The End of Discovery

 Discovery Grid is closing, and will be gone by December 15. The news was announced at a grid meeting last Saturday. If, like me, you're busy on Saturdays and missed the meeting, you can get a recap of the main points of Balpien's announcement here. 

It seems the main reason why Balpien decided to shut down Discovery is that the internal economy of the grid has ground to a halt, with few merchants and money making sims, and a general decline in residents and regions.

It's always a shame to see a grid go offline, and one that's been around for over eight years is a loss to the general hypergrid community. But you still have a few weeks to go around and take one last look!

If you can't quite place Discovery among the many grids we have visited, here are a few reminders. The Safari has been lucky enough to tour here once or twice, beginning with a visit to Spirit Rock Ranch when the grid was just one year old. 

At that time our guide, Angel Discovery, explained how the grid was born out of friendships forged in Inworldz, so it's no surprise that, in his statement about the closing of Discovery, Balpien makes reference to that shambles of a shutdown that happened to Inworldz back in the summer of 2018, and vows to do better.  

Titanic going down

More recently we made a return to Discovery to see Kayaker Magic. He has a fabulous interactive Titanic build which is the scene of an annual party, to memorialize the sinking of that great ship - he very kindly let us see the dramatic sinking play out - so many details, with icebergs and lifeboats and flotsam and even rats deserting the ship!  The sporty Panthalassa region, with its opportunities for surfing, riding, hiking, and shooting dinosaurs, will surely survive on some other grid, it is a jewel of a sim.

Belfast and Japan - Photo Finish

History featured strongly in this week's safari as we visited little slice of Asia and of Europe on two grids, Discovery and OSGrid, and found out about a past that may have passed some of us by. It's also a journey into the passion of builders, scripters, and virtual residents, as the kaleidoscope of creativity continues to enthrall us. HG Addresses as always at the end of the post. 

First up, the new project on the Belfast regions of Stiofain Mactomais. Known best perhaps for his music venue the Maritime, modeled on the real club of the same name where Van Morrison got their start, there's much more here - poetry, real world architecture, an exhibit celebrating the Belfast-built Titanic. 

This visit was to the Falls Road, and a project that can be enjoyed using your phone, Oculus rig, or as we did simply inworld.  Called the Belfast Archive Project, t's all about bringing the social history of this part of the world back to life in a vivid and accessible way. We met outside the inworld version of the historic Conway Mill.