00b, and SL was young, I evangelized SL like a long awaited second coming. I wanted my wife, brothers, parents and friends to join me on this extraordinary adventure. They didn’t get it. After a while I just stopped trying. As a college instructor, I brought hundreds of students into SL, taught them the basics, and then used SL in my classroom. Two are still using it on their own. Two out of hundreds? After reflection… that seems about right. For my whole life I’ve thought differently. I was an odd duck. I often stood alone with my solitary visions and was(am) completely comfortable with it. I don’t think that Linden Lab can add or do anything to effect this statistic. They can implement tech or interface or experience “flowers” to the experience, but most will still not “get it.” I am probably cynical. We stalwart few are special. We “get it” although a lot of us can’t describe exactly the “it” we are getting. I view every resident that’s stuck around for a few months as gifted. We are rare and beautiful. Honestly, along with retention, LL should reward those of us who have stayed. I want my gold star lapel pin for a decade (or a year, or five years) of loyal service.

I wrote a very insightful response to this question that would have surely influenced everybody who read it, and cleared the fog of uncertainty, then the internet ate it. I think that was a sign. So… 800 words distilled down to this: I can’t speak for why people leave or stay. I stayed because of the empty echo of the grid and the call to put my fingerprint on it. The learning curve wasn’t an obstacle, it was a boss challenge. The lack of narrative wasn’t daunting, it was compelling; what would I make of this Second Life? Some people want to be thrust into a world of other peoples creativity, I wanted to create a world for other peoples thrusting (Laugh track here). I stay because of the endless potential of each sunrise in SL. I’m not sure how to market this. Philip wanted to create a place of community where residents make the rules (Be Nice). Meta wants to create an office building with a mall where every avatar is tracked and monetized.

Over the summer I killed my two other alts, Alma Palmira and Lucy Rust. I deleted both of their accounts, after a sobering health scare. It was an attempt to simplify my SL life, and so far it has worked wonderfully. I don’t feel so psychologically divided, my avi is more me and less mask-like. I’m enjoying my focus on building and exploring. It’s just great. However, I really miss Lucy. I loved the clothing options, the body meshes (I wore Belleza and would be all over this new update.) I loved shopping. She was definitely more social, and she was into the Ds community — something that I have given up for lent. I didn’t use her for dating, or SLex, or anything interaction of that sort, but she dressed in a manner that announced, “come hither yon plebe and worship at the patrician fountain of my prurient deviations.” In a word, Lucy was larger than life. While I could certainly adopt this persona in my current form, it just doesn’t fit my true laid-back, laissez faire personality. For me, shopping for male clothes is an obtuse diversion bordering on painful, and all male mesh bodies are pretty much the same, So… there you have it. I have focus, my distractions are minimal, and I wear three outfits pretty much all the time. I love my current SL life, but I miss my Lucy avatar and her vibrant colors. Does anybody else have a nostalgic longing for avatars past or am I just a schizophrenic looking for a new mental mesh?

It’s morning, and I’m fully awake, my glasses are clean and on, I’m squinting and adjusting my glasses but I can barely make out any detail in these pictures (esp the 2nd one). I don’t want to gripe and groan about being old… but damn… please tell me I’m not alone before I subscribe to the braille version of SL communities.

Feel free to move this or suggest the proper forum where this thread should be posted: Back in 2006, I created a giant prim peach with seagulls lifting it into the sky. It’s not really giant in SL terms, but it’s large enough for me to live or relax in. It also doesn’t physically fly. I’m looking for a landscaped/themed sim that would like to visually host this gentle reminder of a childhood fantasy. I have rebuilt this (roughly) 16x16 sqm in mesh to fit a 512 mainland parcel as a skybox, but it was suggested to me that some themed sim owner might like to incorporate into their landscaping? That would thrill me to no end! It would look fun in a New England type seaside sim, or maybe a fantasy sim? I’m open to suggestions. I’ve included a picture of my original build as well as the mesh build I’m close to finishing. It should be done in a couple weeks. Let me know if anybody is interested or you have suggestions of where I might ask.

I am also “older,” but I agree with other comments here that age is pretty much irrelevant in SL. I agree with you that sometimes the music is an issue. I congratulate myself for being eclectic in music tastes, but sometimes… I just need something more familiar to my soul. So, my solution? I go to popular dance and music venues, turn the volume down in SL and play my own music on the computer. I can still be connected to people and conversations via text.

To the OP: It gets better. For me the learning curve was well worth it. (Also 16 years and counting.) To Rabid: Wow! I love this Sneetch comparison. There are so many residents who actively engage in this kind of BS to propagate some twisted form of virtual classism. My experience in advertising has taught me the positive branding outcomes of exclusivity. However, there is a fine line between the semantics of exclusivity and discrimination. What we see in SL is truly the machinations of Sneetches.

I posted something, but thought better of it.

Open and honest; For years I have been walking around SL with a female avatar. (My RL gender was listed in my profile and no, I didn't cruise for hot lesbian dates.) Experiencing SL from another point of view was fun, I discovered my feminine self, and to be frank (or Francine) I loved shopping for her clothes. My masculinity was not in any way threatened by a closet full of designer shoes. After a life medical incident in RL, I simplified my life and limited myself to my original Male avatar. Granted, I am not used to buying guy clothes. My original Avatar had two changes of clothes and a swimsuit. Now that I'm full-timing it, I have noticed the dearth options for nice looking male outfits. This is not new news of course. Right now I'm wearing some Hoorenbeck that I like. but would like some different designer in the same quality category, any suggestions?

No, it’s just as sociable as it ever was, and I’m not sure how you deduced me saying that adaption means being less friendly. In SL Adaption to change means you might need to use a different path to reach the same destination. viz: (This is my experience. Individual results may vary. Offer not valid in Alaska and Hawaii.) In 2005 when I walked into a club it was common to face local talking (in text) in the open, gestures, individual 1 on 1 conversations in the open, random commentary on the music, and public emoting—all at the same time in the same space. It reminded me of my early days in IRC rooms. And like IRC you could choose to be silent and lurk, or you could choose to jump in and surf the surge of social interaction. There were few hard and fast rules of conversation…yet. Today in 2022 we have refined the confusion of this social chaos (somewhat). We have courtesies and unwritten rules that have evolved over time. For example, individual conversations are rightly moved to IMs. Some gestures and associated lengthly local text spamming is discouraged, Group chat has replaced local open chat (Join that club group or prepare to be greeted with silence.) If there is a group talking within a group, they might be using Discord. In this case hostesses become indispensable in greeting new people and offering them to join a group, or letting people know where the conversation is. All of this doesn’t mean that SL is less sociable, or that people are rude or unfriendly, it’s just an adaptation of approach. Over time there were lots of these type of of adaptations on the grid. What we have today in SL is definitely different from what we had last week, last month, last year, last decade ago. But the people are the same. Comparing things to the past—more or less, better or worse is dodgy. Living in the now, especially with SL, is a much better approach IMHO.

This is 100% correct. Even with mesh, the larger and more detailed your building is eats Li. And to limit disappearing you need to increase LOD which also eats Li. In my opinion you would be better served making a home on the ground (or skybox) and making a second structure higher up for you club. In my experience a nicely designed/themed and detailed club (no separate home) with furnishings can eat up 1404 Li pretty quick.

Resident from 2005-2022. Rule #1 in SL: Things change. LindenLabs changes things. Sims change. Regulars who fill those sims change. Residents drop off the radar (maybe they create and alt, or take a SL break, or have RL social / mental / marital / financial issues, or just die in RL) Fads come and go. Lifestyles change. How we interact changes. I loved, and still do, enjoy a completely typing text connection. RP and emoting in text was an art IMHO. In order to keep up you had to be 100% focused on your partner's cues. It was incredibly intimate. I of course use voice now where appropriate in world, and, with the right group, I use Discord while building or dancing in SL. Out of all of this, most importantly, residents interests change. What was cool and exciting ten years ago (SLex? Greedy Greedy? -- although I still play GG to be honest.) is boring as hell. All of it is in a constant flux. Rule #2 in SL: Let it go. Bend with the winds of change and adapt.

He flew up the anus of an alien invasion battleship?

How do you feel the relationship between you and your avatar? Did you create your avatar trying to reproduce your RL appearance? Otherwise, did you create an avatar completely different to your RL appearance? Are you satisfied of the result? Do you feel fully represented? The stately fellow before you is my original Avatar. Just like RL he is constantly changing and evolving. This Avatar is the most “me” than any other one I’ve had in my closet. It was the Avatar that I created for teaching my college classes. He exercises a certain amount of decorum and restraint and (like any teacher) speaks with a certain amount of friendly authority. Speaking for myself, SL avatars take a slice of who you are and make it real. I’ve occupied two other Avatars (simultaneously) in sixteen years. Each avatar (a white female, and an African American male.) act quite differently and were distinct from each other. They truly exhibited different personalities from my “me” avatar. I’ve read in a psychological study that people in masks are more likely to do something “out of character” than people without masks. The anonymity in SL provides an opportunity to expose repressed personalities. I think (my opinion) that this happens a lot on the grid. Do you perceive your avatar’s appearance is more attractive than your RL appearance? Funny. I’m a rotund barrel-chested male of Dutch/German heritage in RL. I’m good looking enough to have confidence, with an acute awareness that my non-threatening personality frosts over most of my perceived physical defects or deficiencies. In SL I’m perpetually nineteen, and gorgeous. Honestly, it’s really hard to be 100% like I am in RL. The sliders will only take you so far, large male mesh bodies, heads, and quality fat people skins are almost non-existent. SL kind of forces you to be good looking which is a shame. True body diversity would be much more attractive in my book. How do you feel your online behaviour changes compared to your offline behaviour? Here in SL, do you feel more extroverted, friendly, allowed to do things that you wouldn’t do in RL? Do you feel that some aspects of your behaviour are more ephatised in SL and that other aspects are omitted? I kind of answered that in the previous question. However, let me add this. Autism runs in my family. My wife is on the spectrum and so is my son. They display acute social anxiety amongst other symptoms. Somehow the one-step separation from RL to SL helps. This VR mask allows them breathing room to express the personalities that exist under their respective diagnosis. They also prefer to use text to communicate rather than voice in SL. This option that is not socially sanctioned in RL, gives them a feeling of normalcy in their atypical world. Does the other residents' approving or disapproving influence the way you represent yourself through your avatar? For me, no. I’m fairly grounded in RL and am pretty much exempt from peer pressure or an undue desire to please people. I’m a professional illustrator in RL, I have a thick skin. This carries through pretty strongly in SL. I know of others in SL, who are greatly effected by body shaming. So sad that a cancer like this flows from RL into a place like SL where somehow gorgeous isn’t good enough. Besides… I have a friend in SL who has a tree stump as an avatar and she is one of the most beautiful peoples I know. (Cuddles don’t really work though.) Where does your avatar's name come from? Why did you choose it? Back in the days of yore, last names were chosen for you based on when you created an account. Thus there are lots of Lassards on the grid. Vanettda is a name I was assigned in the ‘90s for a workplace server account. First six characters of last name with first two characters from first name. It kind of stuck.

I think the Forums should shut down on Wednesday mornings for 2-3 hours to preform scheduled updates and maintenance 😆 (throwback to early SL grid practices.) In an odd twist, whenever that would happen, people would flock to the forums to get their twitchy fix.

QFT. I’ve owned a few in world stores. It’s truly about volume. I liked owning the store, and playing with different marketing, and building the perfect building, and the ka-Ching sound when somebody purchases something. But the overhead was large and I broke even some months and fell short a lot of others. My solution was to dump my in-world store and use marketplace. Suddenly profits were up and the pressure was off. I imagine the pressure is the same with a club. Surviving on donations, and tips, and (?) to cover overhead is hard to impossible. If you are having fun while doing it and can afford supplementing your love with cash infusions—cool beans! But otherwise, unless you stumble upon something truly unique it’s a money pit. I retreated to marketplace, but these forums are a type of club—without the DJs, dancing, scripted groping and ambiance. Maybe everything you are looking for is right here😜 Also, reflecting on what Sid said… Creating a RL business model that clearly outlines the purpose of your venture, costs, marketing/advertising/PR with expected short-term/long-term returns is critical if you want to make a profit. If you build it they will come! Is not a business model. if you are tired of it — that’s your answer. Close shop, regroup, outline your successes, talk to successful shop owners, learn from your mistakes and maybe try again. Second life is all about starting over.

So happy it provided a respite from whatever weighed you down. And truly, there’s nothing better than a good SH** story.🤪

Thank you everyone for your kind words and re-welcoming. I'm laughing at myself thinking that I must be the the most degenerate person in the forum to want to erase whole sections of my Second Life and the incriminating pictures, clothing (that latex body suit with hobnailed boots and a whip) appendages that wobble and dangle, and lets not forget the two foot demon dong for my horned apparition of desire. LOL my second life has been embarrassingly full. I put parts of that Freudian mirror behind me long ago. But the thought of family (some of which are very techie and are part of SL) discovering and sorting through my SL indulgences and experimentation gives me shivers. (Yes, I am that uptight in the RL 😬) /me holding hand up. I do solemnly swear to lead a more virtuous life of helping people and bringing joy into my virtual world. 😇

OMG chat logs. I never thought of that. that's some truly embarrassing drivel that I would rather die with me. /me makes note to himself.