When I joined SL, I thought it was pretty cool. I upgraded from BASIC to PREMIUM so I could own land for a house (after 2 bad experiences with landlords), which became a shop, my AVALON GALLERIA.
When I opened my SL account and became "Merlyn Bailly", I was using a very good game computer with a great graphics card and lots of RAM. Unfortunately, I was forced to move when my roommate moved and took her computer with her. Between Nov 2005 and Mar 2006, I had no computer access apart from basic email access at a local library. I had set up my SL account, however, to bill my debit card quarterly so that I could keep my FIRST LAND.
In March 2005, I moved in with another roommate whose computer could not deal with SL as well as Jan's -- the graphics card and RAM are completely inadequate; I could log in, but saw only white figures -- no textures -- and moving was almost impossible apart from basic P2P tp.
When the 1.10 update came around, this box completely refused to load the new client. I have been unable to log in since then.
The changes made in SL (open registration, unverified users who are probably 90% teenagers and younger kids, massive griefing), and the much-hyped arrival of mega-corporate entities), have made SL much less appealing to an adult American woman. I am not the only resident to decry these changes -- I have noted them, with dismay, when my friends have told me about the "knock-on" effects, and have made my opinion pretty obvious. Other residents, some of whom have heavily invested in SL, have remarked to much the same effect in the LL forums (which is, to a great extent, why the forums were closed -- LL doesn't give a flying fuck what their LITTLE paying customers think), and have either "tiered down" or completely bailed out of SL as a result.
LL is continually hyping the fact that their pop is exploding -- what they're not admitting is that, while the population of SL is steadily climbing, the paying clientele is shrinking. Most of the increase in population can be attributed to teenagers and alt accounts, 95% of which are unverified freebie accounts.
Freebie account holders (particularly the new, unverified accounts) are users, they do not create. Linden Lab, however, refuses to admit that the PAYING RESIDENTS are the CREATIVE members of the community. As one blog-writer has noticed, the entire metaverse of SECOND LIFE has been "crowd-sourced" -- it's user-built, and when the users who built it leave, their builds will leave with them. The 'RELEASE LAND' checkbox on the MY ACCOUNT page of the SL website disappeared, I believe, NOT because it was NOT used, but because it was being used too often, as SL residents 'tiered down' and jumped ship.
In the same way, I had planned to downgrade my account from PREMIUM back to BASIC, due to changes in SL and the fact that the computer I use at home flat refuses to even load the damned SL client, due to the recent "updates" -- I didn't see any reason to keep paying for "land" that I couldn't access or an online service that I couldn't use. Since every jackshit asshole teenager on the planet is welcome, I didn't think LL would care if I retained a BASIC account.
As my account has summarily been closed by Linden Lab without any communication to me, notwithstanding MY HAVING SENT THEM REPEATED EMAILS ASKING WHY THE ACCOUNT WAS STILL ON HOLD AFTER THE STATED RESTORATION DATE, this is now an "historical" site.
Second Life was interesting, for awhile. At this point, it is an overhyped chat room for teenagers who want to walk around with add-on penises and talk dirty in "nightclubs" where their avatars all look like Barbie and Ken, and moan and groan like a bad porn flick.
The best thing about SL when I could log in was meeting adults who could talk about something other than sex. I also loved being able to create things, and being able to decorate a little 'home' in which to meet friends and talk. I had planned to build my little shop, my AVALON GALLERIA, into an interior decorating business. That's not gonna happen now -- when the next metaverse comes along, I'll see if it's worth the time, attention, and money of an adult.
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DELUXE LOW-PRIM SHOP SHELL
ONLY 15 PRIMS, INCLUDING FRONT PLANTER OR POOL
The shell for my AVALON GALLERIA (rear view seen above) is only 15 prims, including the planter/pool unit in front (3 prims, including the soil/water texture), and measures 10m X 20m, perfect for a 512sm lot. See my article on how to build it.
 10m X 20m -- 2 levels, 3 rooms (includes ramp to 2nd floor)
front & back window walls
front planter/pool (change texture from soil to water)
I had planned to eventually offer an "options" pack for it:
-- two different roofs (one shingled, one tiled)
-- a roof solarium/deck - 4 prims
-- a 2-prim heavy foundation for those whose land is not level
-- basic low-prim lights (my article on how to build this shell also has a piece on how to make a 3-prim shop light).
These units could be used in a small "strip mall", or in a larger mall, as they would stack very well. Yeah, it's basically just a grey box, but it does the job, with room to display items for sale as well as room on the walls for wall vendors.
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I WANTED TO sell home furnishings, artworks, and low-prim prefab shops for small lots. I learned to make some pretty basic little things, and had a shop in Clearwing for 10 months (Nov 2005 - Sep 2006).
HOME FURNISHINGS (my own builds):
-- wall planter
-- computer desk in 2 versions: standard (5 prims) and executive (6 prims)
-- coffee table (2 sizes/shapes - 1 in front room of Galleria, 1 in office)
-- cat accessories: litter box, scratching post, and cat tree (13 prims total)
PREFABS (my own builds):
-- 6-prim mini-store (includes ceiling light)
-- 7-prim medium store (includes ceiling light)
-- 9-prim large store (includes ceiling lights)
-- 15-prim deluxe store shell: the AVALON GALLERIA shop shell, in fact (see right)
OTHER ITEMS PLANNED FOR SALE:
-- rugs
-- mirrors
-- art frames
I have an extensive collection of fabrics, wallpapers, and floor textures (spent HOURS combing the web for them). Those of my friends who want the images/textures can email me for a zipfile.
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