If it's true that some SL merchants create poorly optimized mesh items to satisfy customer demand for "more detail", reader Chic Aeon makes the point that the opposite is also true — that customers can make their preference for better optimized content known to to merchants:
There ARE designers who make outstanding items that are STILL triangle friendly and look just as good as the heavy mesh items.
From what I have seen the problem is twofold, and hence I don't disagree with the idea is sometimes choices made are just about sales. For SOME anyway.
For others? They really don't know or understand and there may be some "lazy" folks along the way because it does take more work to get "the look" and also the low triangle count.
For an instance — with no names used — last year on the main furniture posting spot on the SL forums, many of us were complaining about the OH SO HIGH triangle count of some creators — one very popular creator in particular. I LOVED the items but the vertices numbers were heart stopping.
Chic and others started explaining on the SL Forum why excessive vertices were causing them a coronary:
We posted lots of examples and started showing examples of GOOD triangle count items that look fabulous, had good LODs (my personal pet peeve) AND creations that were low land impact AND low triangle count (one does not always guarantee the other).
EVENTUALLY (and we are talking half a year or more) one of the main brands with gorgeous but heavy mesh (and marginal LODs) started making improvements. And NOW many of us will buy their items where we we did not before.
In other words, this merchant saw the customer demand for well-optimized mesh, and adjusted their output to better serve this market. I like how this was done by posting examples, not through personal attacks.
I also imagine customers could explain why it's personally difficult to rez heavy mesh on their property / avatar person / at an event, so creators can better understand the social costs of bad mesh. I.E., rather than insulting the merchant with poorly optimized content, simply explain their personal experience with it.
All that said, I suspect Penny Patton is right, that Linden Lab will have to intercede on some level, to really change the overall ecosystem.
For instance, here's one idea that's more carrot than stick:
Allow SL merchants to pay to have their items in the Marketplace reviewed by Linden Lab, and if they're found to be well-optimized, their page is given some kind of "Well-Optimized" gold badge that also gives the brand better placement in the Marketplace. This would also enable smaller merchants a chance to compete with top creators who often have quite a bit of heavy mesh in their store.
What do you think?
Wagner James Au / New World Notes 
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