I know that times are hard in this economy and it's beginning to affect business and profits and the like in SL. I get that a lot of people make their living from content creation and that something like this is a serious blow to real incomes, especially with the summer slump. People are looking or someone to blame and instead of blaming the economy, or the practices that helped start us off on the road to recession, in SL they blame two things. Freebie and low priced content.
I am one of these people who loves to create these two things. I started creating in SL because as far as jewellery was concerned I always ended up looking for things that just...didn't exist. So I set out to create them and in time people noticed my creations and asked if I was selling them. Because of them, I started doing just that. But from the start this has always been a hobby and I never intended to make a huge income from it - hell, even if I sold one item a day for the next ten years I probably wouldn't cover the cost of textures, sculpties, tools, scripts, animations and all that associated stuff.
So why do I do it?
Low priced stuff - Everything in my shop is 10L. Furniture, jewellery, accessories and someday, shoes. All 10L. Apparently I am the devil for doing this because I create everything to the best of my ability and put it up for cheap. As I've stated, I do this as a hobby, I don't want or need to make an income from this. But we were all newbs once too and a lot of freebie jewellery (at least when I started) was badly made, badly textured and badly adjusted. But most of all it contained one of my pet peeves - bling. I hate bling with a passion but that's a rant for another day. I set out to create a line of cheap but classy jewellery that a new person or even an alt can just come along and buy without the fear that it's resell/business in a box stuff, blinging or just horrible. And it's something I've always believed that people should not have to pay thousands just to get a necklace that doesn't bling.
Freebies - I'm a generous person by my nature and I love to give people things. That's all that needs to be said really. My free stuff is full versions of things or functional, decorative demos. For example, my Sari inspired table. The full version for 10L is scripted to change textures. The free version is not. It's still functional and works just like a regular table would. It doesn't have a giant flashing texture that says DEMO on it and it's basically just a less shiny and fancy version of the full version. People like that.
I actually find it a little funny that people blame cheap content creators for their declining sales. Mine aren't exactly great either. In fact I am very lucky if I get one sale a week. My one sale gets me 10L. Your one sale gets you 100-10,000, depending on what your business is. It might only be one sale but if money is what you care about then I'm the one losing out here. But I don't care. I will do this and continue to do it because it's fun and for no other reason. Nothing anyone can say will change the reasons why I started, and the reasons I will continue, regardless of the barriers in my way.
Saturday 25 July 2009
Thursday 9 July 2009
Why I love copy/mod - and how I dress!
You know those items you're just never seen without? The
ones that you wear all the time, and people see them and just know it's you? For me, that "must have" item is my nerd glasses from HOC. Ever since I bought them they have not been removed. But I like having my nose attachment free - I wear a lot of hats and that's normally where they attach to. There's also my trademark red hair from Gurlywood. Again, something I'm never seen without.
I love copy/mod permissions. I can see why people shy away from it when creating thanks to copybots and content thieves but those who have left their creations with these permissions, I thank you. Because of these permissions, I'm able to combine my glasses and hair and free up an attachment point for myself. Yay!
It's strange, I'm not a fashionable person in my "real" life. I pretty much wear whatever's clean which does make me wonder sometimes if I was meant to be born a man but that's a story for another day. In SL I am ridiculously obsessed with clothes. I will often spend half an hour each morning trying to figure out what to wear for the rest of the day, and sometimes I won't even stick with it for more than ten minutes. Lots of people in SL are like this, it's hardly a rare thing Zarya? So what's to love about that?
Well, perhaps it's a little bit of shameless egotism but I love the way I dress. It saddens me that with all the choices we have available on SL I still see people wandering around with the same outfits on. And that saddens me, we have an entire world of possibilities and everyone sticks to the same things. Not this girl. Although I DO get a lot of my clothes from well known names (Bare Rose and Pixeldolls come to mind) they always tend to be things that people generally relegate to the "costumes" part of their inventory. Things that shouldn't REALLY be worn in day to day Second Life.
Screw that, I say. Nothing gets you noticed like dropping into a club dressed as a scorpion, or in full ballerina garb, or even as a shiny knight or a gangster! This is our world and our imaginations. So use them! Looking like everyone else is hardly imaginative now, is it?
ones that you wear all the time, and people see them and just know it's you? For me, that "must have" item is my nerd glasses from HOC. Ever since I bought them they have not been removed. But I like having my nose attachment free - I wear a lot of hats and that's normally where they attach to. There's also my trademark red hair from Gurlywood. Again, something I'm never seen without.I love copy/mod permissions. I can see why people shy away from it when creating thanks to copybots and content thieves but those who have left their creations with these permissions, I thank you. Because of these permissions, I'm able to combine my glasses and hair and free up an attachment point for myself. Yay!
It's strange, I'm not a fashionable person in my "real" life. I pretty much wear whatever's clean which does make me wonder sometimes if I was meant to be born a man but that's a story for another day. In SL I am ridiculously obsessed with clothes. I will often spend half an hour each morning trying to figure out what to wear for the rest of the day, and sometimes I won't even stick with it for more than ten minutes. Lots of people in SL are like this, it's hardly a rare thing Zarya? So what's to love about that?
Well, perhaps it's a little bit of shameless egotism but I love the way I dress. It saddens me that with all the choices we have available on SL I still see people wandering around with the same outfits on. And that saddens me, we have an entire world of possibilities and everyone sticks to the same things. Not this girl. Although I DO get a lot of my clothes from well known names (Bare Rose and Pixeldolls come to mind) they always tend to be things that people generally relegate to the "costumes" part of their inventory. Things that shouldn't REALLY be worn in day to day Second Life.
Screw that, I say. Nothing gets you noticed like dropping into a club dressed as a scorpion, or in full ballerina garb, or even as a shiny knight or a gangster! This is our world and our imaginations. So use them! Looking like everyone else is hardly imaginative now, is it?
Monday 29 June 2009
ChouChou and Art Box!
I'm a big lover of art in both lives and have been since childhood. Thus it came as no surprise that when my dear friend and pet kitty Desi told me about the hidden gems in the SL art world, I jumped at the chance to go.
I've always thought that SL would make a fantastic medium for art. Here we have a world where as long as you can imagine it, you can do it. A world where we're not limited by size, shape or even physics. The only thing we're limited by is our own creativity. And still, step into this world and what do you find? Free sex areas and camping. It makes sense really, sex and money are what motivate a great deal of us in the real world but this isn't the real world. This is one that we create. So where's all the creativity? This is where Desi saved me from my own cynicsm and showed me something breathtaking - Chouchou.
Chouchou is a delicious blend of art, music and even a little cinema. In this gorgeous setting, turn on your stream and equip the HUD at the landing point (look for the black wire flower to the right as you land) and you'll be treated to a cinematic experience with beautiful music by Chouchou - an ambient (mostly instrumental) band that exists entirely in Second Life. You can find their last.fm page here to get a preview of their music and you can also download their tracks from iTunes.
Back to their in world presense though. The sim is set out with a number of small to medium sized sandbars with various large structures lying around. This may not sound all that brilliant but bump your graphics up as high as they can go and mess with your lighting settings a little and in combination with the cinematic HUD and music it becomes a breathtaking experience. You really feel as if you're in some kind of experimental film and it really is fantastic.
As well as this cinematic feel on the ground level, you can also telepo
rt up to the concert area. Chouchou do live concerts in their own sim and the HUD has its own setting for this where it lets you stand and enjoy the music while the HUD camera pans around the area to give you an excellent view. And you'll really appreciate it, the concert area is absolutely gorgeous and I can only imagine how much more stunning it is when the band are playing. The cherry blossoms and fireflies along with the subtle glow of the almost ethereal trees that are dotted around the concert area is the perfect backdrop to such gorgeous music.
After spending at least an hour just sitting back and chatting at Chouchou, my companions and I headed to the Art Box. As the name suggests, its main focus is art but it has been transplanted into SL in a way even I would never have thought of. Frankie Rockett and his partner Violet Sweetwater (Who are possibly the nicest people I have ever met)
have done an amazing thing for all of us art lovers in SL. They have painstakingly and lovingly recreated some classic and famous pieces and have opened them to the public. You can walk around some of the most well known paintings in the world but above and beyond that - you can be the subject. To the left is a picture of me as The Scream - I look quite dashing don't you think?
The range of pieces available is fantastic, all of which are hand built into SL with excrutiating detail. These are not just textures slapped on a background, these are full 3D renditions with custom poses and on some pieces, even props! If the original painting has a specific outfit to make it work, when the set rezzes you will find a box of props that will let you truly recreate the feel of the piece you're in. It's a fantastic project and the entire thing is totally free for everyone to come along and use whenever you like. If you like and appreciate the hours upon ho
urs of hard work that has gone into the Art Box, there is a tip jar just outside of the photo area. Show your appreciation for such an awesome and original concept while you're taking pictures. Here's me looking particuarly annoyed at a cherub. It was concluded that he stole my shoes and thus deserved my scorn. Stupid cherub.
I surely have more art and things to discover and no doubt I'll be posting more to gush about even more lovely things but to start off with these two places...well, it'll be tough to beat. I leave you now with a picture I took of Desi, Nate and I relaxing on the coast at Chouchou, and the SLURLs for both of these fantastic places. Remember, if you want to support art in SL, both of these places have objects you can pay to help with the running costs. Even just a small donation can help out and will always be totally appreciated. Not only that but it makes you feel good knowing that you have contributed to something totally awesome and original in Second Life.
From left to right; Desiderata Dembo, Nate Tammas and Zarya Boa.
Taken at Chouchou
SLURLs
Art Box: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Klaw/27/21/35
ChouChou: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chouchou/153/107/21
Zarya Out!
I've always thought that SL would make a fantastic medium for art. Here we have a world where as long as you can imagine it, you can do it. A world where we're not limited by size, shape or even physics. The only thing we're limited by is our own creativity. And still, step into this world and what do you find? Free sex areas and camping. It makes sense really, sex and money are what motivate a great deal of us in the real world but this isn't the real world. This is one that we create. So where's all the creativity? This is where Desi saved me from my own cynicsm and showed me something breathtaking - Chouchou.
Chouchou is a delicious blend of art, music and even a little cinema. In this gorgeous setting, turn on your stream and equip the HUD at the landing point (look for the black wire flower to the right as you land) and you'll be treated to a cinematic experience with beautiful music by Chouchou - an ambient (mostly instrumental) band that exists entirely in Second Life. You can find their last.fm page here to get a preview of their music and you can also download their tracks from iTunes.Back to their in world presense though. The sim is set out with a number of small to medium sized sandbars with various large structures lying around. This may not sound all that brilliant but bump your graphics up as high as they can go and mess with your lighting settings a little and in combination with the cinematic HUD and music it becomes a breathtaking experience. You really feel as if you're in some kind of experimental film and it really is fantastic.
As well as this cinematic feel on the ground level, you can also telepo
rt up to the concert area. Chouchou do live concerts in their own sim and the HUD has its own setting for this where it lets you stand and enjoy the music while the HUD camera pans around the area to give you an excellent view. And you'll really appreciate it, the concert area is absolutely gorgeous and I can only imagine how much more stunning it is when the band are playing. The cherry blossoms and fireflies along with the subtle glow of the almost ethereal trees that are dotted around the concert area is the perfect backdrop to such gorgeous music.After spending at least an hour just sitting back and chatting at Chouchou, my companions and I headed to the Art Box. As the name suggests, its main focus is art but it has been transplanted into SL in a way even I would never have thought of. Frankie Rockett and his partner Violet Sweetwater (Who are possibly the nicest people I have ever met)
have done an amazing thing for all of us art lovers in SL. They have painstakingly and lovingly recreated some classic and famous pieces and have opened them to the public. You can walk around some of the most well known paintings in the world but above and beyond that - you can be the subject. To the left is a picture of me as The Scream - I look quite dashing don't you think?The range of pieces available is fantastic, all of which are hand built into SL with excrutiating detail. These are not just textures slapped on a background, these are full 3D renditions with custom poses and on some pieces, even props! If the original painting has a specific outfit to make it work, when the set rezzes you will find a box of props that will let you truly recreate the feel of the piece you're in. It's a fantastic project and the entire thing is totally free for everyone to come along and use whenever you like. If you like and appreciate the hours upon ho
urs of hard work that has gone into the Art Box, there is a tip jar just outside of the photo area. Show your appreciation for such an awesome and original concept while you're taking pictures. Here's me looking particuarly annoyed at a cherub. It was concluded that he stole my shoes and thus deserved my scorn. Stupid cherub.I surely have more art and things to discover and no doubt I'll be posting more to gush about even more lovely things but to start off with these two places...well, it'll be tough to beat. I leave you now with a picture I took of Desi, Nate and I relaxing on the coast at Chouchou, and the SLURLs for both of these fantastic places. Remember, if you want to support art in SL, both of these places have objects you can pay to help with the running costs. Even just a small donation can help out and will always be totally appreciated. Not only that but it makes you feel good knowing that you have contributed to something totally awesome and original in Second Life.
From left to right; Desiderata Dembo, Nate Tammas and Zarya Boa.Taken at Chouchou
SLURLs
Art Box: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Klaw/27/21/35
ChouChou: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Chouchou/153/107/21
Zarya Out!
Sunday 28 June 2009
First post!
Not much to say *just* yet but I've been on a humongous photo taking spree today so I will leave you with this for a preview while I photoshop the other pictures.
Taken at Chouchou, as are most of the pictures I will be posting in my next post. Beautiful place with a chance to take some equally gorgeous pictures.
Taken at Chouchou, as are most of the pictures I will be posting in my next post. Beautiful place with a chance to take some equally gorgeous pictures.
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