What makes an av look like a newbie?

[Vera Mint]

I am collecting opinions: What, to you, says "this person is or isn't a n00b?" Is it something in the face? The hair? The body? Speak up. :)

[Sassy Romano]

Any default template avatar, without an AO.

Usually augmented with "hi, how r u, where u frm?"

[Christin73]

In addition to what was previously said, someone  can look like a newbie by the cloths they wear on their avi. Like it is often times obvious an outfit is from a freebie place. 

[Kelli May]

The obvious one is wearing any of the default starter avatars. There are those who are new, and those who just never progress their appearence. 

As an example, there's an av close to where I am now. He (so often it's a guy) appears to have no AO. One of his shoes (from the old Average Male avatar, complete with invisiprims) doesn't line up with his foot. He wears system clothing (not from a default av, but very basic stuff) with an old-school prim belt. Skin and eyes are basic, but it does look like he's added a tattoo layer beard and cornrows. A lot of this screams 'newbie' to me, but the account is four and a half years old. You probably wouldn't see an actual newbie wearing much of this avatar because they'd not have access to it (or think to access the Library items). He's just not moved on from the style he started with.

There are things that make me think "look like a newbie": lack of an AO used to be the big one, but the recent couple of av sets have AOs. A certain male skin with the circle beard, and any other common freebie skins. System clothing, although this can just be someone deliberately avoiding mesh. In the end, it's behaviour and expertise that really mark someone out for me. If I spot an av running everywhere, bumping into other residents and bouncing off walls? That trips my newbie alarm harder than anything.

[Amethyst Jetaime]

A combination of the appearance of their avatar, how their avi moves, asking about really basic stuff, lack of control of the avatar, sending random friend requests, cheesy pickup lines out of the blue  etc.

There are residents with really old rez dates that haven't changed their appearance much as well as people that were in SL years ago and left then came back and can't remember how some things are done, so you can't go by one of these things alone.

[Dresden]

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Vera Mint wrote:

I am collecting opinions: What, to you, says "this person is or isn't a n00b?" Is it something in the face? The hair? The body? Speak up.

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What you asked in the title and body of your post are two different questions.  Luckily, they can both be answered the same - their rez date.

If they look and act as if they've no idea what they're doing and have a recent rez date, they're a newbie.

If they look and act as if they've no idea what they're doing and don't have a recent rez date, they're a n00b.

If they're black and have the head a dog, they're Anubis.

And, if they look well put together, act like a actual person and have a recent rez date, they're an alt.

...Dres  (Those last two were lagniappe.)

[HarrisonMcKenzie]

To be fair, some freebies can be really good looking. I was quite fortunate as a kid avi, since a lot of kid freebies are high quality.

What really makes someone look like a newbie is using those bad freebies, or wearing system clothes (though that also makes oyu look 100). Wearing prim shoes and a system outfit just looks ridiculous. At least the starter avatars look good, basic and cheesy as they may be.

While SL is hard to learn, it's not hard to put together a nice looking avatar on the cheap, nor is it hard to find good looking or cheap attire and avatar parts.

[Syo Emerald]

Newbies out themself by their apperance and behavior.

They usually dress in the same old freebies that have been around for years and might have been fashionable around 2006. Lots of bling, primskirts and cheaply textured system clothes, combined with shoes that do not work anymore, because they didn't come with an alpha layer. Also all male newbies seem to get the same hairstyle.

Newbies also often act different than others. They bump into people or start to edit their shape or outfit in the middle of a crowded dancefloor. Some also click on everything they see.

[Drake1 Nightfire]

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Vera Mint wrote:

I am collecting opinions: What, to you, says "this person is or isn't a n00b?" Is it something in the face? The hair? The body? Speak up.

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A rezz date of less than a month.. and acting as if everyone should give them free things.

[BLUExANGEL]

For the most part, the more an avatar resembles the starter default avatar, the newer the player is in the game. Those default avatars are just plain ugly! I worked very hard to learn what I needed to know and buy what I needed to buy to make my avatar look better. It's the very first thing I did.

OK I guess I better add that I started playing 3 years ago. The default avatars were scary ugly back then.

[ChinRey]

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Amethyst Jetaime wrote:

...cheesy pickup lines out of the blue...

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You're not suggesting only newbies use those, do you?

[ChinRey]

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Drake1 Nightfire wrote:

... and acting as if everyone should give them free things. ...

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Ummm.... see my previous post for reply

[OfficerWestbury]

everyone else has said it, you look and act like a noob, and you will be seen as a noob! that said anyone can get great clothes for cheap, but omega appliers aren't usually included. so i tend not to go for cheap, unless omega friendly items are included.

this is one of my looks.



[Venus Petrov]

And what exactly will you do with your 'collection'? 

[Conifer Dada]

Occasionally you come across a 'perpetual mewbie' - like someone who joined in 2007 and still uses what looks like an unmodified starter avatar from that date.  Often these might be little-used alts brought out for an airing but sometimes they behave like new people.  I'm guessing the latter type might have joined SL a long time ago but lost interest, perhaps because their computer or internet weren't up to SL's demands or their life circumstances changed, and given SL another try because they've got a new computer / got better internet access / been released from prison.

Given that lots of SL residents have alts and some have lots of alts, a proportion of newbies will be alts of existing residents and some of those will give in to the temptation to behave, for a short time, like a stereotypical 'noob', just for fun. 

What's also interesing is how to identify people who have just moved on to the next stage after newbie.  At one time it was bling, angel wings, tail.  These days it seems to be 'mesh everything', at any cost, whether it's good mesh or not.

 

[TwilightSky33]

I am about as newbie as you can get..(started 2 days ago) got a new mesh body and clothes.. haven't done anything with my house yet. And can barely play/move around because my PC cannot handle this game..

[ChinRey]

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TwilightSky33 wrote:

I am about as newbie as you can get..(started 2 days ago) got a new mesh body and clothes.. haven't done anything with my house yet. And can barely play/move around because my PC cannot handle this game..

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Oh, that's a dangerous thing to say! Now we'll have a flood of posts telling you that:

1. You shouldn't expect to be able to run Second Life if your computer isn't strong enough to calculate the answer to life, the universe and everything in less than 20 seconds.
2. It's not a game.

But don't listen to them, it is perfectly possible to run (or at least walk) Second Life even on a fairly average laptop. This may not be the right place to get help though, post a question or ten at the the SLViewer Forum instead!

 

Oh btw, Second Life is not really a game - or at least it's not only a game.

[TwilightSky33]

Oh I understand the point behind the creation of Second Life(sorry for calling it a game). It's just in most areas there is a load of lag and I can't move and stuff(my card is terribad too). I'll look in that forum though, thanks.

[amamakah]

I finally found the forums hoping for help in naviagting this complicated place.  It is kind of disconcerting to find this thread where I seem to be a immediately disliked person because I am new and a bit clueless.  This place is difficult.  I am not finding decent looking clothing or body in the beginners zone. Dealing with boxes is kind of crazy making. Etc, etc.  Am I judged for my ignorance?  Seems so. Idk if this is a fun place to be at all.

Major Noob number 165,794

[Sassy Romano]

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amamakah wrote:

I finally found the forums hoping for help in naviagting this complicated place.  It is kind of disconcerting to find this thread where I seem to be a immediately disliked person because I am new and a bit clueless.  This place is difficult.  I am not finding decent looking clothing or body in the beginners zone. Dealing with boxes is kind of crazy making. Etc, etc.  Am I judged for my ignorance?  Seems so. Idk if this is a fun place to be at all.

Major Noob number 165,794

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Hiya, welcome to SL and the forums!

I've been here a while and I don't think that was the intention of the thread at all, we've all been where you are so ask away.  Note also that there's an Answers section up there on the menu so you may wish to seek help there.

It's my belief that the intent of the thread was just to see what characterised a newbie in different people's minds, was it appearance, animations, behaviour or what?  For different people it is different things however a newbie is someone new, distinct from a noob who is someone who acts as a newbie but never "gets it".

SL does have a steep learning curve at first and don't worry, we've all worn boxes on our hands, knocked clothing off while trying something else etc. so as long as you're new but making mistakes, we smile and just think "been there done that!".  Some of us still do it too.

PS, you'll need to shop in the department store for a thick skin for some of the forum threads, my advice, just don't take anything too seriously.  This place is full of opinionated numpties, self included

[Persephone Emerald]

TwilightSky,

you mentioned having a house, which I also find worrisome for a new player. Is this a Linden home or a rental? You don't need to buy a premium account when you're new in SL and don't even know if you'll want to keep using this "game' or not.

To the OP,

Besides what everyone else said, I think more realistic skin and hair also show how experienced someone is with making their avatar look good. I've seen some long-time residents though whose skin looks very flat and cartoonish, wearing system hair and old, ugly clothes. Often these are educators, so maybe communication is more important to them than looking sexy.  A good skin should show subtle shading, details and highlights, so it looks more like a real person than a cartoon. There are so many good freebies out there, especially group gifts and on Marketplace, that's it shouldn't be too hard to look good for free or nearly free. The newest starter avatars look pretty good and can be modified easily with a new skin, hair, clothes and tweaking the shapes a bit.

(Note: Either set both legs and arms to length 75 or try legs at 60 and arms at 80, because the default shapes are badly proportioned.)

To all newbies,

It's better to not spend more than $10 on Second Life for the first couple of months or so. When you're under 30 days old there are places you where you can have a free apartment. There are plenty of freebies in inworld and on Marketplace. You can even dress in a Mature sandbox or under the water somewhere if you have to.

[Persephone Emerald]

We all started as newbies, and there's nothing wrong with looking and acting like a newbie when one is new to SL.

[Kelli May]

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amamakah wrote:

I finally found the forums hoping for help in naviagting this complicated place.  It is kind of disconcerting to find this thread where I seem to be a immediately disliked person because I am new and a bit clueless.  This place is difficult.  I am not finding decent looking clothing or body in the beginners zone. Dealing with boxes is kind of crazy making. Etc, etc.  Am I judged for my ignorance?  Seems so. Idk if this is a fun place to be at all.

Major Noob number 165,794

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I took the point of the thread to be "what things tell us someone is new" not "what things make us hate new residents". So, no, you're not automatically disliked because you are new. Thet might be people out there who do that, but there are haters everywhere.

Are you being judged? More than likely. It's a human thing. People judge, classify, assess and discriminate (in all shades of the term from positive to negative) all the time. We use actions, words and appearence to determine what people are, how they'll act and react. With that post, you were judging whether the people here are being unpleasant to you or not.