Avatar Social Skills: Got 'em? If so, how?

Very funny.

I attended a live early music concert once when a late-arriving avatar TP'd right on to the stage, realized that the concert was in progress and walked off the stage quickly--running right into the musician who apparently hadn't rezzed for her yet and pushing him clear off the stage. When he next spoke, he thanked her for the ride.

I think that most people make allowances for some awkward avatar manipulations in unfamiliar settings.

mm - well speaking as Amara- but for Hera- and I know Damien will correct me if I am mistaken - In RP perhaps that would be so- but this is more between them (us) than inclusive of others-

I do totally get that.

I'm just now learning the lesson that when walking with other avatars...ESPECIALLY when walking across a sim crossing...it's important to choose an angle that is slightly off-parallel.

Those math skills learned in high-school Geometry CAN come in handy!!!

(You'll think I'm making this up, but after the meeting described in the first post, one of the hosts offered us a TP to go see an Info Hub that was due to open soon. And YES, I DID walk right into one of the other avatars after we crossed the sims and my avatar kept on walking even though I'd taken my fingers off the keyboard [and there were only four of us so it was really noticeable.])

!!!!!! You're right---it WAS misleading.

(It was actually this 'metal' belt with hanging ends that I had around my hips. But...yeah. It was worded confusingly.)

*immediately starts thinking of possible wording of a new Classified ad, advertising:

'will climb on tables and impersonate Crystal Ball Spirit. Let ME be the Village Idiot at your next meeting! I can make ANYONE look smart and skilled by comparison!!! You KNOW it's worth my very reasonable fee!!!'

ROFL!!! Sounds much more interesting than most Classifieds to me!

In all seriousness, I agree with Elora... the crazy/laggy/buggy/avatar movement issues are just a part of SL, not a social skill issue.

Anyone who has been in SL for any length of time has surely experienced something equally silly or embarrassing, and if they have any grace at all, will not judge you for it.

Honestly? Don't hang out with people who haven't got enough of a sense of humor to laugh about the glitch, enough patience to wait for the glitch to resolve itself, and enough flexibility to reschedule if needed.

Indeed, good advice. (and just to clarify---everyone at the particular meeting described couldn't have been nicer or more understanding. This was a bunch with excellent senses of humor, as well as kindness...my feelings of dorkdom were entirely self-imposed!)

I tend to avoid sitting unless I'm at home where I know how everything works or I'm completely alone where no one will see me if something dumb happens, which is highly probable.

It would help matters if furniture builders made the 'seating' prim (seat, table top, mattress, floor or even an upper rail) the root as a matter of course. This seems like common sense but I often find that builders make arbitrary decisions about which element will be the root prim - a table leg or a stud in the arm of a chair for example. Sometimes a sit animation will not download in time to prevent confusion, sometimes it will not be there at all because the owner removed it for whatever reason, so avatars often end up sitting in ridiculous places.

Most recent AOs have far better control over sits (and ground sits in particular) so it would be good to default to sitting on the appropriate point with the linden sit or, better still, a sit in the AO that was chosen to suit the avatar.

A key part in being socially adept is the ability to laugh at oneself - and proving it often.

I HATE it when I stand up and end up on the table.

Here you are in the middle of RPing sitting on the other side of the desk from your Commanding Officer, and he dismisses you at the end of the convo, you stand up to salute and then exit - but first you have to climb down off of the desk first *grrrrrr* (This is just one example of the non-dignified situations that puts you in...)

If it makes you feel any better, Ponsonby, after two years in Second Life I still sometimes forget I've closed the chat bar and start typing...

And 'E' is still the hotkey to leap up in the air like a madwoman, leaving me to bring myself back down to earth and find the person I was talking to before I can actually open the chat bar and say what I was going to say.

SL is what it is, and sometimes it makes our avatars act strangely - I wouldn't equate that with a lack of social skills!

This is why I wish there was an option to say "don't close the chat bar ever".

I'd also like to go back to before Communicator and get rid of the entry box in the chat log.

PS: "Avatars: if they're not for eating, why do they show up as green dots?"

Because of this 'feature' of SL, it might be said that ALL Second Life Role-Play is, fundamentally, 'let's pretend we're in a Marx Brothers movie.'

(Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

I didn't know that. (The only mishap of that type I've had so far is thinking that the chat window is closed and typing 'F' to fly.)

Oh dear, now that I know, the next time I'm in a meeting my impish subconscious will assuredly be aiming my finger at the 'E'...

I tend to forget which chat bar I am on (the one in the communicate window, or the one at the bottom of the main window), and often try to go back to the beginning of a chat line using the Home key, which ends up making me fly if it is on the wrong one. >.>

Oh i spend so much time jumping up and down it's not funny- and i wasn't born yesterday...