Question for designers/builder.. content creators over all

Reading the posts in this thread made me remember something:

My partner and I were taking a class - a business related one that had no pretty "setups", visuals, etc. The instructor set out a "Deer Scarer." Link to see one in operation on You Tube...easier to show than explain: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfwpE0QBtaU

She said since the class material was so dry, she wanted to add a bit of ambiance with this fountain that had a pretty sound.

My partner loves these fountains and we have searched for them in many Asian stores but he had never seen one that, in his opinion, "worked right." He LOVED the one the instructor set out and after class eagerly asked if she had a shop where he could purchase one. Her reply was that she made it for herself and had toyed with the idea of selling it but (1) didn't think it was good enough and (2) there are already tons of Deer Scarers on the SL market. But even though there were a lot of the same item on the market, the unique twist on this particular one was what attracted my partner.

Rha...

Go ahead and make some hosiery!

There are a ton of stockings out there...but very few that I actually like.

I like the shiny hose by Axienne...and wish she'd do some as pantyhose in addition to her thigh-highs, and some more shades.

I like the pantyhose by Blaze...very affordable, and only two pieces (stockings and underwear layers)...but I'd like to see some more colors and shades, especially in between "tan" and "nude". And a set with back seams and/or cuban heels would be great too.

And some hose with cute "tattoos" painted into them would be nice.

And it would be great if someone would do the "panty" part of pantyhose...the part on the underpants layer...with an actual pair of panties painted under the hosiery shading.

With the latter two, if you packaged a version of the part that was *just* the tattoo or panties, it'd be possible to "take off your stockings" by exchanging the "with hosiery" version of the clothing item for the "no hosiery" version.

I would LOVE that!

I only have one set of panty hose from No. 9 nylons, but the "panty" part of the panty hose knocks of actual underwear, so if I take that off I'm errr...anyway...I would love what Lindal suggested.

Also the seam down the back is VERY popular in vintage 40's jazz clubs.

1-800 Betty's has seamed stockings with excellent cuban heel detail.

Honestly, I build from need. If I can't find something in-world..or it is to difficult to find, then I make it. I don't do any market research...I build it for me...then if it appears decent, then I set if for sale at a decent price. Price depends on whether it is scripted or not.

But, I have to say that I do get paranoid now thinking someone is gonna complain/file a report that I "stole" their idea(s). And yes, I do take inspiration from RL and from SL in my creations. I don't steal ideas nor do I copy someone else's work....I come up with enough of my own twisted ones without perusing others for ideas.

Usually, I make something because I couldn't find it out there, but sometimes I'll just make something for my own amusement, then decide it's good enough to put in a store. There may be many others out there, but I try to keep mine different and unique.

I do two types of content creation. One is just to make things for me to use personally. The other type is maybe to potentially sell.

When it comes to making things for myself personally, part of what I am doing is practicing skills, and part of it is wanting to actually use the end product. If it's more about the end product and less for practice, I will check to see what free/low cost items are available. No use in re-inventing the wheel. When it's more about practice, I don't check first, and dive right in. If I run into trouble, I may check what free items are available that I can reverse engineer for building clues.

When it comes to things potentially for sale, I check to see what's available. Even if I'm going to sell something, my expected financial rewards are not so great, so I guess I'd rather be original than profitable.

Right now, the only thing I sell is original digital artwork (in the form of virtual paintings for the walls of your virtual home)- I don't really have to do checking on that.

I may in the future sell animations. I've looked at most of the animations made by the biggest animators in Second Life, and I'm always on the lookout for what new is coming out. A lot of my animation ideas are for things that haven't been done, or for things that I think I can do better than what I've seen.

One of the things that is always on my mind when I consider selling creations is that I do not want anyone to every buy something from me, and then regret it later, for whatever reason (didn't work like it should, available cheaper somewhere else). If someone buys something from me, I want them to be happy with the purchase.

Further, being unique insulates me from direct comparison with the people who do things really well. I don't want to do animations that set me up for direct comparison to, for example, Ravanne Sullivan or Johan Durant. I will very probably come out on the poor end of those comparisons, so I'd rather avoid them if possible.

Even by selling content, the draw to me would be more about just being creative than financial gain. I didn't learn other kinds of things I might be able to do, simply because I didn't see where I might come up with something unique. I can find whatever I want in clothing; I can't add anything new to that. I could learn LSL, but I have rarely thought of something I wanted a script to do that I couldn't already find for free.

I know how to do skins, and I have ideas for skins that I haven't seen. However, skins are hard enough to do, and they seem to be so easily ripped off, that I don't think I'd have fun getting into the skin business. It would be more headache than it's worth.

The only other content creation skill I've been considering mastering is sculpted prims, but probably not to sell them, because really just about any idea I have seems to be already done. It would be just more about having things I could freely copy and modify for myself.

As my friend told me when I was getting started in SL

Your chances of making something new are very slim, all you can do is make something better than there already is.

I'd say about half and half. A lot of my products are geared towards a specific niche market--most of the time I just research that market on the RL web, and see what would be nice to add to my SL catalog. Sometimes I'll check competitors in SL (only a few of them) and see what they have in their arsenal...if I like something, I'll make my own version of it. I do not at all feel like this is copying them. There is nothing wrong with a store selling the same product, as long as it is created from scratch by the new creator. As long as you don't steal a copyrighted IP like a logo or name, then the rest can be argued as being 'business.'

Personally, I never copy another item from SL. I simply take note of the item, and make either make my own from imagination, or from online Google Image inspiration.

The key is...if you plan on making something that is already being done in SL, make sure your's is either higher quality, or cheaper. If you can't beat either of those traits, there is no sense in making it. One thing my company falls shy in is functional, scripted items. One of my competitors has similar products as me and has also added scripted functionality. However, I am not afraid to compete with this person even though I don't have scripts in my items, simply because my products look a lot better. If you're going to compete, make sure you have something they don't...price, quality, scripts...something.

If you'd like to get an idea for your next product, one good way to do this is by searching SLX for popular items. Go through the popular list, and see what is selling well. If you see something you might want to try out, check it out in detail...what's the quality of modeling, texturing? What's the price? Functionality? How well is the text in the product description written? Permissions? If you feel you can best them in one or more ways...don't feel bad about. Squash them! and don't look back.

thanks for the replies

I will just go ahead and make whatever my instincts tell me

(as for the hosery that was the idea I have been toying with, the full nylons, with built in panty, which also has the panty with no hosery)

I have a couple pairs of the stockings, but no full hose yet

(the stockings I have do have the design down the back)

anywho thanks much for all the advice, suggestions and feedback

I will not be replying much on the forums anymore, so if anyone has any questions for me, or suggestions send them via PM

The forums have been taking up too much of my time as of late, and putting me in a foul mood most of the time, and I decided that it is time to walk away

I will still reply to threads that ask questions that I can answer (if they have not been answered)