1st or 3rd person view?

Having come into SL via a Doom/Quake/Half Life background of gaming, I do almost all my exploring in 1st person and find it the natural way to do it. I use 3rd person for building and so on, but feel more "immersed" if I can't see the back of me in world.

It wasn't until I went to a RL meeting of educators in SL that I noticed just how many used 3rd person ALL the time. So was wondering what people's preference is where there is a choice (i.e. not when you are forced into using one or the other).

It makes a big difference to builds of course, for 3rd person explorers you need higher ceilings and have to worry more about walls.. something I didn't really apprectiate when I first strated out.

Mouselook makes me nauseated.

I do both. Probably that's what most of us do. In confined spaces mouselook is best but you can't do lots of things unless you're in back view.

I avoid mouslook if at all possible. And it's always possible.
In confined spaces I stay outside and just push the camera in. Sort of a pseudo 1st person. I just find it much easier to run the camera controls Than mouse look. Besides, I don't have to switch back to 3rd person for any interaction.

Alternate between the 2, but for GOOD reasons lol.
Actually.. I alternate between 1st person, 3rd person, and free camera equally. I come from a 1st person shooter background as well and each mode has it's own benefits.

Almost always third person. I'm trying to use Mouselook more, because it's good for certain things, but I prefer seeing my av. (It's all about ME, you know!)

Usually 3rd person, but I use first person if I'm in tight quarters because it's easier to navigate and if I'm exploring with someone else and they are flying it's easier to keep up with them if I'm in 1st person because I can fix the mouse on them and go instead of trying to keep track of where they are, work the camera and the controls all at the same time. I'm from a FPS background as well, but 3rd person usually seems to work better for me in SL.

The only time I use mouselook is if I'm forced to because I'm using a weapon or operating a vehicle. And that's not very often. 99.9999% of the time, it's third person all the way.

Not only is mouselook nauseating, there's just too much you can't do in it. I don't want my point of view restricted to a silly little avatar; I want complete freedom of movement. That's what the alt-mouse controls are for. My camera almost never sits still. I'm constantly moving it around, looking at all objects from all sides, examining little details one moment, zooming out to take in the entire scene the next. It's not even something I do consciously; to me it's just the nature of using a simulated 3D environment.

8 views and 23 votes? How does that work?


Third person mostly for me.

I'm not a gamer, I refuse to use weapons, so 3rd person all the way. (^_^)

One thing I noticed is when I see someone using 1st person, they tend to watch the ground in front of them. So their avatar head is always down a bit and they look emosad when they walk around. (^_^)y

I'm with Chosen; I am almost always in 3d person and almost always camming all over the place.

None of the choices work for me. I usually use 3rd person view but occasionally switch to 1st person view. When I do switch it's for a reason (I sometimes find it easier to fly in mouse-look mode among other reasons).

--Hugsy

I use 3rd person most of the time. Whenever I explore a building, home or landscape I tend to go into 1st person and start walking. It's much more enjoyable.

I think you mixed up the "views" and "replies" columns. I see 11 replies (a vote need not include a reply) and 103 views.

How about cat view?

Pretty much the only time I use mouselook is to look up. Like watch a fireworks show or something. Or in rare cases to navigate through a tight space lie a cave or very small building.

I don't spend a month making myself a new AV to never see it again

~raises hand~


Former Doom/Quake/Half-Life/Counterstrike player here.

I use mouselook when flying or walking. I don't know how people can stand using 3rd person while negotiating narrow bridges or walking in narrow areas...in fact, from what I have witnessed...they don't. hehe
A lot of times I watch people bouncing off of wall corners or falling into holes that they were not able to negotiate properly due to their perception being so far off.

and on the flipside...I have seen too many people shopping in a mall and standing with thier nose up against an advertisement so that they can read it

LOL

When I am standing around, "utilizing" poseballs, shoping or taking pictures then I am camming..but when I am maneuvering then I am in 1st person.

I rarely use mouse look as I am not used to it. Only used it for archery practice. I think I may try it out next time I'm inworld, just for fun and to practice.







Thanx for the tip. A few days ago while helping out someone trying to rent land (translating...), she kept flying off immediately after saying, "Follow me."
Here I was in my Tiny Wolf avatar in 3rd person, crashing into trees, falling into lakes. Then of course, couldn't find her anymore. "Where are you?" Then another few branch whippings...
*sigh* Will try doing it your way next time.

I use mouselook very rarely, usually when piloting.

Those horrifying spiral stairs people insist on making really require mouselook if you can't sit-TP around them, otherwise I'm off camming somewhere, is that third person?

I also adjusted the camera position in the debug settings to not be as high and downward looking so I can see vendors higher up on walls while I'm walking around.

The spiral stairs really work better in first person. Yachts are the same because of the low headroom and small rooms. It's tough to navigate around them in 3rd person because there isn't room.

I've tried to use it when piloting and it works to a point, but you lose the little display that tells you your altitude and you lose the minimap which is handy for navigating and avoiding sim lines. What is helpful when flying is if you know where you're going, map that location and head for the beacon. You can do the same if you're flying with a friend and they give you the ability to locate them on the map. That way, your friend can always have a red arrow pointing to them and you can always find them.

Sorry - got a little off topic there.

Interesting comments about the spiral staircases. I'm the opposite and think 3rd person view is the best. If it spirals to the left for instance, you just press and hold the up arrow while tapping the left arrow. With mouse-look mode, you have to keep pushing the mouse to the left which means you'll have to stop, pick up the mouse, move it to the right, set down, and then go again. That's more annoying to me.

--Hugsy

Every time I try to do it in 3rd person I end up climbing right over the bannister and falling. Either that or I cut to far to the inside and smash face first into the bar in the center. In first person, you're right that you have to pick up the mouse and move it, but if you just do it in one quick motion, it doesn't seem to make much of a difference.

I guess a lot of it is just what you're used to doing. We form habits and get comfortable with them. There's no right or wrong way, but it's interesting to see how other people do things.

That's when I use the "ping" function in my Hello Multitool. It works just like a particle Noobie Leash for walking tours of a region. (^_^)

I have to use 3rd person.

In a 1st person games I get motion sick.