How to tell someone they look like a noob?

I say
"thanks for not decreasing the server performance by wasting my cache with just another texture and hundreds of detailed prims"
and give him a freebie penis as a reward.

*trip trap trip trap over the rickety bridge*

Thanks for quoting me out of context...

If you'd actually carrried on reading you'd have found I commended your decision to go against the flow... but obviously then you couldn't carry on with your tirade about how mentally defficient and morally corrupt we all are.

No, you have every right to look like a noob, just as the horsehumpers have every right to hump horses. Doesn't mean I have to spend a minute of my time with either.

And that, ladies and gentlemen is what in debating circles is referred to as a non-sequitur

I just recently caved in and bought a skin. I didn't need it and wasn't sure I really wanted it. But the limitations of the SL skin tones, lead me on this quest.

And I am not very happy about my new look.

I spent a lot of time in the very beginning tweaking the look of Jethro Stubbs. He was not by any means the same shape as SL tried to send into the world. He was Jethro Stubbs and nobody else. Albiet with orange tan skin, pale nipples and no skin definition.

The simple act of adding a skin (no shape), changed his look completely. The slicked back hair, long sideburns and gottee (sans a moustache) were all gone (well the hair wasn't, but without the sideburns and gottee it looked stupid). In it's place was some bald guy in need of a shave. In a matter of seconds (and L$800) he went from being Jethro Stubbs the Hillbilly, to Jethros Stubbs the Eastern European Metrosexual who wanted to know where he could buy a wig.

So off he went looking for a wig. Wow, look at all the uni-sex hairstyles they sell to men. No wonder all the guys look the same after they go shopping for skin and hair. Doesn't anyone make a mans hair?

Ok, this black wig looks ok, but I can't modify the sample to fit my head so let me buy it. ACKKK!! The painted on facial hair is BROWN!! I have to buy a brown wig? This really sucks... I guess the short haired version of this skin will have to be Jethro.

But I saved the cartoon skin, with it's unique to Jethro body and head shape. His skin is currently on my new alt Earl, who was born a newbie for reasons of brevityl. But Earl isn't Jethro, and Jethro is very jealous of Earl right now.

If I could only transfer this skin, then Earl could become the painted eastern european metrosexual cousin of Jethro and Jethro could become an individual again. Toon skin and all.

I should have just bought Jethro a shirt and some flipflops and told people that this is Jethro, love him or don't. Because I don't really care very much about your store bought cookie cutter look either.

I went through all of this when I first joined SL. Seems every female I met wanted to make over my Avatar. I was sporting my Hulk Hogan look with bald head and a doo rag. I wore a santa hat for all of December. After spending lots of Lindens buying skins and such I never was satisfied with my look. Most of the females that were so free with advice have since moved on to richer targets.

I am honestly thinking of contacting the guy that makes photo realistic skins, give him my RL photo and go from there. If you don't like me in SL because of my appearance you sure won't like me in RL.

"CX"

Thats a diplomatic and funny one. You answered your own question

I personnally prefer the more direct approach: How does it feel to look Standard amoungst a lot of beautiful people?

XX

Maggie

I'm intrigued by this notion of Eastern European metrosexuals. Can't say I've seen anyone remotely approaching this definition in the great capitals of the eastern reaches.

London, Paris, New York (and Stockholm) yes. Krakow? Bratislava? Plovdiv? Snow washed jeans still.

This why skins have demos. You chose to buy this particular skin, so I'm not sure why you seem to be blaming it for your dissatisfaction...there are many male skins in SL, you apparently just didn't take the time to find one which actually worked for you.

I've recently been introduced to the sheer pleasure of ridiculously expensive footwear. (And those who know me as someone who is barefoot 90% of the time will find that to be a huge leap).

Frankly, this makes absolutely no difference to anyone unless you happen to zoom in closely to see the wonderful work that the designer has put into them. From a distance, or even just across the room, humanoid AVs just look like a bunch of cartoon characters bopping about, sexy walk or not, 4000L skin or not.

So the high-end clothes and fancy skins only matter if you look very closely. And so you have to ask yourself, who are you dressing up for?

Going right back to the OP, an IM can be sent across the room or across the grid and makes a far greater impression than the name on the label.

B.

Myself. Obviously.

But, you know, I do zoom in on other avs if I think they have an interesting look.

Hi all

I think that spending some money on an avatar or on anything in SL is normal. Why? SL is a hobby for most, business for some. On any other hobby you spend money as well, want to know how much money hubby did spend on tropical fish and the necessary equipment - now he starts again, bought a fish tank for the office. I know whats next.....down to the pet shop every week end with the MC in the hand.

Compared to that, SL is a cheap hobby. Come on an avatar costs what? 5 USD? 10 USD an expensive one? If you can't afford that it's not your hobby. If you WANT to look standard, because you dont want people to be distracted from YOU with an avatar....fine, I disagree with, but respect that opinion.

Just an opinion

Maggie

I do that too. Curiosity always gets the better of me, so I frequently check out someone's look, the style they go for, interesting quirks etc etc. All part of the fun for me. I'm in SL for sheer amusement and entertainment, and that is that. Each to their own and all that. I refuse to feel superior or inferior to somebody that looks like they've spent more or less than me on their avatar's appearance.

But in MY SL, I like to look as good as I can. I enjoy it.

"If someone is that shallow and insecure that they have to spend money changing their virtual selves to make up for shortcomings in their real selves... I'd suggest the money be better spent on a good therapist"

Hehe, don't be so obtuse. You're too smart to make such logical disconnects in a public forum.

--hi, your avatar looks great, you must be shallow, wasteful, and in need of therapy in real life

--hi, your avatar looks aweful, you must be mature, frugal, and well-adjusted in real life

*laughs* There's no way you really believe such nonsense, so stop being a grump for the sake of grumpiness! If someone wants to use the defaults, that's fine with me. But most of those who do, in my experience, actually would prefer to look different but don't know where to start.

Just out of curiosity, Broccoli, does your avatar do the default walk, or have you replaced that animation with something more realistic? Are you "shallow and insecure" for having made that replacement? *bonks Broccoli on the head with flexi-prim Reason*

Yeah, I'm sure it's my fault that I didn't waste two weeks trying on all the 'muscle man' demos just so that I could find the one skin that might have allowed SL facial hair to show through.

When you find that skin, post the LM here for me.

One of the reasons I find it so hard to be a male human in Second Life. The hair, the skin, the everything. If I go to one more hair place and see 80,000 wigs for women and 5 wigs for men . . . ack. And go to one more male skin place that has that "I think I know how to shave" . . . "oops, well, I'm sure patches are ok" look on all the skins. I have a beard in real life. I wanted a beard. Now I have dark shading along my jaw and over my lip like I have a 1 day growth of hair in a vaguely beard like shape.

I am not a furry, I have no desire to hump horses or the like, but it is just so much easier to be a small black cat (or a large snow leopard [Insert standard Seinfeld/Jumpman disclaimer "not that there is anything wrong with that"]).

Just as in RL, the women have many more choices than the men!

And if you don't want muscles, then men have even less choices.

Just to defend hairmakers for a moment...

It's (relatively) easy to make long floaty styles using prims... adn often it's easy to make long hair with a low prim count

It is, however, nigh on impossible to make short, detailed hair the same way.... not and keep it under 256 prims that is..

No... you cannot make a buzzcut in prims... the tech won't allow for it, unless you go with a matching skin as well...

Still use the default walk/waddle...

okay, but you are. more importantly.... myob. you decorate your way, they will theirs.

I did find a 1 prim 'ducktail' hairstyle with sideburns that wasn't bad. And I bought it. But the hairstyle just doesn't look right in brown on this eastern european metrosexual.

The Fleur skin I bought, is a good skin as far as skins go. And I did shop around all day Sunday trying them on (in the privacy of my own home). And for now it's painted on short hair looks much better on him than 99% of the wigs that I've seen so far.

If I could change something on this skin, it'd be the addition of a darker 'truer' tan and black facial hair instead of brown. With black facial hair and a black ducktail hairstyle, I could live with him. Even if I have to give up my cool gottee for facial stuble.

But because of all the compromises I had to make, he's no longer Jethro Stubbs. And I don't see how more shopping for skins and hair will help bring Jethro Stubbs back. All Jethro really needed was darker nipples. Maybe I should have bought some pasties instead? Hmmm...that's an idea!

I don't get that part.
As opposed to standard-issue newb skin, many purchased skins have very nice definition painted on. Even the skinniest of RL bodies show certain muscles - in SL it is your SHAPE that exaggerates them.
It is your choice whether or not to use your sliders to turn your body into a neanderthal shape or to create a more realistic form that suits you. Why blame the skins?

B.

Painted on abs just don't work for a guy who doesn't want abs.

So yes, the skin with it's painted on abs is the problem, not my operation of the sliders. Unless there is a remove paint slider that I'm not aware of.

What??? all male skins have abs painted on??

/me thinks she needs to see more naked guys in SL....


.

You're criticizing what might be a perfectly nice skin for someone else because it doesn't suit your particular needs, when you're the one who picked it out...how is that reasonable?

If you don't want to put the effort in, don't bitch about the results. Go back to your default skin if that makes you happy.

If you DO want to look at other skins, here's a few places with good ones:

Nomine
Body Politik
FNKY
TheAbyss
Minnu
Naughty (although half the grid has those)

You can also look at this blog for ideas: http://www.second-man.com/category/item-type/skins

And, hey, what about prim facial hair, if you can't find a painted version you like? Some of it looks a little odd, but if you just want a goatee, it might work. I think Calico Creations has some.