Calamity’s Gentlemen Take Polaroids
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Name of Ensemble:Gentlemen Take Polaroids
Creator: Ariel Zuhal
Shoppe: Calamity
Comments:
Do I ever feel like Mr. Negativity these days! Apologies in advance for another slightly malcontented review. I’m determined to find something light and positive for my next post.
I have been keeping tabs of Calamity’s creations on XStreet for some time now and this week decided to purchase one of their ensembles. The spread of style on their offerings are reasonably varied although heavily “Gothic”, leading to my hopefulness that I’d found a new creator I could count on to supply me with fanciful elegant gothic attire every now and then. Sadly, that will not be the case (unless they modify their creations drastically), which is unfortunate as the general styles and textures are quite nice.
My love of fanciful collars attracted me to the Gentlemen Take Polaroids ensemble. The concept is appealing to me; particularly given my closet ankh fetish which I blame entirely on David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve. But as you can see, Don Cherry is not my fashion plate, and the oversized collar is too much for me. Granted, I have a slight avatar, but not that slight.
And here is where the problems began. All pieces in this ensemble are no copy/no mod. One piece contains resizer scripts that cannot be removed, another piece contains resizer scripts that can be removed and all other pieces (the two collars and the coat bottoms) contain no resizer scripts whatsoever. This is the first time I’ve encountered a schizophrenic ensemble in SL.
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There is a subtlety and even subdued nature to this ensemble that I do enjoy. While I have a penchant for extravagance, sometimes it’s nice to slip into something a little less overt yet still quite elegant.
The velveteen and heavy sheer fabrics and silvery-ebony accoutrements are quite perfect. The real crime is the inability to modify all the prim pieces to satisfaction. The coat bottoms flow reasonably and as expected for a heavier coat.
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While the cuffs may seem massive, I do like the size for my own personal taste. The belt is nicely styled as well. And yes, for once, I opted for no gloves (although it may be the shock of how poorly the ensemble was scripted and assigned permissions).
Again, vest and trouser styling not overly detailed, but still quite attractive.
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This was about the time I discovered the disparate resizer scripts and lack thereof in various prim pieces.
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I felt the coat collar was too large for the coat itself, and most certainly for me. Naturally this was one of the pieces in which there is no resizer script whatsoever.
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Stripping away the layers, we are left with an ensemble that still carries weight.
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Resizing the belt to my waist minimized the beautiful buckle to the point that it was far too tiny. This is the inherent problem with resizer scripts that do not allow resizing of one prim and even if they do, one often has to resize a couple of the prims and then realign the various components manually to look acceptable — if the item is no modify, then this is impossible. When will creators learn?
Still… the shading/lighting on the lapels of the jacket is quite nice.
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While the shirt is not bad, and would look excellent beneath a brocade waistcoat, the texture clashing where the shirt meets trousers is a little hard on the eyes.
However, please note that the trousers display a simple belt if you find the prim belt not to your liking. This can be seen as being both helpful and not — depending on personal preferences.
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My fox self experienced momentary trauma as his tail vanished, consumed by the coat tails. However, attaching a backup tail returned fox to normalcy, although I had to give up the belt in order to do so. Thankfully the system trousers were modify so I was able to shorten them for my digitigrade legs.
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As fox is even smaller than my human self, I really do wish I could edit the prim pieces. But I must say, for all my whingeing, it’s nothing I cannot live with and for larger avatars, it’s doubtful they’ll encounter the same difficulties. I just do not wish to carry around a sign exclaiming “Sorry for lagging your sim, I can’t remove the resizer scripts because the creator is under the misguided notion that this actually protects their creations from being stolen and resold or given away by disrespectful thieves“.
On a final note, I would like to thank Eponymous Trenchmouth, divine creator of the spectacular Jeepers Creepers shoes, for being so kind as to remove the resizer script from the Sebastian shoes (worn in this post). I really need to write a spotlight on shoes in SL. But not for my next post.
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For the most part this ensemble is wonderful and I’m glad to have it in my inventory. But will I buy future ensembles from Calamity? Not unless the creation is truly outstanding in appearance and there is a sane way to modify prim components without compounding script resources.
ETA: Ariel Zuhal has responded to a notecard where I pointed out the lack of modify ability and the resizer script discrepancy. She was very prompt and kind enough to deliver to me a modify/no transfer version of this lovely ensemble. Unfortunately she took offense to my post (see below) and my whinge-fest regarding no mod and resizer scripts. No serious slight was intended, and as I think can be seen in my post, I do believe the outfit has considerable merit. As always, my views are my own and unlikely to reflect any majority.
Other Details:
Shoes: Sebastian – Coal by Eponymous Trenchmouth of Jeepers Creepers
Monocle: GC-Monokel (Dark-Knight clock) by Grazioso Alekseev of Crie Style
Socks: (ashes) nemu suit socks by hyasynth Tiramisu of Silent Sparrow
Photos taken in My Photosphere (which is open for all to use)
Human avatar
- Hair – Elliot (LightBlond) by Six Kennedy of GuRL 6
- Skin – Scorpio Revelation (3A Smooth) by Khai Sinister of The Abyss
- Eyes – Blue Opal by Miriel Enfield of Miriel (very sadly retired)
Fox avatar
- Avatar – Male White Fox by Mephitis Jezebel of Aventity
- Hair – The Dauphin (Powdered) by Siyu Suen of Illusions
On resizer scripts – a word to the creator may be advisable. There are certainly scripts which offer both features you seek: individual resizing of linked prims, and one-click removal of all scripts.
Thank you. Yes, it’s possible the creator made a few uncalculated errors in this item’s design and should be notified. In the end, however, without making the prim pieces modify or at the very least copy, the most advanced resizer script is not going to satisfy a shape-shifting resident (it’s far faster to rotate and move a single prim of a linked set then click through a torturous menu). But maybe it’s just me! Cheers!
No, you are quite right. if an article of clothing is non-transfer and non-modify there is absolutely no reason why it should not be copiable. If it also has good resizing scripts, then a shape-shifter would be able to tailor two or more versions of the outfit and the merchant would have a happy customer with no risk of lost business. That is how I like to do things.
Making items modifiable is, sadly, fraught with danger for the merchant. I see that you have written more on this subject, so I shall read what you’ve said and may append another note if useful.
Hello, I am the designer of this outfit and I would like to make a few comments on this blog.
1) I would advise all SL bloggers to please ALWAYS contact the creator with any problems you have before you publically bash something. Blogs like this can scar a creator’s reputation… and it’s quite unnecessary, not to mention unprofessional and underhanded to write a negative review if there is an easy solution to the issues. In this case, I was happy to provide a modifiable (no transfer) version of the outfit at no additional charge. It was an easy solution.
2) This customer was not misled on this purchase. On the Xstreet listing, the “transfer only” permissions are indicated and the ad photo lists everything that is included, indicating which items are resize scripted.
Always READ before you buy. If you need something different than the description in the listing/ad, contact the creator!
3) Resize scripts make items highly customizable. There is an option to size each individual prim to your liking and you can also reposition the item.
Having an item “no-mod” protects the item from being tinted, retextured or otherwise defaced. It is an artistic decision many designers would agree with me is necessary. Usually resize scripts can do the trick to help the wearer fix fitting issues, however.. if it still doesn’t fit right, again I must stress: CONTACT THE CREATOR!
4) Our designs are made to fit most avatars who shop with us, however, in SL there are many unique individuals… it’s impossible to know what forms might walk into our shop. We pride ourselves on friendly, helpful customer service and working with customers to resolve ANY issues with our creations.
The fact that this writer took time to write this blog without first contacting me leads me to believe he simply enjoys finding something negative to write about. I find it ironic to read the line “When will creators learn?” as if this writer has something to teach us. I would suggest he make his own creations if he thinks to know everything.
Good Luck
Good day, Miss.
A few clarifications would perhaps be prudent at this juncture.
First of all, this is not what I consider a negative review. In fact, if you read my blog entries, you will see that I am simply open about commenting on the positives and negatives. I do praise your ensemble quite a bit but choose to speak frankly about my personal issues with resizer scripts and modify permissions. These are my personal issues and I say as much. In fact, my disclaimer even warns people that these are MY personal thoughts and certainly not a reflection on the majority of consumers. Moving along…
Yes… consumers can contact creators regarding permissions and I have done so with some items. More often than not I’m faced with a “no” — especially where resizer scripts are concerned. For the number of purchases I make and the amount of money I spend in SL, I really don’t have the time to write every single creator whose permissions I have an issue with. I usually take a creator at face value and buy what they feel is worth selling. If they do not understand my personal consumer perspective, then they’re not going to sell according to my personal preferences — and I am but one person with no sway and do not expect people to have the same vision as me.
I do thank you for the mod/transfer version. That was actually quite unexpected and I was going to update this blog entry with your exceptional service response (I’m out of the country on business so have had limited time to do so).
By the way, I never said I was misled with my purchase. At all. I was merely whingeing about permissions and perhaps using (for this I do apologize) this situation as a platform to proclaim my discontent with resizer scripts. I have said this with other ensembles throughout my blog.
Even with a resize script, as I mentioned in my post, I, personally, find it cumbersome to use when compared to manual resizing. Again, this point of view is not shared by everyone… just myself and maybe a handful of others. If creators seriously believe that my voice has that much impact, and my point of view is shared by such a strong majority, then perhaps creators need to re-evaluate their business model. But I seriously doubt that is the case.
While I understand the artistic decision behind no mod on clothing items, I, personally, find such permissions a hindrance as I’ve already stated. Again, my point of view. My angle is not to deface, retexture etc., but to modify for my avatar shape. Yes, it’s my choice to have an avatar shape that is slighter than most, and I could modify my shape to fit the clothes, but that’s not who I am. So I give my money to creators whose clothes I can wear. Again, with the amount I spend on clothes, I’m not going to ask every creator of no mod pieces to make an exception just for me (the only exception is Falln, from whom I occasionally need modify trousers and I have a long-standing relationship with so do not feel too demanding when I ask “Mr. Demain, may I please have xyz trousers modify for my fox avatar. Thank you.”)
Again, if a creator is going to be sympathetic to a customer’s needs that they feel is a predominant purchasing force, then they will make accommodations for this — i.e. offer a mod/no transfer version as well as no mod/transfer. But that’s a lot of work, and I understand why creators do not do this as a rule. Moreover, your profile read to me that you wished no exposure to negativity and this did not encourage me to write you with my personal viewpoint until Mr. Magellan suggested it above.
I actually do not feel compelled to find negative things to write about. Nor do I wish to write solely about perfection — if I did, my blog would be a Silent Sparrow advertisement. Unlike many other bloggers who review only things that are all positive and shiny, I made a commitment to be honest and review with positives and negatives. I think the only creator that has escaped any negative comments may be Silent Sparrow. Even Falln, my other favourite, has had me comment negatively about one aspect or another. One aspect, or even several, of negativity does not mean that the entire creation is unworthy — most of what I buy isn’t worthy of commenting on period. The fact that I do means that I see something of value. I am being honest with my opinions.
And my opinion of your creations is that they are lovely and diverse, but the modify ability is problematic — for ME. This does not constitute a negative review. Just honest. And my opinion — which really, does not carry much weight if any at all.
Besides… would I even take the time to take photos, write a review and even respond to you if all I cared about was demeaning your abilities? No, I wouldn’t. I have better things to do with my time.
I do thank you, most sincerely, for responding to my notecard and providing the service you did and I do apologize for any hard feelings as they were unintentional.
Sincerely,
Elric
Miss Zuhal, I’d like to respond to this comment:
“I would advise all SL bloggers to please ALWAYS contact the creator with any problems you have before you publically bash something. Blogs like this can scar a creator’s reputation… and it’s quite unnecessary, not to mention unprofessional and underhanded to write a negative review if there is an easy solution to the issues.”
The presence of a resizer script that cannot be removed is a fatal flaw. If you produce such things on a regular basis, the only reputation you deserve is a negative one. I would advise all SL content creators to please ALWAYS be sure that your products do not add to lag that will affect everyone around those wearing your products.
Of course Mr Anatine is unprofessional, in the exact sense that he is an amateur. But I have found his reviews remarkably clear and forthright. He is always careful to note that his opinions are just that: opinions, and his. You, however, are a professional–and publicly whining about a negative review is the height of unprofessional behavior.
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