If there's one thing everyone can agree upon about Opensim, it's the ephemeral, here today gone tomorrow nature of the beast. Assets, regions, addresses, inventory - even whole grids can suddenly not be there any more. At the same time, new people and places, new builds and ideas are always springing up. Whether you're a full-on builder, a grid owner, or just an average avatar trying to look good, you have probably been out there, looking for assets to dress your sim, your art idea, or your body.
Famous freebie sims are of course the first port of call, but depending on what it is you need, and how much time and expertise you have to go searching, you can't always find exactly what you're looking for. Or can you?
Two years ago, Nico Kailani started a group in Opensimworld that helps out with that. Here's a direct link to the What Are You Looking For group. Yes, it's true, OSW is often blasted for the drama, bullying, and over-sharing by a handful of troubled souls, but remember, all that nonsense is really only on the Home Page - the site has other useful and underused features, and 'Groups' is one of them. Nico Kailani: Before the “Looking For” group, the only place people could ask for help finding stuff was in the OWS front page chat Box. Requests for help were too often drowned out by toxic chat from trolls and people with personal vendettas. Even at its best, what you say in the Box quickly disappears because you can see only the last dozen or so messages.
'Groups' on OSW can be tricky to find, but you can see them all by clicking here and of course, you can find the Groups you have joined by going to your own Profile, and scrolling down to the bottom right side of the page. Hundreds of groups have been started over the years, but very few have more than a handful of members, or are actively used. Nico gives a practical example of why her group has thrived.
Nico Kailani: The question, “Does anyone know of any open-mic clubs in opensim?”, was asked in the Box some days ago, and there was no reply. I posted the same request in the “Looking For” group and within two hours there was an answer. What we are doing right is, quite simply, helping people. The message board format worked as I had hoped. Our group of dedicated and very knowledgeable volunteers are the reason for our ongoing success. My main job is to encourage them with posts like this. You can still see the very first posts made two years ago on the “Looking For” message board, as well as all of the replies and comments. They are threaded, so real conversations in the group are possible. The conversations are respectful, helpful, and there is sincere gratitude expressed for the help offered. It’s an example of the best of OS.
