when i was in Second Life i often built as a tiny beaver – it was fun, it made me smile, and people would not hit on me. i remember the first time i tried being a furry, it was an awesome feeling of liberation. i can’t really say why. i guess it was even more detached from reality than a human avatar – but i loved it =)
Second Life has a huge furry community and the tinies are an entire community onto themselves. Second Life fostered the furry community as well as other non-human communities like robots and even vehicles
when i came over to OpenSim it was for a different purpose, a “more serious” purpose i suppose you could say. i also find that many people in OpenSim are doing “more serious” endeavors and that makes sense. OpenSim is a bit more difficult to jump into as ELQ pointed out in a comment yesterday. with Second Life, you just grab an account, get the SL viewer, and log in. you can figure out the rest later. in OpenSim you have to figure out where you are going to go (a commercial grid, Kitely, your own machine, Sim-on-a-Stick) and as ELQ put it – it’s an additional barrier
are most people more serious in OpenSim or is there also room for total fantasy?
i know that role playing can be very good in OpenSim both commercially like Avination and for the passionate do-it-yourselfer like Sarge but those are highly niche people with more than average drive to find something that specific
what about the casual person, like i was, that jumped into Second Life, went shopping for an outfit and accidentally landed in a furry shop and was excited to see a tiny avatar?
i don’t know that the typical person could have that same random experience exploring OpenSim as it is today
are OpenSim people “more serious”? does the nature of OpenSim being a bit more complex and open dissuade “play” like being a furry?
what are your thoughts?
in the meantime, i’ll make a Luskwood inspired giant tree and offer it as a freebie when it’s done =)
Interesting, I have heard that people from Opensim (specially osgrid) are more friendly than residents from SL. I have to admit that I have meet so much good people in both comunities but it is true that you can meet some really weird people in SL (which sometimes I write about my meetings with them in my blog).
xpontaneus
3 Jul 12 at 4:39 pm
I remember Luskwood and Forest D’alliez… I had so much fun there… Everyone I’ve run into in Opensim so far has been friendly, when they’re not zooming about my sims. ;)
I think the roleplay will get there. it’s summer, it’s uber hot and people don’t want to sit in front of a hot computer.
John Sheppard
3 Jul 12 at 5:58 pm
My own personal experience is that there are more griefers in SL, more so than the difference in populations can account for. But, people are people and tend to be friendly and outgoing on the whole, whether in RL or VL. Its the environment that will determine how many out-of-the-normal negative personalities will take up residence, whether its a big RL city or a big VL grid.
As for the generally serious subject of fantasy, well there’s this one news announcement in the Folly Times…
“Abandoned Haxor Outpost Discovered!” http://excelsior-station.wikidot.com/
*grins*
Sarge Misfit
3 Jul 12 at 6:15 pm
I don’t know about “more serious”, at least not in my own experience. The Opensim community I’ve found is full of fantasy and, in particular, the creators of fantasy. As for the experience of stumbling onto new and exciting avatars, it’s a challenge. While it’s true there are many creators and their content on Opensim in general, that content isn’t found on every grid – or every OSGrid region. Implementing an answer to real content security for hypergrid and its connected communities will dramatically change this.
An example of “serious” for fun’s sake: I spent this last week developing a comprehensive HUD for GridCache for Opensim. This HUD’s original form and function took about 2 hours in Inworldz. When the GridCache community asked for it on OSGrid I re-discovered that every region there is configured differently from the others. Because of these differences, the new Opensim GC HUD took a week to complete! While the goal may be fun and fantasy, it can sometimes take serious effort to get there ;o)
ELQ
3 Jul 12 at 7:29 pm
well i was going to re-opening a picture gallery and though about SL. now in SL and OSgrid i have the same population, about <0, but somehow i feel that in SL i could bring people in and on OSgrid, i would have to say "keep out, keep out, you are using too much bandwidth."
bristle
3 Jul 12 at 8:33 pm
I don’t think that Opensim people are necessarily more serious. If you haven’t checked out Devokan Tao and been guided around by one of their docents, it’s quite an experience.
I went to Opensim for business reasons, but still enjoy exploring what it has to offer.
David Cranmer
3 Jul 12 at 8:50 pm
All the virtual worlds i tried had and have amazing users, ready to help without personal reasons behind!
And even for those like me, that refuse to mix real life data with virtual life data, All Worlds never questioned my option nor placed any problems with that!
ZZ Bottom
4 Jul 12 at 9:36 am
Yes I think so, I don’t like to mix virtual world with real life. This are different things and most of the people just mix it. Eventhough I have met some nice people and some of them are friends in real life, Usually at first time I avoid realife contact until I know a person very well.
xpontaneus
5 Jul 12 at 5:11 am
thanks David on the region name, i’ll add it to my To Do list for when i stop being a hermit on this project! =)
interesting take bristle and seeing that OSGrid is a donation run grid with minimal resources as compared to SL, you speak the truth!
i for sure have no issues not mixing real with virtual! ZZ and xpontaneus, i back you up 100%!
thanks ELQ on the GridCache link! i never saw that before and when i just looked, someone was @ELQ with a message for you! lol, you are popular! =)
those are awesome pics Sarge! thanks for sharing them! =)
i hear ya John! my PC is upstairs in a non-air conditioned room that gets in the 90s, i guess i call it a sauna and think of it as a free health club amenity! =D
Ener Hax
10 Jul 12 at 8:45 pm