TPV stands for Third Party Viewer.

First started as alternativs to the  standard Second Life viewer offered by Linden Lab.

Today there is many  different  TPVs many  specialised  for specific use  and frankly  a bit of a jungle to  navigate around. Some weeks back  I  came across a website that offered a list  of the different TPVs. Please do note that not all  of them are  approved by Linden Lab. When it comes to  OS grids best to check with their policies first before using  the more  less known  viewers on the list.

I will say  that this list  from the Builders Brewery website is one of the most straightforward TPV list,  I’ve seen in  my  5½ years of virtual  living.

Some bloggers  do a lot of work  on  investigating TPVs and their usability and  different  nick nacks they  offer. Inara Pey is one of them. She does tend to  cover mainly  Second Life  but if you’re an  OS user and can  abstract from  the  Second Life  blogging  she  is very  competent and thorough in  her  TPV reviews.

So without any  further ado:

Builders Brewery - Third Party Viewer Overview for Second Life and OpenSim

Living in a virtual world is not as straight forward as  playing a game online, ods are that it never will  be.

I resently was given a link to a website that covers the  three cardinal lag points.

• Server
• Client (meaning viewer/computer)
• Network

Its a good read that everyone who enters a virtual world should read

“Lag in  OpenSim and Second Life, and how to deal with it”

I could try to explain on Twitter but 140 characters is not enough.

Some of the people I follow on Twitter will see that I  have un-followed them. Reason is simple. The stream  has currently become a bit too much and I find myself  focussing too much on following.

Few people know what  is on  my  plate and this is very  intentional. I  don’t have the need to  stand on a hill-top shouting  how much  I  hurt or how busy  I  am  or how unfair life is. I use my friends  for that and that’s not even  a sure thing. My problems or lack of same, are mine and the more personal they are  the  more tight-lipped I  get. I  talk a lot so  I  guess some people think  they  know me, and bless them for that but  extremely  few has my  full  confidence and even  those people  wont ever get the full picture. My  choice and so it will  stay.

I need to scale down  from idle chatter. I’m fully  aware I’m  as bad as anyone when it comes to  bla-bla-bla-chat. I tend to  be a very  social person so sometimes I fall for the temptation.

So this means that I have to un-follow some people on Twitter.

Again this is not a drama look-at-me etc etc attempt. Just the opposite, it’s an attempt to strangle the drama before it hits the sphere.

I hear a lot  oh “Hurrah” around the online status. Now Linden Lab  will  by next week  effectively break any  possibility to circumvent  any setting  regarding online status. Many  people happy – Everything is good …. or … is it?

There are some gadgets in virtual worlds that will  show their owner online. I  remember when I  started most of them  were really  simple round balls that glowed green  for online and  red  for  offline. You rezzed one out where you  wanted it and  it  connected  to your  status. Easy and practical.

Why  practical? See a virtual world is a 24/7 deal. If you  have a business of any  kind it might be a good idea to  have such a gadget out in  your store, office, club ect. You  know so your ( potential )  customers can  see if your online and  IM (message) you  if they  have a question, problem or other. Makes for good CS (customer service) I’m sure most people will  agree.

Today  these balls have evolved. Various boards are now common thing in  clubs, stores, malls, offices and so on. They  are used  by club owners for them self and their staff, by store owners to show their customers why the owner of the store is and  if they are online (many  stores have managers as well) , by Estate owners in  their offices  again  for them self and their managers, by Escorts so their potential  customers can  see who  is online and often  also  get a handy  note card on  their services. The list is endless. Even  ”just” normal  persons have them in  their homes in  various styles.

Next week  this is over. ALL of these gadgets will  be broken. Lot of people wont even  know about this change until its to  late. Merchants will  be swamped by people complaining and wanting their money  back because they  now have a completely useless item  in their inventory. The merchants have sold these gadget over many, many  years and of course don’t have the money  any more. The money  is spent on land, rent, textures etc,  what ever they  need to  live and work in a virtual  world.

But ..  this is good.. yes?

EDIT TO AD:

Above I listed the  most commonly known use of this function of detecting online / offline status. I was just browsing the  Second Life  Merchant forum and  Zanara Zenovka listed in one of her comment  an  even  longer list that makes use of this

•  gift vendors
• bot systems
• staff boards
• staff time clocks
• ad boards
• tip jars
• gift boxes
• delivery gadgets
• RP systems

But we are still in  agreement that this is a good thing that  Linden  Lab  is  gonna break  this code..  right ? (Just making sure)

So  as many  might  know by  now Linden Lab has come out with additions to  the  current  policy that any  Third Party Viewer – TPV – has to follow for them to  be on  Linden  Lab`s official  list of allowed viewers in  the Second Life virtual reality grid.

It has  two  points:

• Privacy issues
• New Features in  viewers

First off the privacy  issues. Lets see…. so  Linden Lab are now really concerned about our privacy. Yea that’s rich, this is actually  the same company that we had to  yell and scream  at  for months  before they took  action  in  the RedZone disaster. You  know the  handy  little gadget that grabbed you  IP and  all  your SL information. Also  the same company  that  still  ”allow” other similar products to  still  function within  the Second Life grid, CDS being one of them. Actually  I  myself brought this issue  to  Jack  Lindens attention  at his Office Hours a whole year  before shit hit the  fan and it went  big in the public.

Somehow I’m  not really  buying their concern here.

This is what I  see: The  online status is just a drama queen  subject. LL is buying into  this and  it’s just …. well… stupid, is really  the word for it.

Now that be it as it may. Forget  the merchants that now has to  change  tons of products that will  from  next week  be broken cos some Drama Queens got their way  by stomping their foot.

The second issue is the  big deal breaker …. New Features in the various  viewers …

In short this implementation will effectively  cut the various  viewer devs balls off… tie their hands and force them  to be under the Linden  Lab  thumb. Contrary  to  some beliefs this is actually not a good thing.

No more innovation, no more variety .. why? well let me put it like this: If this policy had been in  effect  from  the beginning  we wouldn’t have had Kristen for Machinima makers, Phoenix for  Builders. We wouldn’t have  RLV, we wouldn’t have multiple attachment, we wouldn’t have multiple  clothing layers, we wouldn’t have … the list is endless. Most of these features were hacks to begin with  yes but they  worked and they  pushed Linden Lab  into  a position to have to  implement them in  their  viewer.

With  this policy these days are now over ..  Linden  Lab  has put their foot down. Why  they  have done this now and not just  shut the  TPVs down, which  would, lets face it,  have been  a lot less dramaesque. This decision  has just lead to  drama, speculations, head-meet-desk, pulling hair etc.

As always the  Linden  Cheerleaders have come out, they  always do  at times like these.  Linden  Lab  can  apparently  do  no  wrong and they are  mainly  focussing on  the  first part and  not looking at the nasty  parts. Their main weapon of choice when it comes to the privacy  issue is …. Emerald …. now I’m  well  aware that  the old Emerald viewer was used in  a malicious way that said  how long can  it be  beaten  up  for the  stupidity  of one dev… one  kid  with a grudge that went  ballistic and fucked up. The Emerald is dead, gone and so  tainted that no respectable grid would ever touch  it with a ten foot pole. It’s over, done and dusted. Frankly  I’m sick and tired of  it being dragged out of a mothridden  old bag every time  TPVs are under debate. Get over it already.

If you (used in a general manner here) think  for even  a moment  that your information  is safe by  using the Linden  Lab  viewer only  your making a HUGE  mistake. If your really  that scared that someone will  grab  your  information when walking around in  Second Life or any other grid for that matter I  suggest you  turn  your comp off the internet  completely. Right now as it is even  going to  a website can  put you  at risk  of having your  information grabbed and stored.

Linden Lab knew very  well  what  gadgets like  RedZone, CDS and others similar were and are doing  within the Second Life  grid. Yes they  took  RZ down  but the rest? no  they  are still  out there. It took  one  coder  to  trip these  gadgets, Sione Lomu, and it took several  months for  Linden Lab  to  agree to  even  put that patch  in  their viewer. Even  that isn’t  perfect ..  YOU have to  be vigilant still. I don’t know if that patch  is in  the V3 even I’m just assuming it is.

So  in  conclusion do I  think   Linden  Lab  have our interests at heart? Not for one single moment, not one  fraction of a millisecond. Their whole history  proves without a shadow of a doubt that  this isn’t the case.

Linden  Lab  is a business, they are a company  that has  investors, these investors have not put their money into  Linden  Lab  out of the goodness of their hearts. They  expect a return  on  their money  and  they are   holding  Linden Lab in a tight  grip.

So  when  I  see  / hear  the Linden  employees staying stuff like “Give us a chance,  Give us the benefit of the doubt” I  get  angry  cos what they are  doing right there is  tapping into  the  history  of Second Life and the general  user conception  of  Second Life  / Linden  Lab  being a “community”. Users may  have formed their own  communities with in the grid  but Linden  Lab  is not on  that path  and hasn’t been  for many  many  years … I  would say  ever since M Linden  came to  the company.

Now I  know  people will  now turn  and say  ”Oh  but  Rodvik is CEO  now …  he gets it …  he understands us … he will  make everything better”

No, if you  truly  belive that your setting yourselves up for  heartbreak. Just because  Rodvik logs into  Second Life and  can  rezz a box don’t mean  he gets it. Rodvik  is a gamer at heart it’s really  that simple.

M Linden was focussed on big corporations

Rodvik Linden is focussed on games

Both was/is under the  rule of the  Board who in turn  answers to  the investors.

Simple chain  of command.

So when  I  see a corporation  trying to manipulate  their users/customers into  having them  belive  they  are  just  working for them  and  asking them  to  give them  just a little more time to  prove that. I  get angry. I don’t like bullies and I  despise  manipulative bullies.

Listening to  the  recording from  the TPV policy change meeting I  heard  Oz Linden being condescending and a bully. To make it worse and cement my  suspicions about Oz Linden I  was reading Tateru Ninos blog post on  the  subject and in  the comments on page 5 Latif Khalif, Developer of Radegast said:

One of the first public meetings after he got hired, he made clear there is no room for discussion. It’s Linden Lab’s platform so there is no use arguing against their decisions on say JIRA. “It’s our JIRA, you lose!” were his exact words.

There is not a meeting with TPV developers where he doesn’t come with condescending remarks like (paraphrasing) “we are adults here at the Lab, and do it properly with QA and all, unlike you kids that ship any old crap”. This is especially infuriating since one of the most often cited thing about why people prefer TPVs over the official viewer is their stability.

Above is a good example of how Linden Lab  really  sees their  users / customers. Even  people who give their time for FREE to  help Linden Labs users improve their time spend in  the Second Life grid. These developers are not being paid by Linden  Lab  or the people who are using the various viewers.

Now you  may  say “But Second Life  belongs to  Linden Lab  and they can  do  with  it as they  like” Yes I agree wholeheartedly. However … and this is a big one. Linden  Lab  needs to  be  110% clear on  what they  really  want to do  and  communicate that to  their users / customers. What is going on  now is they are  trying to  ride  several  horses in  one go  and  think  that  we are to stupid to  notice  their pants being ripped apart and their arse are showing for all  to  see.

Last thing I  wanna touch  on  is  I’ve seen  people  mention  stability. Now let’s get this absolutely  straight, Even  I  as a complete  tech dunce  knows this. Viewers can  not  mess with  the  grid stability. Viewers connect to  the  servers that  provide them  with a code  so  you  can  do  certain  things in  a virtual  world.  If you’re experiencing an unstable world it comes from different sources. Servers, viewer that is dependent on  your system ie computer power, broadband speed.

Now Second life is approx 10 years old and in that time they  have been  patching and glueing  on  old hardware.

So re the viewer. The  choice of viewer I make for my  experience in Second Life or any  other grid  will  NOT  affect  anyone but me!

I do  love Second Life. I love the  original concept of it. I  don’t however  like the company behind it. I will keep  my  account in  Second Life,  I  will  log on when  I  want to  and with  the viewer of MY choice but I  will  never invest into the grid ever again!

Some might think, if they don’t live in America it wont affect them.

The internet is international, it will affect us all. Censorship is bad, there is no excuse for trying to implement  these measures.

Educate yourselves and protest against any oppression and censorship.

WordPress which my blog is hosted by  has offered the possibility to join the blackout with links provided to let your voice be heard.

Use them and  let the pocket dictators know that the people wont stand for them taking our freedom away  from us.

You have the power. Pick it up and use it!

Whoosh and etc from Lady S

2012 – What will  it bring? First of all I’m starting to find this  new years nonsense  boring and  maybe its really  just an excuse for getting drunk. I’m Danish, we don’t need excuses. We can  get drunk at any time of the year.

Ok .. 2012 …Lets see if we can  make a list. Really don’t like doing it cos  I should be de-stressing and not making a list that just grows and grows and the more it grows the more stress I  get and the less will be done  which in turn  makes the list grow even longer ..  aaaand … *sighs*

Yea yea I’m  rambling, when do  I  not?

Ok .. InWorldz is looking at a very  very  busy  year and Tranquillity announced just  a few days before the end of the year a new addition to InWorldz ….. Voice …. TaDaaa!

Yes InWorldz will have voice coming next year. Its being tested on  the beta grid. Also  testing on the beta grid is the newly coded Alpha, Tattoo and Physics layers brought to us by  our grid monkey Jim Tarber now his move and  the holidays are over. He is currently  trying to  fix it so  any  viewers that don’t have the physics coding wont see ppl  as a cloud. Of course the  Big Stuffz of InWorldz will see the light of day  in  the new  year, namely new inventory  system  and  physics so  people can  use flying, sailing,  driving  and so  on. Those biggies sort under  Tranquillity  and Jim  will  run around like a good little monkey and pick up  the  bugs  crawling around the grid. He just fixed the  attachment bug again (its one stubborn  bug if I  ever saw one) Now please remember when I  mention  bugs being fixed it don’t mean  that it on the main grid as yet. As I  understand it  the  Layers & attachment fixes will be rolled out in a week  or two along with the inventory  system.

So  InWorldz list looks something like this:

• Voice
• Physics
• Inventory system
• Bug fixing including the soon coming Alpha, Tattoo, Physics (bouncing bits) & attachment fix

Now those are the stuff coming for  the first months of 2012. Once  the big stuff like the Inventory  and physics is rolled out and  debugged  time will come for  further stabilising and  bug hunting on the grid. Oh and did I  mention … I  do  belive we have a new monkey on the team. Now I  didn’t ask  Tranquillity  cos  lets face it when I talk  to  him  I don’t grill him for details But his comments on  Twitter leave me to  conclude that a new monkey  is soon  to  be found roaming the grid.

Second Life is forging ahead with their own stuff. Like gamifying (ok  that’s my  interpretation) the world. I have to say  I  do  like Rodvik but as far as “getting” Second Life, I always had my  doubts and those doubts  seems to  be confirmed as months passes. Its been a year and  Second Life don’t seem  to  be more stable rather the opposite. The Mesh  Linden Lab  introduced in 2011 was a flop and residents had to  go and hire an  ex-Linden to  come and  fix it. Yes I’ve lost faith  in Linden Lab and SecondLife as a whole. Sad but Linden Lab seems  like a train  just driving off the tracks and not seeing it, or maybe not caring if they do. Rodviks “speech” blog  left a lot to  be desired and was  in  my  opinion just some  wishy-washy stuff that wont entice anyone that has left Second life to  come  back  or  for those still in  the world to  invest further. To  be brutally  honest I  could  sit and dissect the blog from Rodvik  but even that I  can’t be bothered with, maybe later  maybe not.

Other grids in the metaverse seems to  be chucking along. I  havent noticed any  big  news from Avination, 3rd Rock, OSGrid. Granted I  havent been  looking either. A few new kids on the block is popping up here and there but that is about it. Oh feel  free to  add anything in  the comments remember to  include links.

Out in the Physical World lots of things going on.

I’m expanding my  therapy, changing school, looking at starting serious studies after summer, looking for a house to rent cos living where we are now is driving me bonkers, few trips planned to  england … Thats about it.

Hope you all  have a great 2012.. Im suppose to  say  that  but really just have a great life, do no  harm and work for a better life for you and others.

[insert some fireworks and etc here]

Did you read my  last post of people complaining about InWorldz (and as always SecondLife) being dead? Mhm this relates to  the same issue. Only  this time its  the designer/creator/merchant that is doing the complaining.

Enter the above: “My stuff isnt selling. InWorldz is dead not worth  bothering with” or “My stuff sells great in SecondLife but no one wants it in InWorldz”

Translation: “My stuff is awsomesauce and  its just cos  InWorldz dead”

Ooookay, so your stuff is the beesknees and absolutely fabu. Your not selling  in InWorldz but your selling in SecondLife. Aha, very  interesting. Let me throw out a few  ideas see how they grab ya.

1. Advertising, how much do you do  of that?

2. How present are you  in InWorldz?

3. Whos your competitors in InWorldz?

4. Quality, avalability, price?

See commerce in  InWorldz is much different from SecondLife. Why? well why  is CocaCola using different advertising tactics in various countries? Why  are  MacDonalds not seeling the  exact same  burgers in all  countries?

Answer: Because different countries has different cultures (rather squarely  put  but this isnt a lesson  in  busisness 101 so  Ill  leave it at that cos it sorta fits well)

Now InWorldz isnt SecondLife – “Yes we knooooow that alreeady   stop  harping on  about it now” Nope I wont cos obviously  you  havent gotten  it yet!

Now the poulation in InWorldz consists of roughly 95% creators, designers, builders and Lease Merchants (people that have  gotten the rights to  sell other designers  brand in InWorldz) These people are smart shoppers. Now take a note of that if you please.

Another point is this; Inworldz is a small  community  still, its growing but its slow growth (for various reasons  I wont  get into  here maybe later). The online / active  residents  has  steadily   grown  to 200 –  300 people mainly at peak  hours which  is around 12 pm IWT (same as SLT)

Now I  know for a fact that some creators  do  well in InWorldz some even  very  well  considering the age and the  active population of InWorldz. Some creators manage to  earn enough in InWorldz to  be able to  pay  for their expenses both  in InWorldz and SecondLife. That really  isnt to  shabby  if you ask  me.

Here is my  firm  conviction,  feel  free to  prove me wrong.

InWorldz isnt  prime  for  high profit  ventures or infact in some cases even normal  profit business.

Again  as the last post indicates  you  need to  be in the world you sell in. If not it will  go  stale and  no one wants stale cookies.

Look into the world your going to expand into or even  start a business in. The worst mistake you  can  make  is the following:

1. Think your name can  get you  sales. This is rare indeed. Be inovativ. Listen  to  your customer base,  chat with  people .. be aware

2. Think  that InWorldz is the same as Second Life. It might look  familiar and the interface might be  almost identical  but the  world? Not so much. Get  your butt out there while the  world is stil  young!

3. Forgetting that this is a new virtual world, with  new people and new  ideals and  hopes

4. Plonking your stuff in a store and walking away  focussing on  Second Life or  indeed other worlds. Most people in InWorldz are in  still  in  Second Life and  also  other worlds. They  observe and  watch.

5. Not scaling your prices to  match  the inworld economy. This goes for all  worlds. Dont be greedy cos that will  get picked up  real  fast and  you  might be the only  one on the market … but dont blink  cos compertition  is right around the corner!

6. Refusal  to  participate in the inworld life. Bad idea.  half your  advertising  comes form   being social and active  and honestly  helping others. Your name wil  be noticed … or not as the case may be.

So no, InWorldz isnt dead. But your business strategy  might be.

Other insightfull  Blog-posts about InWorldz business

How Do Merchants Do  it

How To Sell  Your Stuff

Grid-To-Grid value and pricing

You Might Say

Is the Honeymoon Over?

Advice for New Virtual World Enterpreneurs

Virtual Sales: Tips, Tricks, Myths and hope

(do you  have a good  blog post  that covers  this topic and  is helpfull let me know Id be glad to  put it up here )

Smooooosh

xx

Moan moan, complain complain, me me, I want, why don’t you give me ….

I keep  hearing this: “InWorldz is dead, there is nothing going on…”

*sighs*

Well you  know what … I’ve been  hearing the  EXACT same thing about Second Life the last .. ooh  I  dunno … 2 – 3 years  at LEAST! I  met new people in Second Life all the time and the  same questions over and over and over. “Why  isn’t there  X Y Z at locations  A B C “

You  know what? How about  not treating  Virtual Worlds as you own  little  playpen? Like a place where people  have to  entertain YOU!

Let me ask you a question, you can  answer or not but do  me a favour ( wont cost you  a dime  thou a little  brain  activity  might be required) and THINK about it ok?

Question: “When  you  wake up  in the morning in your physical  life. Do you approach  people there  in the same manner?”

Get this … Virtual Worlds are NOT .. and I  repeat NOT games. The people in  virtual worlds are NOT there for YOUR  entertainment. The  world does  NOT  revolve around little you,  nor will  it ever. The sooner  you realise that  the happier you  will  be. Trust me on  this, ok ?

Yes I  know one of the  greetings we have in most virtual worlds (at least the ones I’ve encountered)  is the two words “Have fun!” and yes  I do  actually  belive  in that still. BUT that fun  is YOUR  responsibility  NOT  everyone elses!

In InWorldz I have  more to do  than  I  can  keep  up  with … honestly  I  do. I  get notices   several  times a day  about some event going on somewhere and if I’m  bored 99% of the time I can  always  drop by  IDI (InWorldz Desert Island aka first rezzplace) and  chit-chat with  people there all  depending on  time there are usually  someone hanging around. Hey  if not and if a new person  rezzes in to  InWorldz while your standing there try  helping them out.

BUT ..  and  as always in  life there are those  nasty  ”buts”. One thing I  have observed is this. The  more you  invest into  a world the more you  get out of it. (No  I’m  not talking about money  investments)

I’ve noticed that when ever I pop back into  SecondLife  (again  of course depending on  the  time) lot of my  friends list is shrinking. Meaning I’m not seeing  as many  friends online in SecondLife anymore as I  used to. When I  go  to  SecondLife it’s often  to   grab something or pay something. Now and then I   say  hi to someone on  my list and we  natter for a bit. You  know  ”so whats  new with  you  in SecondLife – So whats new with you  in InWorldz” Like  proper conversation you would have   with a friend in the physical  realm  if they  had moved to  a different  city  or different country. Not much  different.

Now I’m  not anti SecondLife, far from it actually, I  love the  original concept of SecondLife and I  wish  LindenLab would  see sense and get back to  their roots. Back to  what attracted  people to  SecondLife and  the concepts of Virtual Worlds in  the first place.

So  do  me a huge favour – yea here I  go agin  with  my  favours but it still  wont  cost you a dime and it will  save me from  loads of headaches so Id really  appreciate it – Bloody  well  get over yourself and start participating in the world(s) you’re in and if not  stop  bloody  whining about it, ok? Then  you  might  not be the type that  gets enriched by  virtual worlds so  go  play  some online game instead and stop  bitching about  virtual worlds not being to  YOUR liking!

* We thank you  for your attention and will  now attempt to resume our course into the  unknown*

(pst cos we actually  like that)

Now you all  know I’m  NOT  tech minded and Tranquility , bless his geek mind, do try to explain  but  for us non geeks it’s often resembles the teacher in Charlie Brown on a good day.

So I thought Id try to explain  what exactly its is that has  physics delayed this time… the Assert Servers …

Dear blessed assert servers, the  servers that hold .. well… everything in a virtual world. Everything you  buy, import, build. Everything you rezz on your region is connected to the assert servers as well.

Remember SecondLife? Yea  we have almost all  been there, almost all of us were “born” in SecondLife and  I dare you to  tell  me that you  never ever in your entire SecondLife existence  havent lost something due to  Asser Server malfunction  of some kind.

Now  a few months back  Tranquillity (InWorlds co-founder and coder extraordinaire)  noticed  a problem with the  assert servers  and the  restarting of regions. He could  see that this had potential  of being a huge  one if he just ignored it (LL style) See in InWorldz the regions  are set to 45K prim value vs the 15K prim value in SecondLife. Now keep  that detail  in  mind as we  move on  in this  story .

Ok, so  I  use to  own some regions in SecondLife, just a small  Estate nothing big. I  was also a member of the Concierge group  and lots of  creators and  small, medium, big Estate owners were in that group as well. I  learned a LOT  from  all  of these  people in  my  more active time in Second Life.

It was/is a daily  occurrence that someone lost  something in SecondLife. Either from  their inventory or  when  a region  had restarted. Now let me tell you a story  of region  restarts in SecondLife.

As a region  owner / Estate owner  you  have the ability  to restart the region. Its equals  restarting your computer when  you  have run  it to  long and  stuff is hogging  our memory (very  basic terms) So … we have an Estate, regions are built on,  things are rezzed out, things with  scripts, textures, sounds, animations etc etc, These all take up  memory  on the server they are at  and are also  connected to the  assert servers that  keep  track  of; Textures, scripts, animations, who  owns what, who  can  do  what with  what objects, permission on  objects set  by the creators  etc etc.

Ok so things are starting to  lag on  a region,  so you go and hit the restart button. And wait …. and wait ..and wait …. *snore yawn * and finally ..  yay it comes back online! Now minutes .. hours .. later you get it by  IMs;  ”My TV is missing?” “My dog went poof?” “Half my  house is gone?” You go “ARGH oh  no  not again please” So you  investigate. Are the stuff no  copy (please god in  heaven  let it be copy), is it their  viewers that are wonky? .. Some people do  not log in  everyday  or maybe only  once a day  or  they  might be on  vacation  or out to  visit  Aunt Mathilda for  a day or two  and wont discover their stuff  went poof till  days after.

So yea you can  do  roll backs, but then  another problem  arises. What if  its  12-24 hrs ago   the things went poof? What if others on the region  have rezzed stuff in  the meantime?  Now those things will  go  poof if you roll  back  (at this time it’s where you start pulling your hair  cos ppl are  angry  as shite and want their stuff back !!)

Now this scenario  is bad enough  on regions that has only 15K prim values… imagine this on a 45K prim  value region…  Yay  fun  times … Restart and half the stuff has gone  poof in the  assert servers. Brilliant  fucking brilliant ! Just want you  need!

You  have built an  entire region   of your dreams  and on a restart  stuff has gone, just vanished. Now sure ..  ”Rollback” ..  yea but  what if half that stuff was no  copy? .. Well  tough titties o you .. its gone forever.

I can’t count the  endless times I  heard stories like this from  Estate owners not to  mention Merchants that  have ppl  IMing them like crazy  to  get substitutes or  IMing them  cos the  assert servers wont cough up  what they  just  spend  4-5-6-7 $ buying.

How about this  for  fun;  You  come home,  jobs been  crap,  kids having a bad  day, wife all  PMS and you  finally  sit down  and log in. You have planned this al  day  ..  you  wanna relax, go sailing,  flying, shoot someone in the RP group  you’re in. So you  log in  and …  the damn  inventory  wont rezz,  so  you  clear cache and relog  …. still  nada ..  ok ..  so  now you   start asking around and gets told  ”You  need to  log into  an  empty  region   to  let your inventory  load completely” .. Ok  fine,  you  grumble  cos  you  just wanted to  relax and now you  have  issues up  your wazoo …. So  yo  relog again  and log into an empty  region  you  got the name of ..  Hey ..  not working … the region is being restarted  and its stuck in  limbo  or  taking its sweet time  getting back  online, so your landed at a region  where there are tons of ppl  and  chatter and crap  and you  still  cant  get  your inventory to bloody  load. All of this sound familiar?

Personally  the first time I experienced a major loss due to the assert servers in Second Life was after I  had a party  on a region  I  just bought.  I  had  rezzed out  30K L$ worth  of  things  for the party  and  next day  when I  went to  collect it … it was  gone ..  poof vanished. And yea  it was all no  copy  stuff. To  bad so  sad little Lady. LL didn’t give a crap  and the merchants ?  well   it’s really  not their fault  is it?

So  all  of these scenarios are what Tranquility  is  working very  very  hard to  prevent  from  happening in InWorldz. It’s not because the don’t care, it’s because they  do  care. It’s not because  the Founders think  Physics are not that important  it’s because  they  know exactly  how important it is. How important it is for  people to  sail, fly, shoot, and so  on  but  they also  know that is not gonna happen  if people can’t  get to  their  boats, planes,  scooters,  guns cos the assert server  gone ballistic of if the   roleplay region  you go  to   just got restarted and half the  builds are missing cos the assert servers decided they  had a bad day .

Hang in there cos Physics are round the corner and Tranquility  is  working  very  very  hard to  get  YOUR stuff secured so  you  can   spend 2012  goofing about  with  what ever physics stuff you wanna goof about in.