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Maitreya Lara, the iconic mesh body that revolutionized Second Life over 8 years ago, is getting a much-anticipated update. The creators of Lara are proud to announce the upcoming release of Lara X, a next-generation version that brings a whole new level of realism and customization to the virtual world. As a blogger reporting the news, I am excited to share all the details with you.
When Lara was first introduced, it quickly became the most popular body on the Second Life grid. It was created with the goal of staying close to the default Second Life avatar, allowing users to seamlessly integrate their existing wardrobe with the Lara body. However, in recent years, that restriction has gradually been lifted thanks to the efforts of thousands of content creators in Second Life.
The request for a Lara mesh body update has been pouring in, and the team behind it has listened attentively. One of the most common requests was for a more curvy and detailed Lara with smoother weights. Content creators expressed their challenges in designing for Lara, which resulted in some abandoning Lara sizes altogether. The creators understood the need to improve the weights while being mindful of not breaking existing content.
After careful consideration, the team has found a solution that will benefit all Lara mesh body users. They are introducing Lara X as an extra in the upcoming update, rather than a replacement. With Lara X, users will experience smoother weights and enhanced mesh details, without losing any of the original Lara body features. This means that every Lara mesh body owner or buyer will receive Lara X for free, alongside the original Lara body, allowing them to effortlessly switch between the two according to their preference.
Lara X brings a new level of customization, empowering users to create their ideal virtual selves. The improved weights ensure that clothing and accessories fit flawlessly, while the enhanced mesh details offer a stunning level of realism. Whether you prefer a more curvy physique or crave intricate details, Lara X has it all.
The creators of the Lara mesh body are thrilled to offer Lara X as a free addition to their loyal user base. They are committed to fostering a community where everyone can embrace their individuality and enjoy Second Life.
I am also thrilled to announce an exciting collaboration between Maitreya and Velour in celebration of the upcoming Lara update. Maitreya has partnered with Velour to introduce the highly anticipated Picasso Babe Skin Line for the new Lara X body. This collaboration brings together the expertise of Maitreya in mesh body design and the artistic vision of Velour in creating stunning and realistic skin textures. Although the Picasso Babe skins have not been released yet, this preview showcases the significant progress and enhancements made to the Lara X body. Stay tuned for more updates as we count down the days to the official launch of this extraordinary collaboration.
References
Maitreya Inworld Store
Velour Inworld Store
FAQs
Q: When will Lara X be released?
A: The release date for Lara X has not been disclosed yet. Stay tuned for official updates from the creators of the Lara mesh body for more information on the release date.
I am so excited for the updated new body!!!!!!
will current skins work well with the X? I love my Skinnery
Hello Kizmet, I can confirm that it works with all BOM skins, just as they said.
I Love the Lara body, I have heavily editd to to match the only model I have -Me- and I am on the smallish side. (OK ok, a step above a hobbit but shhh, I”ll punch you in the knee. No comments needed)
Don’t forget about us small girls. Expanding to a giant size (Over over 6.5-7 feet?) is always messing with me. Remember us petite, small, short, stick-like or roundish girls. I am 5’4 inworld(shorter in RL)
Please don’t forget us vertically challenged ones. I do like the smoother looks! Keep up the great work! Just please remember us who come up to your hip…or less. WE make good drink tables with our heads in the taverns.
G.
~~ sighs for the long wait ~~
This is very, very, very clever of the Maitreya team.
I can imagine that, starting from a position of “almost monopoly”, due to the, uh, “special usage” given by so many residents to their avatars, and the strange proportions they favour on their bodies nowadays, Maitreya must have lost a substantial market share to their competitors. That, in turn, made many content creators drop support for the Lara body — finding that the competition among content creators was much lower on the “new players in the market” and so focused their efforts on the alternative bodies instead.
To regain part of that market, it’s obvious that Maitreya had to come up with an alternative. When I read the first sentences of this article, all I thought was… oh, well, Maitreya is doing one of those bodies too, sure, more power to them, I hope they make a ton of money. But then I read that the LaraX was going to be a free upgrade. Oh wow. That came as a surprise!
But it makes a lot of sense, in terms of business. Maitreya wants people (including creators!) back. But forcing residents to shell out another L$4k/5k for a body they might not use that much… well, that would leave many off the LaraX, especially because, by now, they have invested a lot in their non-Maitreya wardrobes. But… it’s possible they didn’t throw away their ancient Lara body… and now… they will get an upgrade which allows them to design their own bodies as weird as they like!
So, existing customers — and most of those who bought non-Maitreya bodies were Maitreya customers, 8 years ago… — will have a strong incentive to upgrade their Maitreya Lara to LaraX (why not? it’s a free body, after all!). And — surprise, surprise! — their “old” wardrobe for the Maitreya Lara will also work (well, most of it, as far as I understand everything) on the LaraX, even if you manage to get those sliders to twist your body far beyond what Nature allows.
This is also a clear message for content creators who once had the Lara development kit, but gave up on Maitreya because, well, they found a new audience eager to spend money on their non-Maitreya bodies. Well — now their intended audience will be able to use LaraX bodies, too, so it will make sense to start supporting it again.
From the chat on Discord, it seems clear that there are a lot of content creators eagerly updating their apparel to be fully LaraX-compatible — the main reason for the “delay” in releasing LaraX, so they say. Which, in retrospective, is the right thing to do. Back in 2015, there was “nothing” available for the Lara 1.0 (as it was brand new), so Maitreya could easily launch a completely new mesh body and just wait for the content creators to become inspired and start releasing mesh content for the Lara. Now — well, the market seems never to be “saturated”, but I guess there is heavy competition at the top, and Maitreya, with the LaraX, wants to get market share back. That means that when they release their new body — free or not — it would need a reasonably large base of content creators willing to support it, right from Day One. Indeed, releasing a lot of content for the LaraX — just before Christmas! — is guaranteed to get the content creators a huge boost in sales; and it will make all those content creators who had dropped the Lara body thinking twice, since they know that a part of their customers are former Maitreya Lara users, and may go back to Lara/LaraX-compatible products instead…
Mmh. We certainly have interesting times ahead. It will be particularly exciting to see how well this will fit into Linden Lab’s planned introduction of the PBR materials.
Granted, if it’s impossible to know when the Maitreya team is going to release the LaraX, it’s even worse with Linden Lab — I was personally expecting LL to do the official launch of the PBR materials as a nice Christmas gift, but from some of the bug reports I’ve been reading, that will probably not happen that soon. Which means we’ll get the LaraX now (or, well, shortly), only to get a LaraXPro early next year 🙂
Actually what it all means is that your many years of purchased Maitreya clothing will NOT work with the free body. The “effortless” switching between bodies means that for any LaraX outfit you must take your avi apart and put on an entirely different body. already some content creators are not making anything for the normal Maitreya body and are simply hoping the consumers will buy all new things.
So In effect, Maitreya has become pretty much an entirely different body. I personally dislike the slumped shoulders, weird too tiny waist and big fat hips. the whole things looks “off” and fakey to me requiring massive editing to look normalish . Maitreya **had** a wonderful product. Now it is a different product entirely. I’m also at a loss as to why they simply could not update their wonderful existing body. No, this is not an update…. it is a rollout of a different body altogether and “effortless” switching is NOT what the customer will experience. If you use the outfits folder to make and store outfits it will ofc be easier to change your entire body with clothing changes. Still you have to put on another body altogether. How is that effortless?
What a sad pain in the butt. Dealing with the droopy slumped shoulders and weird fat butt is altogether another issue.