What's wrong with looking like a noob?

I created Ketchy just for fun and I like to hang out at Avatar Island when I log in. Up till today, she's been her original noob self without any changes or additions. I have to say that I was just fine with that until this morning. I am not sure how to explain it but, I suddenly had the urge to give the poor thing her own look and style. So off I dashed to a number of good freebie places and fairly quickly was able to transform her into a nice looking female avi and felt a sense of uniqueness amongt the other avi's around me.

Now, I feel like I just abandoned the original noob avi she first rezzed as (ugly goofy as sin) for what might be a more appealing one to the masses in SL. I feel a tad guilty for this and I may just revert back to good ole original Ketchy.

Does it really matter what we look like in SL? Would you embrace and love and adore a noob that never changed one thing of themselves from the day they rezzed?

Just curious what you all think?

Phillip Linden is still a newb, for the most part. i think a true newb look is fun, but only because it is rare.

Well I do remember those days when newbies were quite raw. Ketchy has one of the new noobs you have a choice of when you create an account. But noob none the less .

I'd prefer to associate with an avatar that looked like a n00b but had an interesting profile than one that had millions of linden dollars worth of virtual plastic surgery but had a couple of txt like lines in their profile.

Pep (Looks are ephemeral, personality endures.)

Funny you should mention that. I got busted on that this morning as well. I had an "empty profile" and someone kindly remarked on it. So along with my quickie new look I also quickly added a couple lines to the profile. I suspect that the more that Ketchy's life in sl grows the more that will come to enhance her profile.

*Side comment* do a profile's 2nd Tab and Picks Tab tell about the Avi itself or more should it describe the human who navigates the avi?

*My opninion* each of my avi's in sl have their own distinct style and personality and thier profiles reflect that.

RL information stays in the last tab.

Pep (All the rest of the profile is what you want your avatar to be.)

PS Except that it is not a great idea to say that your avatar speaks Gujurati if *you* don't.

Ever heard of Alzheimer's

I agree most definitely that its the personality that shines through more than what the avi's appearence portrays.

Since I've quoted the first line elsewhere I'll do the whole thing now:

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players,
They have their exits and entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then, the whining schoolboy with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden, and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice
In fair round belly, with good capon lin'd,
With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws, and modern instances,
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side,
His youthful hose well sav'd, a world too wide,
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again towards childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

Pep (The wheel turns, quicker for some than others, sadly.)

Wow - leaves me speechless

Oh, the profile has to be filled in certainly. If all you have is blank tabs people will treat you as if your rez date was yesterday. A lot of that stuff will come out in a conversation, but I can get annoyed if a long time after meeting someone they still have not filled out their profile. Not that looks are completely unimportant, if you look like a noob you will be treated as one (ignoring you to the point of TPing away, jokes, various pranks, even scams).

Once when mentoring a new resident rezzed and immediately asked where the sex place was (without actually learning the basics of SL yet). I pointed out that I did not know where he wanted and I would do him a disservice in telling him where it was if I did. After all, would a mate want the person who looked like dozens of others and walked into walls all the time or someone who put thought into their appearance?

Ketchy,

I think one should be in sl anything they want to be, albeit a beautiful model looking avatar or a non-human avatar of some kind or another, or a newbie. I sure have come across many different looking charactors in my day in SL and I agree with Pep here - its truely the personality that endures and leaves the lasting impression far more than what they look like. Then again Kara has an excellent point - like in rl - first impressions can sometimes elude someone from seeing what truely is in the core. Appearing as a newb will lend others to think you are a newb - seeing you say you recall the the newbs of old - one can only assume you are not a newb. Be prepared - its like a target on your back!

I might be shallow in saying this...but I do try to look my best in sl for myself more than anything and do appreciate others who try to do the same.

Profiles - ummmf - under/over/all around a mess in sl - I nearly give up trying to keep a profile that matters anymore. They just tend to cause trouble - KISS principle works for me!

Sure it matter what we look like for many initial encounters, and that may matter if you are looking for a social experience.

I like the noob look, is sweet and unspoiled. Doesn't bother me a bit. I might even put in my profile "I look like a noob because I like to look that way." so the bigger profile and the noob look don't cause questions. Yeah I would be kind and loving to someone wearing the noob look by choice. (adjusts halo)

May be just me, but I hate the look of noob avatars, and usually don't talk to them. Not really on purpose, but if somebody has one on I don't profile them, I assume they are new, and unless they are asking me a question I don't really give them a second glance.
Now if they say something to me and it turns out they can actually type well, then that's another story.
But otherwise, in my mind I'm thinking "ew."

Think about the real-life analog. You could choose to dress like a nerd with a bowl haircut. It's your choice.

Having a noob avatar has its downsides: many people will assume that you either don't care about how you look (bad!) or that you are unaware of how you look (worse!).

People will also tend to assume that, regardless of your rez date, that you haven't spent much time in SL.

It can make it difficult for people to associate with you. It's happened more than once to me that an SL friend has, with some embarrassment, apologized for her bf's noobish appearance.

It's easy to say that it doesn't matter, but it's a choice with consequences, just like any other avatar choice you make.

That said, *you* don't look like a noob.

And "ephemeral" doesn't mean "bad".

My avatar does sometimes.

No, it means that a minute after looking like a million dollars you can be demonstrating incredibly bad taste.

Pep (Even more so than in rl.)

re: profiles - i keep mine basic on purpose. if you want to know me then you can talk to me and find out who i am that way.

But that is the same image replicated all over the grid by the thousands. Don't you want to let your individuality shine just a bit?

Yes but can one get carried away with that? I was looking at myself (while talking with a noob in the ponytail and little polka dot dress) the other day. I look lush and have on too much makeup, too much hair and too many attachments. She looked fresh and new and sweet next to me, and I looked like, well, a hooker to be honest. I'm going to take me down some, lol. And go figure, she thought I was beautiful. People always want what they don't have. Well, I know how to get that innocence back, the look of it, anyway.

Thanks all for your interesting responses. I think more and more that Ketchy just might be best served to live her days out as her noobie self. But, who knows?

Why bother?

Pep (Your avatar looks like a dumb blonde anyway.)

oh my that's sharp words

In my experience, the newb look on an avatar older than a couple days just indicates a griefer. It must be pointed out that "noob" and "newb" are two totally different things. A newb is someone new who wants to learn and will eventually be productive in one manner or another. A "noob" is an idiot, born that way and will die that way.