Sensations v Xcite

*paints a big red target on ass*

^^

So, Xcite seems to be the "market leader", so to speak.. but I have a amethyst collar and cuffs (loving them), and it seems they're partnered with Sensations.. so, which is better? Or does it not matter?

I'm thinking of compatibility issues, easy of use, general bugginess.. and of course, Sensations stuff seems to be far more cheaply priced than comparable Xcite stuff..


Any opinions?

I don't actually have either system, but from what I can gather from asking, they seem to be very similar in functionality.

I am not familiar with Sensations, but do know that I have muted more Xcite! genitals and their users than I care to count.

xcite....pah! dont make me laugh! All that scripted chat whispers is totally boring, I like to do my thinking for myself and I certainly dont like a script telling me what I am thinking.

I'd propose using the "imagination" system.

Pros:
* doesn't cost any money
* compatible with everything and everyone as long as you both speak the same language
* a unique and different experience every time

Cons:
* requires hands to be on the keyboard
* you can't get rid of a bad partner by clicking their parts 10 times in a row
* no cheat sheet that tells you what you can do with every different body part

scripted chat cyber attachments are good -

If you dont have an imagination - you can buy a limited one ;pPPPpPp.

Proof that you can buy almost anything in Secondlife.

seriously though I suppose a limited amount of clicking can be fun.

If you cyber-sleep around, xcite is good since lots of people use it and the stuff gets excited by the others presense.

If you have a limited number of partners find out what they prefer.

Or get both, luckily its not a permanent graft

I would assume the point is not really the fact that your body parts chat to you, as that you have a scoring system of the sort familiar in so many rpgs. Except instead of "hit points" it's "arousal points".

Actually it's more for the animations and.. well..

it's hard to type coherently at speed when.. well...

^^;

Sensations is the "Dark Horse" of the pair.

xCite is a fairly complex system, with a wide variety of optional enhancements. They are very picky about who they allow to develop products for their system. They brook no competition, and will not allow "just anyone" to produce an "xCite compatable product".

Sensations, on the other hand.. has freely available (I think it actually *IS* free) developer's kit for making things that work WITH their system. They have an additional kit for developing parts OF the system. (that's my understanding).

The systems, externally are virtually identical (in terms of the basic female genital pack).. and consist of several invisible sphere that wear over certain body parts.. when clicked, they present the click-er with a menu of things they can "do to the wearer" (in terms of roleplay text).

and example would be...

"Joe Schmoe tickles Jane Doe's chin with a smile" (insert more adult terminology, and you get the idea)

Both systems track an "arousal" variable. The higher the variable gets, the more interactive the system becomes. Until, at the point of orgasm (yes I said the word) the systems "act out" an orgasm into chat.

At any stage along the way, both systems may play animations. xCite has sound packages that are available as an added feature.

The key difference between the two systems is personality. Amethyst Rosencranz is an absolute jewel upon the face of SL.. her customer service is legendary. If she's got time, Amethyst has been know to coach a rank noob at scripting, through the basics of creating a compatable item for her system. xCite on the other hand, can take 3 months to respond to developer inquiries, and more often than not, inquiries are dismissed out of hand for being "too similar" to other products.

The next most important difference.. is price. xCite's entry-level kit for females (sorry, only one I researched) was L$1000. Sensations was (I beleive) $400.

As Amethyst also makes bondage gear, and her system is accessable to small-time producers, many more pieces of BDSM equipment are compatable with Sensations.

However.. it it's defense, xCite's modules are reportedly more moddable in terms of "what it says, and how and when".

I have, several times, considered purchasing an xCite system.. just so I could use the sound packs. But I already *OWN* a sensations setup. My collar is Amethyst, my cuffs are too. And the toys I've made are all Sensations compatable.

So that's my view. Not unbiased, of course. Lots of people hate BOTH systems.. because of the "spam" they generate in open chat. But I've found my Sensations kit to be reasonably well behaved in that area.

When I bought my Sensations kit,. I was part of a group. Everyone else was using one or the other system.. and I felt left out not being "clickable". When I bought mine.. price was my main concern.. But the customer service is why I stay with that system, and reccommend it.

Actually I find a partner's typing slowing down and becoming less coherent a real turn on.

The default actions are just a place to start...customizing the notecards to say whatever you like is fairly simple. Then again, these sort of attachments should be used as an enhancement, not the main event. As one friend said, they're great when you get to the point where you can no longer use both hands to type.

xcite is for quadraplegics...rp typing seems to be the real key, along with poseballs for some on screen action...however, why are you ppl wasting time on sl sex when you could be using that time to secure a rl mate x

Why do people build in SL, when they could be using that time to build in RL? Buy land? Shop? Hang out with friends? Attend events? Etc, etc, etc...

For some, it's just part of the SL experience.

Im still waiting on an answer to who appointed the anti-cyber sex people - "Errotica judge for all of the rest of us"

Until that happens , maybe we should let individuals decide whats a valuable sexually related activity and what isnt.

Because in SL I can hit the Off button on the computer. No mate I have had to this point in Rl has come equipped with such a feature. If one becomes available I would be happy to Beta test.

Yeah RL mates come with the opposite feature -

As they turn you off more, they are turned on more.

And the warrantee period is WAY too short.

And in RL, even after you quit, you have to pay /humongous/ tier.

^^

Differences between Xcite vs Sensations/Amythyst.

Xcite was first, they tend to be the ones that come up with the new ideas, Sensations just seems to copy ideas. Most of Sensations creations seem to be imitations of other things others come out with first, even her bondage gear was originally stolen (from what I understand), I'll give her this much credit, she doesn't go as far as to use copy bot or anything.

Xcite has a larger product line and is constantly updating thier products. They are pickier about thier partners so your less likely to run into problems.

The large majority of people who have a system have Xcite, so your more likely to be compatible with whoever you find.

Bottom line is Xcite = more products, more options, better designed products(imo), come out with things first. Amythyst/Sensations = Whatever they can managed to copy of Xcite's after Xcite comes out with it as far as I can tell.

Sensations is a little cheaper, but then again, you sort of have to be when your offering an inferior product (in my opinion) and trying to compete with someone who's got more of the market.

Sensations is to Xcite as Schick is to Gilette I guess you could say.

I will say this tho.. I'm glad Sensations is around. Xcite needs the competition to keep pushing them, forces them both to try harder and to make better products. So in the end, even if Sensations is mostly copying Xcite, they are still good for all of us.

And to all those poorly informed individuals out there whining about Both of the systems causing too much chatter, I'm not sure about Sensations, but with Xcite that is an option, you can turn it off with the click of a button. Would be surprised if Sensations didn't offer that ability as well.

Personally as is pretty obvious I prefer Xcite, but if I was using Sensations it would be the same deal, with either of them I tend to not use the arousal meters or the chatter. I just use them as a visual tool to add to the roleplay/cyber. Any roleplayer that doesn't see the potential there needs to pull thier head out of thier bum.

Anyway, thats my 2 cents.

From what I understood, although Amethyst's Collar did come after Kyrah's (which I think was the original?), it added quite a few extra features - and I've been given to understand from others, although I haven't confirmed, that she and Kyrah actually worked together on some aspects of it.

And by that logic I think both XCite and Sensations are copies of an earlier brand whose name I don't know and I've only heard of via the story that somebody worn one at a public Town Hall meeting. The line "Hello Philip Linden I get excited when you touch me!" was involved.

From what I heard KDC only started working with Amythyst after Amythyst basically copied her collar. But at either rate, thats old news.

And no, Xcite wasn't a copy of anything. There was no system even remotely like that on the market when Xcite came out. Least not that I ever saw or found back then, and believe me, I was lookin.

socliotron had point and click corny cybersex dialog predating xcite.

I have always had a strong suspicion that it was the inspiration.

I think posters should be careful with the negative comments about any particular business. It is delving pretty deeply into the personal attacks area.

Attacking a business based on it "stealing things" is more damaging then calling that person a f-ing .. whatever. and that is a forums nono, whether true or not.

How exactly are invisible spheres a "visual tool"?

The only reason people buy them is for the scripts, everything else can be had for a fraction of the cost or by using the build button and a full alpha texture.

I'm a guy Kitty, think about it and don't forget all the fun toys they have to go with the rest of the stuff.

Not sure why she names things that way but I believe Amethyst is Sensations.

Personally, I think Xcite is a bit more intuitive to use but am not sure that they're worth 3-4 times as much L$..

It's very easy to set the "volume" on both systems - it's just a notecard setting that you can change to be shout/say/whisper/owner/off. Sadly, the default on both is "say" and most people don't take the time to change it to at least whisper. It would be really nice if both systems would add the ability to only show the messages to the parties involved and make that the default..

This is true - the Sensations vendors (or at least the one at Dungeon Online) have an SDK type object for L$0 or L$1. IIRC, this comes with some basic plug-in scripts that you can just drop into an object and have it cause pain/pleasure when somebody with Sensations gear sits on it. To do more serious development, there's an object in the SDK that will generated a key - you just run this and send the key to Amethyst and she'll send you what's needed to do complex stuff.

At least for Sensations, it's closer to 10 variables. Grid's still down and don't know offhand what they are but similar to what you said, they're related to how good you're feeling or, if pain is more your thing, how bad you're feeling.

Seconded - I was really impressed (and a bit surprised) when I contacted her about her products. Two thumbs way up for Amethyst. OTOH, the one time I contacted Javiar, he did respond pretty quickly.

Winter's post pretty much hit the nail on the head, from my experience. I own both, and after evaluating them, I prefer Sensations hands down.