Action Station

 Soul Grid has a great tagline - 'Living with friends' and it lives up to the name with a very friendly crowd on hand to meet the Safari gang on our arrival this week. Rudi Bakerly: Hallo, willkommen im Soul

Nasti Bakerly: hello and welcome

Star Ravenhurst: Hello Hello!!

Miguel Torres: hello  to all

Cosa Wiefel: hallo

Rudi Bakerly: Yes some residents wanted to join us

Nasti Bakerly [de→en]: nice to see you all here

Thirza Ember: wow 24 people!

Luna Lunaria: that's a lot

Star Ravenhurst: Good crowd!

Our first destination (you will find destination 2, the Emporium of Luna Lunaria, in a separate post) is a colorful, warm and friendly place with a name that has huge meaning in the history of Opensim - Weltraumbahnhof. The word means 'space station' but ask any oldbie what it really means, and they will tell you it was the iconic hypergrid hub built by Spike Sol about ten years ago, an essential place for discovering new places, good shops, interesting events, and new friends in opensim. That build is now gone, and this is its successor the creaton of Rudi and Nasti Backerly, owners of Soul grid.

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: Nice that you are all here

Kelso.Uxlay: Es freut uns

Thirza Ember: so Rudi, what is the inspiration for this region?

Rudi Bakerly: We talked about the spaceport for the first time in May of this year and that it is a pity that it no longer exists. We then got in touch with Spike Sol, the creator of the spaceport, in June.  So when Spike told us he didn't mind, we started building. So all this was built here by Nasti. 

Luna Lunaria: great work Nasti :-)

Nasti Bakerly [de→en]: well not just me, we have a lot of creative minds here

James.Atlloud: Wow

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: Yes, but Nasti built this part. 

Thirza Ember: Rudi, how did Spike Sol react, when he saw you wanted to continue the idea of the weltraumbahnhof?

Rudi Bakerly: Spike sagte : Lasst es bleiben. Ich habe ser viel Kritik und Schelte geerntet, weil manchmal die Portale nicht funktionierten. Also er meinte wir sollen es lieber bleiben lassen. Aber wir wollten eine alte Tradition wieder aufleben lassen... weiter machen in seinem Sinn und das war dann das Stichwort für Rudi

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: Spike said : Leave it. I have received a lot of criticism and scolding because sometimes the portals didn't work. So he said we should rather leave it alone. But we wanted to revive an old tradition... keep going... and that was the cue for Rudi

Thirza Ember: difficult is good!

Rudi Bakerly: ja aber wir haben uns technische Hilfe geholt. Jetzt funktionieren die Portale automatisch, sobald eine Sim offline geht, wird das Portal automatisch geschlossen. Ha es ist einfacher für uns

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: yes, but we got technical help. Now the portals work automatically, as soon as a sim goes offline, the portal is automatically closed. That's easier for us.

Alex Salamander: Das hört sich gut an

Thirza Ember: how have you organized the portals? what are the categories?

Rudi Bakerly: Wir haben uns die Kategiorien ausgedacht, die ihr hinter euch auf dem Board seht. Es geht von Sozial bis Architektur. Wir haben versucht es zu strukturieren für die Leute die gezielt Themen suchen :-)

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: We came up with the categories you see behind you on the board. It goes from social to architecture. We tried to structure it for people who are looking for specific topics :-)

Nasti Bakerly [de→en]: from Abba to Zappa he means

Rudi Bakerly: heheh Ja rSchatz

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: heheh yes darling

Rudi Bakerly: Aber man kannauch einfach durch die Dome spazieren und die Beschreibungen lesen

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: But you can also just walk through the domes and read the descriptions

Luna Lunaria: I like walking through here

Thirza.Ember: some people can say - oh, I can look on opensimworld website for destinations! why do you think it's also important to have a place like this  inside opensim... more immersive?

Rudi Bakerly: Das ist das Stichwort. Laufen, sehen, erleben In OSW sitzt man vor einer Seite, wie einer Zeitung. Hier hat du ein Erlebnis eine Region zu entdecken

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: That's the keyword. Run, see, experience. In OSW you sit in front of a page, like a newspaper. Here you have an experience to discover a region

Scarlett Candor: /me nickt

Scarlett Candor [de→en]: /me nods

Beth Ghostraven: It's like the difference between shopping on Marketplace and shopping in an inworld shop

Luna.Lunaria: I like to see and experience

Cosa Wiefel: ich auch luna

Beth.Ghostraven: Plus, teleporters are fun to use!

OSW is a wonderful resource. Unfortunately the front page is occasionally marred by bursts of drama  created by a small but vocal number of boomer trolls. That can put people off getting involved with the website and makes opensim look rather like the rough end of the trailer park.

Rudi Bakerly: Und ein ganz wichtiger Punkt. Hier findest Du auch Regionen die nicht in Opensimworld gelistet sind. Eben weil sie nicht Teil des Dramas sein wollten... es war ein tolle idee damals von Spike und ich finde es toll das wir seine Idee hier fortsetzen dürfen. Es macht uns stolz Spikes Werk fortführen zu dürfen

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: And a very important point. Here you will also find regions that are not listed in Opensimworld, Precisely because they didn't want to be part of the drama... It was a great idea from Spike back then and I think it's great that we can continue his idea here. It makes us proud to continue Spike's work.

Nara Nook: I used to use this and I'm glad to rediscover

Kelso Uxlay: Toll

Thirza Ember: most of the people from the Safari, they have a region or a grid. Can they be part of your collection? Can they have a portal?

Roffellos Kisses: can I ask ..why a space station ?

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: Because Spike called it that. And Nasti wanted to implement this name in a modern way

Nasti Bakerly [de→en]: and because you can beam so beautifully

Roffellos Kisses: right and as a continuation to keep it going

Thirza Ember: tradition + innovation ...our opensim Heritage! but with the colors of Nasti

Rudi Bakerly: Es ist ein Projekt ohne Besitzer. Es steht zwar auf unserem Grid, aber es ist von Allen für Alle

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: It's a project without an owner. It's on our grid, but it's by everyone for everyone

Thirza Ember: how do we get a portal? what is the process?

Rudi Bakerly: Jeder kann uns anschreiben. Wir brauchen ein Bild, eine Beschreibung und eine Landmarke. Den Rest erledigen wir.  Wir sagen dann Bescheid wenn das Portal fertig ist. Meistens schon am nächsten tag... es kann sich nur um stunden drehen lol

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: Anyone can write to us. We need an image, a description and a landmark. We'll do the rest. We'll let you know when the portal is ready. Usually the very next day... it can only revolve around hours lol

Luna.Lunaria: I think I have a portal here. Rudi was very attentive in helping with that

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: You have two here Luna

Luna Lunaria: Yay! I found mine :-)

Alex Salamander: Was gfür ein Service :-)

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: please look around. You have the landmark to come back when you have clicked on a portal. And remember. There are TWO levels. so you have to use the teleporter here and there as well

Thirza Ember: super shoes, Nasti!

Nasti Bakerly: danke thirza

Cosa Wiefel [de→en]: she now has it day and night on thirza *g

Rudi Bakerly: hahah, soon in her shop !

Nasti Bakerly: sind sehr warm lol

Thirza Ember: i need those in real life

Nasti Bakerly: me too

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: I'm thinking about buying one too

Cosa Wiefel [de→en]: not really rudi

Nasti Bakerly [de→en]: think about it well, you already have such big feet

Rudi Bakerly: lol, die ersten landen schon irgendwo im Hypergrid :-)

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: lol, the first ones are already ending up somewhere in the hypergrid :-)

Thirza Ember: you make this place such fun! I love your spirit

Rudi Bakerly: Wir sind stolz ein so tolles Grid mit  so viel kreativen Köpfen zu haben. Es ist jedesmal ein Erlebnis wieder etwas Neues hier zu entdecken

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: We are proud to have such a great grid with so many creative minds. It is always an experience to discover something new here

Nasti Bakerly: wir haben ein sehr lebendiges grid

Nasti Bakerly [de→en]: we have a very lively grid

Thirza Ember: Soul grid = how many years?

Nasti Bakerly: bald 3 Jahre

Nasti Bakerly [de→en]: soon 3 years

Alex Salamander: Ich freue mich, dass es wieder einen Weltraumbahnhof gibt

Cosa Wiefel: das stimmt alex, so kommn wir alle mehr zusammen

Cosa Wiefel [de→en]: that's right alex, that way we all come together more

Thirza Ember: I love all the colors

Nasti Bakerly: lol ja sehr bunt, ich mag es hin und wieder verrückt das sieht man an meiner region Euphoric 

Nasti Bakerly [de→en]: lol yes very colourful, I like it crazy every now and then, you can see that in my region Euphoric

Nara Nook: It's cheerful, puts you in an exploring mood

Thirza Ember: the amazing thing is, however many places you visit in opensim, there are always places you don't know yet, or new places coming online

Rudi Bakerly: Ja. Es kommen immer neue dazu. Oder es gibt alte, di ekeienr mehr besucht. Wenn ich eine alte Sim finde und sie gefällt mr, mache ich von mir aus ein Portal

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: Yes. There are always new ones.  or old Sims that no one knows anymore. If I find an old sim and like it I make a portal of my own accord

Thirza Ember: Is there any type of region that you would NOT accept? 

Rudi Bakerly: Alles was illegal ist und unmoralisch, da spielen wir nicht mit. Es ist ein wunderschöner Spielplatz für Erwachsene :-)

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: Anything illegal and immoral, we don't play with that. It's a beautiful playground for adults :-)

Thirza.Ember: how many visitors do you get here?

Rudi Bakerly: Mit Euch sind es jetzt schon weit über 1000  Besucher in einem halben Jahr

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: With you there are already well over 1000 visitors in half a year

Nasti Bakerly: total visitor 1056, we have around 1000 visitors a month here in the soul grid

Thirza Ember: I love the name of the grid 'living with friends' how many residents on Soul grid?

Nasti Bakerly: 106

Rudi Bakerly: Wir haben die Anzahl begrenzt, wir haben die regiistrierungen aber zu

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: We have limited the number, but we have the registrations closed

Frank.Gresham: It has been some years since the Sanctuary gateways and Eld were available. Its great to have a good inworld Gateway region.

Angelic Kisses: definitely

Rudi Bakerly: yes thank you :-)

Frank talking about the old days of limited gridjumping

Frank Gresham: Perhaps they were more popular when you could only hop 8000 units across the hypergrid at a time. Some hopoff points between dispersed parts of the metaverse too far to jump were needed.

Nara Nook: Is this the last remaining inworld portal region?

Frank Gresham: Does craft still have their train station? I don't think the good one on OSGRID is there any longer.

Thirza Ember: it is a lot of work to manitain it, because grids and regions move often or close down

Nara Nook: That's sad

Rudi Bakerly: Meist sind es auch nur kleine Bahnhöfe zu befreundeten Grids, Aber wir sind ja neutral und für alle da

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: Usually there are only small stations to friendly grids, But we are neutral and there for everyone

Alex Salamander: Die Teleporter für die einzenen Themengebiete sind sehr praktisch :-)

Rudi Bakerly: Dankeschön Alex :-) Cyberglo sei dank

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: Thank you Alex :-) Thanks to Cyberglo

Thirza Ember: A great man for the scripts, Cybergo.

Rudi Bakerly: JA die Region kann ich auch nur empfehlen

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: YES I can only recommend the region

Thirza Ember: I think i read something about a Hypergrid hop party from Soul grid? is that right?

Rudi Bakerly: The Grids Hopper nights ? ja hier werden auch partys gemacht, am sonntag haben wir dreamnight - Nasti ist eine tolle DJane... Aber bei den Grid Hoppers waren wir nur ein Teil vom mehrerenGrids die zusammen Musik machten. Es gibt rp im Soul grid .... viele  shops und ganz tolle bewohner

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: The Grids Hopper nights ?  Yes, parties are also held here, on sunday we have dreamnight - Nasti is a great DJane, Lovesongs and so on :-) But with the Grid Hoppers we were just a part of several grids making music together, there is rp in Soul grid .... many shops and really great residents

Cosa Wiefel: rp in candoranien

Rudi Bakerly: Um noch etwas Werbung zu machen . Von 100 Personen sind 80% jeden Tag aktiv. Da sind wir stolz drauf. Und jeder ist Sonntags vormittags zum voice frühstück herzlich willkommen . da tauschen wir uns immer aus

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: To do some more advertising, Out of 100 people, 80% are active every day.  And everyone is welcome to the voice breakfast on Sunday mornings. 

Thirza.Ember: oh.... one big question... Can safari visit your grid again???

Rudi Bakerly: Jederzeit

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: At any time

Nasti Bakerly: immer gerne

Nasti Bakerly [de→en]: it's a pleasure

Rudi Bakerly: Wir haben wahnsinnig viele Regionen zum erforschen. Jetzt ist das Roleplay Candoranien gestartet. Das kann ich für einen Besuch nur empfehlen.  wir haben ein video auf facebook da bekommt man schon einige einblicke

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: We have so many regions to explore. Now the roleplay Candoranien has started, I can only recommend that for a visit, we have a video on facebook that gives you some insights

Scarlett Candor: ja, und ich freu mich mega darüber

Scarlett Candor [de→en]: yes, and I'm really happy about it

Thirza Ember: I love the way the german grids are so organized, and how you support one another. It is a wonderful example to us all. independent, but good neighbors. That is the secret, perhaps

James Atlloud: good advice to all

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: We just try to be there for everyone, its social media witout the media...lol

Butsch Boucher: das ist das schöne an euch mam und papa das hier immer für uns da seit...lächelt

Butsch Boucher [de→en]: that's the nice thing about you mom and dad, always there for us since...smiles

Nasti and Rudi Backerly

Star Ravenhurst: Thank you for the tour. Lovely!

Nara Nook: Thank you

Rudi Bakerly: Vielen Dank, dass ihr den Weltraumbahnhof kennenlernen wolltet

Rudi Bakerly [de→en]: Thank you for wanting to explore the spaceport

Wizardoz Chrome: Many thanks .) !

Kelso Uxlay: Tsuess Rudi u. Nasti - Vielen dank für die Führein

Ard Rhys: Thanks for the tour

Alex Salamander: Danke auch, wir kommen ja öfter vorbei

Angelic Kisses: thank you for the tour

HG Address: soul-grid.de:8002:Weltraumbahnhof