CNN iReport

It had been years since Second Life's starting 12 avatars, 6

male, 6 female, had undergone any renovation. On June 10th, 2008 that changed.

Not only were there new avatars available for new accounts, but all the new

avatars (avs) became available in everyone's library folder of the inventory.

Now when a person starts in Second Life they have 12 avs from which to choose:

5 guys, 5 girls, a box character and a dragonlet. There are sixteen complete

avs available. Open Inventory, close the folder "My Inventory" Open

the "Library" folder, then the "Clothing" folder. The

original avs and the new ones are all there. Drag a folder onto your avatar and

you are off and running. Experienced Second Life residents will recognize the

orignal avs in the first picture above.

Noteable in the group is a pair of business attired avs, a

few with skin color other than white, some musicians, some game player avs and

most noteably, Prims. Prim hair, prim shoes and in the case of the box and

dragonlet, prim everything!

Vendors in Second Life, rather than Linden Labs created many

of the new avs. The folders contain a 'by' phrase with their name and inside a

notecard explaining who made the av. This reporter contacted av makers to see

what impact it has had. Wraith Unsung of Fairy's Grove Creations,

(http://www.fairysgrovecreations.com/Blog) said, "So far, neither my sales

or my traffic has risen in any significant way.  At first I was getting some pretty mean emails from people who

claimed I was some kind of insider and was benefiting unfairly, and that they

were going to support boycotting of my products.  I have only seen 2 people in my store with the New Avatar (Gamer

Male by Wraith Unsung) on.  I have received

5 or 6 calling card offers from New Users that needed help.  That is about the extent of the affect this

has had on my business." Kaejo DaSilva Renegade - Warehouse Shopping

District (http://renegadeclothing.blogspot.com/) reported, "I thought it

would be such a great boon to my business that I'd be rollin, but it turned out

the publicity didn't do squat. In fact, my sales have never been lower, but I

think that's coincidence." Renegade Clothing provided 4 avatars and helped

with another. Sachi Vixen of Adam n Eve, (http://www.adam-n-eve.co.uk/) provided

four avs and collaborated on one also: "It is not possible to determine

the exact effect of our inclusion in the library, however there have been a few

people mention that they saw our stuff there, and there seems to be an

increased interest in our business from news reporters. As for financial

benefits of our inclusion, there has been no appreciable change in traffic or

income." Flea Bussy of Grendel's Children

(http://www.psyra.ca/avaria.html), Boxbot, Dragonlet, "Business really

hasn't changed except it has given folks a suggestion that we exist in

SL."

How did these vendors come to be included? What was the

qualification? Each respondent reported they were contacted by Linden Labs. The

qualification was that the av be complete with skin, apparel and prims.

Contributors were paid a small, undisclosed amount and the notecards were an

option offered by Linden Labs.

The vendors interviewed seem to be prolific in their content

contribution to the Second Life community. Grendel's Children is widely know as

THE place to go for non-human avs. Flea of Grendel's added, "We're more

than a store! The landscapes below are well worth visiting!" Wraith Unsung

said, "The bulk of the value to me was to help increase New User retention

rates, something that HAS to happen!" So many people create accounts with

Second Life and don't continue. Part of it could be the dated appearance of the

avs that were available. The lion's share of the reason for the bad retention

has to be the steep learning curve. One thing is sure, the new avs are

certainly more indicative of what is possible in Second Life. Kudos go to

Linden Labs for this initiative and to the creators that contributed. Check out

the work they did. You will be impressed.