3 ms·

I was on SL for a while. Apart from the weird code, where prims would download and appear around you in a more or less random order, it was a dystopian nightmar

I was on SL for a while. Apart from the weird code, where prims would download and appear around you in a more or less random order, it was a dystopian nightmare of consumerised homogeneity and boredom. Mile after virtual mile of people "living" in prims they couldn't afford in real life - boats, fast cars, big houses, perfect clothes and bodies. Flying dicks or no, it was a soul-destroyingly tedious hellscape of people acting out shallow lifestyle compulsions and grifting for lindens. Fun was very much not part of the deal.

ohyes 3y ago
I was blue and I made self replicating prims that could crash the server (not on purpose). And cool looking swords to wear. I had fun.
Kye 3y ago
VRChat is a stronger contender for a non-commercialized virtual space. The most commercial aspect is people commissioning and buying avatars. Otherwise, it's mostly fun making and exploring worlds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpSEtKnU_vw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpSEtKnU_vw Or hosting entire conventions (furry conventions are non-profit): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMKd1ZL4K5Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMKd1ZL4K5Q https://www.youtube.com/@Furality https://www.youtube.com/@Furality Second Life does have some oddball worlds, but they're mostly abandoned art projects that vanish when the owner's card finally declines.
pimlottc 3y ago
What’s a prim?
- Kye 3y ago
  The basic building block of Second Life before they moved to mesh-based models.
- dale_glass 3y ago
  Short for "primitive", a building block. Can be a box, sphere, torus, etc. Comes with a bunch of parameters. It results in very particular looks because prim counts are limited and the parameters are not flexible enough. So you get things that look like this: https://www.s-config.com/core/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Riot-Ornitz-SL-Gen1-Gryphon.jpg https://www.s-config.com/core/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Rio... The point of prims is that they're mathematically generated. You have something that says "Sphere of radius 5, colored green and squished by 20%". Then the client generates the geometry for that, and so it's very easy to vary the level of detail as needed.

ohyes 3y ago

I was blue and I made self replicating prims that could crash the server (not on purpose). And cool looking swords to wear. I had fun.

Kye 3y ago

VRChat is a stronger contender for a non-commercialized virtual space. The most commercial aspect is people commissioning and buying avatars. Otherwise, it's mostly fun making and exploring worlds: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpSEtKnU_vw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpSEtKnU_vw Or hosting entire conventions (furry conventions are non-profit): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMKd1ZL4K5Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMKd1ZL4K5Q https://www.youtube.com/@Furality https://www.youtube.com/@Furality Second Life does have some oddball worlds, but they're mostly abandoned art projects that vanish when the owner's card finally declines.

pimlottc 3y ago

What’s a prim?

Kye 3y ago
The basic building block of Second Life before they moved to mesh-based models.
dale_glass 3y ago
Short for "primitive", a building block. Can be a box, sphere, torus, etc. Comes with a bunch of parameters. It results in very particular looks because prim counts are limited and the parameters are not flexible enough. So you get things that look like this: https://www.s-config.com/core/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Riot-Ornitz-SL-Gen1-Gryphon.jpg https://www.s-config.com/core/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Rio... The point of prims is that they're mathematically generated. You have something that says "Sphere of radius 5, colored green and squished by 20%". Then the client generates the geometry for that, and so it's very easy to vary the level of detail as needed.