Tag Archives: Avatar

June 28th, 2011 | 1:56 AM

Virtual fashion obsession revisited

Dressing up and regularly changing outfits in Second Life have become as common and generally practiced as in the real world. Most virtual fashionistas would change their avatar’s clothing at least once a day or more. Some have even gone to the extreme of never wearing the same thing twice. In a virtual world where a complete outfit including shoes and accessories will generally cost you no more than $2 to $5 USD it has become very easy and cheap for the fashion obsessed to indulge their addiction with the latest fashions all the time.

I first joined Second Life back in 2007 but due to the terrible new user experience I didn’t stay for very long. General interest in the creative aspects of the 3D virtual world made me return again in late 2008 with a second avatar. The second time around I met really great friends who I’ve remained very close to till this very day. Those friends have helped me get past the new user learning curve and I quickly got drawn into the world of virtual fashion. It wasn’t long before I became one of those fashion obsessed users.

A couple of years down the line I found myself with my fifth main avatar and maintaining this virtual fashion obsession on so many avatars was no longer much fun, instead it became tiring and expensive. I lost the interest in owning multiple avatars and decided to create a new account to be used as my only and thus David Venter was rezzed on November 18, 2010. Yes, I’ve decided to use my real name in Second Life. As much as I still love and obsess over the virtual fashion industry I find it to be very time-consuming, especially when trying to balance various other interests and projects on the side. The great thing about Second Life is that avatars don’t get dirty and clothes never crease, this together with my time constraints made me decide to stop obsessing over changing my virtual outfit daily. Instead, I’ve ended up wearing the same outfit for weeks or even months on end.

Wearing the same outfit for such a long time made it feel like I was neglecting my avatar and fashion obsession. Now, to compensate I’ve decided to change my virtual outfit at least once a week and to stop myself from neglecting this decision I’ve also decided to start publishing a virtual fashion look of the week, every week for as long as I possibly can. This should make me feel good about my avatar again as well as providing a sufficient fix for my virtual fashion addiction whilst still leaving me with enough time and money to pay attention to all my other projects and interests.

Just in case something else pops up, I’m not going to bind myself down by promising an update on a specific day of the week. I will, however be publishing my virtual fashion look of the week somewhere during Mondays through Fridays. Weekends are reserved for “me time” which means that I generally don’t publish anything at all over the weekends unless the articles have been pre-written on the Thursday or Friday and scheduled to go live during the weekend.

Now that I’ve given a tiny glimpse of you can expect from DAVIDVENTER.NET moving forward I hope that you’ll stay tuned to see what outfits I can cook up on a weekly basis. I will most probably end up using some clothing and accessory items in various outfits but each outfit will have its own unique style. This will be done to show that one item of clothing can be a part of many themes and that you don’t always need to cough up money for an entirely new outfit when you can instead just mix and match what you’ve got to create a brand new look. To kick things off I’ve put together a very special outfit which can only be re-produced in very rare cases. Watch this space.

May 13th, 2011 | 2:48 PM

Why I chose to live a Virtual Life

It’s been a while since I’ve actually written a full article here on my website. While enjoying a glass of sparkling grape juice and flipping through some Second Life magazines this morning, I suddenly felt the urge to write again. Various distractions have stopped me from focusing on specific topics so I have once again turned to OmmWriter for some peace and quiet while I write this article.

As you may have noticed, I’ve checked myself into Linden Lab in San Francisco via Foursquare just the other day. Truth be told, I just did that to give you guys an indication of which time-zone I currently operate in. I am actually still physically sitting at my family home in Johannesburg, South Africa but my virtual Avatar is in fact roaming the servers of Linden Lab. My life is a Second Life. While some may feel that such a virtual lifestyle is an escape from reality or nothing more than a massive multiplayer role-playing game, I feel quite the opposite and would like to share my thoughts with you here today as to why exactly I have chosen to live this lifestyle.

Second Life is not a game or a 3D chat room, it is a complete lifestyle that can best be described as, or roughly compared to popular movies such as Avatar, Gamer and Surrogates. To further elaborate on exactly how I feel about living this virtual lifestyle I’m going to quote directly from the Surrogates movie script:

“The ability to leave your home without risk of disease or injury, to have perfect looks without trips to the gym or plastic surgery. – Right now we are witnessing an event that is of evolutionary significance. The things that were once unimaginable have become inevitable. – We are the creators.”

Having a Second Life is very much like owning a “surrogate.” In this world anything is possible and you can go anywhere and do anything without any physical risk to your personal well-being. You can also do things which are impossible to accomplish in the real world. In the virtual world we are not constrained by natural laws such as gravity or bodily needs such as rest or hunger. You can log in from your couch, still wearing your pajamas with messy hair and at the same time be taking part in a professional business meeting or a grid-wide beauty pageant on a platform hovering in mid air with people flying and teleporting in from all locations to join the occasion. Getting tired or hungry in the real world? Log off, eat something, take a nap, or snack behind your computer while you’re logged in at a virtual club or busy surfing the crisp virtual waves of the Second Life seas. Can’t find something you’re looking to do, see, own, wear, attend or operate? Create it, or hire someone who can. Your only constraint or limitation is that of your imagination.

This is why I choose to live a Second Life, spending the majority of my day in the safety and comfort of my own home while still living a full and happy life with many others from all over the globe who feel the same way. I’m not in Second Life because I have no real life or friends to hang out with in the real world. I am on Second Life because I choose to not go clubbing or shopping for outrageous items in the real world. I am in Second Life because I choose to hang out with virtual friends instead of real friends, for no matter to where I physically relocate, I can always log in and still have the very same friends, business partners, and experiences.

In my mind, a Second Life is a stable life, free from the dangers that you would face if you happen to do the same outrageous things in the real world. It is however important to have a stable real life, or first life before you can entirely immerse yourself in a Second Life – For there to be a second, there must be a first. Some may have concern that eventually the Second Life would entirely consume the first. I’ve heard of many people who lost their jobs and partners due to spending too much time in Second Life but on the contrary I’ve heard of many more who have become so successful in Second Life that it enhanced and enriched their first life, both financially and emotionally. I too, am working toward that enrichment.

Some Second Life residents choose to remain completely anonymous. While I completely understand and respect while some people would like to hide their Second Life events or appearance from the real world and vice-versa, I personally have no problem with sharing any information about either. Because I see Second Life as a complete lifestyle and an extension of my real life, not just a role-playing game. I am who I am both in the real and in the virtual world. Now you may be wondering, where does this leave my real world friends, family, business partnerships and love life?

I would conduct business as usual – after all, there has to be a first life in order to maintain a second until the second is strong enough to maintain the first. If my real life family were to join Second Life, I would consider them my Second Life family. My real life boyfriend is also my partner in Second Life. As for those with whom I have become really close in Second Life such as my virtual friends and family, I consider them as friends in the real world and would treat them no different if we were to ever physically meet in-person. And business, well… Business is business and you’re dealing with the real David Venter whether you’re conducting business with me in the real world or in Second Life.

After re-reading parts of this article I’ve come to realize that it may seem as though I have given up on attempting to achieve great things in the real world due to my virtual lifestyle. While I may be suffering some depression at the moment, I still have many plans, hopes and dreams to accomplish in the real world and I will never stop working towards them. To me my first and my Second Life is one and the same and I give sufficient effort and energy in both to not only ensure survival but also nourish growth and future success.

Thank you for reading this article about some of the reasons why I choose to live a virtual lifestyle in Second Life and I hope that you found it interesting and informative. I may continue this article with a second part or series as I delve deeper into myself to find more reasons for my choice and obsession.

If you are also living a virtual life in Second Life I would like to hear your “why” – Please comment below or email your story via the Contact Page, I would also gladly accept any guest post requests on the topic. Click here to get in touch.

If you’re not a Second Life resident, please do look me up should you decide to cross the line and take the plunge into Second Life.

6 Replies

April 22nd, 2011 | 8:51 PM

The “Faggot!” Tees are back – Now in 4 colors!

A while ago I introduced various graphic tees to the Second Life™ Marketplace. I had initially planned to launch an entire virtual fashion line but to this date I haven’t had enough time to actually work on producing something of high quality. One particular graphic t-shirt was my best-seller and has managed to make me a good couple of USD since it’s release on the marketplace. Now, back by popular demand I offer the same graphic tee in 4 colors:

The previous edition of the pink Faggot! tee was available for L$85 – This time around I am selling these for only L$75 ($0.62 USD) each, or the entire set for only L$250 ($1.37 USD) – Click here to visit my store on the Second Life Marketplace™ and grab one of these tees, sure to make a statement! These tees may become available for real world purchase again at $29 USD excl. shipping depending on how many requests I receive to have them re-printed.

I also plan on bringing back the Showtime! Complete Outfit as well as various other Avatar Apparel & Accessories, and Home & Garden Accessories in Second Life™ (If and when I eventually get some time to produce quality material) Watch this space for more virtual goodies coming up soon.

October 5th, 2010 | 2:39 PM

Introduction to My Virtual Life

I’ve realized that you guys haven’t really learnt much about my virtual life yet, so I’m going to make an active effort to share it with you staring today. As some of you may know I am an active Second Life resident and content creator. I enjoy life in the online 3D virtual world where I have my own store, luxury beach house in a tribal community and the ability to virtually create and own everything that my heart desires. Before I get into finer detail about everything I would like to point out that Second Life is not a game, and you are seriously underestimating the power and realism of this virtual world if you think otherwise. The Second Life virtual world has its own economy with Linden Dollars Trading against the US dollar, all avatars/characters within the virtual world are controlled by real people such as myself. All content within the Second Life virtual world is user generated and some Second Life residents make a full-time stable income from selling their virtual creations to other residents in-world (Term meaning: In Second Life). Now let me take you on a really quick tour of my second life.

David Valerian is not my first avatar. I’ve been an active Second Life resident since 2007 but since I’ve wanted to start fresh and integrate my First and Second Life personalities and blog I have decided to create this new avatar. This also meant that in terms of content creation and sales I have to start fresh and create new content for my new store. I haven’t had much time due to personal issues but I have decided to start with some graphic shirts, later on I will create some virtual buildings and furniture again, and perhaps even go deeper into virtual fashion design instead of simply doing graphic shirts. My virtual store is named after yours truly with a pretty obvious slogan “[DV] Design by David Venter*” – Since I am just starting out there is no point in me getting a huge plot of land which I can’t afford at this point anyway so I have taken advantage of my Second Life Premium Account which offers 512sqm free land, included in the membership fee without having to pay extra tier feeds. Tier fees in Second Life is basically like paying for website hosting. If you own property on the Linden Lab owned mainland you need to pay tier directly to Linden Lab and in order to purchase land on the mainland you need to be a premium account member. Alternatively you can rent land from a resident-owned private estate or “sim” for which you don’t need to be a premium account member. In taking advantage of my premium account benefits I set up a little store, about 2000m up in the sky in a little black box. Here is a sneak peak of what it looks like on the inside, please pardon the bad picture quality, this was a quick screen-shot without any post production:

Those boxes that you see on the walls are my vendors, when I create content I place them inside these vendors and add a texture advertisement on top. Second Life residents can then purchase my virtual creations from these vendors. As you can see to the right, I have already placed some of the graphic tees that I have created for Second Life. The other vendors are reserved for future use. I plan to divide my store up into sections: Architecture, Fashion, Furniture and Special Items. If you are familiar with Second Life and would like to pop into my store you are welcome to do so at the following location: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Harbourne/184/203/2001 – For those of you who aren’t familiar with Second Life clicking on that link will take you to a satellite view map (powered by google maps) of the Second Life virtual work, pinpointing the location of my store, allowing you to teleport directly into my store. Clicking on the teleport button will launch the Second Life viewer (if you have it installed). If you don’t have the Second Life viewer installed you will not be able to visit my virtual store in-world. This will probably not be a permanent location but I will keep this as my main store until I generate enough L$’s to purchase a larger parcel of land. Here’s hoping that my new virtual creations will generate some income, I desperately need it!

Moving on my to my actual virtual life: I do own a parcel of land on a privately owned themed region which costs me about USD $20 a month depending on the L$/USD exchange rate. This parcel of land contains my virtual home, a place where I spend a lot of time. Whenever I am working on my computer for actual real world work or studying online through Ashworth College you will find the virtual me relaxing in my virtual home, most of the time there would be a couple of friends with me. We would just chill there and watch something on my virtual TV or listen to the radio while enjoying the scenery. Yes Second Life has its own live television station with news, sports, fashion, lifestyle channels covering live in-world events. Check out Treet.TV for more information. Here is a sneak peak of my current virtual home, once again please pardon the bad picture quality as this was also just a quick screen-shot without any post production:

This parcel of land is slightly larger than that of my store, and the main reason that I wanted to get it in the first place was to be able to have space to build. The house here on the ground is just me taking advantage of the space which I have available, but the real magic happens up in the sky on my building platform: Here is a sneak peak of my latest work-in-progress (once again pardon the bad picture quality, this was simply a quick screen-shot), It’s still far from finished and I am still unsure of what exactly it’s going to be, most probably a house.

Due to some personal issues I have no idea if I will be able to keep this specific parcel of land much longer unless my financial situation improves drastically very soon. I might need to revert to building in sand boxes (areas in Second Life where residents are allowed to “build” freely with all objects being automatically returned to resident inventory at set intervals). I really hope that I can hold on to this parcel of land because its extremely annoying and inconvenient to build when objects are automatically returned all the time. Fortunately due to my annual premium subscription my store wont be going away any time soon, here’s hoping that I will be able to renew my USD $75 premium annual membership when it expires in May, 2011.

I really do love the freedom of expression and infinite opportunity for creation in Second Life. The only limitation is your imagination. If you can imagine it, and have graphic design, 3D design and scripting skills then you can literally create ANYTHING, and sell it for real money too. Although the commerce and economy was one of the ruling factors in pulling me into the virtual world, I cannot ignore the great friendships that have developed within Second Life. From a communication perspective, Second Life is basically a 3D virtual social network or meeting room, chat room if you will. All business, virtual content creation and role-playing aside, Second Life is a great way to communicate with friends, family and even co-workers. I highly recommend that you read this article on virtual living for uncapped internet users and the future of the workplace about real world companies using Second Life as a meeting space. I have met many great friends and business partners in Second Life and because of those strong connections alone I will never be able to completely leave the virtual world.

There simply isn’t enough time for me to explain everything about Second life and more specifically my virtual life here in one article but that is why I have created the Second Life Blog. Stick around, check back often and share my life with me, both in the real world and in Second Life.

2 Replies

September 4th, 2010 | 6:11 AM

Real vs. Virtual Me (( Second Life ))

So I popped into Second Life today and decided to update my virtual profile picture since the old one didn’t really look like me. It’s been my mission on Second Life to get my avatar to resemble the real me. With help from Ryan Tuni I have managed to find some virtual hair and update my Second Life profile picture to resemble my real photo. Have a look at real vs. virtual me below:

REAL ME:

VIRTUAL ME:

Thanks to Ryan for doing the photo post production for my new Second Life profile picture. Still not sure what exactly Second Life is? Click here to learn more about Second Life. If you ever decide to join, look me up under avatar name ‘David Valerian’