We’re talking about the big events, like fairs, SL birthdays, Burning Man and such…. events that last for days, but you’re lucky to get there because each time you try to you just learn that sim is full and won’t let you in. And while you’re cursing the sim limitations, you know that even if you get there, it would be impossible to walk and see anything.
Lately people got a bit sensitive about lag, so (some of them) try not to wear attachments made of hundreds of prims and all the HUD gadgets they have. Some got a bit oversensitive so they bitch around to anybody that have ARC in yellow of god forbid in red. While some of the things we wear really add to the lag, some are just pure myth. You might want to check Rika Watanabe’s article about lag, but there is something else I want to talk with you here.Let’s say you’re an responsible avatar that doesn’t want to torture yourself and the others, so before you go to the busy event, you strip all the unnecessary things from your outfit. You wear your simplest hair, find some nice clothes that is made of nice textures on system mesh and no prims. You forget about jewelry, you might even go barefoot. Actually, that is almost expected from you.
If you have managed to teleport to this year’s Hair Fair, you probably saw vendors near each of the rezzing points that offer you basic clothes that cause minimum lag. Which was a nice idea. Or not?
Sure, it will make your walking a bit easier. But there is the other side of the coin. As Annyka Bekkers said:
expecting hair shoppers to go *bald* to hairfair is about as realistic as holding an AA meeting at a tavern
If you’ve ever attended a fashion show, in any of the worlds, you know that it’s not only about the fashion on the catwalk. It’s the audience as well. And while one might say it’s all vanity and that you came to see the things not to show yourself, it’s not that easy.
When we want just to see the things we use web, not second life. Point of second life is to be present, and that means to rezz the avatar. And avatar has an identity that is, beside the other things, presented by its look. So what’s the point if we all go there dressed in the same textures? Being somewhere as yourself is not a matter of vanity as much of the proper use of the medium. In that case we could watch the machinima as well and see how the new hair styles look like. But most of us escaped here from the world of television and passive looking. We wanted to be present, we wanted to interact. We also wanted to be ourselves, not just a generic avatars. And "being as yourself" doesn’t mean just having the name tag above the head.
So one is facing the challenging job these days. Since it is not comfortable nor well mannered to go to the busy places with too heavy outfits, it’s advisable to have an outfit for laggy places ready. Short hair, primless clothes made of good textures. Take it as a challenge, to look good and to look like you but with simple and resources-light stuff. Sure, it would do a great deal if fashion bloggers would pick up the idea and teach the young generation that it doesn’t take hundreds of prims to look good and stylish. And that each occasion has appropriate way of dressing.
Oh and yes, that DCS’ should be detached and MystiTool put to sleep. Thanks.
Leave a Reply