Candy Cerveau

It is no longer accurate to say that Maya LT is stripped down and useless. Autodesk made substantial changes and additions to LT nearly a year ago that allows it to do pretty much everything one would need for Second Life. They raised the polygon limit to far more than you would ever need in SL, added MEL scripting, and export as .obj and to Mudbox and Unity, plus more - Here's a list of what is in Maya LT 2015 http://www.autodesk.com/products/maya-lt/features/all/list-view Maya LT is what I use and it is well worth the $30 per month in my opinion. Blender made me want to tear my hair out.

I appreciate the willingness of Linden Lab to work with us on fine tuning the marketplace categories. I would say that setting up categories based on individual companies isn't the best method since companies can come and go. Neither is trying to set up groups by type of animal because you will invariably leave some animal out - or many, in this case. Right now, the listings leave out over half of the breedable pet types. There are *many* other pets besides cats, dogs, and horses. I would suggest categories of Breedable Pets/Pets, Breedable Pets/Food and Boosters, and Breedable Pets/Accessories and Buildings. (or something similar) That way the categories are all inclusive, yet divided up enough that people can find what they are looking for quickly.

Get references for anyone you plan to hire, and make sure to actually contact those references! You want to be certain that the employee can actually deliver the skills they claim to have. Also provide structure, goals, and accountability - too often people can get complacent in a position if they are given too much freedom and they will put their wants above your business and the needs of the project. Never be afraid to fire someone if they are doing a lousy job - there are always talented people looking for work and an employee who screws up your project is far worse than a period of time without someone in the position. Finally, when you *do* find a reliable, motivated, and trustworthy employee - do what it takes to keep them around!