Cherry on Hie

Believe it or not, we're halfway through the Safari trips for 2024 and this week was a special occasion for all fans of the Hypergrid International Expo, better known as HIE, that weekend once a year where we blend theater and lecture and outrageous displays of language-y excess, not to mention a huge amount of publicity booths with freebies and info about places all over the metaverse.  

The Safari crew, which seems to be getting better by the week, descended on Craft grid for our first destination, after of course the usual Clubhouse banter among old friends, plus new friends to Friend, if you know what I mean.

If you ever wonder why there is a pre-meet at the clubhouse, rather than me just giving out the addresses of the places we plan to visit in social media, it's because the whole point of our venture is to be there for one another, to be there for newbies, to check on oldbies, and to give our hosts an exact time when we will arrive. 

Because nobody likes people who show up too early for a party. 

If you're curious about what is involved in being a Safari destination, there is a whole page about that here on this blog. And yes, the 'six' is a lie, well spotted. 

More Arts, More Friends!

Victoria Logan's OSGrid "Arts And Friends" adventure has a new chapter, this time it's all about 'We are OSGrid'.  

The inaugural party will be late May, so keep your eyes open for the event details which will be listed on opensimworld.com ad elsewhere on social media.

Lots to see here and also plenty of places for partying of course! 

Happy Birthday Mobius!

Happy 10th birthday Mobius grid! A big party occasion, and why not? Well this is opensim, so anything can happen...

The grid was experiencing some technical difficulties so we all crashed a few times, nothing drastic, after all you just need 2 minutes' patience and three clicks of a mouse to get back where you were, hardly a hardship, and it was certainly worth it for the chance to celebrate the event and to see the fab fireworks.

The constant crashes were a good opportunity to return to the Mobius freebie shop, and to run into more Mobians than is usual for a safari gal just wandering the metaverse - so, why not make the most of the opportunity?! I asked a range of people how they feel about the grid, from newcomers, to those who have been away for a long time, to others who have been around here a great deal.

The Last of Boston

 The Last of Boston is a zombie game based on the TV show The Last of Us on Neverworld Grid.

The build was due to be our first destination in this special 10 anniversary Safari tour, but,  the code gremlins got active in the inner workings of Neverworld's opensimulator on this occasion,  timing grr!

The usual suspects of Safari all showed up at the clubhouse, ready to go see the Boston sights, but instead it was a nice excuse to hear people share some of their feelings about our trips (and complain about the seats at the clubhouse - these people have no stamina!) 

It's been 10 years since our first forays into the unknown, with so many crashes and uncertainties in the planning and executing of our guided tours, so there was something appropriate about our last minute crisis. That's happened so many times it's a bit of a miracle when things all work out perfectly, as they often do.

But regardless of the stress related to trying to make these trips happen, I'd like to thank everyone who has joined us for their good humored patience and generally upbeat approach to Safari trips, no matter what they bring. After all, this is all about the people. If you want perfection, there are thousands of impersonal video games out there. 

Safari turns Ten

 This week marked ten years since the first ever Safari trip and we celebrated at the Safari region on Avacon grid, with a special installation in the sky showing a few of the places we have visited, and revisited, over the years.

It was lovely to welcome to the party sim both people who have been with the event from its earliest days, like Nara and Neo and Alan and lifted pixel, as well as relative newcomers like Lynnestra and Alexey, plus many who are both regular Safari trippers and also hosts. As the tee shirt says, the 'liberty, variety, and instability' of virtual worlds continue to be challenging motors for change and expression and endless surprise across the hyperverse.  And so many, many great places still to see.

Safari Goes to See Ocean

 Our second stop this week was another first for the Safari, the grid Ocean, founded by Akata Ocean, which at first blush one might think of as a French grid - it certainly is distinctly francophone, but in reality there's much more to their story... isn't that always the case?  That's what makes meeting grid owners and residents so interesting. As always the address of the place is at the end of the post.

Our guide today was Eli Funt, she speaks both French and perfect English, so she was deputed to lead the tour.

Many other Ocean locals were on hand to meet us when we arrived on Accueil,  their modern Welcome region.

Everlove

The Safari's first ever visit to GermanWorldGrid was ever so lovely... we had the opportunity to tour sim Everlove, in company with Emma Florido, who together with her lovely husband Mick owns this gorgeous place. Many grid residents came along to join us, and it was really lovely not only to see beautiful pixels but also to glimpse the great atmosphere of friendship and fun that this grid clearly represents.

Emma Florido

Emma Florido: Hello everybody we welcome you at the Germanworld grid in Everlove

Drangur Kray: Willkommen zusammen

Emma Florido: im proud today to have you all here and i thank everyone for coming. I want to let you know a little bit of the history from germanworldgrid

Emma Florido: Germanworldgrid was founded by my husband Mick Florido in April 2019 because virtual life has always been one of his big hobbies and he wanted to offer residents from different countries a home. Over the years he gained a lot of experience and met many interesting people.

James atLLOUD: Wow, big group!

Rosi Taler: ⋞⋞⋞ ✜ ├┤ⓐllⓞ ✜ ⋟⋟⋟