Paela Incognito

Incognito? A little less these days. Anyone who's been around Opensim for any length of time will be familiar with the name Paela Argus, and if you've ever dropped in at LBSA Plaza on your way somewhere, or looking for some help, or company, you maybe have seen the attractive lady avie hanging out there. 

Recent events on OSGrid have given Paela even more visibility, so it seemed like a good time to get to know the person behind the screen a little better. Starting with the basics of good manners. 

Thirza Ember:  I know that nowadays you go by Paela Osgrid inworld, rather than Paela Argus. Do you prefer if people refer to you as ‘he’ or ‘she’? 

Paela Argus: I honestly don’t mind. People can use either “he” or “she” when speaking about me — it doesn’t bother me at all. In the virtual world, I present myself as a woman. It’s my way of breaking the realism of real life, keeping a clear boundary between virtual life and real life. This separation is very important for me — especially for the balance of my real-world marriage. Because first and foremost, I’m a husband and a father to a big family. And I take that role seriously.

Thirza Ember: You’ve been on OSGrid for a long time, Paela, what is the secret of your longevity? 

WB Osgrid

 Welcome back, OSGrid! About a dozen people were on LBSA a few minutes ago when these pics and gifs were made. 

LBSA back up! with Admins Sarah Kline and Paela Argus. 

People dancing, chatting, laughing, working... and a lot of them trying to rebuild their avie. Ellen Tiratzo was there, talking about the best way to stop being a cloud. Carmen Ever, very smart, was totally prepared for this day. 

Carmen Ever: I had a folder with my outfit all ready, and so when I got here, I transferred it from Neverworld , and it loaded immediately

Una, IARs, and OARs

In the troubled period since OSGrid went into long term maintenance, Unadecal Masala has found himself in a unique position. He not only rents regions to people in OSGrid, he also rents full independent grids. Most of these grids are small and private in nature, but some are public and they operate their own land rental schemes. Una doesn't have a grid of his own, his motives are simple.

Unadecal Masala: As a mark of respect for their efforts in attracting members and building their own communities, I decided at the beginning that I would never compete with them by setting up a grid where I rent land. I do have a private grid, but this is for testing purposes only.

We met up on HIE region, in the Hypergrid Expo park, on which is still open, if you haven't yet gone around and picked up the LMs, information cards, and freebies. I wondered what Una's reaction was to the whole OSgrid situation, and what had been the effect on his business and his clients. First reaction?

Unadecal Masala: Absolute dismay. Borderline desperation. Not only because of the grid going into long term maintenance, but because of the total asset wipe. Almost twenty years of OpenSim history lost in the blink of an eye.

Prince's Maze

Prince Amor:  quite a bit changed since last, with OSGrid closing up etc.. we are setting just over 100 regions, of which 20 are public, the rest are residential.

We met on Maze Grid, Prince's principality since OSgrid went offline for long term maintenance back on 4 March of this year. It's far from being a small place. Alongside the many residential sims, now home to many of those who rented from prince of Amor back on OSGrid, there are twenty that are public spaces, with freebie areas or art and fan builds on them, all worth a visit.

The Welcome region has an open air down to earth feel to it, with places to play and dance and hang out, but also teleports to other points of interest and a large Building Supplies area, where you can quickly pick up anything you're missing. I wondered how Prince has been weathering the recent events.

Prince Amor:   I feel let down, that is pretty well it.  I have 150 users, so I have 100 renters that were all  OSGrid... most made it here though.

Thankfully between social media and word of mouth, it is a lot more difficult these days for a person to remain out of the loop when something big like this happens. Rather like an earthquake, there had been tremors for some little time on OSgrid, giving us all warning. Prince wasn't in Opensim when the last great outage of OSGrid happened, from August 2014 to around February 2015, but he wasn't unprepared for the events of this Spring.

Prince Amor:  This was, for me, the first Big One. Lots of minor ones I weathered along the way.  I would have my renters  make accounts on my Dreamgrid  so when OSGrid went down they could have access to their lands etc.. in December when OSGrid went down then I learned how to do the stand alone so I evolved just in time for the big one

Thirza Ember: so did you get your oars and your renters stuff out in time before the whole thing went down?
Prince Amor:   oars - yes, but .iars were a horrible failure for most part, the ip protections totally broke them making them useless. But the OSGrid admin made the right choice of course. Once that big 6 tb breaks, or whatever size...

Thirza Ember: Really, relying on one grid, no matter who is running it, is kind of risky. People who say it could never happen to them because they take more precautions, sure, but ... hubris alert.

Prince Amor:  that is right and we have seen it again and again with smaller grids,  no matter what they are running. I really didn't lose thing. I know some  totally missed it  but my people did pretty good. That is why I would push my people to have an account with the Dreamgrid and here even but when it happened of course I pushed them as hard as I could. We still have things pop invisible or whatever as they wipe that drive, textures in the stores etc...

Prince of Amor

Thirza Ember: you are now transitioning from landlord of sims on a big grid, to grid owner. That is actually a different role... you have gone from being maintenance guy, to the mayor of the place have you noticed that change yet, how are you coping with the role, and do you like it?

Party On

It's the weekend - Saturday night, and the place to be os Event Plaza. But wait - OSGrid is offline for long term maintenance! 

How can this be? 

The familiar triple tent and steel structure, a semicircle of dancing fun. It all looks very familiar, with just a little bit less lag than you generally would expect to find, even when arriving long after the party has started.

Spring Clean

 I'm kind of looking forward to the great OSGrid asset reset. Don't get me wrong, it's a lot of work going back over the 13 and a half years of precious things and junk. Hold on though... scanning through Inventory it quickly becomes clear that although there are 18,000 items in there, maybe half of that is duplicates / slightly modified versions of the same thing. Eliminate those, and the things worth keeping probably boil down to ten maybe 20 percent of what's left. Decluttering - yes please! 

By the way, if you know anyone who only occasionally shows up in OSGrid, or who doesn't follow the news much, then be a friend, and remind them that the OSGrid Reset will take place around March 21 - so now's the time to act!

This is definitely the moment to make sure any scripts you care about, any creations, anything that you have that's unique to your OSGrid avatar is in a safe place.
A big shout out to all the other grid owners who are helping out with the situation and offering places for people to go/put their stuff!

Signs and Visions on Osgrid

 Constelacion de Orion 2 on Osgrid is one of the regions that Geo Perez calls home. Geo's been around opensim for many years now, and these regions, inspired by his writings and built by Tina Bey, will be the subject of one of the upcoming talks at the Hypergrid INternational Expo on HG Safari grid, in the first weekend of April.

Here he is in the avatar that is itself part of the story of his books, and these regions - veery white, with flowing locks and a strange electricity flowing around his body.

Geo Perez:  Welcome to Constelacion Orion geo portal. 

Geo Perez: This is my sim Alinijena 2... Next month I'm going to make a grid of my own, so all my lands will be moving. This is the entrance if you see behind you there are the dimensional portals

Geo Perez: Here are my promotional books...  I have like 17 but 33 if you count the translations in English and Spanish. My story is captured here, this place designed by Tina Bey, everything passed on my book and she created it all.

Love to Verna

DJ, builder, landscape creator, loyal friend, photographer, and welcoming hostess at so many events, Verna Avril has been a valued friend and a familiar face in Opensim for a decade. Her long career of creativity in virtual worlds, going back to the days of Second Life.

 Here's a shot of her handiwork from 2012, on a sky platform on a SL sim called Sharks Cove. The environment she made here was called ' Dragon and Angel Palace' and Verna's love of fantasy comes through, all these years later... 

Verna's Dragon and Angel Palace

... but of course, SL could never be big enough for such a passionate builder! 

Verna landed in Osgrid back in 2012. She has accounts on several different grids, but Osgrid is home to most of her building projects. In 2022 she told me she had ten 4x4 regions, many of them rich environments, and several under construction. She's always been a big thinker - whether it's landscapes, roleplay, or having fun.

Right now, Verna is battling health issues, but even if she's not inworld, she is definitely not forgotten.

Lots of friends all send the same message - prayers, good wishes, and a reminder to stay strong! They include Jaime Wright, Mystic Moonlight, Ozzmosis Ozzy, DJ Purr, Hyacinth, Destiny, Dan, Quaesar Agnomen, Unadecal Masala, and Kylie Brimmer.

Event Plaza

Victoria Logan: Dear Verna, in each of your sessions as a DJ, I have been able to travel through my memories and enjoy your music. Excellent person always willing to help, I know this from my own experience. My hug is with you.

Calendar Guys

 Another year, another calendar, this year "Men of Opensim"... no, no nudes, you can get them anywhere with depressingly banal results, instead here the focus is on guys going places, or well not exactly going but staying places and making stuff that you can visit. Of course, the number of interesting people in Opensim is uncountable, but these  just represent some of the goings on in the virtual.

You can get the calendar for free at the HG Safari clubhouse, and it's a gift offered in the Notices if you belong to the HG Safari group on OSGrid. The calendar part is a MOAP or media on a prim, linking to the Safari's Google Calendar, which will show you our upcoming seasons of events, plus the grid birthdays of many places on the Hyperverse.

So, who's in the calendar?

Advent Neighborhood

 Osgrid is back up, or kind of back up, not entirely convinced by it, from a performance point of view, but it's a good omen, and another promise of good times ahead is the start of the Advent build by Ange Menges and Nani ferguson. Ange and Nani have been consistently building festive, ephemeral regions for over 12 years in Opensim (and worked together before that back in SL) so they're used to the vagaries of the virtual. They have set up their latest creation Advent Calendar on two grids, Zetaworlds and OSGrid. 

When you arrive there's the usual poster board but this time, no HUD, it's just up to you to go out wandering around the snowy, bosky neighborhood and seek out structures with numbers on them. 

A Study in Scarlett

 "Tomorrow is another day" remains one of the most famous last lines in the history of cinema. Gone With The Wind debuted in 1939. The film tells the story of Scarlett O'Hara and her family home Tara during the turbulent years of the American Civil War, and Rhett Butler, the love of her life. 

It's a film about the effects of radical change coming to what had seemed to be a settled way of life, and of the dramatic results that those changes bring to individuals and families.

Tara

The movie, and the story behind it, have been cleverly brought to life in OSGrid (the HG Address is, of course, at the end of the post) by the French builder and historian Wildrose Guardian, who has a particular interest in those life-changing years from 1860 then the United States found itself torn apart by conflicting ideologies that turned to physical violence. 

Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa, the blank slate, is a concept as ancient as Aristotle, and as modern as an empty sim. Often associated with the human mind in that magical moment before impressions, feelings, opinions and experiences have made their mark, the very words 'tabula rasa' can fill a creative person with the thrill of possibilities.

It's also the name of Ieko Catnap's art sim on OSGrid, and it's home to pleasant pathways leading between attractive buildings with a provencale feel.  In one corner, a little grey graveyard is enriched by this lovely fountain, with prim fish that say they were made by Virtual Christine, giving the place the feel of an authentic history.

Charming too are the little shops, a flower market, bakery, newspaper printers and more, the cutest has to be 'Chik' Ânes' with a bit of a Latin American vibe going on. 

Prince's Passions

 suprema citius solvet amor die

He's Prince Amor, or 'the PrinceofAmor' - his precise name fluctuates, but for simplicity's sake let's just call him Prince - is pretty new to Opensim. He's only been here two or three years, but of course he's got a whole lot of SL experience under his belt from before. Safari goers will be well familiar with his Solar System build on OSgrid which we toured back in September. There's much more Amor on OSgrid, and hopefully over time we will get to explore the trippy Maze of the Mind, or his Star Trek build, and perhaps his automotive sim with over 300 cars, just to mention a handful of his personal sims. Along with these, he is known as the landlord of about 100 sims; his renters are either on OSgrid, or have Dreamgrid sims. It's always informative to get someone's take on the two platforms, especially if they're a fairly recent arrival, and it will be interesting to see if your observations are in tune with his. 

Prince Amor

I asked first of all for him to give us an overview of his experience in Opensim and the Other Place.

Prince Amor: Both experiences for me were about the same. When Second Life first started people there were helpful and kind. I was quite worried over privacy in Second Life at the time and they helped me a good while there. Gifts etc....things were free or close to it. Of course when Second Life first started Osgrid and it were one and the same. So it was the same kind of people. I do believe Second Life is not the same place now as it was, I believe it is because the good kind people came to Osgrid. I wish I had known of Osgrid then, but such was not talked about in the circles I was in.

LibDescent

Yes, OSGrid still has logins restricted, but it'll be open again soon, and when it does, here's a place you might like to (re)visit. It's a piece of virtual history and also - what could be better - a bit of a freebie shop, by Plastichansa Bade.

If you're a bit of an oldbie you'll remember the golden days of Metropolis Grid, and among the vast number of great artists from Germany and around the world who made that grid their home, you may recall the art of the Plastichansa Bade - and it's hard to think of Plastic without Zonja Capalini. They met inworld in 2016 and were a great artistic team for years. 

Two artists from Spain, they've graced the pages of this blog more than once. Even before our Safari trips began, Zonja's little grid Condensationland featured on this blog - later the oar was attached to Metro, making it easier for people to see. They participated in AvatarFest, that much loved pan-grid annual event, back in 2017, and of course, a lot of you will remember the tango place in SL called Arrabal - the Safari went there too, back in the day. 

The Art of Aaack

For many years, Aaack Aardvark and his original mesh creations, available free and full perms in his store Arcadia on OSgrid, have been a familiar and much loved part of the opensim galaxy. Recently, Aaack decided to step away from the platform, but he very kindly took a few minutes to tell his story.  Like so many of us, he came here from SL.

Aaack Aardvark and his signature store

Aaack Aardvark:  When I was in Second Life I spent all my time in a sandbox called Little Blue; I made friends with the owners and eventually helped moderating it, all my available time there was distributed into play with friends and build, especially build. One of my friends there started to experiment with Open Sim and used to comment his discoveries about the platform. That was my first contact with OS, at the time I learned two very important things:

1. You can be in SL and OS at the same time, it’s not like you go to hell if that happens and,

2. OS exists.

Pumpkins and Prizes on Yaksha

 It's that time of year again and we were guests of Nani ferguson and ANge Menges on their Halloween Hunt this week. The sim will be open until November 6, so you can come back and complete the Hunt, if you wish. It's called Yaksha, over the years I've often asked Nani if there's some sort of storyline or cultural reference behind the odd and distinctive names they pick for their sims, and she's always said something like 'it's funny' so I'm guessing this year is much the same. You can invent your own etymology - bonus game! The full HG Address is, as always, at the end of the post.

Ange Menges: Welcome to all the safarista, you don't have a lot of time, so I will help a little those who want to play the game. You can visit the sim as you like, and for those who want to play the game, start by reading the panel carefully. In the region you can find 10 laughing pumpkins that will give you a gift.  Follow me inside the castle so I can show you one.

Escape 2 Halloween

 Back in 2010, Mystic found her way to Opensim, and settled on OSGrid. Relatively recently, she  made a move to a new grid, which she shares with friends, Escape2Reality, and here she has an annual Halloween region worth a look! The HG Address is, of course at the end. It was too much of a good opportunity to miss when we met up to ask her a few questions about her life on the platform and to know a little bit more about her home.

Mystic Moonshine: Ozzmosis  started this grid  a year and  2 months  ago. We  are finally getting things done here, it's been a slow process - rl  things of course take first place - but  Ozzy, Purr, myself and  Hippie are admins here and trying to make a  wonderful and inviting grid for all to  come use and explore. Many nice places being set up here... I love that the grid is  filled with friends and  family  that  want to get together and share and build a happy environment for anyone wishing to do the same.

Mystic Moonshine: It's  always  nice making friends. However we have had people come  join  the  grid then not  come on  to hangout or join into the grid activities. We want  people that are  wanting to  stay and interact and  enjoy and make the grid better, if that makes sense.

Mike's Towns End

Our second stop this week was with the magnificent Mike Townsend, friend of the Safari and frequent tripper with us back in ye olden days when it was a three hour, uncertain slog through any number of  destinations. These days, Mike is busy with his Tropicana sims, where you can rent a bit of pixels for yourself in some very atmospheric places! HG Addresses at the end of the post - but you knew that already.

Coming from another grid, we all met with a fair dose of lag but the welcome was warm from both mike himself and a bunch of Tropicana friends.

Mike Townsend, flanked by Blancanieves and Tina Bey

Mike Townsend: Welcome everyone to Tropicana Village, If everyone is ready we can start the tour

Leoa Urmah: (pt:en)  I'm very ready

Mike Townsend: We will explore the area around the abandoned village and then take the path to the Trailer park. In a state of part ruin and abandonment there is still evidence of people living here. Lets walk to the trailer park.

This part of the build is a great mix of grunge and rundown architecture, with everything from nodding donkeys to a nice red phone box. Walking among all these detailed elements proved to be tricky, to say the least, but while we lost Mike for a moment, most of us were able to power through it. OSgrid's ongoing inv issues and unexpected kicks, when paired with a mass avatar event, kind of reminds us what a privilege it is in reality to be able to be part of a global community, despite the ructions of RL with its solar flares and political shenanigans.

Boldly Going with Prince of Amor

 This week's trip took us to visit the Prince of Amor on his megaregion on OSGrid, Maze Space. 

It was quite a daring exercise, because this was our first Safari visit to Prince's regions (he has a lot!) on OSGrid, and this particular region is a challenge for any visitor, due to the dimensions and the darkness of space. On top of all that, Hurricane Helene was knocking on Florida's doors, and so Prince warned us before we got going that anything might happen RL-wise, and if he disappeared that'd be why. Luckily our timing went well, nothing got unnecessarily damp, and we had an out-of-this-world tour of the sim.

The start point for Maze Space (full HG Address at the end of the post, as always) is at over 8000m just about the position of Pluto . It's really essential that you come up here to begin, because at ground level you'll be in the sun, not a lot to see and a little to close to the heat for comfort. 

Prince Amor, today dressed as a Borg, welcomes the tourists

Instead, at the Space Station, you will find a collection of freebies, some info about the ideal Graphics settings for this build (spoiler alert, set everything to the max possible for your computer) and the main means of transport, the flying saucer. 

Call it Communauté

Community! However you spell it, it's important in virtual worlds.

Nadajdae region on OSgrid is home to Hella Yver and her partner Badr Norseman, and recently they've decided to open up the sim to social events for the Francophone community.

A little opensim history, which you probably know already. 

FrancoGrid was the best-known French grid, and arguably the oldest, it started in February 2007, and closed in March 2022 when the servers suffered an irreversible breakdown and the FG committee came to the sad decision that the grid was no longer viable. Just over a year later Metropolis Grid, the giant in the family of German-speaking grids, finally went offline (you may remember the wonderful party we had to mark the end of that era!). 

Metro and Franco - these two gaps in the Opensim scenery, not to mention Osgrid's 8 month 'hiccup' in 2014, brought home to most people that probably, the way forward was  to have lots of smaller grids, where people can do their own thing, and comfortably avoid people who have different ideas and uses for virtual worlds.

But little grids, though they lead to less drama, also fracture the community, making it less likely and less easy to stay in touch.

If you read this blog often, you already know of quite a few Frenchies in OSGrid - from the lovely Paela Argus, who for many years served the OSGrid community as an active admin member; Ange Menges and nani Ferguson are here, with their signature Hunt builds three times a year; and there's Cheops Forlife of course, with the Theatre d'Adret; not to mention the delicious Cherry Manga who has sims here and on many other grids. That's just to mention a few of the better known folks on OSGrid - there are many more, plus a whole archipelago of Francophone grids out there, many of which we have visited, from Ignis, to Creanovale, to Logicamp, to Vibel, to Atlas and more. Wondering where the other French grids and French creators are located? Well, Prodyck Theas has compiled a useful list on Artefactix, his interesting blog, you can see the grid list here.