When I first came to Second Life, alongside the newbie human avatars as choices for one’s first look was one nonhuman, the old ringtail avatar Luskwood donated to Linden Labs. I did find a few free furred avatars in my newcomer period, but aside from the purple kitty avie, nothing seemed an improvement until I had the cash to buy a better avatar.
Later, I heard the newbie ringtail had been done away with as an option. So where could a newcomer go to get a furred av, particularly one with a quality look?
It was about that time I found out an answer: the Wingless Avatar package, a collection of quality avatars once sold, now free for the asking.
The Wingless Avatar package is a gift to the residents of SL from the avatar designer Wingless Emoto. He once sold his avatars through a retailer, but a dispute occurred and the business partnership dissolved. Unfortunately for Wingless, the contract signed stated he could not sell the avatars in the deals with him through anyone else. So Wingless decided to make them freely available, people able to grab a package at locations, or transferable from person to person. Some carry them not to wear, but to pass to newcomers to SL or those around for a while curious about furry avatars or wanting a different look. Some locations have individual Wingless avatars up for sale for 10L. But this is against the wishes of Wingless Emoto.
And the package has an impressive variety of avatars. There are many colors, red, white, blue, pink, rainbow, etc., of both wolf and fox-type avatars, both being popular furred av varieties in SL. There are also a few hyena and horse avs in the package. Rezzing the box on a sandbox and unpacking it, one gets a folder filled with each avatar, boxed. One has to rezz and unpack each avatar.
Each of the avatars come in both male and female skins. Modifiable, the avies offer a choice of either plantigrade (walk on the heel like a normal human foot) or digitgrade (walk on the ball on the foot) lower legs. The latter looks more exotic, though sometimes one can see the shadow of the invisiprims, and long pants worn end up looking cut off with a ring of fabric around the ankles. There is an option for small or large hands/paws. For the wolf avs, A Customization HUD gives you the option of showing canine teeth or not, and choosing the color of eyes, paws, claws, and the inside of ears. Another HUD, “Control,” allows for options for twitching ears, wagging tails, blinking eyes, and blushing.
It should be noted one doesn’t *have* to wear the whole avatar. I have seen some kitsune-style nekos who told me their ears and tails came from Wingless avatar parts. As there are several styles of hair that come with the av, this means a few free hairpieces. A good place to look if you need one in a hurry upon getting a av with no hair.
The Wingless Avatar Package can be found in a number of locations, from freebie shops to avatar stores, though in any place in SL with some furs among the residents, it shouldn’t take long to find someone who has it and get a copy.
A truly great package of free avatars.
{edit} A package of Wingless avatars can be found near the front door of Dana Vanmoer's store in
Caprona (93, 92, 31). {/edit}
Bixyl Shuftan
