by ZachC

 

This past week saw a new update for There which included the SUV. The SUV was placed in Shop Central and is now available for 6,350t. It’s not very fast, and I have to admit I’m sort of puzzled as to why it has four doors but only seats 2 avies. The white wall tires are another anachronism since I can’t recall ever seeing them on an SUV in RL. Once the custom parts come out designers can take care of some of the issues, but no matter what they do, it’s slow. I mean SLOW. You hit the turbo, flames shoot out the exhaust, and that’s about it. No change in speed. Some people have found the stage 3 engine, but so far it only adds about 100kph to an already slow machine. How slow you ask? Ovni did a quick test for us and his results were approximately 170kph for the base engine and 280kph for the level 3. My conclusion is that the SUV is interesting and may soon provide the first outlet for some real creativity on a wheeled vehicle, but it isn’t going to replace the buggies, especially at the track. You can see from the screen shot here of the shop central page that there will eventually be customizable parts. Even though the price is 1million t for them at the moment, they aren’t actually available. Those listings are place holders. 

The introduction of the SUV brought along with it a group of scammers. There were at least 13 of them the last time I checked. They buy the SUV from shop for 6,350t and then mark it up. The highest listed was for 1,200,000t. Other examples are 99,999t, 88,000t and on down from there. I loved the comment on the auction for the 1.2 mil SUV:  

“buy this and people will never look at u the same. ever. hot and cool ride”   

 

 

 

He’s right of course; if you paid that much for an item available in shops for 6,350t you’d be looked at differently to say the least. The only people with even less of a clue than that buyer are the people implementing the scam. What goes around comes around and I for one have them on a list. I won’t be buying anything from them in the future, and I sure hope everyone else does the same. If you want to know who they are, that’s simple. Just check out the auctions for SUVs, including a search for those that have been completed. You may not believe the audacity, but the pages don’t lie.  

If YOU want an SUV, please follow this link to shops and don’t get ripped off by scammers and con artists:

 

http://webapps.prod.there.com/catalog/product?category=1000001002
 

Another effect of the update aside from the SUV and the scammers, is an opacity issue for some items. Samsyn mentions a “render bug” that crept in to this release. He says in forums that “It makes it seem as if things that are behind a material are in front of it, sort of”. Ovni found us a buggy that has some sort of render issue. It actually looks opaque from some angles, and in others it behaves as Samsyn describes. Here are a few images of it for your viewing pleasure. I assume (dangerous) that it will be fixed in the next update, but it’s fun to look at for now. Ovni has so many buggies he isn’t worried about it, and he has no plans on selling it. It may even be on display at his museum. 

There is currently celebrating ThereStock. To join in the celebration, ZMW came out with the 2007 version of an old classic from the first ThereStock back in 2004. Hula talked me into doing the first one, and Emma asked me to do the latest. It’s priced at 18,850t and will only be available through the end of November. 

The pickings were slim for new buggies since the push on Friday had a problem and we’ve had nothing new since last Wednesday. There was a small group for the “committee” this week. It consisted of Onus, who didn’t get a say on two of the buggies, ForSheetzNGigglz who also let us use her Frontier Zone, and EvanK who mostly asked for stuff. (JUST KIDDING EVAN!) This group somehow ended up with green buggies, which, for me at least, don’t generally sell that well. The first was the ThereStock reviewed above, and then the PS – 84 Emerald by PinkSaphire84. This buggy is very well done. The textures are sharp and clear, and the level of detail is good. Priced at 14,850t I have to say this one is a good buy.  

The next greenish buggy is OMC-UnwrappedGT-Lemon/Lime by Onus. This particular design comes in other variations including a red, a blue and a butterscotch. They’re priced at 15,000t and Onus didn’t have a say in whether or not they’d make the column. As Onus buggies always are, these are a clean crisp design with a memorable and creative twist: They’re coming unwrapped! The dash is clear with instruments perfectly placed. The rims are sharp and, in fact all the detail is excellent. It’s good to see Onus back and I can tell you he’s working on more incredible designs. 

Having reviewed the OMC buggies, it was only natural that we check out a classic Onus buggy in auctions. The XLR-916 predates the OMC label and is probably one of his best known works. I bought the first listed back when they originally came out and it’s been an integral part of my collection ever since. . I don’t comment on prices of collectables, they’re market driven. The one I found in the auctions is listed at 206,669t. 

There probably won’t be a column next week as I’ll be out of town for the Thanksgiving Holiday. I’ll have my laptop with me, but I’m not sure I’ll be up to writing from Grays Harbor. I hope you all have a happy holiday.