BY STAFF WRITER JELLIE ARROWMINT
The recent Firestorm viewer has caused a few conversations between myself and others…
’If Phoenix is good why not stick with that?’
‘It’s V2 compatible? Noo00oooo00oooo!’
I’m quite happy with Firestorm. Its graphics are sharper, things take less time to rezz, and I’m used to the Viewer 2 interface. There’s just one thing that’s bugging me, something that probably shouldn’t, but it’s me, so it does.
In Phoenix and other viewers I’ve tried, if you want to edit your preferences, it’s simple: Go to ‘Edit’- Preferences. In Viewer 2 go to ‘Me-Preferences’. In Firestorm go to ‘Avatar’- Preferences.
What’s the problem, you ask? The problem is the word ‘Avatar’ being where ‘Me’ used to be seems to depersonalise or create a gap between the user and the Avatar. Ok, I know I’ve written before about how my Avatar is a reflection of myself, and this may not be a big deal to some, but to me it is. It’s as if the makers of Firestorm are telling me ‘You’re separate- the two worlds or lives are not connected’. I’m not going to waffle on about how I think they are, and I don’t think any less of this viewer for changing one simple word; I guess it’s just something that’s going to bug me until I get used to it.
All in all I like this viewer, and am more than happy to provide you with a link so you can download it. Why not give it a try and let me know what you or your avatar thinks.
On the Web: Phoenix Viewer Downloads
I’ve been trying to give it a chance, but just like the Linden viewer I find it incredibly frustrating. I watched the intro tutorial. The picture seems clearer, but that’s about it. Not quite as bad as viewer 2 but still aggravating.
As for the avatar thing… I know what you mean. I’m not keen on the word. When people talk about “my ava” or refer to themselves as if a separate person, just means they use SL a bit differently than I do I suppose. What you see in SL is “me” . . . but if I use an alt to model or something, I notice I am more apt to refer to it in the 3rd person.