UPDATE July 25th, 2019: This blogpost has been flagged for violations of Google AdSense Program policies, which has led to it being extensively censored.
The Mesh Project (TMP for short) was among the first companies to offer mesh male and female bodies in Second Life, releasing their first products back in 2013. However, they were expensive, in part because they essentially had the mesh body market to themselves and could get away with charging high prices.
Also, their shopping experience was truly horrible, requiring the extensive use of HUDs both to purchase and style items (read this blogpost for an example). You also had to buy credits in blocks to make any purchases, instead of paying for things directly. And that meant you often had unspent credits left over, which was irritating. Although they were among the first to offer mesh avatar bodies, over time most people moved to other vendors, such as Maitreya, Belleza, Slink, and Signature.
Many people were expecting The Mesh Project to eventually fold. Hence my surprise when they announced new mesh bodies for male and female avatars recently. I decided to visit their sim and take a look.
One thing that I did like about the TMP male body was that it was not overly-muscled, as you see on so many other male mesh bodies. Here is the old, freebie version of the male TMP body, paired with an Akeruka mesh head (this picture is tastefully blurred to keep my blog PG 😉 ):
I took this avatar to the new version of The Shops, just to see what the new Legacy body looks like. Here’s what the demo version looks like, with the included shape, from the front and the back:
Again, this is a very attractive, not overly-muscular male mesh body. The detail on the hands and feet is particularly well-done. The body comes with Bento hands, and you get a HUD with many different skin tones and a large number of alpha selections to make just about anything fit. Which is good, because none of the older TMP clothes are compatible with these new bodies at all.
HOWEVER.
I will not be buying either the new Legacy TMP mesh bodies or the refreshed original (so-called “Classic”) version. Why? Because they are L$5,000 (about US$20.00) each. Yes, that’s right. They are almost twice as expensive as most of the other, much more popular male and female mesh bodies on the market (Maitreya, Belleza, Slink, and Signature). If they are trying to break into the market again, they aren’t going to succeed a this price point.
While The Mesh Project may finally have gotten rid of their horrible shopping system (hallelujah!), their high prices make absolutely no sense when there are cheaper alternatives out there which have much, much more designer support. While charging high prices may have worked back when TMP were the only game in town, that strategy is not going to work in today’s competitive mesh body marketplace. Sorry, TMP. No sale.
I am sorry but you are wrong, they were only the first brand to release a male mesh body. Female meshbodies existed way before TMP. Please get your facts right
Thanks for the correction. I have corrected my blogpost accordingly.
Ridiculous price or not, that doesnt make up for their HORRIBLE customer support (which is none). After the way they treated me the first time, I would rather wear a gunnie sack than their mesh. What’s funny is that now I own 5 different bodies. TMP has much to learn about service.
I just wanted to add a positive comment here, because honestly? I’ve had nothing but awesome experiences with TMP. I own their older bodies, AND I purchased the new legacy body.
– While direct creator support may be lacking *right now*, the deformer system is supposed to make pretty much any clothing fit (at least for the female body) AND they are currently working to add omega support, which means a wide range of applier support as well.
– The price is steep, yes, But personally, as a maitreya hater (dislike the body, had HORRIBLE experiences with the owner and their customer support. absolutely awful), it’s a breath of fresh air to be able to wear all of the wellspring of maitreya-exclusive clothing and shoes without having to use that body. I’ve also had great results using slink physique mesh clothing with the deformer system! (apparently it ALSO supports standard sizes and standard fitted meshes!).
– I can’t speak for the male legacy body, as I don’t own that one yet, but I could definitely see more people buying the female body. Sorry for the long comment, Just wanted to correct/add a few things! Take care!
I don’t know who would ever buy this, after all the bs TMP pulled. You couldn’t even use your own skins/tattoos THAT YOU MADE SPECIFICLY FOR YOU because you had to “sign up to be a creator’ to use their applier system. I don’t think if they’ll add omega support but I suspect they won’t and that makes this a definate no-buy!
Honey, before you rant about other creators’ support, get your facts straight. Both female and male bodies have Fit Deformers which makes ALL of the clothing for Maitreya I own fit Legacy! Additionaly the body is way prettier than Maitreya Body with its awful arms and shitty working sliders. I am totally satisfied with it. The price? Well, Maitreya and Belleza aren’t cheap either, are they?
It’s a shame you don’t like it. I’ve never come across anything more realistic or beautifully made. The texture of the body straight out of the box blew me away and I love the subtle way it reflects light. To me, it’s worth every L$.
All of my maitreya clothes and shoes work with Legacy when I use the deformers. And stores like Blueberry now include Legacy sizes.
Then there’s stores like The Boutique – who specialize in Legacy clothing. I’m sure others are popping up to do the same.
I hope you’ll give it a second chance because it’s really something extraordinary, imo. Haven’t been able to stop staring at it since I got it.
Bought this body today, wanted to see why everyone hated the company and I admit – that sounds awful. However, I don’t regret my purchase. I bought it thanks to the breast shape for the female body not being horribly deformed at the highest and lowest ends of the spectrum to truly allow for proper character creation, but what I got blew me away. The Advanced Materials HUD lets you custom set any textures in your inventory as your skin and clothes, even the bumps and specs, as well as changing the spec colors. This is a modder’s dream body.
Thanks, Juliette!