Teleporting, Landing, Walking Courtesy

I really don't get out much in SL* but I could use some guidelines on what to do when teleporting or even just walking into an area where there are other avatars. I've been using this procedure: TP, land, arrow forward a little in case someone else is coming so they don't land on me.

That works OK, but the other day I must have run right into someone because slow rezzing of my destination coupled with lag made me move a little farther than planned. She taught me some basic manners and I apologized and she was nice about it. I don't want to get abuse reported just because I stumble around like a zombie on cold medicine bumping into other avatars. But I'm finding I'm kind of avoiding social situations just out of hesitation. Last night I went to a cool looking pub and didn't go in because I couldn't see a wide enough (for me) path past the avatars. I guess I'm asking what the social norms are.
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*It turns out I'm just as blasted shy in SL as I am in RL. Dag!

If it's any comfort, I always assume any avatar that is pushing and bumping me is suffering from lag-induced response times.

Just do what you would do in Rl. If you bump into someone, just apologize and move on.

I usually move away from the tp point just a little, so as not to get landed on either. But then I wait for a bit if it's slow rezzing. If I do bump into someone, I just say sorry. Most people I have bumped into, if not all, just say, "No Problem," and I continue on my way.

A few times, I have been in a very busy sim, and I know I bumped into quiet a few people, even after waiting... or because there was a delay in my walk. I just shout out "Sorry, if I just mowed you over... but you know how lag is." and most people just laugh.

I think as long as you apologize, you shouldn't have any problems.

Yeah, I usually do pretty much the same thing... move away from the landing point a bit so nobody tp's on top of me, check out where the green dots on the map are and move away from them so I don't walk into anybody, and apologize if I do bump somebody.

Here's a few things I do:


1. Have my mini-map open. Sometimes avatars are slow to rez for me right after I tp, and I can't see them on the screen, but I can see the green dot on the mini-map, so I can aim away from them as I move away from the tp spot.

2. I use mouselook to move through crowds.

3. I apologize if I bump, but if someone doesn't simply accept the apology gracefully, I move on without further comment.

The mini-map can help you out as well. If there aren't any green spots at the landing point, you're free to "stumble in the dark" until everything all rezzes.

If I see a flurry of green dots around me, I'll just walk off in one direction and go "sorry if I bumped anyone, still rezzing" because a lot of the time you'll bump into someone you don't even see yet, so it's hard to know if you actually did or not.

There are some people who will make a big deal out of it, despite any apologies, but in my opinion, if you're going to stand near a landing spot, prepare to get pushed/shoved accidently (still no excuse for bad manners though).

Don't be hesitant to walk through a crowd, even with my less than stellar puter and resulting low framerate I still generally manage to slide through without bumping anyone and a "sorry" makes up for the rest .

Maybe orientation island should feature an obstacle course: "Walk over to the other side without nudging over any cones to reach the mainland!" .

Thanks, all. I'll experiment with these ideas and maybe finally meet some people. The mini-map idea is great.

Maybe there's a way to program a shortcut key to chat "Sorry!"

I'm used to people bumping me and I assume they are used to me bumping them on accident, I usually don't say anything unless I know them. X_X;

As for the pub, instead of walking to a seat, I believe you can just right click on one and choose sit and the spacing won't matter.

Thanks, April. I'll try that next time I think I need a drink

While I'll apologize if I bump into someone in most cases, I usually don't at a crowded landing spot. The problem is just so ubiquitous there that I consider it similar to a crowded subway car, where all the people standing will jostle each other around curves and bumps. I figure that if it's really crowded, the excess chat noise is likely to be more of an imposition than the bump was in the first place.

Good one, April.

In fact, if the OP disables camera restraints and gets handy with the alt and ctrl keys and the mouse to zoom, it's possible to go anywhere you want without walking. Just move from seat to seat.