Finders Keepers

 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.

How Not to be Lonely in Opensim

Ever heard someone say 'there's no-one in Opensim'? Or maybe that was you, talking to yourself - hey nothing wrong with that!

Opensim can often feel like a wide open, empty place. Quite intimidating after, say, the bustling sims of SL. That's not surprising when you compare its size to that of Second Life. 

SL in 2024 by primerib1 aka Claire Morgenthau

SL is not small. This picture shows the main continents at the center of a galaxy of private regions, but if you think that's huge, Opensim is waaaay bigger - if fact, if you're wondering why there's no map of opensim here, that's because it's impossible to say how big the connected hypergrid universe is. 

A few people try to give statistics about it, but they do not, and indeed cannot, know the full extent of opensim, since it is a completely decentralized and unregulated meta-place where anyone at any time and for any duration can have a grid without reporting to any higher authority. 

That means there's no central control, nobody keeping complete records of all the comings and goings of our hyperverse - it just can't be done in a meaningful way. 

Halloween Treats

There are always so many things to do at Halloween in Opensim, it brings out all the ghoulish genius of our many builders. Even if you're not generally a Halloween type person, there is plenty here to admire - and if you love the scary stuff you'll be in heaven!  (Or should that be the Other Place?)

The pumpkin patch on Themed region of escape2reality

Here are three suggestions of fun ways to enjoy the spookiest time of the year. All HG Addresses and hops are, of course, at the end of the post, and the links to the region's pages on Opensimworld are posted as links - so don't forget to click on the links, Like, Review, and Bookmark if you're so inclined - it's a great source of positive feedback for our wonderful creators.

Safari gets a Fair Shake

       Two destinations this week, and both of them are about connecting and sharing across grids. Two hosts, Satyr Gator and Ozwell Wayfarer, both of them keen builders who have done that extraordinary thing, they have looked up from their own work and beyond their own creativity, and decided to do something for the greater good.

Ozwell Wayfarer and Satyr Gator

          Our first stop was on OSGrid, Satyr Gator's sim opensimworld full HG Addresses at the end, as usual. 
        This is a lovely imaginative build where you can find the famous beacons available - the beacon you'll need to add your grid to the opensimworld.com website which allows people to find your region, club, shop or institution in the massive universe of ... well, open sim worlds, there's really no other way to put it. 

        Get your beacon, but explore the rest of the region too, there are NPCs and spaceships and a lovely psychedelic dance floor. But for our group, there was - let's say, a certain amount of lag.