New Residents - confusion over Skins/Shapes Univeersal/Tattoo UVs
Sasy Scarborough
Due to bodies and heads now being split into separate items by different creators across Second Life, newer Residents are finding things more of a challenge when it comes to their base needs, such as skins and shapes. More documentation needs to be provided when it comes to the Welcome Pack and the Senra and library assets to communicate that there are different UVs being used.
We are seeing a lot of new users with the wrong skins on mesh or having difficulties with shapes and content also sold on marketplace that is much older and will not work with any of the library/welcome pack assets.
This can lead to frustration as well as wasted purchases because the items do not work with what they need them to work with.
More documentation as well as perhaps information on how to join the groups/support of those items directly could help new users, and by having assistance from the stores involved, could lead to loyalty and the desire to stay in world.
This was discussed at the latest CCUG meeting
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Jerrod Diavolo
I think what we really need here is the metadata of which item works with which other item stored somewhere alongside the objects. Ideally we would want to abstract this a bit so new versions of items or many compatible items can be described too.
I am thinking of some sort of provides/requires annotation not entirely unlike the kind you have in e.g. Linux package managers for the dependencies between packages.
In SL terms this means e.g. a body could provide "sluv-body", a head could provide "sluv-head" and a skin could require "sluv-body && sluv-head" or if it provides versions for sluv heads and evox heads it could require "sluv-body && (sluv-head || evox-head)".
Equally e.g. a boat could provide something like "bandit-if" and "flag" and textures for that boat could require "bandit-if" and flag textures could require "flag".
Once we have that metadata tooling in the viewer, on the marketplace and even in shops could help filter the items that are useful to use together with items you already own. Of course for the tinkerers one could always make those filters optional or pass some "apply anyway" mechanism.
MorvaH Resident
I think it would be best if anything put out by Linden Labs used the standard SLUV map. I understand that the map on the body needs to be modified for the toes, and maybe a tattoo can be included for that (a tattoo for the nails of the starter mesh body would be nice too), or a new "SLUV map for mesh bodies" can be put out. The Lel head is already capable of being mapped to the standard SLUV map (called Evo by Lel). And I believe that most, if not all, other heads also have an option to use the SLUV map, even if they name it something different.
I honestly wish these new face maps had not come out, it just causes confusion, I wish the standard would return to being the SLUV map to avoid this confusion and make them compatible with more options (like tattoos) again. The visual difference between Evo X or UHD, and a SLUV skin at the same resolution is negligible.
Beatrice Voxel
MorvaH Resident I agree that "proprietary" UV maps are a problem. I just upgraded from a SLUV-compliant head to an EvoX one, and all of a sudden, a good portion of my face 'stuff' was no longer useable. The head alone was L$3K... but I think I spent that much again on purchasing EvoX compatible versions of tats, skin details, hairbases, brows, and makeup that I already had for the old head.
Now, as to why these standards get 'changed'... it's all marketing, really. The SL population is for the most part stable, and those of us who have been around for years have a ton of things that work for us and work well. But that means we're not shopping for new stuff all that often. So in order to get people to Buy More Stuff, the latest whiz-bang mesh item needs to have its own proprietary mapping, to make all of the old items useless and get that individual to go back to the stores and plunk down more Lindens. Otherwise, the stores don't see enough business to stay in business, and they close (understandably). It's an economy driver.
Whether the Lindens should step in and create some kind of standards for these, is of course up for debate. With PBR coming to Bakes-On-Mesh, now is as good a time as any to define such a standard, which the designers can then all use, not having to pay for a devkit for this series of heads or that mesh body, because everyone will be held to it from the ground up.
Jonny Minotauris
Beatrice Voxel i think perhaps, that both standard and non standard are useful. However, i think labelling standards are even more necessary. i think there should be a Linden Standard, that can/must be labelled as "Fits all Linden Standard avatars". Then anything else Must be labelled boldly at a minimum relative font size on marketplace and all advertising materials as "Does NOT fit Linden Standard avatars". The words need to be standardized so there is fairly immediate comprehension. This is a big expense for people, and i think as a consumer protection and an aid to the retention of new members, this really needs to be instituted. Frustration at this sort of thing is a major turn off for new people and i think a big reason people leave. After all, everyone wants to look their version of good here in a place where you can be anything. Additionally, there are unfortunately a fair number of older residents that look down on people who used the old default avatars, this does not benefit retention either. However, you can't police attitude so all that can be done is to provide the best information for the new comers so that they can make informed decisions.
i have been in sl a long time, but i was away during the initial proliferation of many body/head lines. i have found myself despairing when i'm trying to get skins/parts for my avatars like eyelashes, blush, eyebrows, that sort of thing. It's very frustrating and i have quite a number of things in my inventory i can't use, but am loath to throw away in case i upgrade to something else down the line and find out i can actually use them.
My drag queen avatar uses the Linden bodies/heads and that apparently works with many skins i have for my Jake body and, hmmm, i forget which head at the moment, but it can use what would be Linden Standard. i know my frustration with setting up this avatar, and i can very well imagine a new person being much more so. The words that are used are all very confusing and not conducive to any type of clear understanding. i still am purchasing the wrong things, so i stick now to only vendors i know from experience are compatible or super sale items, and that's very frustrating when i'm trying to put together particular "looks".