Village communities revisited

Other communities that use virtual worlds
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Dot Matrix
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Village communities revisited

Post by Dot Matrix »

Over time, regions and ideas evolve and develop. An earlier thread in this section looked at the possibility of developing a village community from scratch. The discussion was lively, and the thread is one of the most looked at in this section. But in the end, the project never took off.

So... I'm thinking of taking an alternative approach, repurposing "old" builds to create the basic infrastructure for village communities. The builds in question are on Evensong and Vespers. Both are Devokan storybuilds, but that does not mean they are solely role-playing regions. To quote from the previous thread:
Dot wrote:I would see the village idea here as more rural than Caledon, and not strictly set in the past. So it's not necessarily a pure role-playing area, but rather a stylish, immersive environment that people will enjoy both visiting and potentially making a home in, whether or not they see themselves as Victorian or modern, RPer or non-RPer.
Of the two, Vespers is closest to the concept I have in mind -- clusters of cottages "rented" as holiday homes by Kitely people and visitors from other hypergrid-enabled OpenSim grids. Some folk already have cottages there -- Danko, Filbert, Ilf, June; others are thinking about it. Danko and Filbert are Devokan storybuilders; Ilf and June are friends from years past.

Why "holiday homes"? Unlike Second Life, there is no shortage of land in OpenSim. So most are likely to have their own full sims to develop. However, sometimes it's good to have a base on another grid, especially if you have friends there.

I mentioned "rent". This would be 600 KC per month (approx. 2 USD) for a cottage and use of all the facilities (e.g. game tables for Spades, chess, checkers, snakes and ladders etc., hangout areas). The "rent" is based on past experience of visitor time inworld, especially when they regularly play games of cards.

There are still three cottages unspoken for on Vespers.

Evensong, a 2x2 megaregion, will take a little longer to tweak. While this includes some key landmarks for past Devokan stories, it will be possible to develop village communities on Touchstone, Retreat and Skysong, maybe with slightly different themes.
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Re: Village communities revisited

Post by Dot Matrix »

I'm still interested in taking this project forward. If you would like to be part of it, do get in touch. Thanks!
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Re: Village communities revisited

Post by Dot Matrix »

With the recently introduced options to enlarge existing worlds and the price changes, I've changed Vespers to a 2x2 Standard World and imported the current Evensong build.

I'll be redeveloping Evensong, so it will be inaccessible for the time being.

The new Vespers itself is coming along rather nicely. You're very welcome to visit and explore.
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Re: Village communities revisited

Post by Moonrise Azalee »

I'm sorry this never happened - I absolutely love those regions, tho it's been a while since I've seen them. My goal with Birchglen is similar - initially i had a small town urban RP but it never really took off, so I made it RP optional, but that didn't happen either and now it's just a little community. Of very few people :D BUT i think often in OpenSim people come here because they want to make their own space - because they can actually afford to, and its harder to get people involved in community stuff because everyone is doing their own thing .
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Re: Village communities revisited

Post by Snoots Dwagon »

I have heard it mentioned more than once-- and am of this opinion myself-- that people come to Opensim to build, and return to Second Life to play. I have noted this regularly, even among the most devoted Opensim residents.

It's not that we don't have events. We do. And the total population of Opensim is impressive. The Opensim land area is significantly greater than SL. But SL definitely has the winning hand in population and concurrency. Plus there's the reality that people were already heavily vested in SL before Opensim ever came along; that's where their friends, avatars and huge inventory are. It's difficult for Opensim to catch up in the Events and Communities area when SL already has people so very involved. I myself do all of my building on Kitely and OSgrid (none on SL)... but go to SL for parties with my friends. I'll go to a party on Kitely if there is one, but as mentioned above, most people are here doing their own thing.

I am looking forward to the Grand Opening of the Sendalonde Community Library on Wellspring (Sat May 8, 2021), as well as the accompanying Grand Opening of the Sendalonde Theater and the month-long Shipwrights of Kitely Exhibit. Those three simultaneous events should prove enjoyable.

My homes are on OSgrid and Kitey. The price can't be beat, the available land area and building allowance are far greater than SL, and our building tools (size of prims, no link limits, etc) beat SL hands-down. I can create things here I can't create on SL. Plus there's the advantage that I can actually afford to live on Opensim... which is hardly the case on SL. In addition I can live better, in a larger, fancier, and better-furnished home. Plus, Alexina and Prax's Wellspring is 64 regions, and my lands on OSgrid are 50 regions. To own land like that on SL would cost over US$28,000 a month... over $340,000 a year.

I don't have an answer to building communities in Opensim. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. That's always the case, whether OS or SL. But I can build what I want to on Opensim-- and have the room and prims to build it-- every single time, without exception. ;D

In real life I eat most of my meals at home. Sometimes I go out to eat. In virtual life I'm a grid-hopper, as are many of us. I have my home(s) on OSgrid and Kitely, limited activities on SL, visit other grids from time to time, love hopping the Hypergrid... and use the virtual worlds where their strengths happen to be. Doing so offers the best of all worlds.
Last edited by Snoots Dwagon on Wed Apr 28, 2021 3:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Village communities revisited

Post by Ada Radius »

I started in SL in 2006, watched communities grow and fade, new ones emerge. I joined OSG as soon as it started, and Kitely in 2012. I see a lot of community in the OS hypergrids. Not the same as SL, and for that I'm grateful, actually.

One point I want to make about land and inventory that seems to be the most difficult for SL refugees to wrap their hands around: we don't need to keep big inventories here. It's better not to hypergrid all your stuff around with you to sims that vary on how they handle it. Land is cheap here, nearly free if you can manage sim software. Uploads are free. It can be better to put all your stuff on a sim and take an OAR backup. If you need it, or freebies - for example, all of Linda Kellie's avatar builds, which Snoots and I took an interest in yesterday - get the OAR for free, rez it out, paw through it, save what's wanted to cheap offsite storage or another sim or a backup avatar. Delete from inworld inventory and land when done.

That changes how we make stuff, how we buy stuff, and whether the stuff in our possession survives grid closures and other difficulties. Perms become a big issue, along with physics engines and whether a particular build is up to date technically. I'm not saying it's a perfect situation :). People need to learn a little more tech and not everyone likes that.

It changes community. Which can be about shared viewpoints and interests and a whole lot about leadership. Less about our stuff.
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Re: Village communities revisited

Post by Snoots Dwagon »

What Ada says about inventories is spot on... especially in closed worlds. For most people... their "huge inventories" on Second Life are trapped in an iron fortress. For others, their huge inventories on Inworldz were destroyed almost overnight.

As Ada mentions, the ability to create a world, pack with with items, and save it as an OAR, is a great advantage with Opensim. The same is true for IARs (inventory backups). Difficulties still exist on grids that must pay attention to security settings and creator rights, but if one sets up their own stand-alone world, they can create all they want and import it into Kitely... maintaining the originals both in OAR and IAR files. Yes, there is a pretty stiff learning curve to do so, but it's worth it to have 110% control over your creations, lands and inventory. Kitely even offers "exportable" items, opening up that "closed world" mentality.

This is something not available on SL. SL is about a corporation sucking down money. It is a very expensivve "hobby". Opensim is about making virtual worlds available to everyone, no matter the size of your pocketbook.
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