The Problem with Mesh, Blender and Second Life

Enter "Second  Life" in to any search engine and the same question will eventually pop up.

"How do I make money in Second Life?"

Linden Labs promotes the platform as a way to "Earn Money: Start a business & earn real profits from the virtual world."

There is plenty of money to be made as an escort, real estate flipper, builder or fashionista. And sure, you can be a fashion designer, like the avatar pictured on the front page of the Second Life website.

But to the new user, it's a little misleading.

If you've already mastered Photoshop or Gimp, you can probably manipulate textures well enough to create clothing by purchasing blank mesh items from the Marketplace and applying your own. The same applies to fashion, accessories, furniture... just about anything.

There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, it's a business model that supports the mesh creator and allows more Second Life residents to express their creativity without having to learn complicated software.

But do you really want to sell the exact same dress (or couch) that everyone else is selling?

If you truly want to design your own mesh creations (and mesh is what sells) then you'll have to learn Blender.

I dabbled with Blender back in the day, when sculpties were just coming out. I got pretty good at it. Then I fell in love and lost my mind, following someone else around, looking cute and playing dumb. I left after that, and when I came back, mesh had happened and I really didn't have a clue what was going on.

Now, I could probably relearn the software. I've watched some videos and read more forum posts and blogs than I care to admit. I come from a technical background. I've spent a significant portion of my adulthood staring at blueprints and manipulating 3D models during my career in industrial sales.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I know I could do it, but why would I want to? That's a significant time investment, spent off the grid, to learn something that I could only use outside of SL.

And that is the problem.

I feel like LL is shooting themselves in the foot. They advertise SL as a platform where you can make "real money" but the popularity of mesh has resulted in most residents spending all their time either off the grid trying to learn a new skill or logged on and not speaking to anyone because they're so caught up in running the business that LL promised them.

Is anyone having fun anymore? Second Life shouldn't be as stressful as the first.

Plus, there's the added problem of really bad mesh strewn around everywhere, effecting performance, due to an increasing number of residents who only care if they can sell what they've made, not if it is of good quality. There's one well known furniture designer who makes beautiful stuff, but it takes forever to rez beyond  a giant triangle.

For myself, I'm content buying enough $L each month to feed my house buying addiction, exploring the grid for blog fodder and hanging out on my front porch, seeing what the neighbors have been up to. There are already plenty of mesh creators out there who are leaps and bounds more talented than I will ever be and I'm happy to pay them for their skills.

Admittedly, I'd love to find a way to make some extra grid cash so I could justify paying additional land fees. There's a neighboring abandoned parcel I've had my eye on.

I guess I could invest in a headset and do the voice escort thing, but I'm afraid I'd crack up laughing. Also, all the moaning and unnnnnngggggg sounds might scare the dogs.

Anywho, that's what I think. What's your take? Let me know in the comments!

Escapades, Rubber Duckies and Whacking Sticks

Today I took a quick tour around Escapades. It's a cute little seaside build with a quirky, monster killing adventure. Anything that involves a whacking stick has to be fun.

I figure, most of you have probably already been, but I'm so behind on things. If I'd stop buying houses, then re-landscaping, then re-decorating I'd probably be up to speed. It's probably for the best. Nicotine withdrawal has me fantasizing about riding naked through an infohub, giving everyone the finger while screaming like a banshee.

It's okay though, I think I finally found someone I can get along with, for the time being.

There Goes The Neighborhood

Yes it's another house. Don't judge me.

My neighbors are disappearing. The lot to the south is still for sale, but with new owners. It's still pretty cheap, the buyer only raised the price by L$1000. If they don't sell it fast, they're going to spend more in fees than they'll make. It'll be a deal for someone.

I thought about buying it, it's much larger than what I have, but I'm content with my little plot (and my monthly bill) for now. I'm holding out for the 1024m between me and protected water. I'm hoping it gets abandoned eventually. 

Plus, I've finally sorted out my wandering horse falling in the water. It was a little disturbing to log on and find him chilling on the ocean floor.

The one friendly neighbor I had abandoned her land for a Linden houseboat. I'm happy for her, but I  miss seeing her over there.

There were brief border wars between folks on adjacent parcels. One eventually packed up and left, after the angry returning of property invading prims and ugly border markers, then put their parcel up for rent. It went fast, but the new tenant was even worse. She invaded on everyone's lines, even partially blocking protected waterways.

It's fun sitting back on my deck and watching uglier and uglier markers, signs and obnoxious builds going up between angry neighbors, until someone gets a cob up their ass, packs up and leaves.

As I've said before, I'm easily entertained. It's what I love about living on the mainland.

The property behind me is abandoned too. I can probably lower my cliffs for now, I can't remove them or Coal will try going for a swim. He thinks he's a Kelpie, apparently. I was amazed the first time I saw him actually swimming. Who knew? Second Life horses have evolved by leaps and bounds since the early days.

So for now, I'm enjoying the peace and solitude with the sound of waves rolling up on the shore, reading a bit and relaxing.

My second life, is a good life.

Exploring Mainland: Part 2

I began my ride along Route 8, clearly marked on these little signs at each junction. As I said before, I assumed I'd find vast abandoned parcels with little or no tasteful builds.

I was so wrong.

While there were large unused parcels, there were more that were beautifully landscaped with comfy  homes.

And pets. Lots and lots of pets!

There were gas stations and GTFO hubs everywhere. GTFO was a mystery to me, one of the newer Second Life games that came along when I was away. After reading up on it, I understood why me and Coal almost ended up as roadkill. Those eighteen wheeler drivers are just like the real thing, whizzing by at breakneck speed.

One hub was a very realistic truck stop, with a car wash, showers, a convenience store and a diner. I think it was "Naughti Gurl's."

While I get the appeal of private sims and places like Bellasaria, I love the quirkiness of mainland. You can be riding along, admiring the city skyline in the distance, then suddenly stumble across a massive castle, built high in the sky.

The abandoned parcels, however, worry me. I wonder what will happen to them. You can purchase them if you own other land in the region, but what happens when an entire region is abandoned? Will it stay empty? Will it become Linden managed property like the new homes regions?

I guess we'll see.

You can find these pictures and more on my Flickr page.