Why Don't You Sign Into SL Any Longer (And What Would Bring You Back)?

[Cristiano]

It's not secret that a lot of the people here don't sign into SL anymore - the same was true back on SLU. What keeps you from signing into SL?

For a long time I barely signed into SL - I would sign in here and there to host events, and sometimes out of boredom, but I felt zero connection to it anymore and didn't think it would ever hold any interest for me again.

Then last October, moo Money (who had also taken a long break from SL) asked me to come in and check out the new Linden Homes. She also started bullying me for not having a mesh avatar, so I started experimenting with what was available, and from that point forward, I somehow got completely hooked again. I've signed in nearly every day since October, and explored SL more in the past few months than in the preceding 16 years. I recaptured the feeling that I had in the early years of SL. So much stuff feels new to me again.

I still go through phases with it - sometimes I just sign in to visit a friend doing a DJ set or to fuck around with my inventory, and other times I just explore or experiment with taking pictures. I keep finding stuff I enjoy, which I suppose is a big part of why I've stuck around.

What would it take for you to check out SL again?

 

[Free]

I don't "sign into" SL a lot these days. Life can be like crazy busy, you know? But I do log on now and again, not the least of reasons being I still own a club in-world, and continue to have responsibilities tied to that. And, well, friends...

 

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

It’ll be interesting to see what a worldwide pandemic will do to the numbers.

 

[RodeejahUrquan]

I'll never leave SL! Muahahahahahah

Seriously though, something really effed up would have to happen inworld for me to say "screw SL forever". But yeah, I feel like more folks who are self isolated/self quarantined would probably check out Second Life, at least for a curiosity.

 

[Aribeth Zelin]

Honestly, for a while I was teaching, and DJing, and then trying hard to be 'serious business' in SL, then the changes to try and make premium attractive screwed my store alts, so... I still have my inworld store, but only as long as I can make enough for rent, but I don't make much new because the limit to ims means less able to do CS on my store alts [they share space].

But, I do log in occasionally, and what with not being able to justify buying more mats for my RL business right now [I do not see many cons in the near future], I might try and revitalize and do some building, djing or new products.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

I login every day and it's a big portion of my social life. I was under the impression that most people around here still login a lot....

So rather than tell you what would bring me back, I can tell you why I simply never left. I'm schizophrenic, and real life romantic relationships are very awkward and hard for me. I still have had several of them, but they never felt as comfortable or successful as my SL ones.

 

[Jopsy Pendragon]

What keeps me from logging into SL is my backlog of unfinished projects that have stalled and left me frustrated.

I go back in, start poking at one, and get all frustrated all over again and then procrastinate and find other non-SL things to do.

I'm trying being in SL for a while now without even looking at them and it's going better this time around.

 

[Adeon Writer]

Why don't I log in anymore?
-I'm not interested in adult content and it's all I can find.
-I can't find a decent community that uses voice chat as their main method of communication. The one I was part of for 10+ years moved to Discord.
-I've redirected all my creative mojo into learning Blender and Unity for VRChat content creation. It is VERY hard for me to go back to a flat screen world.

What would bring you back?
-Gridwide Experience Keys.
-Shapekey support on uploaded meshes.
-Custom GLSL Shaders per face.
-Custom skeletons for both avatars and animesh.
-Some friends who play Second Life and have similar interests as me.

All of the above, not just one.

 

[Brenda Archer]

I log in every so often, but my old computer and slow internet connection are not up to mesh SL. So I hang out by myself and chat.

A client that prioritized frame rate at the expense of everything else would get me back in. Possibly something that finally just works on mobile and low end machines. Clients that let you chat, but not walk around, are helpful but limiting.

Edit to add: I’m good with being in low detail blurry cartoon world while everyone else is in near-photo quality mesh bodies that I’m never going to see on my internet connection anyway. It’s just better if you can walk around and not just chat at home.

 

[Raindrop Drinkwater]

Same as Brenda. Old computer, slow internet. I can play MMORPGs on low settings, but forget about moving my camera in SL without stutter. It got so bad that I stopped logging in. I'm not against mesh -- I have a mesh avatar and all that -- but a lot of mesh and textures are badly optimised and designed for static renders rather than video-games.

What would change it? On my end, a better system, for sure. I miss SL. But I'd like it if there was a way to encourage creators to adopt good content creation practices.

I also gave up when I realised I needed to update Avastar to keep creating content, and when I saw how much it would cost.

 

[Bea McMahon]

I'm still there. Almost every day. It allows me to express a side of myself that I cannot, in the rest of my life, without a lot of pain and sacrifice. It's through SL that I have truly found and acknowledged that part of myself. I will not easily give it up.

 

[Noodles]

I still log in occasionally in spurts.

I think my biggest issue is that it all just feels very clunky. I think a lot of Adeon's wants list probably would help, and sounds like it's all a much more technical explanation of my wants.

Like the base avatar seems really clunky and a lot feels clunky because even with AOs, you are tied to that avatar and skeleton.

I have vaguely looked into the idea of trying to build some simple games in world but the avatar movement is so clunky. Like the jumping. It's just, weird. Having the ability to flat out replace it would be neat.

SIM crossing is still an issue as far as I can tell, though it's sort of better. There is always at best still a little glitch. I want to be able to sail or drive and just.... Go. I don't even bother trying flying but I probably would if it we're better.

Better physics would be nice as well. Sometimes when I am bored I will go into a sandbox and play with making little catapults or corkscrew machines and just play with physical objects. It's kind of really broken. Like it's super hard to make a pivoting object that sits in a hole without it flying off randomly when you look at it wrong.

And why can't I make.ropes and chains? I can make a flexiobject, but it still only attached at one end. Why can't I have something that attaches at both ends and blows in the wind. Or maybe it makes a roap.bridge that naturally sways as you cross it.

I feel like an improved physics engine would also help hair. I hate how stuff hair is. I want it to flow a bit and flop around or actually just lay against your avatar instead of just keeping it's shape. That may be too much to ask though.

I feel like I am.rambling a bit off topic now so I am going to stop.

 

[Beebo Brink]

I've gotten frustrated with avatar customization, with is now so incredibly complicated in ways that reduce my options for being Beebo. Mesh head shapes and female skins just don't lend themselves to the face I want. I've tried various combinations of female & male heads and skins, and I just end up looking weird. Add "older" skin into the mix and it's just impossible.

What would it take to bring me back? A woman's skin that was comfortably mature and without makeup, a mesh head that didn't look like an 17-year-old waif who walked into a beehive, and some decent salt-and-pepper hair on top.

 

[Shiloh Lyric]

I only left once, and it was when my husband made me/us leave (he had an account, too). But now, I log in several days a week.

If I ever left, it would probably be because my current SL relationship ended (almost 7 years strong now!). I like dressing up my avatar and taking pretty pictures, but I'm not as sociable as I wish I was. I think I'm becoming more of an introvert in my 'old age'. I'm not sure what happened to me. I used to just chat with anyone and everyone. But that seems to have changed.

I sometimes envy people in SL who have large friend groups, but I'm not actually sure I would want that for myself. Or have the energy for it. So my SL is mainly taking photos and hanging out with Crow on SL and skype.

 

[Khamon]

I’m good with being in low detail blurry cartoon world while everyone else is in near-photo quality mesh bodies that I’m never going to see on my internet connection anyway. It’s just better if you can walk around and not just chat at home.

I have avatar render (can't grasp the proper name) set fairly low so that two-thirds of the people appear as brightly-coloured humanoid shapes. That alone allows me to walk around with a descent frame rate. I turn it up at events and parties where my butt will be parked for local interaction.

I miss the building contests, hanging out on people's land while they were building, building and scripting classes, things we did inworld because we lived in the world and experimented and shared those things inworld, with each other, together.

ETA: Snapshots have been on my mind because they provide a record as the wor'a'uld changes. I might start logging in as an Official VIP Virtual Archivist CEO and conduct some planned documentation projects. Can we transfer older snapshots to Snapzilla in a manner other than individually downloading and uploading them?

 

[CronoCloud Creeggan]

I'll never leave SL! Muahahahahahah

I'm pretty much the same. While I have taken breaks of no more than a few weeks, leave SL? Ha ha ha ha, not with the Fashion Shopping Monkey on my back!

I login every day and it's a big portion of my social life. I was under the impression that most people around here still login a lot....

I'm logged in right now.

I'm schizophrenic, and real life romantic relationships are very awkward and hard for me. I still have had several of them, but they never felt as comfortable or successful as my SL ones.

Transgender and aspergers, SL helps...a lot.

I log in every so often, but my old computer and slow internet connection are not up to mesh SL.

Same as Brenda. Old computer, slow internet. I can play MMORPGs on low settings, but forget about moving my camera in SL without stutter.

SL doesn't use much bandwidth. If you've got a 1.5Mbps connection or faster, you should be fine. You could always try a video card upgrade though an older CPU can bottleneck such cards so they might not reach their full potential on such a system. It would help...some. SL doesn't really peg CPU's that much, from what I can tell, more CPU will just let you do more multitasking and things will be snappier. The one thing that can help an older system the most is RAM, SL loves RAM and the more you have the more SL is happy, especially if you want to do anything else along with SL. SL can and will eat up most of 8GB over a goodly sized login period, so I recommend 16GB. That will let you run SL for hours on end AND multitask.

I'm still there. Almost every day. It allows me to express a side of myself that I cannot, in the rest of my life, without a lot of pain and sacrifice. I will not easily give it up.

That's fairly true for me too.

And why can't I make.ropes and chains? I can make a flexiobject, but it still only attached at one end.

Particle chains annoy me because of how weird they they look.

I feel like an improved physics engine would also help hair. I hate how stuff hair is. I want it to flow a bit and flop around or actually just lay against your avatar instead of just keeping it's shape. That may be too much to ask though.

Your mouth to LL's ears.

I've gotten frustrated with avatar customization, What would it take to bring me back? A woman's skin that was comfortably mature and without makeup, a mesh head that didn't look like an 17-year-old waif who walked into a beehive, and some decent salt-and-pepper hair on top.

I can understand your frustration. /me hugs the Beebo. I want you back in SL, bring the sexy back, Beebo!

Bento head is the way to go, then it'll have your face though you might have to tweak the shape a bit. The hard part is going to be the skin, though Bakes-on-Mesh can let you use the skins you're used to. You might try Izzie's "Age Yourself" appliers The hair should be easier to find than the skin. Hmm.
Head suggestion: Second Life Marketplace - DEMO GENUS Project - Genus Head - Strong Face W001 - v1.6
There's a BoM addon for that head.
I've seen the Mayreal and Logo heads recommended for a more mature look.

 

[Brenda Archer]

I have avatar render (can't grasp the proper name) set fairly low so that two-thirds of the people appear as brightly-coloured humanoid shapes. That alone allows me to walk around with a descent frame rate. I turn it up at events and parties where my butt will be parked for local interaction.

I miss the building contests, hanging out on people's land while they were building, building and scripting classes, things we did inworld because we lived in the world and experimented and shared those things inworld, with each other, together.

ETA: Snapshots have been on my mind because they provide a record as the wor'a'uld changes. I might start logging in as an Official VIP Virtual Archivist CEO and conduct some planned documentation projects. Can we transfer older snapshots to Snapzilla in a manner other than individually downloading and uploading them?

I wish this worked for me, I set *everyone* to jelly doll and I’m still so hammered I can’t move. It didn’t use to be this bad. All I can figure (because I’m not technical at all where SL is concerned) is that my client is still trying to download something I can’t see anyway.

 

[Brenda Archer]

I've gotten frustrated with avatar customization, with is now so incredibly complicated in ways that reduce my options for being Beebo. Mesh head shapes and female skins just don't lend themselves to the face I want. I've tried various combinations of female & male heads and skins, and I just end up looking weird. Add "older" skin into the mix and it's just impossible.

What would it take to bring me back? A woman's skin that was comfortably mature and without makeup, a mesh head that didn't look like an 17-year-old waif who walked into a beehive, and some decent salt-and-pepper hair on top.

I’m in a similar position with avatars. When we were all in Classic I was content enough with a version of twenty-year old me, at least it was still me. But I can’t find any heads in the current SL fashions that look remotely like me at any age. I have a look I’d describe as “Mediterranean Celt” and it’s certainly very common, so why can’t I find any real-people heads?

This is why now I mostly do Petites (fairies and mermaids) and Tinies (little prim animals) because fuck it, if I can’t be this human I will just not be a human. Squirrels are superior anyway.

 

[Brenda Archer]

I'm pretty much the same. While I have taken breaks of no more than a few weeks, leave SL? Ha ha ha ha, not with the Fashion Shopping Monkey on my back!


I'm logged in right now.


Transgender and aspergers, SL helps...a lot.



SL doesn't use much bandwidth. If you've got a 1.5Mbps connection or faster, you should be fine. You could always try a video card upgrade though an older CPU can bottleneck such cards so they might not reach their full potential on such a system. It would help...some. SL doesn't really peg CPU's that much, from what I can tell, more CPU will just let you do more multitasking and things will be snappier. The one thing that can help an older system the most is RAM, SL loves RAM and the more you have the more SL is happy, especially if you want to do anything else along with SL. SL can and will eat up most of 8GB over a goodly sized login period, so I recommend 16GB. That will let you run SL for hours on end AND multitask.


That's fairly true for me too.

Particle chains annoy me because of how weird they they look.



Your mouth to LL's ears.


I can understand your frustration. /me hugs the Beebo. I want you back in SL, bring the sexy back, Beebo!

Bento head is the way to go, then it'll have your face though you might have to tweak the shape a bit. The hard part is going to be the skin, though Bakes-on-Mesh can let you use the skins you're used to. You might try Izzie's "Age Yourself" appliers The hair should be easier to find than the skin. Hmm.
Head suggestion: Second Life Marketplace - DEMO GENUS Project - Genus Head - Strong Face W001 - v1.6
There's a BoM addon for that head.
I've seen the Mayreal and Logo heads recommended for a more mature look.

Unfortunately I’m on a netbook so can’t upgrade. But when I got the netbook in 2016 it was enough to log into at a Starbucks, if I stayed out of shopping sims. Even small parties were fine. Something has changed since then.

The house I’m in now has really old DSL wiring. I have enough trouble in WoW I can’t group. If I had enough money for a new machine, it would go first to car repair. So I wait. I’m hoping for a mobile/web client that permits walking around, I’ll use that for gatherings and save the Firestorm for home.

I wonder how many low end users have been pushed out of SL by badly made mesh. It’s also why I didn’t move to Belisseria. I just went to Basic.

 

[Cristiano]

I've gotten frustrated with avatar customization, with is now so incredibly complicated in ways that reduce my options for being Beebo. Mesh head shapes and female skins just don't lend themselves to the face I want. I've tried various combinations of female & male heads and skins, and I just end up looking weird. Add "older" skin into the mix and it's just impossible.

What would it take to bring me back? A woman's skin that was comfortably mature and without makeup, a mesh head that didn't look like an 17-year-old waif who walked into a beehive, and some decent salt-and-pepper hair on top.

BoM, which is a bit confusing at first (ok, it still is) solves that problem. It lets you use system skins like you used in the past. You need a mesh head that supports it, which a lot do now. The popular female mesh body Maitreya Lara recently added full BoM support for the body, so that has caused a surge in BoM adoption. Also, there are some short male hairstyles from Modulus and Doux that would potentially work for you. I am sure there are female ones as well. I always buy the monochrome packs because I want black, but they also include various shades of grey and white usually. I would be glad to help you with this.