Will Ross here. Welcome to The Traveling Avatar’s Quick and Dirty tips for a Better Second Life. On this show we discuss tips and tricks for the game Second Life, created by Linden Labs.

This Week’s Episode: Metamorphs: Changing Your Species in Second Life.

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One of the best moments you have when you land in world is when you realize that you don’t have to be chubby anymore, and if you’re a guy like me who’s trying to figure out why the scale is reading twenty pounds heavier than it’s supposed to, that’s a pretty happy day.  But if you want to move beyond just having rock hard abs and a chiseled jaw, you can do that too. If you want, you can become a metamorph and change your shape and species according to you mood.

In a nutshell, a metamorph is a Second Lifer who changes their shape, race, species, or sex on a fairly regular basis, the way most of us change outfits. One of my friends, Raz, usually opts to be a tiny alien, but I have friends who have male and female versions of their avatars, and know a hulking demon or two.  So if you should find yourself growing bored of shopping for yet another pair of stripper boots, maybe it’s time you undergo a more radical transformation.

The first place I’m going to talk about, Hybrid, deals mostly with half-human half-animal avatars (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Gnoma/10/191/46).  You can purchase accessories to transform yourself into a half cat, half fox, or even a half mouse, along with all of the skins, shapes and animation overrides to go with it.  I’m not pushing Hybrid because it’s the best, necessarily, but I have found their ears and tails to be the most user friendly in terms of set up and HUD control.  At Hybrid you can find all the basics you need for your first foray into the half animal lifestyle and several other neat things to boot.  Search for Hybrid, or check out the SLURL on the website.

The second place I want to talk about is Grendel’s Children (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Avaria%20Tor/190/126/250).  At Grendel’s Children you can find really cool avatars like dragons, animals, robots, demons, orcs, trolls, succubi, incubi, and something I can only describe as some sort of walking toadstool.  It’s pretty much a one-stop shop for the aspiring metamorph, and the best part about it is everything is sold dirt cheap, some avatars as low as 150 lindens for a fully scripted avatar.  Now, I have to warn you: one small hazard of shopping at Grendel’s is that on every occasion I’ve visited the store, a tiny dragon has breathed fire on me.  But other than that having to attempt a saving throw versus breath weapon while shopping, it’s top notch.  Search for Grendel’s children, or check the website for the SLURL.

That’s it for this episode!  Stop by the website and check out my Twitter Page, if you want to see what I’m up to on any given day! Send your feedback or question to secondlife@quickanddirtytips.com, and the comment line is 206-888-6975, that’s 206-888-MYSL.  The Traveling Avatar’s Quick and Dirty Tips for a Better Second Life is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips network, so be sure to check us out on the web at QuickAndDirtyTips.com.  

So until next time, insert something snarky here.

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