Just in time for Easter, there's a free pair of rabbit avatars, or rather the parts for an avatar.
Jesris has made available for free the parts for two rabbit avies, the Moon Rabbit and the Chocobunny Moon Rabbit.
I am thrilled to announce a very special addition to my store: a 100% free furry avatar!
This initiative is a gesture of kindness and solidarity towards all
members of our beloved furry community in Second Life. I understand that
not everyone has access to lindens, but I believe everyone deserves to
express their creativity and identity in the best possible way. With
this in mind, I have created a furry skin using only free parts,
allowing anyone to build a complete avatar at no cost. I hope this free
skin will help many of you explore new possibilities and connect even
more with other furries.
It was a couple years ago when I finally upgraded to a mesh avatar. People liked it, but a few commented they missed the trenchcoat that had been with the Luskwood and DSD avies. I wasn't sure where to look, but my friend Kitacellia found where to get one, and I did.
So my "Fox Reporter" look has a trenchcoat again.
It's been a busy day, so this is all that's going up. And tomorrow's article is going to be late. But still trying to squeeze in a little time to write.
Last year, we introduced the ability to extract and upload PBR materials
from glTF files: a helpful first step. Now, with glTF model upload, you
can import creations more simply, streamlining your workflow from
modern tools like Blender.
Import glTF meshes straight into Second Life! This release adds
simplified support for .glb and .gltf mesh uploads, making it easier
than ever to bring complete assets from modern 3D pipelines directly
into SL.
As a reminder, this update does not currently affect the Firestorm viewer, which most Second Life residents use.
For more information, check the Linden blog (here).
Some good news for those who like to get the most of what their Second Life land can hold. Yesterday, Tuesday April 2, Linden Lab announced it had lowered the "download weight" of mesh items by fifteen percent, which indirectly increases the Land Impact allowance of sims.
As promised in our PBR Materials announcement
last year -- as of this morning’s Second Life server grid roll, we have
increased the allowance of Land Impact by lowering mesh Download Weight
by 15% for all of Second Life! Since much of Second Life today consists
of mesh content, anyone who owns or rents land will see more land
impact available on their parcels.
To see if an item's weight has changed, right click and select "Edit" on it, then check the "More Info" link on the popup (illustration on left).
After months in development, Laura X has been released.
It was August in which it was announced that Maitreya announced they were coming up with a new mesh body, the Laura X. Several days ago, there was an announcement in the group they were "coming ever closer to release," and that already clothing for the new body was out "we work with the creator community to make this release the best it can be for everyone."
Finally on late Monday night, there was talk in a few groups about the body finally being available. On Tuesday, Gemma Cleanslate would confirm it was finally available at the Maitreya store. She managed to get to the sim, also named Maitreya, which was packed, "prepare for lag." Someone would comment, "It's not an update, which is why I'm being careful to not say update .. it's redeliver your purchase which now contains a new body as well. ... You don't buy if you already own, just get your previous purchase redelivered."
Ryan Schultz would message the Newser, "Everybody who has Lara can just click on the Redeliver button (under the Misc tab) on the HUD to get a redelivery, which includes both LaraX and Lara 5.3. ... I'd say that the biggest differences are in the shoulder, armpit, and upper arm area, and the hips and thighs. A lot of mid-sleeve and short-sleeve items are not going to work with LaraX, as well as bathing suits, panties or any other skimpy clothing. Full sleeve length or sleeveless outfits should work, though. Full-length pants and non-skintight skirts of any length should also work, as you can still alpha out what pokes through relatively easily." He stated the body included some underwear, and felt about half of one's outfits wouldn't work well with it, "And they finally fixed the too-high armpits."
So Maitreya fans now have their new body just in time for the Christmas shopping season.
Checking in on Bellisseria chat, one question that occasionally came up was about when the new Maitreya avatars were coming out. It was soon brought up by Gemma Cleanslate that there had been no release date given, posting a notice from the Maitreya group about it.
The most common question all day every day is about a release date for Lara X. We do not post projected release dates. When something is ready, we release it. This means that we do not sit waiting for the date to arrive. When it's done you get it. This also means that we never have to deal with the drama of delaying a release. And we don't have to rush anything to get it good enough for release. This is how we have always done it. Nobody knows a release date.
Gemma would say the notice was sent by Gryphon Ronas, "first notice I have ever gotten in that group."
For those interested in mesh bodies, there's a major release from Maitreya. After several years, they have an all new body that was made in response to numerous requests. So what are the details? The Newser took a look.
From Draxtor Despres, re-released on June 30, "Intended as poking gentle fun at the anxiety over the advent of mesh, this little story we made back in August 2010. It was briefly on the official SL channel, then taken down because the backlash was significant! We never wanted to dismiss the legitimate fears of residents around mesh but in hindsight I completely understand that we came off as very cavalier about a major change in the structure of the world, one which would in fact impact merchants for a long time to come!"
Earlier this month, I stated I was working on upgrading my avatar from the DSD Fox that I've had for a couple years, which in turn was an upgrade from the Luskwood fox avatar I had as my main look for over a decade. And with a little, actually a lot, of help from Charlee Amethyst, my new "fox reporter" look is done. There might be a small tweak or two more, but here it is.
Mesh can be quite complicated, at least from my point of view as you often need to fit your avatar to match the clothes, or avatar parts such as digigrade feet. But with Charlee's help came up with a new look, which required getting new pants and a new shirt and jacket. So gone is the green shirt that was a reminder of my Runescape days, the freebie cargo pants, and the camel jacket that I got with my first payment from James and Dana's SL Newspaper. All that's left of my old look is the fedora, with it's press tag later added on made by my late close friend Alleara Snoodle.
So this will be my new main look. The DSD is still a great avatar, and I'll likely still be wearing it at some themed events. But it had a higher complexity, and showed more lower leg when wearing pants. And the people behind it are no longer active and thus the avie is unsupported. There's also that my new appearance just seems and feels a few years younger.
I'll likely be spending some time updating other avatars of mine (with help). But the one that's my image as Second Life's "fox reporter" and "fox news" has been updated.
Getting a new furry avatar in Second Life has been changing. While you can, and many do, still get complete avatars, getting a mesh avatar often (and maybe usually) means piecing one together with the mesh body and various mods and parts. This takes not just Lindens, but also time to shop for the parts, and more time to put them all together, and put together just right. For the skilled (and patient), this can mean a very detailed and unique avatar. For those not so skilled, well, results vary.
Thankfully having some help with this, from the talented (and generous) Charlee Amethyst, otherwise I wouldn't know where to begin. But it's still taking some time.
The series, which started in September 7 2011, was a hit. But there was a not so slight problem, pointed out in both the final video, and spelled out by Draxtor in his 2021 interview. Someone else owned the rights to Flufee, and they eventually had different ideas where to take him. So Draxtor and Pooky eventually decided to end the series.
For quite some time, the Newser has gone without a new article in the Fashion section. Recently, reader Valkyrie Ice (Valkyrie McGill) sent over a review of the Legacy mesh body (classic version). So what did she have to say? A number of things.
The 2010s are over. But as we say goodbye to the decade, there's some looking back at what happened. The Newser has covered much in the past ten years, and we're looking at some of the top stories that made the news and got more attention than most.
It was announced in the Relay for Life Volunteers group that Stingray Raymaker had a new look.
After a swat team of many avatars spent more than 15 days on his makeover, we are proud to introduce you to the new and improved, all-mesh, Stingray9798 Raymaker.
And last, but not least, Sting is sporting a mesh shirt with the 2020 RFL of SL season logo, courtesy of Marina Sharpshire.
If there's a universal complaint among the residents of Second Life, it's the lag. The slowness in our viewers rendering images of objects and avatars. Except perhaps for those with the most top of the line computers, everyone gets it. But what opinions differ on is what causes it. Over time, people have pinned blame on things from blingy jewelry to breedables to poorly made objects. But last month in New World Notes, an interview with the creator of the Black Dragon Viewer suggested that some of the more popular mesh avatars were actually particularly bad causes, being so resource intensive, they would slow everyone around them. This caused quite a bit of debate about solutions.
On Friday January 11, dozens of tiny avatars and friends of held a protest at Governor Linden's Mansion to draw attention to the "Hover Bug" which was making some mesh avatars, tinies included, appear to float a few feet off the ground. Linden Lab listened, and it is delivering. On the webpage for Second Life on Monday January 15, the Grid Status Report area stated there would be a "Bake Service Update" for early this morning. A closer look revealed this update was the one that would fix the glitch that's caused the mesh tinies so much trouble.
We're floating a new update to help you get back on the ground! You may encounter issues changing outfits during this time.
Once
the update has completed, any avatars experiencing issues with hover
height will need to change outfits in order to help you stand on the
ground.
Oldesoul Eldemar, who spends part of the time in the Relay For Life as a Tiny, had a few comments about it, "Have an issue- call a tiny! Still lockin em up at Fantasy Faire! I mean dis is jest silliness!" There were a number in the comments section of the protest article, "A big box of choco waffas and a box of Wootjoos to the Lindens! Hugggles!" "On behalf of my dinky and titchy friends, thank you for fixing this!" "Thank you programmers for helping me, my frens, my frens' frens, and all those affected by involuntary flight."
So the issue seems to have been resolved, and the tinies can, to paraphrase a quote from World of Warcraft, keep their feet on the ground.
Shockwave Yareach is noted for two things in Second Life. One is his great builds. Another is his sense of humor, which has led him to compose and sing a number of parody songs. A few have made it as music videos. Among those that hasn't is the Second Life-themed song "Mesh Heads," a parody of "Fish Heads."
Mesh Heads. Mesh Heads.
Multi Poly Mesh heads.
Mesh Heads. Mesh heads.
Clean them up some!
***
Went to Luskwood
everyone was Jelly.
No they were not Jealous -
they'd all become grapes.
How can one head
have a million faces?
Even a diamond's
not that bad.
My new avatar;
supposed to look the greatest.
It should load in about
a day or so.
Thousands per face!
Double for a sweater!
We don't need great detail
of your gums!
Mulity Poly Mesh heads are usually seen in virtual restaurants impersonating oriental women
... or cats.
There was some sad news this week. The owners of Tokushi Avatars announced they would no longer be able to continue designing new avatars, or repairing old ones as updates to the grid resulted in glitches, and so would be closing. The good news, they were offering everything they had made in one single package for the price of three to four avatars. And over time, they've made a large number of furry, feral, and tiny avatars, noted for "fantasy backgrounds and personal creations, as well as unique avatars of animals that people don’t usually consider."
We're proud to introduce the all-new
"Fantasy" starter avatars, covering a diverse range of "genre" styles
including steampunk, vampires, sci-fi, post-apocalyptic… and beyond! There are 10 fresh starter avatars available right now, and you can use them as a basis for further customization — explore the Second Life Marketplace
and personalize to your liking. These new avatars have normal "system"
bodies with mesh wearables, which makes it easy to change their hair,
clothes, accessories, and more!
The ten avatars are in five categories, one male and female each: magic, post-apocalyptic, sci-fi, steampunk, and vampire. Each of the avatars also comes with a pet, drones in the case of the sci-fi avatars, and mechanical pets with the steampunk. With it's owl pet, and distinctive black robe and crooked wand, the male magic avatar is clearly meant to appeal to "Harry Potter" fans. Inara Pey commented on her blog that the female post-apocalyptic "Petrol Sue" was worn by Grumpity Linden in Third-Party Viewer Development meetings. Linden Lab also included a video to help promote the new avatars. It's notable that the announcer says to the male magician, "Where did you study? No wait, don't tell me. Ha-ha! I'd be lawsuited ..."
Earlier in Second Life's history, there was a choice of ten avatars, five different ones with a choice of male or female, which included a "Furry" or a starter ringtail made by Luskwood and contributed to Linden Lab. But some time around 2008 or 2009, the Furry avatar was dropped and the selection became all human. In 2011, the choice of starting avatars was revamped to include thirty-six nonhuman avatars, twelve vehicle avatars, twelve robots, and twelve "animals." The "animal" series was created by Damien Fate, whom had earlier made a brand of Tiny avatars called "Loco Poco." In 2014, Linden Lab changed the starter avatars once again to a choice of twenty-four mesh avatars, twelve "People" human avatars and twelve "Vampire," the latter a collection of vampires, other monsters, and a monster hunter, and twelve "Classic" non-mesh avatars, all human. But there were complaints that the mesh avatars were static and unchangeable. So a year later, Linden Lab replaced them with more "efficient" versions.
Linden Lab's moving away (although not completely giving up) from nonhunan avatars, vampires aside, as starter ones has raised a few questions among some residents. But it could be argued with the sheer diversity of avatars available, tinies, micros, pixies, mers, taurs, ferals, furries, elves, ponies, and more, Linden Lab may simply have decided making a fair selection of nonhuman beginner avatars was just too difficult. Two opposing points of view made a year ago are just as relevant today. Hamlet Au saying, "These avatars feel less like Second Life, and more like, well, 'The Sims
Online.' Which might be a good move, market-wise, but it does distinctly
change new users' perception of what Second Life could (and frankly
should) be." and Fuzzball Ortega, "I did
think 'The Sims' when I saw the picture of the avatars, but nothing
wrong with that. They start out with those avatars, then, once in world
and after a bit of exploring, they create themselves. Buying different
clothing, different skins, etc."
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