As a long term SLer I had no idea about the current avatar first creation experience. And can I just say I am shocked at how poor the avatar looked after going through the creation stage and picking one of the offered avatars. It looked ugly. If I was a very time user, and stepped into SL wearing that and looking so terribly unattractive compared to others, I would run away never to return.

I then set out on the 'update her with mesh' path, which also suddenly was going to be an expensive and long winded epic and at one point I couldnt even get into one skin shop, maybe because I was one day old??

Anyhow, remembering past experiences, I decided to throw that idea in the bin and bought her a $L195 model avatar from MP which, with a simple press of a few buttons gave me a very attractive avatar that I could be proud of. I might add this product was available at least back in 2012, and still looks better than most avatars.

Your option - creates a very ugly avatar.

The mesh path - costs a fortune and requires a lot of knowledge and multiple purchases and a lot of time.

The old 2012 model avatar I bought took $L195, about 3 minutes of clicking, and was done, giving me a very attractive and usable avatar.

Maybe you should do a deal with some old avatar makers to give newbies the simple option to at least look fantastic on day one.

Just a thought...

But really, I shuddered when I saw the horrible avatar I was going to walk around with.

Thanks for the AI avatar, she is a very interesting character.