Thursday 3 March 2016

Prim or Not ~ Having Babies in Second Life


Lisa Weeden said, “Being a family means you are part of something wonderful. It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life”. 


Virtual  families are no less, less bonded. VR families have parents, grand parents, god parents, uncles and aunts; an array of sometimes annoying cousins and next to kin like brother and sisters who share a bond, not by blood but by sheer love. Love is a bond that makes them stronger than any other bond which am sure you will agree too. Families can either be made of members who are real people behind avatars, roleplaying to be child, toddler, baby, teenager or even an adult; or prim babies created by residents to make the family roleplaying more realistic and fun.
There are a number of prim babies ranging from interactive babies, wandering babies to non-interactive babies. The following are a few examples under each category:(*Note:The prices mentioned are only for the human babies. The nursery items are not included. It also excludes the things that baby needs like the diaper bag etc.)

Interactive babies:
  • Zoobys = L$ 5000
  • Lyuboff =  L$ 699 (new born) L$1999 (age 8 to 36 months)
  • Funsies = L$ 2500
  • Baby Tatu = L$ 3000 (previous version) L$ 900 (Lite version)
  • PooterBilt = L$ 1000
  • Sexy Mamas = L$ 3000
Non-Interactive babies:
  • Prim baby = L$ 300 (this is the hospital charges only)
  • Kitten Krescendo = Free
  • Googoo Babies = L$ 1599
  • Sexy Mamas = L$ 700
Wandering babies:
  • Spumelogy Studio
A few adoption centers have their own prim babies like Baby mania (https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/71359). The adoption centers may choose the kind of baby they deliver, however, the parent/s may which baby they would like to have before delivery.

The next big question is which to adapt or have. This decision purely rests on you. But if you are going to decide by which is the most popular, here are a few opinion polls. The questions asked were:

  1. Which is their most favorite prim baby or which prim baby according to them is the most popular and why?Do they have it?
  2. Would they prefer a baby avatar (an actual person roleplaying behind the avatar as a  kid) or a prim baby (the one made of mesh or prim)?
  3. At what age do you think, one should adapt a baby avatar for a complete family roleplay experience?

Photography Credits: Joycieselphie Larimore

Joycieselphie Larimore: I think its the Zooby's because for me it looks like more realistic. I can feel being a parent and it looks cute. Yes, I have one. I would like a prim baby because I don't like an adult person portraying to be a baby. In Zooby', I love their script as they can grow and it is always available when I want them to be with me. I want to take care of them and see them grow. I don't need a baby who can talk. Prim babies are more realistic for me if I can see them just crawling and play with blocks. As of now, I don't see any prim baby that is much better than Zooby'. May be if I can find one then why not try it too.


Photography Credits: Radiance Snowpaw

Radiance Snowpaw: Oh goodness, I honestly have no clue with that one. I think Toodoodle is a prim baby right? I'm not up to date with the SL prim/mesh babies. I don't, I think I had one like 4 or 5 years ago but I honestly don't remember where I got it from. I've just recently come back to SL on a full time basis so prim and/or avi babies will be in my future. I think you should be at least a year into SL before you even think about starting a SL family. I think that't enough time to really get to know what SL is about and get a feel for the people you're hanging with.


Photography Credits: Shalanie Tann

Shalanie Tann: I like the Zooby's and I think it is the most popular because it is most realistic baby in roleplaying experience. Zooby babies work with a large variety of babies also. For me, I want baby avataria because I want to communicate to the baby; talk, play, feel the love that he or she can give to me. It is fun and more real. Toddler is a cute age to adapt. In my other alt account, my live-in partner already had a prim baby before we met.

Photography Credits:Srikandi Lennier

Srikandi Lennier: I think on-duty is popular among prim babies because it's cheap. I would prefer a baby avatar cause we can interact and it would feel more real. Among prim babies, I like the Zooby, others I don't know. I only have 2 on-duty and zooby babies. I think the right age to adapt is since first born. It is more nice and wonderful.


Photography Credits: TheGridWorld

TheGridWorld: My favorite among prim babies are the Zooby and the Lyuboff. Although, I think, I like Zooby better as I think they are cute. I do not have a baby yet but in future I think I will like to have a Zooby newborn. The age to have a baby avatar would be when the Zooby has reached it’s maximum age and I would like the baby to grow and talk and move on with life and have a family of her own. I guess, I like to have son-in-laws and daughter-in-laws too.

Among, the number of babies that have been developed over the years by awesome creators, Zooby by far has won almost every heart. In the words of Carrie Tatsu, the creator, from an interview I had taken for my blog, 4m my Eyes (http://4m-my-eyes.blogspot.in/2014/09/behind-scenes-success-story-of-zoobys.html), she said, "I think our success was due to the babies functionality and its development over time. We never forced anyone to pay to grow their baby, but if they cared for their baby, it would grow and learn and earn tokens for free toys. So the incentive was if the owner did these things then a reward was provided." Not only among the customers/ end users for its interactivity, Zooby' have grabbed the market of the sellers selling clothing, furniture and accessories for zooby babies. As Carrie Tatsu, points out, that it is impossible for a single creator-cum-seller to meet the increasing demands in the market. This is where the residents who are also the sellers come in selling and providing wide range of options for clothing, furniture and accessories for the end users. Eventually, it all sums up and helps it in making it popular.


Irrespective, of people selecting, prim babies or baby avatar, one thing is constant, the look and the interactivity between them and the baby is very crucial to everyone. It is that, that makes virtual living and virtual experience, more real and close to heart.


*Note: This article was originally written for SL Enquirer.




1 comment:

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