Tuesday, October 30, 2012

RLV: Not for me. (And Collar Posing)

This post is mostly for people I am "scening with" in SL.  To follow most of this, you'll need a familiarity with Second Life and the Restrained Love API.  Commonly called RLV because it was originally created by an SL resident (Marine Kelly) as one of the early 3rd party viewers.  And the viewer was called, Restrained Life Viewer.  You can read about it at http://www.erestraint.com/realrestraint/.  I, and all the BDSM community in SL, owe her thanks for giving us such a wonderful addition to our second lives.

And there is a BDSM community in SL, and I guess you could say I'm a member.  In fact, you could almost say that in adult sims, BDSM is ubiquitous.  And I used to have RLV turned on in my viewer.  But over time I learned that this wasn't for me.  Here are the reasons why:

  1. I often wander SL alone.  Get stuck in an RLV trap while alone and you are trapped indeed.  Getting out requires relogging.
  2. I have a number of playmates, and not all have been skilled using RLV.
  3. I have a number of attachments and clothing layers that should not be removed.  Prim feet, naughty bits, tattoos, etc.  Yet these can be accidentally removed easily now that many objects are attached to the same point.  And if "locked on," it seems that items that should come off in those areas, won't.
  4. I like to shop, club, explore and change my look.  With RLV turned on cuffs, collars and bondage gear that is "locked" cannot be removed without a relog back into a viewer that is not RLV.  This reduces my "fun" quotient.  SL is about fun and creativity to me.  So that is bad.
  5. I think this has been fixed in the newest OC gear, but not in everything.  But once upon a time if you were posed by a collar "owner."  You could not change your pose or get out of it.  If they leave, or crash, without releasing you, you are stuck in that pose unless you relog without RLV.
Notice all of these issues are solved by turning off RLV.  I can still be leashed.  If desired I can be posed.  For those that enjoy the restraints, go for it.  If you have a "permanent" owner, I can understand leaving it on and limiting access only to them.  But for someone like me, RLV is more a pain than a pleasure.

On posing: 

I also don't like other people to pose me.  RLV  and collars are supposed to give us the ability to make SL more like RL.  In RL, unless there is something going on I don't know about, dominants do not have the power to telepathically mind control others into a specific position.  So why do they in SL?

They can say (like in RL), kneel, or whatever and I'd lay odds I can do it faster than they can.  Likewise they can roleplay any action RLV permits and I will take care of the complexity of making it happen.  I can remove a clothing item for example without accidentally removing the naughty bits.  I can typically find and sit on the right pose ball, add items, etc.  All quickly and without the dominant having to wade through menus.

That's just how I roll.  Again, I'm not saying these things can't be fun or useful in certain contexts.

And for your viewing pleasure, me in a collar.

Been a while, so let's talk Mesh

As is common in the fall I've been busy, so no updates for a couple of months.  Then recently, I've finally managed to get back into SL frequently.  So, the first thing I do is go shopping!  I've recently found some places that make really cute mesh gear in the sorts of styles I like.  Grumble my old "go to shop" has quite a few mesh things, some I even like.  But these new places are smaller and more focused.  I'm wearing something from each of them in the shot below taken at Ladyboy Beach.  I'm the one in the middle of course.



The places are:

  • Slave Dressing Room:  Basically a silk shop.  Very Gorean.  But she also makes non-Gorean things.  The boots I'm wearing are hers.  Those and another very similar style, 99L for both!  She also has some great mini-dresses.  And frankly, if you are into silks, this shop has some of the better ones I've seen.  The shop group is 10L to join, but the pile of group gifts is way worth it.  Prim feet, mesh feet, silks, dresses and make ups!
  • Happy Undead:  She doesn't have a big inventory, but what she has is nice and reasonably priced.  The micro-mini is hers.  150L, comes in many colors and a couple of styles.  She has a other styles to boot, and small inventory of other nice things.  Including a mini-dress and other styles of skirts.
  •  Stinky Kitty:  The short hoodie I'm wearing is from there.  Mainly intended for the furry folks in SL, us regular humans are welcome too.  I'm a bit too thin for some of her stuff (Be very Sure to try the demos before you buy.) but this item fits me well, and I think is adorable. 

The corset is good old fashioned clothing layer that I've had forever, the hair, some from Grumble I moded with the colored bangs.

Why mesh?  Many of the things I've seen come out in mesh haven't thrilled me.  But if you have ever gotten any prim over the knee boots, or a micro-mini with the prim panel?  You know how hard it is to get them to fit right.  Then when you bend your knees, the boots usually deform.  The prim panel in the dress can stick out oddly, and in some lights wont look the same shade (Sometimes you look like you have a made a mess on your dress!).  Mesh solves these issues.  The boots are one piece and move with your leg, bending correctly.  The mesh skirt is all of a piece and actually flexes with your avatar's movements.  For longer dresses mesh is okay, it doesn't give you the flowing feeling you get with flexi-prims.  I wonder if any designers will make longer skirts or formals using both mesh and flexis.  The result might be quite remarkable.  You do have to find a style that comes in a size that's right for you, the downside of mesh is that, for now at least, one size no longer fits most.