Relay or Collar

Once you have your viewer you will need a relay. There are several free ones in the marketplace. I started out with tkPBA, now I use the Dark Elf Manufacture (DEM) Relay HUD. It had worked well for me and I think it is good for the novice, beginner.

As of 2018, I use OpenCollar, an open source version of RLV items. For the beginner, more live help is available online. I think it should be obvious there is drama in RLV community and that is especially true of the OpenCollar project. So, to avoid being ripped off and disappointed in RLV products read up on what is going on, OpenCollar Split.

What a nice girl like you…

OpenCollar makes a relay. You buy it for L$1 and they refund the L1$. It is a popular relay. It does the same tasks as the Dem Relay. It uses a different interface and some tasks are handled differently. But, all relays do the same basic things, getting commands from scripted objects to the viewer while allowing you to control the amount of control you grant.

Wear the relay. It can be a HUD, collar, ring, or whatever. Some relays are enabled by default, others are not. Read the directions that come with it. You can ask the maker of the HUD, collar, or whatever if you have questions. I suggest joining the in-world group Fire Flower. The ‘previously’ official group OpenCollar supports the old version relays/collars.  You have to read OpenCollar Split (link above) to understand which you are going to prefer and will work better for you.

Once you know the HUD is enabled head out to any RLV area. Most of the obvious ones are BDSM areas, Dungeons, mazes, and hunts… not treasure hunts… well… they generally consider you, the prey, to be the treasure and they have sexual themes. While RLV can be used for way more than BDSM, that is its most common use. So… you be warned…

Relay vs Collar

At this point it is worth asking, what’s the difference between relay and collar and which is better? It’s apples and zucchinis. So, better is a matter of personal taste. The most significant difference between a relay and a collar or other worn RLV jewelry is that other people can see and use the collar. That provides more role play opportunities.

A relay is generally a HUD used inside your viewer. No one has access to it but, you. A collar is worn on your avatar. The functions of a relay can be in a collar, belt, jewelry, or whatever. This can allow someone to control your avatar by clicking the collar. You can still decide how much control the collar will grant and to who or not. You can be at the… mercy… of whoever you meet.

Collars usually have a ‘relay’ built in. Still, they allow disabling the built-in relay so you can use a dedicated relay of your choice. When you wear a collar things generally work better if you use the built-in relay. BUT, only ever use ONE relay at a time, otherwise things get messed up.

Things in the environment deal mostly with your relay. Traps, bushes that rip off your top or skirt, hidden devices that change your Windlight settings, etc.

The point is people can see the collar, cuffs, or whatever. They can click on it and open a menu. Collars give you some level of control over what appears in the menu they see. We’ll get into that later.

Collars also give you more controls and features than most relays, at least that I’ve seen. My Ladies Elementary Necklace by Virtual Disgrace has hugs, kisses, and bunches of other stuff stuffed in there. So, you can consider collars more complex and feature rich than relays. That also means it takes more to learn how to use a collar than a relay.
More pages… page links below.