newbs with objects on their heads

When an object without a stored attachment point is worn or attached, the object often attaches to an avatar's head. Why? This is very unkind to newbs. Wouldn't everyone be better served by popping a dialogue which says something like:

"This object has no attachment point. It may not have been designed to be WORN. Some objects are designed to be "rezzed" (taken out of inventory) by dragging them into the world. Do you still want to WEAR the object?"

On a related note, maybe the EDIT screen could be made to include a WEAR dropdown so object creators could hardcode attachment points. These points could, of course, be overridden by object owners, but would be used when an avatar WEARs an object without specifying an attachment point.

The default choice for object creators would be NONE, so objects could be created without attachment points, which would cause the above dialog to pop when an avatar attempted to WEAR an object that wasn't designed to be worn.

The default attachment position has been changed a while back from the head to the right hand, so the infamous "Box On Head" situation does not happen as much anymore, in favor of having new people waving around spaceships with their right arm

But I agree, a never worn object - or one without attachment point - should warn the user about what's going to happen.

Bring back skull as the default attach point! Bring back cabinheads! Attaching things to your head was a time honored SL tradition, bendamnit!

Yeah... I totally miss the laughs when people put stuff on their heads. It's so much funnier than the hand. Ohhhh, so your hair falls off... big deal! It is, as has been said, tradition, and a darned funny one!

Well. This thread started in Linden Answers, but was moved to Feature Suggestions. I have mixed feelings about that, but here we are.

Continuing the discussion, the current policy of guessing where an object should be attached seems to violate the POLS (Principle Of Least Surprise)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principle_of_least_surprise

I know that this issue was visited already and the "default" attachment point was supposedly moved to the hand. I own objects that still attach to an avatar's head by default, if anyone wants to try them.

The default being changed to the hand was a step toward POLS compliance, but we can do better. Objects without attachment point don't always attach to the hand and I'm of the opinion that a warning dialog would be useful before the system does something potentially astonishing.

Objects without attachment point *do* attach to the hand.

Objects that attach to the head have the head as their default attachment point, probably because someone attached them and they attached to the head back before this change was made.

Such a sane, sensible, humane suggestion.

And that is why if I ever start selling my skybox I'll make damn sure the attachment point is the head.

Tradition, dammit! Tradition should be upheld!!

rotflmao

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That's because the object (if attachment have not been made at all) was created before that effect took place. Create (not rez) a new box and wear, it'll be in your hand.

Old object created before the effect took placed still have their saved setting to head. SL client is what assigned them those setting and their setting on default was head. The data in object does not have "default" setting, only "head" "hand" "feet" etc etc... Meaning it was not possible to change all objects in SL to their new default.

So head it is for old created object, hand for new ones.