Francogrid : The Musical

 FrancoGrid, one of the oldest grids in Opensim, is down. That is sad news, indeed, for anyone who over the past 15+ years has enjoyed this grid as a visitor or resident.

FrancoGrid has always been known for the beauty of the builds - whether hyper realistic or abstract, it has celebrated literature, music, art and culture for the best part of twenty years, through events famous across the Metaverse, like Fest'Avi, to less flamboyant but equally intricate celebrations of art on dozens of lovely sims. So what is next? Is this the end? Or the end of the beginning...

For the longest time, HG Safari had a base on the grid, hosted by Nino Whitman, who kept our sim online even during the 3 1/2 years that the Safari was not active. The Safari has a lot to be thankful for on FrancoGrid, to Nino, and to Ssm, to Archa, Gil, Cendres, and Claudius and so many others too. It was home, with all the crazy comings and goings that the word evokes - all the fights, joys, creativity, frustration, music, and madness of a place we could call 'Chez moi". 

Over the years there has been a gradual migration away from FrancoGrid. Creators like Shenn Tao, Ieko Catnap, Cheops Forlife, Falene Hawk, Katia Parc des Arts, Ange Menges and Nani Ferguson, Sirin Peccable, Praline B, and the Ignis crew, to name just a few, have found homes elsewhere. Names well known in both SL and Opensim like Moya and Cherry Manga have moved away from the grid to other homes. Folks have found other solutions, ranging from taking up residence in OSGrid, or moving to Craft or the (now defunct) Virtual Dreams grid, or setting up their own grids like Soul and Serenity, or returning to Second Life, or leaving virtual worlds altogether. That's part of the evolution of any world, any society, of course. And it means that even though FG is offline, not everything is lost, by any means - it is just elsewhere.

And after all, we're talking about mere pixels, right? Well, no, because behind the pixels are real people with feelings, talent, problems, generosity, imagination, responsibilities and a host of other aspects to their lives you can barely guess at. So if the maintenance on FG was allowed to fall behind, you can be sure there was a good reason.

That said, the notice about the Francogrid server failure is undoubtedly sad. Things will have been lost. But wait. After so many months of having the grid in a condition of limbo, this is definite news. Things have reached their absolute lowest ebb, and from here, things can only get better. The grid could very easily have a second chance!

How can that work? Well, it requires some community spirit above all. Community means getting along with people with whom you do not always agree, but with whom you have enough in common that you can put your ego to one side, for the sake of the bigger picture. It means being positive in your outlook, even if you don't always feel that way. It means stepping up and being part of the family, and not being shy - perhaps you were not a FG resident, but enjoyed the grid - could you now participate in some way? Together is always a tricky place to be, but the rewards outweigh the challenges of participating.

So in the meantime, what can we do? Stay in contact, hold on to those friendships, creative partnerships, and reach out to make new ones. The original Francogrid may be in abeyance for a while, but when it comes back it will be brighter and more beautiful than ever. If we all keep talking and keep watching out for one another.

You can find the Playlist of these songs on the HG Safari Channel on YouTube