Don't Cop An Attitude With Me, Baby - Opinion/Rant

So, before I get started with this post, I feel the need to add some disclaimers and clauses and ifs ands or buts to it because I don't want to get a slew of comments basically saying "But what about..."

In the first place, I am very well aware that what I want to talk about does not apply to every single creator/designer/blogger/writer in Second Life. Obviously it doesn't. Saying I don't like something that some people are doing obviously means I know not all people are doing it.

Even if I say, as I sometimes do.. "I hate people," I know when I'm saying it that I don't hate ALL people. I love a great many of them, I respect quite a few more.  At that moment however, in a very general aggravation kind of way, I hate everyone. It's really kind of ironic since in another general kind of way, I love people. Human beings are a paradox on legs and that includes their feelings about things and that certainly includes me.

So don't come to me telling me about people who aren't the people I'm talking about, k? Cause I know those people exist and you trying to deflect the point of the post is not going to make me change my mind and is just going to irritate me.

Anyone remember The Hulk? The one with Bill Bixby? "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry"? Yeah, well, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry either.

A while ago, there was a bit of a kerfluffle about bloggers and sponsors and stuff like that. A lot of people weighed in so, what I have to say at this point is not really adding anything new. However, since I've become a blogger myself, I've seen some things that really are starting to burn my toast, you know what I mean? And not all of those things are coming from bloggers. A lot of it, in fact, is coming from creators/designers.

So I'm gonna come right out here and say it. Making content in SL does not make you Coco Chanel or Oscar de la Renta or whoever. 

There are some really splendid creators in SL who do things with their digital brush that are flatly amazing. They are artists in my opinion, and I highly respect their talents.  BUT!  Even those people, even those highly skilled and talented digital artists are not God's gift to the world. They still put their pants on one leg at a time. They still sit at the computer in their pajamas. They still scratch their butts and fart and do all the human things everyone does. And, sadly, the large majority of the world outside those of us in Second Life, don't even know these artists exist. And furthermore, even a lot of the population of Second Life don't know they exist either.

How do I know that? Because every single day in many of the group chats I am in, someone asks about something I've known about for ages. It could be Windlight. It could be a particular brand or a particular kind of thing. But something! And it's not always by someone "new" to Second Life either. And there are brands in Second Life dying as well, either because they haven't moved with the times or their designers have moved on or whatever other reasons they might have. It makes me sad, because there's always someone new to discover those brands if only the right things were done to make that so.

I went to a store the other night that was formerly a Big Name Brand in Second Life. The creator of that Brand is truly a digital artist with textures and prims. I don't think that person knows much about mesh however. But nevertheless, the clothes there are still gorgeous and are mostly system layer based. I couldn't help thinking that if that creator just made some appliers for butts and boobs, she could make a fortune all over again without hardly even lifting a finger.

That's not really the point but it is something that's on my mind. There are a number of Names in SL who are basically bleeding money every day because they won't take the time and effort to make appliers. And at the same time, they are making people like me feel left out. Or at least, that's how I feel. I won't buy your 800L dress, madame or monsieur designer because you aren't making appliers to go with it. And it pisses me off.

The point is, no matter how skilled or original your content is... it still does not make you some kind of Picasso or Michaelangelo. So, I for one, would appreciate it, if you got down off your high horse and down here with the rest of us mortals. I'll give you an example, glad you asked.

Since I've been blogging and gotten onto some feeds, I've been invited to a couple groups as a blogger - a thing that I am so extremely flattered and honored about, I can't even tell you. Seriously, it's a big damn deal to me and I take it very much to heart.

These kind of groups are also places where I see notices of stores looking for bloggers and bloggers looking for sponsors. I'll get to the sponsor thing in a minute. I often read the notices of stores looking for bloggers mostly out of curiosity but also out of a genuine hope I might find a store or two that I can truly appreciate and back and maybe help. Mostly, that isn't the case because the store sells mesh only content and nothing with appliers. I am not inclined to give up my mesh breasts in particular so I regretfully trash those notices. Very occasionally, there's a store that does sell items with appliers. Yippee!

Most of these stores have applications. That's fine, you need some way of keeping track of people who said they want to blog and also weed out those who don't meet your criteria. Very businesslike.

However, when your application more or less states that you expect the bloggers whom you select to place your content above anyone else's and to drop everything to post your content first and foremost - that's a problem. When your application asks if the blogger is willing to put a logo of that store on their blog aka free advertising - that's a problem. In one case, I said no I wasn't and never got a call back even though I have featured that shop's items on my blog. Stuff I paid for my very own self, thank you very much. - That's a problem. If you expect a blogger also to fail to mention any flaws or problems that blogger found with your item on a post - that's a problem. Don't cop an attitude with me, baby, over how I  blog and how I run my blog. You are a creator in second life, bully for you. Get over yourself.

Let me just mention, I spend a lot of cash in Second Life. Every single thing that has been on my blog is something I PAID for with my own cash. And frankly, I'd rather say what I think and feel about items I blog or about things in Second Life in general. Part of my job as a fashion blogger is to tell the truth about what I blog. Most of the time it's a small thing that may not matter that much to me, or to other shoppers, but it's still on my shoulders to tell the truth.

I never want some poor reader to come to me and say, "Petra, why didn't you tell me that product xyz had this problem when you showed it on your blog." I mean, bloggers are also shopping guides, right? I know I've seen things on other people's blogs that I ran right out and bought because I saw it on their blog and liked it. I'd be pretty pissed if I bought something like that and then found it was wonky and the blogger didn't say so. That ain't right. And I won't do that to other people who happen to read a post of mine.

I usually prefer to show things that I really love, than show things I have problems with but if I do show something that has problems, I'm going to bloody well say so. And nobody has a right to get in my face about it. If you sell something with a problem, then you know that perfectly well, so your job is to make a better product. Not bitch and moan because someone called you on your mistake.

If I screw up my courage to ask for a review copy, which so far has not happened since I've had this blog, It's because I either feel that item is way out of my price range - and that means something that costs a lot more than a couple hundred linden or because it's something that's not in my usual shopping line.

But, if YOU are looking for bloggers, don't expect that those bloggers are all going to be in your pocket because you throw some of your content their way. YOU are the one looking for exposure, therefore the blogger is the one doing you the favor, not the other way around. If you want bloggers with integrity then treat them and what they do with some respect. and don't expect them to bend over backwards for you. The blogger - creator relationship is a business relationship where both people get something, one part of the relationship is not better or stronger than the other... or it shouldn't be.

And as an added note, bloggers looking for sponsors make me sad. Full stop. You really need to look at why the hell you are blogging and if the reason is "I want free stuff" please be honest about it and stop making the rest of us look bad. There's nothing wrong with wanting something free sometimes, but be honest about it and you know, maybe take a reality check.

 I blog because I enjoy it. I enjoy the writing. I enjoy the styling. I enjoy the picture taking etc. I hope to show something to others and maybe help someone out, maybe they find that perfect item or I get someone a little exposure or maybe someone just sees a nice picture they enjoy. I hope to show something about myself so that when people read my blog they maybe know something more about me than they would know from just my profile. I'd rather pay for my own ride than feel beholden or that I wasn't being authentic. At the end of the day, authenticity, honesty, integrity, these are who we are. And I want to be the kind of person who knows she was real and honest, even if it made others uncomfortable or angry. The end.

Here's my rant... Please make appliers for boobs and booty and whatever else kthanx.

Friday is a big sale/event day and I hit up a bunch. With the aid of note cards, group chatter and my trusty Seraphim, I visited several places - stores from 50L Friday, Designer Warehouse, Room 69, Colors of Spring Event, The Fantasy Room, Genre etc.

Let me add a big fat Disclaimer here. I know it's impossible to make an applier for all things, certainly for some mesh items. I buy quite a few mesh skirts and jeans and wear them without my Booty for this reason. So I'm not knocking that.

BUT, I find it completely bewildering why more creators don't make appliers for their items, especially for the breasts. I realize the creator would have to buy the boobs first and maybe not everyone is crazy about mesh attachments or large boobs  or whatever. But I know two creators in SL who are going strong making applier included clothing who do not wear the boobs etc on their own avatars except when doing advertisements etc. If they can do it, well so can everyone else.

And they report that the bust clothing business is well... busting out all over. So, not only is it perplexing, it's downright ... silly to me.


(Pictures are unrelated to the rant - I'm just demonstrating that people buy stuff. More info about this look below. )

See Pic Bigger.

It's a simple equation,

"Le make the appliers = moar Customers"

"Moar Customers = Moar Money"

You can even charge extra for the appliers, that's what Gawk and Deetalez and some other places do.

so now you can make "Moar Money" Twice!

Same goes for booty appliers. And nail polish. Do you realize how many nail polish appliers I buy? Let me tell you, it's lots. You can make ze money.

So please please please make appliers when you make system layer aka texture clothing. Your linden wallet will thank you. Just ask Virtual Attire for example.

....I never got to finish this post which I started last night 3/1/2014 and frankly I've had a really bad day so I'm gonna leave it at that.

I decided to make a separate post about this outfit, cause really it deserves one.

Linden Lab, second life and land issues...

I have an alt, or rather more than one alt, but really one that matters. She is there for me to run a shop and create things, specifically outfits, clothing, shoes, etc.  I bought mainland land a few months ago now, probably four or so... and ever since I bought it, I've been having issues with rezzing there. It's like nothing I've ever experienced and I've been around in sl since early 2006. I've seen a lot of weird stuff. I've seen times when you couldn't rez for some reason or when you did rez the item would disappear. ,

I did the same thing with this land that I've done with land many times before. I made a land group, set the land to group and made it so only group members could rez. However, the owner of the land, me, should be able to rez there tag or no tag.

But in fact, I can't. It gives me an error saying, the owner of this land does not allow me to rez. This message is particularly annoying because I AM the owner...

I have so far reported this issue twice to Linden Labs and their sole solution was to tell me to go to the official viewer and to restart the sim. Restarting the sim does correct the issue for a temporary period of time and then it goes right back to giving me the error again. Clearly there is a bug in the server or something causing this. If that weren't the case, restarting the sim would not do any good. So it has nothing whatever to do with the viewer.

I am so annoyed by the whole thing that I can feel steam coming out of my ears. I am especially irritated by the condescending attitude of the representatives of Linden Lab. Please, I was not born yesterday!