pancake

I remember the first Curio skin I ever bought, it was such a defining moment for me, like I had "grown up" in SL and progressed to skins of this level.

I was roleplaying in Gor, and when I wasn't naked, I was close enough that it didn't cover much. It became important to me to get a skin with good nipples and bits and as far as I could tell at the time, Curio had the best.

I spent weeks visiting the store every day, trying on demos, hemming and hawing about the price. Not that they are expensive, but that was going to be my first major purchase of that scale and I wanted to get exactly the right one as I would be wearing it every day.

Finally, the decision made, I put it on and woire it exclusively for at least 6 months, maybe longer. An odd side effect I wasn't expecting was how it boosted my confidence in my roleplay and my writing. It was when I first made the connection of how important matching the avatar appearance and the character and genre can be.

Whatever happens with this case, I find it interesting the personal connections and memories I feel with Curio and to something like an avatar skin.

__________________

Govi

I dunno. This struck me as being like the "one simple trick to reduce your tummy" sort of thing; I just snatched the image without clicking through. It could be sugared chili oil, for all I know.

Eliza Wrigglesworth

Ya know...that might make your lips swell. I'm too scared to try it.

Innula Zenovka

/me chuckles at "Innsmouth look".

__________________

Roy Modern

I don't mean to hijack this thread or anything but I wanted to start a new thread because i needed some technical help and I can't see the new thread button. I don't know if it's my computer or new accounts cant make new threads? HALP!

ETA: nevermind my firefox browser is messed up i guess. I see it on chrome. ok carry on.

Eliza Wrigglesworth

There's a forum feature guide for new users here: Forum Feature Guide for New Users

Plus, we always warmly welcome newbies in the New Users thread: New Users - SLUniverse Forums

If this is for SL tech help there might already be a thread for that. You need to do a search first. If this is for general tech help, that's a different area. Learn to do searches. That's what I had to do. The search feature is at the top of any page.

I hope that helped, but frankly I'm a forum failure. I never remember how to post lolcats or be bitchy or anything

*edit to add: Ok, I always remember how to be bitchy. Y'all just never mind that statement.

Roy Modern

It was my browser. Firefox no likey me. I opened Chrome and it was a whole new site lol. I posted my question already here Help! with active/inactive partition thank you for the welcome !

Eliza Wrigglesworth

Aribeth Zelin

Curio was the first skin I bought, because I had a look already and was very picky on finding something that still looked like me.

__________________
Faerycat Designs In World -Marketplace 1- Marketplace 2

Tiffy Vella

I once spent ages making my own skin...and all this ever achieved was a healthy appreciation for the skills of a real skin designer.

Once trying on a Curio demo, the old home-made ones were archived pretty fast. The Curio felt like the me I'd been searching for for ages, and I still love it. That's also it in my profile piccy--note lack of any ponyridingbishfacedness.

Oceane

The first thing that comes in mind here is: wow, this is a crazy missunderstanding, something is terribly wrong here. This is NOT possible, not Gala Phoenix, you can actually recognize her work from miles away. When I started doing skins in 2008 she was an example for me, one of the first that had really good realistic skins, and she has her own style.
It would be the same as if someone would accuse Tricky Boucher of Belleza or Laq skins of doing this...

As one of the many many skin designers in SL I probably am not so very famous as Curio but I go some time back and I know that Gala Phoenix is a well respected designer. I always think of her as an original and trusted designer and admire her work, although we have very different styles. I don't know her personally though.
As for Hush skins, I never heard of them until some weeks ago when someone mentioned them.

What could have happend is that the basic skins that Hush used were bought from someone that copybotted Curio's skins and sold them as originals. Some time ago me and some other designers found a forum where our stuff could be downloaded for free, anyone could have downloaded that and sell it, so who knows? Hush could be a victim and not know that... and same for Gala.

It's a nightmare really and I hope Hush and Curio can talk about this and sort it out together without a mud fight. Personally I would be devastated if that happened to me. This is why I always save everything I make and use, so I have always proof of what I did, how and when. I suppose that when you use a ready to wear template from a wholeseller then it's possible you and others who use that template create a similar product. However, you can't go wrong if you use your own stuff. If you mix and match your own stuff with a ready to wear template (or whatever you can call it) then yeah... you know there is always a risk. Some time ago Dura hair was also accused and were banned from SL. I am happy he could return so we can still enjoy his lovely hair styles. Hopefully this problem will be solved soon.

By the way:
Gala Phoenix 11/11/2004
Hush Darkrose 11/10/2010

Do you honestly think that a trusted and well known designer like Gala, who released tons of skins and stuff in Sl and is this old would copy someone elses, fairly new, skins? Think not.

Ann Launay

Hush is an alt of Verikai Vargas, who has been in SL since 2006ish.

I'm still extremely skeptical of these claims though.

__________________

Cristiano

I love this word.

__________________
"For my part, I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream" - Vincent Van Gogh

* my blog *

Gomi Mfume

"suburban mom discovers weird trick to enhance lips that makes plastic surgeons mad as heck! CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE!!!"

__________________
1. NEVER SET SPIKES!
2. WATCH OUT FOR THE CLOUDS!
3. LAY THOSE BRICKS DOWN!

Anahata

so hush says she has a personal signature that is on all her skins and this seems to be the proof she needed to get curio's skins taken off SL. i wonder what it was, does it say hush in shadowing across the back? is there a super small set of initials left of the vagina? i'm interested to know what it is.

i do love curio skins and hope it isn't true and just a misunderstanding, but, they do have major similarities (like the butt)... could it be a photosource similarity?

i will say if gala did rip hush, she did a bang up job improving the clarity and features of the skin.

__________________
http://pinupixels.blogspot.ca/

Gomi Mfume

i dunno, but i do know for a fact that curio also has a signature watermark on every skin, as well.

(i'm certain that anyone having produced a hack of them would also be aware of this)

Matchbook

Curio skins are not photo-sourced nor are they derivative of any template, photo, or other type of resource purchased in, or outside of Second Life.

They are wholly hand-drawn and shaded.

♥

__________________
- Rethink everything

Orc

__________________
My flickr pictures are here http://www.flickr.com/photos/smileyorc/

Da5id Weatherwax

Orc, thats just a phenomenal artist. I can accept matchbook's statement. After all, when the curio line first came out there was a rumor that they were sourced from nude photos of herself. If they were hand-drawn, to get that rumor started takes skill.

ETA: I looked at the image again and this time split the color channels as if I were analyzing a potential melanoma. My hats off to Gala, because she got enough red into the center to deceive me but its clearly painted - there's different granularity in the different color channels so they were painted not imposed from a photo. Freely admit my error there. Doesnt change the one conclusion I was prepared to draw though.

Eata

lol

Dave (who is banned) said that years ago to tease her

DrFran

Got a Hush demo last night, tried it on, and....sorry. The bits are the tell-tale to me. One of the reasons I love the Curio skins is because the vagina and nipples look like the real thing, and not the slash/landing strip I see on all the other skins. The Hush skin bits were the later.

__________________
Babcock's Builds...Low Prim or One Prim. Very reasonable prices. (I am soooo not making money on this)

Arica Storaro

Hello,

this is my first time posting here and actually I never thought I ever would.

I, too, was kind of baffled by this whole stuff, especially since my inventory is FULL of Curio skins, one of their customer service people is a friend of mine and well... she is known to be pretty anal about ripped stuff. I am, too.

In my -personal- opinion, this is all kind of...strange. I am not a lawyer, I am not a photoshop artist, so I can only base my opinion on the statements and 'evidences' presented...and on common sense.

These are the things that come to my mind:

1. Usually, the ripped versions are the less detailed ones. Gala's skins however always have been some of the most detailed skins ingame, which is one of the reasons why I love them. Gala's skins are clearly more detailed than the other ones, which look very smudgy, so to say.

2. Generally, the quality of ripped skins is usually less than that of the original ones, which is also not the case, imho.

3. My avatar was made in 2006. I have heard from Curio, but never heard of said creator until just a few weeks agp, and I am a terrible skinwhore I estimate I have around 200 skins or more and I used to keep track of EVERY skinstore out there (even on forums), no matter how tiny, on lists. I find it hard to believe I ever missed out on this one.

4. I still have all skins I ever bought, one of them being a Curio skin from 2008, Luster Cat.

Here it is: a8fac71a209d0ec1f28f1f8e03ce1388.png

This is me in my first new generation Curio skin (Beach) from 2009 (lord, my shape is so different now...)

Here it is: 084fdedaaf936a464f9ba4a9727515f9.png

My photoshop-untrained eyes can see some striking similarities there. Both skins were released before the other creator ever came up with her own, similar ones. Oddly enough, I once posted similar pictures under a photo on Flickr were said creator tried to claim that Curio had ripped them and she deleted the pic (or I got banned from commenting, I do not recall).

5. Curio is a wellknown brand. If a newb comes to SL and asks where to get good skin, one of the first skinstores usually named are: LAQ, Curio, League etc. So, how on earth could this possibly have lasted 3 years without anyone ever hearing about it? How blind do you have to be to notice after ~ 3 years that one of the most popular brands ripped your stuff?

6. 3 years at court for a thing like this? I'd dare to say lawyers got better things to do...it shouldn't be THAT hard. But that is just my opinion, who knows. Laws are crazy.

7. Everything just seems a bit too convenient. Curio is sued and thrown off the grid JUST in the moment when the other creator has their big store going, participates in events etc.? Hm. I dunno.

So, while I admit it MIGHT be possible, I kind of doubt it. And I would be sad to see Curio skins gone, when their replacement is of much lesser quality. I don't know if Gala's skins are handdrawn, I don't know about PS...but I do know about common sense. Gala has also pointed out on another Flickr post that her boobs are drawn in a very specific way (the sides of them), something she (supposedly) added personally:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/6601488...in/photostream A little oddity that looks like a triangle instead of a rounded boob.

But, I am biased. This is my personal opinion, no more. If it truly happens to be the other way round...then kudos to Curio for making a medium skin look much better. And in that case, I will of course admit I was completely wrong.

__________________
Check out my blog! http://roleplaystyle.wordpress.com/

pancake

[off topic hijack]

Welcome to SLU Arica!


[/off topic hijack]

Arica Storaro

Thank you! But now I am scared, are there more of us here??

Lil Hapmouche

So... has a proper court been named in the meantime or are we stuck with the mysterious "Supreme Court" talk?

I don't even dare to ask for a case ID or anything similiar definite to track any online publications.