Your avatar's form: is it 'you', or is it just like clothing?

My avi is more of an expression of my real self.
my avi is an independant elf. A free spirit, non controling, non agressive, peace loving, friendly. He carries a broad sword from time to time, only to defent the fatherless. My avi loves a good conversation. Mr Glass is as transparent as his name implies. Nothing to hide, no secret agendas. open and honest. Graphicguru glass is a lover, he has a sense of humor (LOL) but very respectful of everyone. he has had difficulty finding more of his kind (Elfin), but has only been in SL for a short time now. GG Glass adores furry women, and human women alike. he is a very hot blooded gentleman who will nibble the ear of any lady who stands still long enough.

It's odd you've not found more elvenkind. When I came first to this fair land way back in 2003, there were but 3 or 4... (Ananda, Catherine, me ... er any more?) ... but now there are more elves than could fill a forest.

When I'm in-world, I'm Jessica. It's that simple. My AV is me. I am naked, blue, 2.25 meters tall, spikey, well-armed, and a lot of drones follow me around.

I have a secondary, more "human" form I like to be now and again, who is a different side of me -- she's shorter and not blue. But it's unnatural for me to morph into arbitrary forms, I don't like it and I don't do it often. If you ask me to come visit you with the proviso that I need to be in human form and / or clothed -- you'd better be a damned good friend of mine.

Jess

Perhaps those who don't want to change their av should stay away from roleplaying environs where a change is requested by the -paying- sim/land owner?

Ditto, very good way of getting it across, I wouldn't have been able to..

Sure, have 'em put up a working notecard dispenser informing people of these rules, then. Which, I notice, they *did* on Port Kar after my run-in with them.

Jess

I think I'll echo CS, Ani, and Jessica.

My Avatar is an 'idealized' version of the reallife 'me' in SL. Clothes change, hair changes (almost always modified to some flavour of fuschia ^.^), but the basic shape of 'me' always remains. There is only one 'me' in world which I identify with and others associate with the RL me (feline ears and tail not withstanding) and visa versa.
^.^

Dude...ElvenGlen...go hang...huge group....branch out from there....there are others.

To me, my avie is a physical (as physical as you can get inside a computer *laughs*) representation of who I would chose be IRL if it was physically possible. I find it to be an excellent way to expressively make a statement about who you are inside, rather than just a collection of bits and attachments.

So yeah, I have a deep connection to my avie and spent alot of time trying to shape it to the physical image of who I am in my mind.

My avatar is, more specificly, the character that I roleplay in SL. She is my representation of me in that world, and has a very consistent definition of what she is like, how tall she is, etc. . I use the same character in several venues, and she's always the same height, same eye color, same range of hair colors (does change that a bit, from time to time).

On the other paw, she isn't 'me', per se. After all, my Player doesn't have fur or a tail.

And while I do have one primary form in SL, as a red fox vixen, Ceera is, by definition, a shapeshifter, with other specific forms that I have collected avatars to represent. Those other forms, such as a female white timberwolf, are like changing clothes for Ceera. They are temporary forms that suit her mood.

I would say that my avatar is 'me'... not so much the physical person at the computer but my spirit / essence / character / personality. Most times I'm a psychedelic dragon, but I change my appearance as and when my mood changes, not when someone demands it of me. I have many anthropomorphic, robotic, cyborg and alien avatars and I customised every one of them to represent an aspect of myself. In the time since I've joined SL I've spent less than 2 weeks of that time as a human: the week when I joined and recently when I was going through a particularly bad patch. It didn't take long for me to revert to my anthropomorphic form with which I feel more at ease. Though I enjoy mixed company and have many 'human-only' friends in SL, I never frequent 'human-only' sims or other sims / regions that insist on a specific avatar form.

Heyas,
I agree with Alazarin and many others who feel that the human form they live in does not accurately represent the 'real' being inside.(Soul, whatever ya want to call it, etc...) SL is perfect because it allows me to look and sound like the thing I remember being. Call me crazy as many do, its OK, I know what works for me at least and am comfortable with what I am. Big Props to Jakkal and all the other AV makers, commercial and private, they let us be/looklike what we really are. I've worn the same AV since Day 1 in SL and only recently was it upgraded by the Maker with a choice of colors and some more gestures/anims...fine by me, my furiends/friends know who I am when they see my AV, not many can resist the pull to be different every time they are Inworld and there is _nothing_ wrong with that, its just not me. ) Having said all this, surprises are in the works, won't say more or give away spoilers. Great Poll, Great World, Great SL.
Painless Kawabata, known in worlds other than this as Painless Black Wolf

always...Here for the Dawn...

I have several versions of myself as an avie. They are me with just makeup and expensive looking clothes. I only have one avie of myself that is the most accurate looking one to my RL look. I wore that shape for well over a year. I've changed up the look. But it is interesting that I avoid wearing my older shape now, cuz it seems to bring up old stresses I had at the time I used that shape.

I don't mind changing my look to fit into themed sims. Even when I'm in a bunny av or something I still feel like it's me, just all smushed up in there.

I have to confess:

I'm really male.

My avatar is, well, it's what I would look like in real life if I had the ability to look like whatever I wanted to look like. I'm a 20 foot high robot and a 20 inch high flaming phoenix and an anthropomorphic otter and a glowing blue ball and a werewolf and a silvery fractal humanoid and lots of other things that Second Life doesn't have the technology to create... trapped in a human body.

All at once.

My av.. I think of them more like a character I play myself no matter the form, but the appearence itself changes.

My first av was based off of the roleplay character for whom this account was named.

The second av was a custom furry job by a friend in response to the first. I'd felt largely ignored and sad, and so had requested a small, cute, but unobtrusive avatar that reflected that and my depression. Thus was the Kewlip born. That av was a great success(especially paired with the opposite but complimentary av my friend made for herself) that spawned a whole series of sellable avs for my friend.

After perhaps half a year or so, I tired of the Kewlip, and desired something new. I had experimented with human avs in the past, but none had looked "right." Out of curiousity, I purchased an RE4-style Leon Kennedy av from UFOnly. The clothes were great, but the shape and hair looked odd to me. So I dropped the prim-hair and fiddled with the av-shape. Tinkering for several hours, I finally came up with a shape and hairform I liked. It was nothing at all like the real me, but I loved the look of him nonetheless.

I eventually returned to Furrydom after a couple months of the Human. This was again spurred by a custom av from the same friend. This time a Seal-Point Siamese cat, intended to resemble somewhat a cat I used to have and loved dearly. That av didn't last as long as I might've liked.

The next av, Whinge Languish's albino ferret, was the first full-sized furry av I ever bought, after wandering around Taco in the wee hours of the morning. It was adorable and fun, but the body-shape made some basic animations look awkward.

Thus, during another early-morning wandering session in Taco, I ended up buying the Luskwood White Fennec. Similar to my Kewlip in that it had huge, adorable ears and large hindpaws, I couldn't resist. That av went through a few variations, including a villianous look.

I inevitably tired of this look for whatever reason, and went back to the human, updating him somewhat.

Then came the want for another furry av, considerable looking, then finally settling on another of Whinge's work, this time an Arctic Fox. It was cute and I loved the hair. I wore it for quite a while, then switched back to the human.

Recently, I also climbed back into a Half-Life 2 Metrocop av I'd purchased sometime previously. Then I put the human in the uniform, sans mask. And now, today, the arctic fox has found its way back on me, in the Metrocop uniform.

So what does all this history tell us? My av changes with my attention span, I guess. I have some avs I like more than others, but none of them has really felt fundamentally "me." The Kewlip came close, but that was mostly because of how very long I wore it. I have certain tendancies in my avs, but really I change fairly frequently these days. and if it wasn't for the cruddiness of invisiprims and the appearent lack of a seek robot av that really appeals to my tastes, I'd be a mechanoid, too.

So yeah. Another uber-long history-book post. No-one cares, yay! ^.^

Pretty much both, for me. Sometimes simultaneously, sometimes individually as suits my mood and the context.

First, for many people, clothes can easily reflect a person's personality, so I see no reason why a more comprehensive ability to change your appearance wouldn't. In fact, I'd say it's impossible for it to not do so to some extent, as long as its something you honestly chose for yourself, not put on to deliberately confuse others (though that, too, would say something about you).

Dyne Talamasca is as much a part of me as the avatar that actually looks like me ... probably moreso, because I can choose aspects of her that I have no say in for myself ... and also because the avatar I have that looks most like me is sort of goofy-looking over and above my own goofiness.

At any rate, Dyne was concieved from the start as a shapeshifter, so I can pretty much change her appearance, gender, or even species on a whim if I want to, and it'd still feel like her if I wanted to think of it that way. In other words, even for my avatar, a different appearance pretty much IS like putting on different clothes. Still, she has her "usual" appearance, which I'm pretty happy and comfortable with. Like a favorite shirt.


On the other hand, I have no problem with the concept of seeing an altered avatar as a completely different persona. I roleplay a lot, for one thing. I also have no problem in RL hiding my "true self" (or whateva) on Halloween or in a theatrical production or some such.

Anyway. Hopefully that made sense.

My ava are me - its an extension of my IRL...

I am red blond with long hair IRL in SL I am (mostly) dark brown or black haired.. plus short.. I wanted to be some diff when I signed up a year ago...

I dont have minis or look like a Barbie IRL so my ava dont do that in SL. I am addicted to shoes IRL.. - my ava to.. plus handbags and hats and.. style.. fashion..

I like girls IRL - its the same in SL.. ( no problem with guys - or AL humans - that are nice.. and inteligent and with a hearth) my mother told me to be careful with boys IRL.. so...you get it... ?

I dont build IRL.. BUT i DO that in SL.. its fun...very fun.. and I dont design lamps and furniture IRL.. but does that in SL.. (EXAKT brand)

I work with marketing/communication IRL.. and no way I dont do that in SL))

I hate to not get answers IRL and I hate that in SL... to.. a well know landlord (girl) never answered my mail or IMs.. after being treated bad in SL..by her crew - I moved.. quitted my tier.. I had done the same IRL... but IRL we have laws and consumer support by government (in Sweden).. To NOT answer question are rude.. wrong and bad.. for the company name.. IRL as well as SL.

...and YES I spell bad IRL as in SL) Sorry al! Sorry! I am a terrible dyslectic... cant spell cant sometimes not read a text in right way..


Plus I have fun in SL and IRL..(most of the time...)

And yes I have a GF in SL but are single IRL...and like that.. love my GF.. and yes we have contacts.. at a special level IRL...

Tks all have a great nice day and and AND! TGIF!!!

/Tina

I am glad you brought this up. I woud say Cyg has been with me and probably will till the day I die. I created Cyg as a beta tester for many various worlds. I beta tested Asherson's Call one and two, Earth and Beyond, Sociolotron and three others. Some didn't make it down the long haul.
Cyg to me is the person I do look like in real life. I just wish in real life I could change my face. The body is perfect, the face needs a work over. . I made Cyg as a gentle warrior or gentlemen who responds in a giving way. I have always played him to be respectfull and not a braggart. I have always used Cyg to help when others needed it and offer advice when it was in my power to do so. Cyg has taken me on many adventures and has created for me many long term friends. With time those friendships grow and some errode. He has expereinced romance, frustrations, and even had to carry around a "Big stick" to enforce the laws of the land he was testing on at present. He has also been able to develope deep relationships with most of the programers. Tho he himself stopped learning after the Atari 2600. I am still new to second life, made my first hat yesterday and was so proud of it. I realized that one things I missed in all the years of testing and beta testing and learning, was this. The joy of discovery. Discovering someones elses dream, or world, discovering a new avatar's likes and dislikes.
Exploring, being that person who is so new that he has to work again at asking questions. Finding joy in giving away things I have made or learned. I find after been doing all those beta tests. That one thing I find that I missed the most was being able to be free to learn again. Cyg is alot like me, He is creative, and he likes to learn and discover what if two plus two doesn't have to equal four. What if it could equal one? Cyg likes to think outside the box. So yes I play Cyg as I would like to be inside, and when the world outside allows me come out and really be what I am on the inside, I do. Those that I meet in real life and who share the same dreams, we connect.

Someone will always come around and say "Dude get a real life and stop living in a dream world". To those who say that, I say "Never give up your dreams." It is told from a wiseman. "People without a dream will perish" and "Hope deferred makes the heart sick". He is right.
I had fun writing this, hope you enjoyed reading it.
Right now my favorite hangout is Blarneys bar, love that Irish music.