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Adjustments: Just My Opinion

There have been a fair amount of changes in Phil's domain of late and very few seem to have much to do with "Phil". And yes, I know he is gone, but his memory will be with us for many years.

Lots of long time bloggers have gone on hiatus (welcome back Achariya - didn't make it that month I see * big grin *), others have left or like me changed directions. Designers have been on vacation also, some for-e-ver. Some returning creators are obviously in lackluster mode. Maybe they are tired of designing (I hear that). Maybe they miss the money they made in the good old days (I hear that too on a tiny scale).

Many that are still working have joined in the template "madness" where creativity get's thrown into the dumpster in favor of ease. I'm not making judgements here, but that last trend definitely put me over into the "why am I doing this?" camp --- one that seems to be expanding. There are actions and reactions to those actions; that is just the way the Universe works.

And now once again we have a ripple in the HUNT space-time continuum. We know we have a to-the-power multiplication of hunts from a year ago. There are so many, the hunters frequently find prize vendors from other hunts before they find the one they are looking for. Even the "good" hunts are getting bad press from the hunters. And, in at least one sense, I am in that camp with them. It is a shame really, that a percentage (I would like to say small here but that isn't accurate) of hunt retailers spoil it for the other content creators in the hunt.

This last "shrunken and recolored symbols" fiasco is definitely making an impact. I went out tonight to a few of the stops and I was the ONLY one in the store; no hunters and no shoppers. Not good. Many retailers have put their marketing energies and hopes into hunts. In that past that was certainly a good bet, but I wonder now. I have a just as many shops on my "never, if hell freezes over" list as I do in my "oh, that's a cute shop -- I'll come back and visit later" one.

I loved the STEAM hunt and I am sure that there will be other stellar hunts in the future. I picked up a few hunt cards from those happening in the months to come and noted that at least one had the prerequisite of owner made (no template) items as well as no more than 30 meters from the landing point. I didn't notice a "thou shalt not recolor or resize down" edict, but that would have been nice. We'll see how it goes but the atmosphere is not good.

I also noticed that on at least one hint site there are several new hunts with no hints at the request of the hunt organizers. OK. If you make your own hint list that works, but I'm betting that all those hunts with no hints anywhere (especially if some items are REALLY hidden) will venture towards ghost town populations. I know that I'm not heading out to the ones I have no help with. I have a bad taste from some other hunts of late. Not the future hunt's fault; just how it is.

We do have alternatives. We have the bobbing event at the Wash Sims. We have the great adventure at Sn@tch where you get a game AND goodies. And hopefully we will have other innovative and FUN directions to explore.

Even some designers are publicly making note of something amiss in SL. No link here, but if you read the feeds you know them. So where do we go from here? What can we do to rekindle the sparks that made us love SL six months ago? A year ago? Two years?

We can make our own adjustments. I've made several these last few weeks and I am happy with them all. I gave up the fashion blogger rat race (maybe not for you, but it became that for me), returned to what I love and did things my own way. Sure, I have lots fewer review copies coming in, but I don't feel like I have to immediately put them on and post them either. They do often make their way into posts -- in their own time and in theme. I've also been working on a little shop, mostly service oriented and you'll hear about that sometime soon. I'm not in any hurry and I honestly don't care if it goes anywhere. I've just had a great time getting it all together.

And that's the trick isn't it? Finding what makes the days fly by rather than seem like work. I suggest, if you are one of those down in the SL dumps, that you do a little soul searching and try and remember what made your days so bright. You may get to return to those times with the same theme -- or you just might need to make some adjustments.

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