Popular Post

Archive for July 2016

Virtual Worlds

     So I hear OsGrid was down this past weekend due to server issues. This got me thinking about things and recalled a conversation I had with a friend last week about what needed to be done to bring stability to Second Life like clones. As it stands there's currently 3 major players in this "let's make the best virtual grid ever" game. You have Second Life, OsGrid, and InWorldz. You also have smaller grids poping up all the time and are offline just as quickly as they came. People from these grids who think they can hack it and host their own sim get a rude awaking with setup - download the server, open ports in your router, add the exceptions to firewall software, and hope everything goes good. The problem is 90% of these people either own computers who can't handle running both a server and a client at the same time or have internet that lets them host a sim, but can't invite any friends to come visit. I admit I'm better off then most. I pay for 100/100 true fibre optic internet and almost all the computers in the house are either quad-core or octo-core.

     Back to the conversation with my friend. We were discussing what we thought needed  to be done about these smaller grids that keep poping up everywhere and how to effectively bring people to InWorldz and keep them there. Most that come to InWorldz end up leaving the first day or a few days after. Why? Some have said they were tricked into visiting because it was better then Second Life and more stable then OsGrid. Once there, they realize InWorldz feels exactly like a clone of Second Life. To an extend their right. InWorldz is largely based off of OsGrid, which uses Opensim,which is a release of the Second Life software. The major differences being Second Life and InWorldz are closed non-hypergrid systems where as OsGrid is open, allowing anyone and everyone who wants to start up a server connect without much issue. The problem with being out in the open however is anyone can hypergrid to your server, steal your content, and go back to their grid where your objects now show up as theirs.

     Back before I'd even heard of InWorldz I'd hosted a 2x2 off my quad-core laptop and another 2 sims on a dual-core laptop in OsGrid. I had the then idea to create a furry hang out spot but as time wore on, it was evident why most things don't work in OsGrid. It wasn't until I'd downgraded to a single sim did furs start to visit and they came from their own personal grids, not from within OsGrid itself. Just walking around the mainland mall showed evidence that no one goes there. There's shops everywhere because there's no money system so it's all free.. but in the hour and a half i spent there, no one visited or passed by me. No one was on radar, leading one to conclude that OsGrid's a dead grid. I admit part of InWorldz are the same however, there's structure here. I was able to find people here within five minutes of creating an account. There were close to 200 active people on grid for the 4th of July(bots in InWorldz are scripts, not alts).

     The ideal solution would be to see OsGrid and all of those smaller grids go. Let the big dogs play.
Ever since their major server crash a few years back that saw Kitely, InWorldz, and other grids lend them money to get back and running, they've become a liability. Running on borrowed time before the next major crash ends them permanantly. It was just last year that French grid New World Grid finally called it quits and they were more along then most grids.


It's time to clean house.
Matt







- Copyright 2017-2018 Matthew Vacanti - Powered by Blogger - Designed by Johanes Djogan -