A few months ago I wrote an article called "Good-Bye Ruth", explaining that I had introduced a newbie to the wonderful world of Second Life only to discover the difficulties with the mesh starter avi's. Eventually she had to transform back to the 2003 Ruth character in order to do anything with her shape, skin and clothing. I was very concerned how this would effect the many new people joining Second Life since a great deal of the allure was being able to turn the ugly duckling starter character into a likeness that reflected our personalities.
Linden Lab has announced new mesh starter avatars that are better looking and easier to work with. The previous mesh avi's were "ugly" as my friend had called them. There is also an option to choose the classic starter avatars when first creating an account.
Thank you Linden Lab for listening to residents concerns and addressing this. The first few hours in Second Life could either bring in a new addict or chase potential new residents away.
