So, as I mentioned in my last post, I have been popping around the new Showcase list, looking at what was there. Have to say I saw some amazing places, which I will go into more detail in a later posting.
For THIS post, I wanted to talk about what happened at one of these places, and what I have done since then.
So, I was just walking around this very nice sim, and some griefer walks up to me, starts swearing at me...and attacks me. I just cannot begin to tell you how pissed off I was. How some people can do that, is just so far out of my realm, that I have to admit, I am at a loss to explain it.
BUT...I started thinking. What can the Average Guy,do to protect himself in the future? And thus a journey began.
So, I started thinking about it. I have used weapons in SL, with my friends, and they can be lots of fun. But, I don't really have a need for them ALL the time. And, to be quite honest, I don't want to be walking around with some weapon hanging off me, JUST in case. Seems like the griefers would win in that case, causing me to change my SL behavior. Can't let THAT happen. :)
So, I started looking into shields. I played with alot of different ones, to see, first if they would actually work for what I wanted, and second, how easy they would work. I have to say, it was a VERY interesting experiment/test.
Now, after all my experiments and testing, I think I have found a VERY effective tool to use in these situations.
Now, just so you understand my modivation here, I was looking for something that could be easily deployed, and basically thwart these juvenile avatars, who think they are SOO funny, when disturbing other people. I was not looking for a weapon, cause that just feeds into the whole thing. Just something to keep them from causing you, as in me, to much hassle.
Most of the sheilds I found are part of an overall weapon system, which was way overkill for what I had in mind. I really had no desire for offensive weapons at this point, for many reasons (I plan on talking about weapons at a later time, for one reason..:) ).
The testing was interesting. I would go to a public sandbox, and basically stand around. Every so often, some avatar would come by and shoot me, or try and drop something on me...weird stuff like that, for no real reason. Was not like I had a sign over my head or something. (I did later, but I will get to that), but that does not seem to be that unusual.
On top of that, people leave traps, and other things around...to annoy people I guess. I started to notice...that my shields were activating....even though I could not see what was activating them. Was kinda interesting.
Now, as I said before, I use Mystitools, and there is a feature in Mystitools that tells me when something has collided with me. I have grown accustomed to that feature, and it would be a nice feature in a shield. I did find one that reported what hit it, but it was not my final pick, so, maybe for future updates...:)
Despite being that curious about what was trying to get to me, I thought about it and realized that to me, the main purpose of the shield was just to keep me where I was, not let some 12 yr old in a basement somewhere disturb me and what I was doing. Does that seem like too tall an order?
I thought about it more, and it seemed there were two scenarios that are part of this. 1) I am just out exploring, and some immature little brat who thinks its fun to be an ass comes along and tries to put a cage around me, or bump me or something, OR 2) I am in a sandbox, working on something, and these same idiots are just out to cause mischeif. Either way, I just dont want to be disturbed.
So, with that in mind, I started sorting through the different sheilds I could find, no matter if there were part of a weapons package or not. I even had a few friends, use some of thier weapons on me, to get a good feel for what the shield might really be capable of. Have to tell you...that part was kinda FUN!
Anyway, going through each one, looking at all thier options, how they worked, how easy was it to use, blah blah blah, I was getting pretty discouraged. Not at the products themselves, cause they were doing what they were designed to do, which was be a tool for battle, just that it was really more than I wanted.
Then it happened. I was looking through a weapons package, and I noticed a object called "Full Shields". Seemed odd, but I put it on. No hud to wear, I even was watching transparent prims, and nothing appeared around me. That in itself was odd, cause most of the shielding seemed to work by puting up an invisible set of prims around you, all the time. At first, I thought something was wrong, since I didn't seem to have actually done anything.
I just kept on working, and was just standing in the middle of a sandbox, sorting my recent inventory into some appropriate folders (I DO try and keep things sorted, but have to say, thank GOD for search), when I noticed something on the screen behind my inventory window. When I minimized it, I saw what looked like a shield, suddenly rezzing between me and this ball that was rolling around me.
Now, I have to admit..this shield thingy looked very cool. But I had no idea what it was. I did a quick filter on my inventory, to see what I was wearing, and quickly discovered that I was still wearing the "Full Shields". As I was doing this, some putz walks up to me...and starts shooting me! That is when the show REALLY started.
I pulled back my camera, and just watched for about 2 minutes, as this .. this ...PERSON, tried to throw everything he had at me, and this shield just kept blocking it, everything was just bouncing off, and I was not moving a centimeter (or even an inch!).
I have to admit, I was impressed. So, I started going around to different sandboxes, to see what would happend (seems there is never a griefer around, when you NEED one, SHEESH!). I also started digging a bit more into this shield I had found. My results were pretty consistant in the sandboxes, even had a few of these guys try and cage me, with very little success. Plus, I have to admit, was kinda fun to see them try!
This particular shield, was part of a bigger package called "Punisher HUD", which I will talk about in a minute. It also had some items called "Interceptors", which is kinda like a shield, but is suppose to "intercept" objects that are moving towards you. I played with those a bit also, and they were kinda interesting, and again, were very simple to use, just wear, and forget!
The "Full Shield" however, seemed to combine the "shield" and the "interceptor" parts, in a very easy to use package. So easy to use, that I would have recommended that people get the whole "Punisher HUD", just for the shielding! I had even thought of sending the creator a note, asking if he would consider selling the shields separatly. Come to find out, however, that the shields, and the interceptors, are ALREADY available separatly! WOOHOO!
Now, I might be able to make a case to go for the whole package anyway, and I will explain that in a moment, but I want to talk about the different components first.
Without getting all technical and such, there are some different options on the interceptors that I found interesting. There is an object interceptor, with different visual options (lights, bling, etc), and there is a Avatar Interceptor, with the same options, but instead of just blocking objects, it blocks Avatars from bumping you.
Most of the time, I think that would just be a nusance, but in certain situations, like working in a sandbox, I can see where that would be VERY handy. And again, VERY easy, just wear and forget!
So, after all this searching, and quite honestly, was not expecting to find anything that was helpful for my original quest, I am THRILLED to say, I think I found another tool, that will find a permanent place in my arsenal!
Ok, so here are the details. There are three actual product packages available. All three of these products are made by Flew Voom, and sold on SLX and Inworld, by B00tsy Compton. According to B00tsy's profile, that is the business account for Flew Voom. So, I guess that means they are one and the same..:)
Here are the links for SLExchange:
The Punisher HUDThe Pulsar R3 InterceptorsAND
The Pulsar R2 Shielding SystemAll three products are also available inworld at
*$*BK*$* Weapons Store & Hangout Prices are as follows:
Punisher HUD - $1250 Lindens
Pulsar R3 Interceptors only - $525 Lindens
Pulsar R2 Shielding System Only - $525 Lindens
Now, if you want some cool weapons along with these awesome shields, I would highly recomment the full Punisher HUD. PLUS, there is a feature that you can share the shields with a friend...which is a VERY cool feature.
NOW...for some pictures..:)
Just me, out for a nice casual stroll
A nafarious character appears
for NO apparent reason, lobs a grenade at me
and its quickly and effectively blocked by my SHIELDS!..YAY!
Then, an attempt to shoot me....
Which you can see, just bounced off, and actually almost got my attacker!
So then, figuring his weapons were ineffective, he would try and bump me..BUT NO DICE THERE EITHER!...muaahahaha
He keeps trying....obviously frustrated!
Tries one last time....and our little encounter is over...
I am always looking for good tools, so please don't hesitate to let me know what YOU like using in SL!
Till next time.
