Cartoon of The Day: Ear Warmers

 

 

 A friend in a Meeroo avatar. Not sure how he modified a pair of shorts into headwear, but it was funny.

 

By Bixyl Shuftan

 

 

Reader Submitted: "Applejack and the Meeroo"

From Sunweaver chieftess Rita Mariner, her in an "Applejack" pony avatar giving her pet meeroo a hug.

Tips on Raising Meeroos

Meeroos, a kind of virtual pet, were a big hit when introduced. A few years later, they remain highly popular. Kitacelia Resident writes about how to care and feed for these critters for those interested in owning one, and some of the traits those who try their hand at breeding them are after.

Read Kitacelia's story in Design.

From Pet to Avatar

There's a joke about pets and their owners eventually starting to look like one another. That came to mind when I stopped by the place of a friend of a friend. The lady owned a number of pet Meeroos, but what got my attention was her avatar. She sported a Meeroo avatar. While Meeroo avs are not exactly new, as there's a mod kit that allows a brand of furry av to be modified to look like one, the ones I saw before were human sized. This one was about the size of her larger pets. She told us it was made from mesh.

For those who don't know, Meeroos like to snuggle with their owners. And when one of hers asked to, the result was "like an odd date," as she put it. She is currently trying to design a hug animation that would allow humans and furs to embrace her like her pets.

*Correction* I thought she had told me she made the av herself. Kristine later sent me a message the avatar was from the Meeroo creators, a "RooU."

Bixyl Shuftan

Sneak Preview From Xymbers

Xymbers Slade has been taking a break from the Grid lately, although a message he got recently from a Mindy Runo did get his interest:

Not sure if you still roam SL grid or not, but I have recently read your page about the free furry avatar warehouse, I am glad that it seems to no longer exist, however what I am IMing you about, is if perhaps when you're roaming around, you can keep an eye out for "Free Meeroo" mods. A friend of mine was recently hit by a copybotter, and were trying to find out who did it.

Xymbers says he'll try to have an article of his investigations up by next week.

Get a Meeroo at Sunweaver Air: Rita Mariner’s Meeroos

If you’re a Second Life resident, you’re probably familiar with one of the most popular virtual pets on the Grid, if not the most popular. Looking at you with their adorable puppy-dog eyes making those “churrrrr” sounds, they never fail to get an “Awwww” from passersby. We are of course referring to those lovable Meeroos.

One doesn’t need to go far to find a Meeroo breeder looking to sell some of the critters. Right next to the Second Life Newspaper office, Rita Mariner keeps a number of Meeroos. She enjoys them a lot, but is looking for good homes for some of them.

Asking her what the attraction was, “First thing I like about them is that you can actually pick them up and cuddle them.” With the Meeroo HUD on, Rita told the critters will seek you out and beg to be snuggled. To those who think breedables cause too much lag, she answered, “These breedables are designed to work, in that they go into reduced activity mode, should sim dilation be detected. Also they act like real pets, that when the sun goes down, they go to sleep.”

Rita commented in several ways, the Meeroos were like a game, “You have to match up various traits to get them to breed, they way you want them too. They come in various species, coats, sizes and personalities. You can get ears shapes, tails, eyes and head shapes. You have to check the chart to see all that is available. They just added several new species and coats to the mix, I think only the oldest breeders are getting them right now and they are fetching premium prices right now. I have seen prices on some of the rare Meeroos as high as 250,000L. You need two to breed, and siblings can’t breed with each other, nor with their parents.”

Rita told that one can get most varieties of Meeroos from her, “I just got my first Jubilee.” For beginning owners, she recommends, getting individual Meeroos, “the fun part is when you get a new nest is you never know what you get until you toggle it. I have been surprised several times to see a totally different species Meeroo come out of a pair of my ‘roos. I have to look at them and wonder what those two have been up too, behind my back.” Rita explained a new Meeroo owner could easily end up with a rare after a couple have offspring, “I got a Jubilee out of my Pharaohs.”

Meeroos come in several sizes, “teacup, toy, small, average, medium, large, giant. Giant gets almost as big as my little daughter.” To add to the fun, “The Meeroos also dig up treasures for you to find and click on. At holidays, they creators add in special treasures just for the holidays. These gain you regard points. Regard points are like experience points. The more you get, the greater chance of unlocking different traits in your Meeroos. Your Meeroos also gain regard points through petting. They max out at 7500 points, so the faster you get them maxed out the better, since they only breed for 55 days, about once every 5 days. So you can get about 11 nests out each pair.”

Besides petting one’s own Meeroos for regard points, “you gain them by petting others 'roos, coaxing a nest, answering the oracle correctly, releasing a 'roo to the wild.”at age 60 days a 'roo becomes elderly and will not produce anymore nests. you have a choice to make. 1) keep them as is, but they still require food. 2) "Meepet" them, and that requires the 999L Meepet option, but they become a permanent pet and no longer require regular food 3) Release them into the wild. the last 2 you gain their stored up regard pints for yourself.”

“It is surprising how addicting they have become. *laughs* They are a lot of fun to have around, but watch out, they are very addicting. Like the old saying, ‘You can't eat just one’? You can't have just one. *laughs*”

For those truly addicted, Rita mentioned there are Meeroo avatars available. Or rather, anthro Meeroo modification kits for the furry chinchilla avatar, “available only on Curious Sim.” The kits come individually, or in “fat packs,” “Limited Edition ones are available only till Dec 31st.”

So if you’re interested in getting one or more pet Meeroos, go see Rita Mariner at Sunweaver Air.

Bixyl Shuftan

Meeroo Auctions

Xymbers Slade, having been doing some research on the popular Meeroos virtual pets, recently took a look at an auction house. Here, he describes his observations of the place. Plus, he interviewed an auctioneer, whom had a few things to say about what makes a Meeroo fetch a high price, and some of the benefits of dealing in the market.

Read the story in Design.

Meeroo Madness

Despite having been in Second Life for some months, Meeroos are still the top selling breedable pet on the Grid. So just what's the attraction of the little critters? Xymbers Slade decided to see for himself.

Read more in Design.

The Meeroo Mess

Last week, the new top breedable pets to take the Grid by storm, the meeroos, found themselves under assault. First vandals put up phony food supplies up for sale. Then came Linden Lab's response - suspending the account of the person who could make the food!

Read more in Extra.

Those Magical Meeroos

Grey Lupindo takes a look at the newest breedable pet in Second Life: the Meeroos. They're cute, they're cuddly, and they're the talk of the Grid. Our intrepid reporter talks with one beta owner to see if the little critters live up to the hype.

Read the story in Design.