Like a Gnubie

I had to start a new account to test something for a client, and so I took the opportunity to spend an hour or so as a newbie.  Of course, I realise it isn’t a fair comparison, because I already know all about how to move and navigate etc.  The first change since I was a newbie is that basic accounts begin with $O lindens, and so even the goods at the Gnubie store are out of reach.  I wanted to see how well I would fare without transferring Lindens from my main account to the new one, and so I spent a little time at HippiePay island, to gather around 50 lindens.  You can camp, or fill in questionnaires on the web.  Most of these for the UK seemed to lead to things which link into your mobile phone:  free tunes, free texts, free wallpaper.  Whether they ARE free or condemn you to a life of calls from people trying to sell you stuff, I don’t know, I didn’t sign up for any of the free stuff.  I shall have to ask TD who did this some time ago whether it led to trouble.  I have had no spam at all so far on the email account I registered with, so if it suddenly starts arriving in wagon loads, I shall know who to blame!

Once I had $50 lindens, I went over to the Gnubie store in Indigo, which is run by Jai Nomad.  Jai happens to have been one of the first people I talked to in SL, and someone whose work I have always admired immensely.  The Gnubie store has developed into a really useful resource for new people in SL.  There are good-quality clothes, skins, hair and jewllery available for both male and female avatars, and also buildings, scripts, textures and furniture. Unlike a lot of the free stuff places, the items here have all been consciously donated by the creators, they are well organised and the shop itself is well laid out.

The free skins tend to have underwear glued into them, but that’s a small price to pay for the quality that’s available here for $0 or $1 linden.   As you can see from my picture, I stopped looking like a newbie pretty quickly.

There are clothes to suit every style, including some great Goth clothing for men and for women from Jennyfur Peregrine, including shoes and underwear.  There are some really top-quality outfits, from some of the best creators in SL, and jewellery too.  To be honest, I think that a visit to Gnubie, followed by a visit to Numbakulla, to pick up the free outfits there (which include bikinis with sarongs from Ambyance2 Anubis) and any newbie is kitted out for anything.

The licence under which these items are made free, means that they should not be sold on.  Giving free things freely to other people is encouraged.