Enjoy your Second Life! (and vote!)
Prenumerera på
Inlägg
Alla kommentarer
måndag 11 mars 2013
Second Life - Model Contest
A friend of mine entered a contest to be a male model at a store called Class A Formal Wear, and I am going to do a shameless plug for him and ask you all to go vote at the location in the link. His name is Otataral Darkmatter, and he is a real pudding. He totally deserves to win the contest, but he needs votes, votes, and more votes. So go there, vote for him, and you will have my undying gratitude. This is the pic he entered with:
It's a little squished, but you can tell he's a hottie. If you want to see it unsquished, look up his profile in-world. And remember to go vote!
Enjoy your Second Life! (and vote!)
Enjoy your Second Life! (and vote!)
måndag 4 mars 2013
Second Life - How to: Sort Inventory
This might seem like a silly how to topic, but get back to me after you have been in SL for a few years and your inventory is like a big black hole where you can hardly find your bodyparts. If I had a linden for every time I have seen the line "Oh wait, I lost my <insert bodypart here>" I would be rich.
The first thing you want to do is go into your Bodyparts folder and create sub-folders for the different bodyparts, like Skin, Shape, Eyes, Hair, etc. I am a sorter and organiser so I usually have sub-folders in my sub-folders, but it is of course up to each individual how organised you want to be. It is difficult for me to give specific examples using my own avatars, because I have so many and they all use different systems since they are all different natures. One avatar is a wolf all the time, and a quadruped wolf doesn't use the same bodyparts or clothing or anything else really as a human avatar, or a Petite avatar. So use your own system that works for you.
Once the Bodyparts folder is organised, move on to your Clothing folder. These sub-folders are usually more similar for my different avatars. The first level of sub-folders might look something like:
*Accessories
*Avatars
*Clothing
*Footwear
Then we add the second level of sub-folders:
*Accessories
-Bags
-Belts
-Hats/Gloves/Scarves
-Straps (i.e. upper arm straps, leg straps or bracers)
-Jewellery
-Misc (for those attachments that serve no real purpose, or you don't have enough to warrant a separate category)
-Weapons
*Avatars
-Quads
-Furry
-Neko
-(whatever other kinds of avatars you might have)
*Clothing
-Bottoms
-Tops
-Sets
*Footwear
-Boots
-Flats
-Heels
-Sneakers
-Slippers
-Sandals
Depending on how much of each category of item you have, you may want to add a third level of sub-folders to some of the second level ones. I usually have this for the sub-folders in 'Jewellery', 'Clothing', and 'Footwear'.
It is also a good idea to add a sub-folder for 'Unsorted' items. Because there sometimes just is not enough time in the day to sort through all the awesome stuff we accumulate in SL. That way, when you have a few spare moments, you can go into the 'Unsorted' folder and do some sorting.
When your Clothing folder is all set up, we move on to the Objects folder. Here I usually only have sub-folders for 'Backups', 'Spare Parts', and 'Stuff'. The Backups folder is for boxes that I have paid lindens for, and when I say that I mean paid more than 1 or 2 lindens. It is also for folders where I keep backup copies of prim items that have resize scripts in them. Because scripts cause lag, and if there is the option to delete the scripts I usually do that after I have fitted the item. But I sometimes change shape, and if I should want to use that same item on a different shape, it's good to have a backup copy with the resize scripts intact so I can fit the item for the new shape as well. This is something that designers recommend always doing for items with resize scripts, because they don't usually replace items that have had the scripts deleted simply because you want to resize them again.
The Spare Parts folder is for stuff that I might want to use some time in the future, or items from outfits that I don't want to include but I don't want to delete them either, so to keep them from cluttering my inventory, I box them and put them in the spare parts folder. For example, a couple of my avatars are ones that are possible to use as either gender, so I collect both female and male items, but perhaps I am happy at the time to have the avatar as one gender, so I stick the other gender's items in the Spare Parts folder to use in the future.
If you are a builder, you may want to add a 'Building' sub-folder to the Objects folder as well. And sorting those items is something that only you know how to do. But it's usually good to keep all that stuff in one place.
Also if you are a designer you'll be using a lot of different textures, in which case you may want to organise your Textures folder into sub-folders as well. Personally I prefer to use texture organisers, where I keep them organised by category, so one organiser for hair textures, one for terrain textures, one for fabrics, etc.
If you do this from the start, you will see that you will have less issues with your inventory in the long run. And above all, you won't want to jump off a bridge every time you open your inventory. Trust me, I say this from experience. I have avatars where I just don't want to open the inventory window because it is so full of stuff it makes me cry.
One last tip: For items that you perhaps do not use frequently, it is good to keep a type of organiser as well. With the Outfits function it's no longer necessary to keep wardrobes, and I am not even sure it is possible what with the outfits linking to items in your inventory. I think if you keep the item in a box in your inventory, the link won't work. But there are other things, like house decorations, or just miscellaneous stuff that you don't want to get rid of. Backup boxes as well, they can accumulate and clutter your inventory. And the more items in your inventory, the longer it takes to populate and the more lag you have when you log in.
So to fix this, take your items that you want to organise, go to a place that allows building, preferably a sandbox (there are thousands of them, just do a search for Sandbox), make a box, name the box after the items that will be in it (e.g. Fun Shooters, or Backup Boxes), go to the Contents tab in the Edit window, and drop in the stuff you want to box up. That way you can store up to 100 items in a single prim.
Just remember that you can't store items in folders inside the prim, so you may want to have a system equivalent to the sub-folders here as well. I did recently find a script that gives items from a box in several separate folders. If I can figure out how that works, I might put out an organiser that uses it.
There you are, your inventory is organised, and you will never have to wonder where your .... shoes are again. ;)
Enjoy your Second Life!
The first thing you want to do is go into your Bodyparts folder and create sub-folders for the different bodyparts, like Skin, Shape, Eyes, Hair, etc. I am a sorter and organiser so I usually have sub-folders in my sub-folders, but it is of course up to each individual how organised you want to be. It is difficult for me to give specific examples using my own avatars, because I have so many and they all use different systems since they are all different natures. One avatar is a wolf all the time, and a quadruped wolf doesn't use the same bodyparts or clothing or anything else really as a human avatar, or a Petite avatar. So use your own system that works for you.
Once the Bodyparts folder is organised, move on to your Clothing folder. These sub-folders are usually more similar for my different avatars. The first level of sub-folders might look something like:
*Accessories
*Avatars
*Clothing
*Footwear
Then we add the second level of sub-folders:
*Accessories
-Bags
-Belts
-Hats/Gloves/Scarves
-Straps (i.e. upper arm straps, leg straps or bracers)
-Jewellery
-Misc (for those attachments that serve no real purpose, or you don't have enough to warrant a separate category)
-Weapons
*Avatars
-Quads
-Furry
-Neko
-(whatever other kinds of avatars you might have)
*Clothing
-Bottoms
-Tops
-Sets
*Footwear
-Boots
-Flats
-Heels
-Sneakers
-Slippers
-Sandals
Depending on how much of each category of item you have, you may want to add a third level of sub-folders to some of the second level ones. I usually have this for the sub-folders in 'Jewellery', 'Clothing', and 'Footwear'.
It is also a good idea to add a sub-folder for 'Unsorted' items. Because there sometimes just is not enough time in the day to sort through all the awesome stuff we accumulate in SL. That way, when you have a few spare moments, you can go into the 'Unsorted' folder and do some sorting.
When your Clothing folder is all set up, we move on to the Objects folder. Here I usually only have sub-folders for 'Backups', 'Spare Parts', and 'Stuff'. The Backups folder is for boxes that I have paid lindens for, and when I say that I mean paid more than 1 or 2 lindens. It is also for folders where I keep backup copies of prim items that have resize scripts in them. Because scripts cause lag, and if there is the option to delete the scripts I usually do that after I have fitted the item. But I sometimes change shape, and if I should want to use that same item on a different shape, it's good to have a backup copy with the resize scripts intact so I can fit the item for the new shape as well. This is something that designers recommend always doing for items with resize scripts, because they don't usually replace items that have had the scripts deleted simply because you want to resize them again.
The Spare Parts folder is for stuff that I might want to use some time in the future, or items from outfits that I don't want to include but I don't want to delete them either, so to keep them from cluttering my inventory, I box them and put them in the spare parts folder. For example, a couple of my avatars are ones that are possible to use as either gender, so I collect both female and male items, but perhaps I am happy at the time to have the avatar as one gender, so I stick the other gender's items in the Spare Parts folder to use in the future.
If you are a builder, you may want to add a 'Building' sub-folder to the Objects folder as well. And sorting those items is something that only you know how to do. But it's usually good to keep all that stuff in one place.
Also if you are a designer you'll be using a lot of different textures, in which case you may want to organise your Textures folder into sub-folders as well. Personally I prefer to use texture organisers, where I keep them organised by category, so one organiser for hair textures, one for terrain textures, one for fabrics, etc.
If you do this from the start, you will see that you will have less issues with your inventory in the long run. And above all, you won't want to jump off a bridge every time you open your inventory. Trust me, I say this from experience. I have avatars where I just don't want to open the inventory window because it is so full of stuff it makes me cry.
One last tip: For items that you perhaps do not use frequently, it is good to keep a type of organiser as well. With the Outfits function it's no longer necessary to keep wardrobes, and I am not even sure it is possible what with the outfits linking to items in your inventory. I think if you keep the item in a box in your inventory, the link won't work. But there are other things, like house decorations, or just miscellaneous stuff that you don't want to get rid of. Backup boxes as well, they can accumulate and clutter your inventory. And the more items in your inventory, the longer it takes to populate and the more lag you have when you log in.
So to fix this, take your items that you want to organise, go to a place that allows building, preferably a sandbox (there are thousands of them, just do a search for Sandbox), make a box, name the box after the items that will be in it (e.g. Fun Shooters, or Backup Boxes), go to the Contents tab in the Edit window, and drop in the stuff you want to box up. That way you can store up to 100 items in a single prim.
Just remember that you can't store items in folders inside the prim, so you may want to have a system equivalent to the sub-folders here as well. I did recently find a script that gives items from a box in several separate folders. If I can figure out how that works, I might put out an organiser that uses it.
There you are, your inventory is organised, and you will never have to wonder where your .... shoes are again. ;)
Enjoy your Second Life!
lördag 2 mars 2013
Second Life - Experiment
I have spent a great deal of time since I got back to SL with helping new residents. This has made me realise that I have an enormous amount of knowledge pertaining to equipping your avatar for little to no $L at all. I put together a notecard in-world, that will hopefully get shared at Caledon Oxbridge University. Caledon is really an amazing place for new residents to start out. Not only are the tutors and professors some of the nicest people I've met in SL, but there is an excellent tutorial for new residents which teaches the basics of SL, as well as free complete avatars for new residents (under 30 days), and the university offers great classes on various subjects relevant to SL. An all around awesome place.
But to move on, I wanted to try to reach a broader audience, perhaps actually help some new residents before they even get in to SL for the first time. So I did this little experiment, I created a new avatar (new account), named the avatar Sam since that could be either male or female, and went about outfitting this new avatar with everything I know to find in SL of high quality freebies. Everything I acquired is available on the Marketplace or in-world, for 0-1 $L. And let me point out that the avatars I put together are only four (two for each gender) out of literally dozens that I could have made with all the stuff I picked up, but to have gone through all the items in my inventory would have taken days, and I wanted to be quick.
So my premise was to create at least one male and one female avatar that I had spent no more than one or two lindens on, and the lindens I did spend I earned in-world (I'll get to that later). Let's take a look at what Sam looked like when he was newborn.
As you can see, not really a very appealing avatar, although he is much more handsome than the original default avatars. This one is called "Male Student" and is one of the avatars you can pick when you create your account. He is also available in the inventory Library folder in case you might want to use it after you get in to SL. So this is what I had to work with. Except, in SL you are never limited to what you can see...
Off I went to the Marketplace where I started by signing in with my account name and password, then I just clicked the Search button near the top of the page. But since I had 0 $L, I had to narrow my search a little, so I clicked on the price range 0-10 L, then I changed the 10 to another 0, which narrowed it down to all the items on MP (MarketPlace) that cost 0 $L. From there, I went by category. First Avatar Appearance to get some skins, shapes, eyes, nails, tattoos, etc. I did limit myself a bit, because I have a tendency to get a bit carried away when I'm shopping. ;) I won't go through every category with you, suffice it to say I accumulated a fair amount of inventory just from the MP freebies.
At this point I was logged in to SL, because it's always safest to be logged in when completing a purchase on MP. Since I needed to make some $L, both for getting some nice dollarbies (items for 1$L) and for joining a group that costs 25$L to join but where you get group gifts worth hundreds of lindens. So I started by joining some store groups, among them a group called "Daily Discount Deals". It was started by the owner of "Bootgasm", surprisingly a store for ... boots. By joining "Daily Discount Deals" and keeping an eye on the group chat, I managed to accumulate about 15$L just in the few hours I was online (the experiment lasted 24 hours, but I of course didn't spend all those 24 hours online. Total online time I estimate to about 5-7 hours). Added to that was another 15$L that I made from stalking the Lucky Boards at Psychotic Neko. The boards are set to group, but the group is free to join and there is a group joiner right next to the boards. These boards have neko tails and ears, some female clothing items, and cash prizes. The most I've ever won from those boards, on any avatar of mine, was 15$L in one prize. More common is 1-2$L. With Sam I won 7$L once and the rest were in the 1-3$L range. But still, stalking the boards for long enough will get you quite a bit.
In between stalking the Lucky Boards and popping in to Bootgasm to grab 1-2$L every hour, I went to visit the best places I know of in SL for really nice high quality freebies. First place I went was ALB Dream Fashion. Just going through the free group gifts from this one store, not even counting her daughter's store ShuShu Trend which is in the same sim, you could spend two days just trying on clothes. There is perhaps twice as much, if not more, for women than for men, but even so the guys get quite a haul. And the quality of the items is absolutely amazing. The group is free to join and then you just go through the store and look for the displays with "Group Gift" on them. Swipe your mouse cursor over all the displays though, some are not labeled as group gifts, but they are set to touch for group only. And there are three levels to the store, so be sure to check the whole store.
After ALB, I headed to my other favourite place to find high quality items, Mimi's Choice. This place is huge, and it's kind of like a very high class mall. Four large buildings set in a square, two have items for men and two have items for women. Some of the best designers in SL are represented here, and nearly all of them have at least one gift set out. All you need is to join Mimi's Group, which is free to join, and there is a group joiner right where you land (big purple ball on a stick). After you join, take a stroll through the stores and collect your gifts. Do have a look at what the stores have for sale, I can almost guarantee you'll want to return after you've accumulated some cash. The items are pricey, but they are well worth it. And Mimi Juneau, the owner, is the sweetest person I know in SL. She is usually around at the store and is very approachable, so if you can't find something just go ahead and ask.
Those two are my favourite places, and usually where I pick up the majority of the stuff filling my inventory. The stores at Mimi's Choice change their gifts occasionally, so keep an eye on the group notices.
The third place I went to was a relatively recent discovery of mine, I found it perhaps two years ago through reading someone else's profile. It's a place called "In Good Taste" owned by Rachel Boram and everything there is free. Yes, you read that right, it's all completely free. And it is nice quality stuff to, absolutely worth a visit. She has hair for both women and men, some bodyparts, and shoes. Lately she has also added some other creations, like home and garden decorations. If you go there, keep the LM (LandMark) so you can pass it to other new residents, and put it in your Picks as well. After all, that's how I found it. And please keep dear Ms. Boram in your mind when you come into some cash and return to make a donation. She provides all this amazing free stuff and gets nothing in return except what people donate. Every linden donated helps keep her store in business and providing free items for new residents.
I just realised that if I were to mention every single store I went to, this blog post would be unbearably long. So suffice it to say I was a very busy little bee for those hours I was in SL. Once I was able to pull myself away from the Lucky Boards at Psychotic Neko, I managed to put together four avatars to show you as an example of how awesome you can get your avatar to look nearly completely free. Let's have a look at them...
Here's #1. Quite a change from "Student Sam", wouldn't you say? The shape, skin, eyes, necklace and shirt came from MP, the rest I collected in-world. None of it cost a single linden. This shape is rather tall, which is a common sight in SL. Unfortunately, the avatar appearance editor didn't have an accurate way of displaying your height when you made your shape so of course everyone pulled the slider as far to the right as possible for max height. Resulting in a virtual world populated by giants. Height issue aside though, it is a very hot shape. ;)
Oh and so you can understand my abbreviations: MP=MarketPlace, IWGG=In World Group Gift, IWFG=In World Free Gift.
Shape/Skin: (red)sand winterwonderland gift 2012 (MP)
Eyes: Mayfly - Deep Sky Eyes (London Fog, w2) (MP)
(Bald base from Vignette - IWFG)
Tattoo Hairbase: A&A Phil Tattoo Layer Hairbase 5 (IWGG) - Alice Klinger makes amazing hair, group is free to join and there is a new free group gift every week, as well as a voting gift. Well worth a visit. She also has promotional colours of new hairstyles on MP for 1$L.
Hair: .:EMO-tions:. *ERIC* black (IWGG)
Goatee: .:EMO-tions:. *DARREN* chin goatie (IWGG)
Shirt: *The Creatures* Arnaud Red (MP)
Pants: Alphamale - Jeans III - Brown (IWFG) - One of the best designers of male clothing in SL. In my opinion.
Shoes: ::GB::Male Dress shoes(Browm) (IWGG) - Mimi's Choice gift
Necklace: Veiled Tattoo (Plain Logo) Necklace 1.3 (MP)
Earring: *EMO-tions* BRUCE earring (IWGG)
Here's #2. Again a different style, because I thought perhaps not everyone likes the scruffy bad boy image. This shape is a free gift from Vitruvian Shapes. All their shapes are made according to the principles displayed in Leonardo DaVinci's sketch The Vitruvian Man. And they are all more reasonably proportioned.
Shape: Male - Athletic - 6'/183cm by Vitruvian Shapes (MP) - This pack contains six shapes for each gender.
Skin: (red)sand male fall 2012 gift (MP, incl shape)
Eyes: Mayfly - Deep Sky Eyes (London Fog, w2) (MP)
(Bald base from Vignette)
Tattoo Hairbase: A&A Phil Tattoo Layer Hairbase 5 (IWGG)
Hair: .A&A Kaynes Hair Lightbrown (MP)
Shirt: Alphamale Striped Sweater Brown (IWFG)
Pants: Alphamale Jeans III Brown (IWFG)
Shoes: ALB PIPPIN boots Africa (MP, wearable demo) - One of those wearable demos I mentioned.
Jacket: ALB MARVIN Jacket 2 (IWGG)
Necklace: ::GB::two-strand necklace Male (IWGG) - From Mimi's Choice
Glasses: *+-Crie Style+* KABUKI {BEKKOU TSUBAKI}02 (MP)
Now the females, avatar #3. I noticed when making these two avatars that a female avatar seems to contain a lot more bodyparts and cosmetic enhancements than a male avatar. Kind of like in Real Life (RL). I went with a lot of mesh for this one, because I like mesh, and because it causes way less lag than flexi prims, which is what other hair and prim clothing is usually made of. The boots have a resize script that you can delete after fitting. Although I recommend always saving a copy of the original boots with the resize script intact. Just in case you decide some time in the future to change your shape. That goes for any prim item with resize scripts. I keep a sub-folder in my Objects folder named "Backups" where I store originals of items that I've paid lindens for, or items that were free but contain resize scripts and I want to keep a backup copy. But organising your inventory is a whole different blog post :).
Shape: -=V=- Shape Tory (MP) - I just liked this shape. I have never bought from this shop before.
Skin: (red)sand female fall 2012 gift shape&skin combi 1 (MP)
Eyes: Mayfly - Deep Sky Eyes (London Fog, w2) (MP)
Makeup: 2.0 tattoo layer eyes Pink/silver (MP) - skins used to always come with makeup already on the skin, but with tattoo layers, some have started providing a natural look version where you can apply a tattoo makeup layer instead. Or for that matter, you can add a tattoo makeup layer to any skin, because the tattoo will cover whatever painted on makeup is on the skin.
Bald base: -=V=- Browshaper 1 (MP, included w shape)
Tattoo Hairbase: .:EMO-tions:. HAIRBASE 4 black (IWGG)
Hair: .:{Rumina}:. Jessica Black Ombre (IWGG) - This one is available on MP for 10L, but if you go to the store in-world instead and join the group it's free. It's a new hair designer in SL, she has all mesh hair, with optional flexi add-on for a little extra swing when you just have to do the "hair-toss". She has another hair on MP for 1$L as well.
Nails: ::GB::Cute Pearl Ring Nail (IWGG) - Mimi's Choice gift
Cleavage: PB >> Elle - Cleavage Enhancer :: 1 (MP) - A what? I hear you asking.
Well, skins don't usually have cleavage, or perhaps your favourite skin just isn't showing enough cleavage, or it looks wrong, or any number of other things. There have been clothing layer cleavage enhancers for a while, but these ones come as tattoo layers that only cover the actual cleavage area instead of the whole... chest area. ;) They are also made from real photos of err those areas, so the textures are very realistic. The tattoos are modifiable as well so if you are not happy with any of the provided skin colours, simply choose the neutral one, edit it and make it any colour you want.
Dress&Boots: *dafsni egoisme mesh white (MP) - This came as a whole set. Very nice for no cost.
Earrings: : Amorous : Encircled Earrings (MP)
Bracelet: Chop Zuey Cheri Amour RsG/Prp Bracelet (IWFG) - Oh Chop Zuey!
My favourite jewelry store. Sadly, her group costs to join, and not a little either. I believe it was 350$L. Although the cost for the group is completely and totally worth it, it is a lot of lindens to shell out at once. Fortunately, sometimes she sets out gifts that are for anyone, not just the group. So keep this LM and go back to check every once in a while, you could get lucky.
Glasses: *+-Crie Style+* KABUKI {BEKKOU TSUBAKI}02 (MP)
And last, but certainly not least, #4. This one is a little more rugged look. The skin actually has painted on scars and bruises. So I chose the Athletic female shape from Vitruvian Shapes, and tried to get an overall bad-ass look. Doesn't she kind of look like she could hold her own in a fight? The base for this avatar came from Coca & Wolf, another recent discovery of mine. They make skins that have painted on scars, bruises, wounds, etc. Because how can you role-play a warrior who has been in hundreds of battles, when your skin is clear of scars? Realism. I like.
Shape: Female - Athletic - 5'7"/171cm by Vitruvian Shapes (MP)
Skin: :: Skin Hybrid :: Coca & Wolf :: Tan :: Full (IWFG, full ava) - This is from a full avatar set that is free at the store, no group needed.
Eyes: ::Natural Eyes :: Coca & Wolf :: Brown (IWFG, full ava)
Makeup: Moonshadow Nagore (incl lashes&teeth alpha) (MP) - This little set includes the tattoo eye makeup, prim (mesh?) eyelashes that look very nice, and an alpha layer that erases a little of your lips to show your teeth.
Bald base: :: Hair Base :: Coca & Wolf :: (IWFG, full ava)
Tattoo Hairbase: .:EMO-tions:. HAIRBASE 10 - straight black (IWGG)
Hair: ::MM::twilight hair (IWGG, .:EMO-tions:.)
Nails: Serenity Style Nails 026 (MP) - Also a recent discovery. I haven't been to their in-world store, in fact I don't even know if they have an in-world store, but their nails are very nice. There are, I think, three of theirs on MP at the moment. I like these best because they have no extras like rings or nail polish. Just prim nails with a white texture.
Cleavage: PB >> Neutral - Cleavage Enhancer :: 1 (MP) - Yes if you look closely at the picture, the cleavage area is actually white/gray. If I was going to use it "for real" I would have edited it and coloured it to match my skin, but I left it the way it is to illustrate what it looks like. To colour it, right-click your avatar, choose edit outfit, click the little wrench icon next to the tattoo layer, then click the box for colour option and play with the sliders and numbers until you match up the colour.
Shirt: ALB ZISSI tank top (IWGG)
Pants: To Be Unique Anne mesh skinny pants (MP, full outfit) - This was just a random find on MP.
Shoes: [IHS]Sneakers Black (IWFG)
Necklace: ::GB:: two-strand necklace female (IWGG) - Oh yes, it comes in both male and female versions, how great is that :)
Bracelet: Chop Zuey FreeBird Men's Bracelet Blk (IWFG) - Her jewelry always contains resize scripts, but I very rarely have to use it. The men's stuff can totally be worn by women to.
Tattoo: { T O X I C} Bloody Scratch (MP) - I thought it suited the avatar's generally scruffy appearance ;)
So there you are, four nice looking avatars, and I think I spent a total of 2$L on these four, if that. I did forget to keep track of which items cost and which were free, but I got so much stuff that it would have made it an insurmountable task. I do think these four illustrate my point quite sufficiently though. There is absolutely no need to spend real cash for pixel money, even though this particular pixel money has a (tiny) value in real cash.
Most importantly, while you're running around SL collecting high quality freebies and free lindens, you have a great opportunity to meet people and socialise. I have made friends while waiting for a lucky board, and in the store groups as well. So go on now, get out there and make yourself look amazing, and meet some new people. :)
Enjoy your Second Life!
But to move on, I wanted to try to reach a broader audience, perhaps actually help some new residents before they even get in to SL for the first time. So I did this little experiment, I created a new avatar (new account), named the avatar Sam since that could be either male or female, and went about outfitting this new avatar with everything I know to find in SL of high quality freebies. Everything I acquired is available on the Marketplace or in-world, for 0-1 $L. And let me point out that the avatars I put together are only four (two for each gender) out of literally dozens that I could have made with all the stuff I picked up, but to have gone through all the items in my inventory would have taken days, and I wanted to be quick.
So my premise was to create at least one male and one female avatar that I had spent no more than one or two lindens on, and the lindens I did spend I earned in-world (I'll get to that later). Let's take a look at what Sam looked like when he was newborn.
As you can see, not really a very appealing avatar, although he is much more handsome than the original default avatars. This one is called "Male Student" and is one of the avatars you can pick when you create your account. He is also available in the inventory Library folder in case you might want to use it after you get in to SL. So this is what I had to work with. Except, in SL you are never limited to what you can see...
Off I went to the Marketplace where I started by signing in with my account name and password, then I just clicked the Search button near the top of the page. But since I had 0 $L, I had to narrow my search a little, so I clicked on the price range 0-10 L, then I changed the 10 to another 0, which narrowed it down to all the items on MP (MarketPlace) that cost 0 $L. From there, I went by category. First Avatar Appearance to get some skins, shapes, eyes, nails, tattoos, etc. I did limit myself a bit, because I have a tendency to get a bit carried away when I'm shopping. ;) I won't go through every category with you, suffice it to say I accumulated a fair amount of inventory just from the MP freebies.
At this point I was logged in to SL, because it's always safest to be logged in when completing a purchase on MP. Since I needed to make some $L, both for getting some nice dollarbies (items for 1$L) and for joining a group that costs 25$L to join but where you get group gifts worth hundreds of lindens. So I started by joining some store groups, among them a group called "Daily Discount Deals". It was started by the owner of "Bootgasm", surprisingly a store for ... boots. By joining "Daily Discount Deals" and keeping an eye on the group chat, I managed to accumulate about 15$L just in the few hours I was online (the experiment lasted 24 hours, but I of course didn't spend all those 24 hours online. Total online time I estimate to about 5-7 hours). Added to that was another 15$L that I made from stalking the Lucky Boards at Psychotic Neko. The boards are set to group, but the group is free to join and there is a group joiner right next to the boards. These boards have neko tails and ears, some female clothing items, and cash prizes. The most I've ever won from those boards, on any avatar of mine, was 15$L in one prize. More common is 1-2$L. With Sam I won 7$L once and the rest were in the 1-3$L range. But still, stalking the boards for long enough will get you quite a bit.
In between stalking the Lucky Boards and popping in to Bootgasm to grab 1-2$L every hour, I went to visit the best places I know of in SL for really nice high quality freebies. First place I went was ALB Dream Fashion. Just going through the free group gifts from this one store, not even counting her daughter's store ShuShu Trend which is in the same sim, you could spend two days just trying on clothes. There is perhaps twice as much, if not more, for women than for men, but even so the guys get quite a haul. And the quality of the items is absolutely amazing. The group is free to join and then you just go through the store and look for the displays with "Group Gift" on them. Swipe your mouse cursor over all the displays though, some are not labeled as group gifts, but they are set to touch for group only. And there are three levels to the store, so be sure to check the whole store.
After ALB, I headed to my other favourite place to find high quality items, Mimi's Choice. This place is huge, and it's kind of like a very high class mall. Four large buildings set in a square, two have items for men and two have items for women. Some of the best designers in SL are represented here, and nearly all of them have at least one gift set out. All you need is to join Mimi's Group, which is free to join, and there is a group joiner right where you land (big purple ball on a stick). After you join, take a stroll through the stores and collect your gifts. Do have a look at what the stores have for sale, I can almost guarantee you'll want to return after you've accumulated some cash. The items are pricey, but they are well worth it. And Mimi Juneau, the owner, is the sweetest person I know in SL. She is usually around at the store and is very approachable, so if you can't find something just go ahead and ask.
Those two are my favourite places, and usually where I pick up the majority of the stuff filling my inventory. The stores at Mimi's Choice change their gifts occasionally, so keep an eye on the group notices.
The third place I went to was a relatively recent discovery of mine, I found it perhaps two years ago through reading someone else's profile. It's a place called "In Good Taste" owned by Rachel Boram and everything there is free. Yes, you read that right, it's all completely free. And it is nice quality stuff to, absolutely worth a visit. She has hair for both women and men, some bodyparts, and shoes. Lately she has also added some other creations, like home and garden decorations. If you go there, keep the LM (LandMark) so you can pass it to other new residents, and put it in your Picks as well. After all, that's how I found it. And please keep dear Ms. Boram in your mind when you come into some cash and return to make a donation. She provides all this amazing free stuff and gets nothing in return except what people donate. Every linden donated helps keep her store in business and providing free items for new residents.
I just realised that if I were to mention every single store I went to, this blog post would be unbearably long. So suffice it to say I was a very busy little bee for those hours I was in SL. Once I was able to pull myself away from the Lucky Boards at Psychotic Neko, I managed to put together four avatars to show you as an example of how awesome you can get your avatar to look nearly completely free. Let's have a look at them...
Oh and so you can understand my abbreviations: MP=MarketPlace, IWGG=In World Group Gift, IWFG=In World Free Gift.
Shape/Skin: (red)sand winterwonderland gift 2012 (MP)
Eyes: Mayfly - Deep Sky Eyes (London Fog, w2) (MP)
(Bald base from Vignette - IWFG)
Tattoo Hairbase: A&A Phil Tattoo Layer Hairbase 5 (IWGG) - Alice Klinger makes amazing hair, group is free to join and there is a new free group gift every week, as well as a voting gift. Well worth a visit. She also has promotional colours of new hairstyles on MP for 1$L.
Hair: .:EMO-tions:. *ERIC* black (IWGG)
Goatee: .:EMO-tions:. *DARREN* chin goatie (IWGG)
Shirt: *The Creatures* Arnaud Red (MP)
Pants: Alphamale - Jeans III - Brown (IWFG) - One of the best designers of male clothing in SL. In my opinion.
Shoes: ::GB::Male Dress shoes(Browm) (IWGG) - Mimi's Choice gift
Necklace: Veiled Tattoo (Plain Logo) Necklace 1.3 (MP)
Earring: *EMO-tions* BRUCE earring (IWGG)
Shape: Male - Athletic - 6'/183cm by Vitruvian Shapes (MP) - This pack contains six shapes for each gender.
Skin: (red)sand male fall 2012 gift (MP, incl shape)
Eyes: Mayfly - Deep Sky Eyes (London Fog, w2) (MP)
(Bald base from Vignette)
Tattoo Hairbase: A&A Phil Tattoo Layer Hairbase 5 (IWGG)
Hair: .A&A Kaynes Hair Lightbrown (MP)
Shirt: Alphamale Striped Sweater Brown (IWFG)
Pants: Alphamale Jeans III Brown (IWFG)
Shoes: ALB PIPPIN boots Africa (MP, wearable demo) - One of those wearable demos I mentioned.
Jacket: ALB MARVIN Jacket 2 (IWGG)
Necklace: ::GB::two-strand necklace Male (IWGG) - From Mimi's Choice
Glasses: *+-Crie Style+* KABUKI {BEKKOU TSUBAKI}02 (MP)
Shape: -=V=- Shape Tory (MP) - I just liked this shape. I have never bought from this shop before.
Skin: (red)sand female fall 2012 gift shape&skin combi 1 (MP)
Eyes: Mayfly - Deep Sky Eyes (London Fog, w2) (MP)
Makeup: 2.0 tattoo layer eyes Pink/silver (MP) - skins used to always come with makeup already on the skin, but with tattoo layers, some have started providing a natural look version where you can apply a tattoo makeup layer instead. Or for that matter, you can add a tattoo makeup layer to any skin, because the tattoo will cover whatever painted on makeup is on the skin.
Bald base: -=V=- Browshaper 1 (MP, included w shape)
Tattoo Hairbase: .:EMO-tions:. HAIRBASE 4 black (IWGG)
Hair: .:{Rumina}:. Jessica Black Ombre (IWGG) - This one is available on MP for 10L, but if you go to the store in-world instead and join the group it's free. It's a new hair designer in SL, she has all mesh hair, with optional flexi add-on for a little extra swing when you just have to do the "hair-toss". She has another hair on MP for 1$L as well.
Nails: ::GB::Cute Pearl Ring Nail (IWGG) - Mimi's Choice gift
Cleavage: PB >> Elle - Cleavage Enhancer :: 1 (MP) - A what? I hear you asking.
Well, skins don't usually have cleavage, or perhaps your favourite skin just isn't showing enough cleavage, or it looks wrong, or any number of other things. There have been clothing layer cleavage enhancers for a while, but these ones come as tattoo layers that only cover the actual cleavage area instead of the whole... chest area. ;) They are also made from real photos of err those areas, so the textures are very realistic. The tattoos are modifiable as well so if you are not happy with any of the provided skin colours, simply choose the neutral one, edit it and make it any colour you want.
Dress&Boots: *dafsni egoisme mesh white (MP) - This came as a whole set. Very nice for no cost.
Earrings: : Amorous : Encircled Earrings (MP)
Bracelet: Chop Zuey Cheri Amour RsG/Prp Bracelet (IWFG) - Oh Chop Zuey!
My favourite jewelry store. Sadly, her group costs to join, and not a little either. I believe it was 350$L. Although the cost for the group is completely and totally worth it, it is a lot of lindens to shell out at once. Fortunately, sometimes she sets out gifts that are for anyone, not just the group. So keep this LM and go back to check every once in a while, you could get lucky.
Glasses: *+-Crie Style+* KABUKI {BEKKOU TSUBAKI}02 (MP)
Shape: Female - Athletic - 5'7"/171cm by Vitruvian Shapes (MP)
Skin: :: Skin Hybrid :: Coca & Wolf :: Tan :: Full (IWFG, full ava) - This is from a full avatar set that is free at the store, no group needed.
Eyes: ::Natural Eyes :: Coca & Wolf :: Brown (IWFG, full ava)
Makeup: Moonshadow Nagore (incl lashes&teeth alpha) (MP) - This little set includes the tattoo eye makeup, prim (mesh?) eyelashes that look very nice, and an alpha layer that erases a little of your lips to show your teeth.
Bald base: :: Hair Base :: Coca & Wolf :: (IWFG, full ava)
Tattoo Hairbase: .:EMO-tions:. HAIRBASE 10 - straight black (IWGG)
Hair: ::MM::twilight hair (IWGG, .:EMO-tions:.)
Nails: Serenity Style Nails 026 (MP) - Also a recent discovery. I haven't been to their in-world store, in fact I don't even know if they have an in-world store, but their nails are very nice. There are, I think, three of theirs on MP at the moment. I like these best because they have no extras like rings or nail polish. Just prim nails with a white texture.
Cleavage: PB >> Neutral - Cleavage Enhancer :: 1 (MP) - Yes if you look closely at the picture, the cleavage area is actually white/gray. If I was going to use it "for real" I would have edited it and coloured it to match my skin, but I left it the way it is to illustrate what it looks like. To colour it, right-click your avatar, choose edit outfit, click the little wrench icon next to the tattoo layer, then click the box for colour option and play with the sliders and numbers until you match up the colour.
Shirt: ALB ZISSI tank top (IWGG)
Pants: To Be Unique Anne mesh skinny pants (MP, full outfit) - This was just a random find on MP.
Shoes: [IHS]Sneakers Black (IWFG)
Necklace: ::GB:: two-strand necklace female (IWGG) - Oh yes, it comes in both male and female versions, how great is that :)
Bracelet: Chop Zuey FreeBird Men's Bracelet Blk (IWFG) - Her jewelry always contains resize scripts, but I very rarely have to use it. The men's stuff can totally be worn by women to.
Tattoo: { T O X I C} Bloody Scratch (MP) - I thought it suited the avatar's generally scruffy appearance ;)
So there you are, four nice looking avatars, and I think I spent a total of 2$L on these four, if that. I did forget to keep track of which items cost and which were free, but I got so much stuff that it would have made it an insurmountable task. I do think these four illustrate my point quite sufficiently though. There is absolutely no need to spend real cash for pixel money, even though this particular pixel money has a (tiny) value in real cash.
Most importantly, while you're running around SL collecting high quality freebies and free lindens, you have a great opportunity to meet people and socialise. I have made friends while waiting for a lucky board, and in the store groups as well. So go on now, get out there and make yourself look amazing, and meet some new people. :)
Enjoy your Second Life!
Prenumerera på:
Inlägg (Atom)