I am naturally a very curious person. So I like to keep a eye on all the new things coming out, see what people are into and getting on baord with.
Keeping that in mind I decided to check out Avatarlife, a world like Secondlife but where land and everything is free. To be honest I have very mixed things to say and I want to try and be as nice as possible.
The owners and support staff seam lovely. Everytime I had to deal with any of them they were easy to get a hold of and deal with and super friendly. Which was really nice.
One of the first things you learn about AvatarLife is how everything is free, land (1/4 of a sim), houses, decor, mesh bodies, heads, household items, you name it you can get it free, however I found in many cases its comes with a catch. You know that old saying, if its too good to be true, it most likely is.
Getting your free land is pretty easy, put in a ticket and someone gets in touch with you about it. You get a 1/4 sim, either sand or grass.
There is a few main sims to get free items from to build your home and this I found is where the trouble started. There is a few ways to get free items, buy for 0 money like you normally would or your told in some case to click the item and simply take a copy of it. Any of us SecondLivers will very quickly notice some very big named brands, none that are in the platform themselves but their items have been copied and brought by a few main players in Avatarlife. For me, while I understand that this happens in alot of platforms, the share amount that is it happening in there and by the same players is shocking on so many levels and one I found I struggled with morally. Designer's work endless hours to make, and build their products. Products based on their personal imagination and skill. Alot of the time is a passion project and I say that with the up most respect as their endless hour's they spead to make the product at times they would never get all that money back if they charged a hourly rate. To then find their beloved products being used without credit or permission by them must at times be heartbreaking. This is not right and not ok.
The other side of a product being brought in that is a copy and not a "legal designer issued" item is that in many case's the item does not work correctly or has issues. Examples are, household items had issues with poses, house's had issues with door/windows etc, the body and heads came with no HUDs or alpha's. So to be honest putting together a avatar ( which is normally something I love doing which is why I love to help new people in Secondlife) , but in Avatarlife I found it frustrating and if Im being honest almost painfull. The lack of HUDs and Alpha make it so hard. When I first put my body on, half of my body was missing and with no HUD or Alpha's I had to contact to support to get them to send me things to help fixed it. I did finally get her all together and I have put a photo of her below for you all to see.
I also found in many case things were very slow to rez for me and laggy, which is not a issue I normally have.
Im not sure if maybe the times I went on but it was also very quiet and I could run and visits lots of sim without running into another player other then a NPC's , I have put the daily counts below for you also.
I feel that they could have something really cool if they worked on a few issues that I feel is hugely limiting their growth. I dont want to make it sound like a bad place, The people I did talk to were lovely I think with work that would have something really cool and maybe more cost effective than Secondlife depending how they went about growing the platform.
I really hope they grow and develop the game, I think it would be fun. I think many Secondlife people will find it hard at the moment. For now I think I will stick to my 1st and 2nd lives. By all means check it out, you may have better experience than me.
As Always Peace & Love xoxo
Chloe Tequila
Main Photo for this Blog was taken in Secondlife at the stunning reBourne Beach
