Day: July 3, 2010

I goze InWorldz

Posted on by Inara Pey

From time-to-time I’ve paddled around other Grid environments: OpenLifeGrid, New World Grid, InWorldz, etc. I’ve commented on OpenLifeGrid in the past (although I’ve not been back there in about 6 months), and I’ve also poked my nose into Blue Mars. As there has been a lot of commentary on InWorldz of late, and seeing as I’ve been bouncing around the InWorldz grid for some three months now, I’d thought I inflict, er, offer my observations on it.

First off, like any OpenSim Grid, Inworldz (IW) is small. Sims can be measured in the dozens rather than the thousands. The server-side software is also quite a way behind SL in terms of functionality. So don’t expect lots of windlight enhancements and be prepared for frequent server restarts. On the positive side, InWorldz has a working currency and working permissions.

Accessing InWorldz is much like SL…go to the website and register (no charge). The form itself is straightforward, and on completing the registration process, a validation e-mail is sent to you. Follow the instructions in the e-mail, and once validated, you’re ready to log-in.

Viewer-wise, there is a reasonable choice across operating systems, including InWorldz own tailored Viewer, Imprudence and Hippo. My personal preference is to use Imprudence, as I sometimes use this with SL and it has been tuned for OS Grid use; although I’ve played with the InWorldz Viewer and found it acceptable, and I’ve used Hippo with other OS grids. Results with other Viewers tend to be mixed. The infamous Emerald can be used, although I’ve tended to find it exceptionally slow on rezzing, and subject to frequent disconnects / crashes. Meerkat, from which elements of Emerald are drawn, on the other hand runs pretty smoothly on IW, and tends to be my 2nd choice of Viewer, if only because I used it to export the majority of my bits from SL prior to the TPV “lock down” at the end of April, and it is always wise to use the same Viewer to import items as was used to export them.

Whichever Viewer you use (outside of InWorldz’ own) will need to be configured to access the grid – but the instructions on the website for configuring Hippo can be used with other Viewers readily enough.

Logging-in to IW is obviously identical to SL, and will initially drop you at the main public meeting point. This generally has people coming and going and frequently has IW Mentors around. There is also a large freebie store where hair, clothes, shapes, skins, shoes, etc., can be picked up to get you started. The store also has a series of landmark sets, kindly ordered and sorted by category (“Skins and tattoos”, “clothing”, “rentals”, etc), by Pat Nartobi, one of the IW Mentors and good friend. These sets are a must have, as they are a boon to getting around IW and appreciating – despite negativity voiced within the SL official forum and places like SLU – just how IW is growing.

I’m not going to go on about getting around in IW or places to see; the former is easy enough for anyone who has been in SL and the latter is a matter of discovery. Rather, here’s a few bullet points of items of interest:

  • As one would expect from an OS Grid, IW isn’t subject to many of the limitations one finds in SL:
    • Full sims support up to 45,000 prims
    • Prim sizing through the Build tools isn’t constrained to the 10x10x10 limit or torturing mega prims, with the largest permissable prim size being 128x128x128
  • Land costs are (currently) considerably cheaper than SL: with mainland sims costing $60 a month, with no set-up fee and private islands costing $75 and no set-up fee
  • Purchasing (renting) land is currently handled through the website. Sims that are available are supposed to show up in the website World Map with a “For Sale” sign in the po-up information display. TBH, this is something I’ve not managed to do with either Firefox or Google Chrome…so I’m likely doing something wrong…
  • Frame rates within IW are potentially as good as anything in SL, although there is no real windlight processing to be done
  • There permissions system works as here as for SL (unsurprisingly), although can be a little temperamental at times – if you set the permissions on and object and continue to work on it or modify it, it may get switched to full permissions as a whole if a full perm object is added to it
  • There are currently no charges associated with uploads / imports, and XML imports are generally very smooth
  • Like other OS Grids, IW does not support the most use-to-date LSL commands and functions, so some scripts may need to be re-worked to operate on the grid. Some additional capabilities (prim lighting options, for example) are also more restricted than SL
  • The in-world currency, (I’z or O$, depending on whether you are on the website or in-world) are currently half the value of L$ (500Iz to the US dollar). Currently, the only method of purchasing Iz is via the IW website and Paypal. Goods appear to be priced roughly at their SL equivalents, however (so, for example, an L$800 AO in SL is likely to be O$800 in IW). I should point out you get 50 Iz when you sign-up
  • Much work has been done to improve the IW Asset database, although in places like public sandboxes, things can be a little unstable – it is not uncommon to get disconnected from the server when saving complex builds
  • If you are using a Viewer such as Imprudence, many of the “advanced” features may or may not work; the Avatar List, for example, does not work in Imprudence, but has worked (for me) when running Meerkat.

Beyond this, there are the expected bugs and issues – this is OpenSim, so don’t expect everything to run like clockwork, but on the whole, InWorldz offers one of the better (and increasingly more popular) OS Grid implementations. The permissions system, relatively stable currency and sheer friendliness of the team (and mentors) behind it make it one of the more delightful places to visit – and one of the more occupied of OS Grids.

Of course, there are risks associated with any OS Grid involvement. For all its faults, SL is supported by a company that is hardly likely to go *poof* in the night. And with the best will in the world, OS Grids run by enthusiasts, however well-intentioned, don’t have this safeguard. IW suffers to no greater or lesser extent in this than any other OS Grid. However, what it would benefit from is a clearer indication of its foundations (are those behind it purely enthusiasts? is there a registered entity behind it? These questions are not easily answered from a perusal of the website, which is largely anonymous in this regard. While this shouldn’t be a major hindrance to IW’s initial growth, it may well become so if the grid expands and becomes mainstream (although in fairness those behind it probably have this in hand). For the time being, it remains something those with a passion for disliking OS Grids to take pot-shots at IW….

For my part, I enjoy my time there; I’m not sure if I’m going to take the plunge and set-up shop or anything, but it is interesting being back on the ground floor of sorts and re-learning things like very basic scripting (not that I’m an expert). Given the open attitude towards adult matters within IW, it’ll be interesting to see whether or not elements such as RLV support can be made to work on the Grid. Certainly, there is enough there to keep me hopping back and forth.

Certainly, if you are thinking of mooching around other grids, IW is a very good place to start.

Lion’s Gate (my current house) in SL
..and in IW
The lounge in Lion’s Gate (SL)
…and in IW

More on the Marketplace

Posted on by Inara Pey

The discussion thread relating to the new Marketplace is growing apace. What is most refreshing is the fact that (until the weekend arrived) Grant Linden was staying fully engaged with those posting comments – and addressing the good and the bad, rather than going about the usual cherry-picking we’ve tended to see in Linden responses.

While at times he seems to be little more than a gofer – charging back and forth between the thread and the “Marketplace team” to get answers – his contribution shouldn’t be diminished. XStreet, for all its faults has been a major means for merchants to gain revenue, and given the manner in which other aspects – most notably in-world search – are currently borked up, it is essential merchants aren’t panicked by either a rushed implementation of the Marketplace or a feeling that the Lab is responding (with apologies to Dr. Frasier Crane) “We’re not listening…”

I gave initial feedback from fiddling with the Marketplace the other day. Admittedly, I’m not “big-time” merchant my listing (or store) doesn’t top 50 items, and I don’t consider myself in any way shape or size an “entrepreneur”. I build because it is fun, I sell to off-set tier. Ergo, I’m not as deeply into the mechanics of XSL as other may be, and so I missed the fact that features critical to some businesses aren’t so much missing in the Beta, as potentially ignored as not being vital at this time.

This has caused a lot of angst among merchants. It’s also (as with Search and Viewer 2) brought the WannabeA Linden mob out in force. Some of the angst from the former is expressed in unnecessary dramatic expressions of disgust (some of which are vented without actually indicating precisely why the new system is a “pile of crap” which don’t actually help drive the discussion forward in any way). Meanwhile, at the opposite end of the scale we have people sanctimoniously posting as to why merchants shouldn’t be upset as this is, after all a “beta”, before launching into a pious sermon on what “beta” means and how people lack the common sense to appreciate it as such.

Shame on both sides.

Between the two, however lies a wealth of concerns that are valid – some of which are also very worrying, despite Grant’s best efforts to calm matters. An examples of this is distributed payments. Many items on Xstreet (and indeed in-world) are made by more than one individual (or more than one avatar). As such, both Xstreet and most in-world vending systems provide a means for the payment received for a sold item to be distributed to the various individuals/avatars concerned in its creation. Yet this functionality appears to have been treated as a “nice to have” rather than a “must be in place” feature by those responsible for creating SLM, with Grant only able to confirm it will be added “in the future”.

Similarly, how listings on SLM are synched with their corresponding XStreet listings has been a source of concern inasmuch as all information on SLM is currently drawn from “prepared” listings on XSL – only even when merchants have followed the rule and prepared their XSL listings, what is arriving in SLM needs a lot of additional work to make it both attractive and usable (as I can personally attest). Yet it remained wholly unclear for several days at to whether a re-synch of data between XSL and SLM would overwrite the latter – thus undoing the Merchant’s hard work in “fixing” things on SLM (which now appears to be the case), while it remains (at the time of writing) unclear as to whether the synching will also “undo” the new features unique to SLM that merchants can now employ in their listings. As the synching is an “all or nothing” approach (you either have it turned on, and everything is re-synched, whether it is a new item just added to XStreet or items you’ve slaved over so they “look right” on SLM; or you simply don’t get anything updated), it tends to undermine people’s preparedness to test things.

Both of these two issues are pretty fundamental and demonstrate something of a lack of forethought on the part of those behind the SLM roll-out – particularly given that while this “Beta” is supposedly for the benefit of Merchants, LL are nevertheless trying to get merchants to push customer traffic into the new Marketplace in order to “test” the customer side of things. While such testing is clearly needed, it runs the risk of damaging the reputation of at least some merchants for a raft of reasons.

Given the list of current issues within SLM: language defaults, inconsistency of image displays, synching concerns, confusion (and lack of information) on tags and tagging, large gaps in required functionality (i.e. the aforementioned distribution of payments), and so on, it is very clear that SLM has a very long way to go before it is ready to replace XSL. As such it is good to read Grant’s repeated assurances that SLM will not be rushed to prime time.

Nevertheless, given the SLM was the subject of extended discussions with some merchants (via the roundtable, etc.), and even some of those posting in the forum thread give the impression (which granted might be little more than hot air) that they were privy to the inside track on matters, the volume of issues with SLM is surprising. At the end of the day, this is not a new product.

The basics were there in XSL – yet they somehow appear to have been ignored in the drive to make the Marketplace “web standard”. And while it is all very nice for Grant to paint a picture whereby SLM will allow merchant’s products to be openly googled from the web, I’m not altogether convinced this is a necessary benefit or even close to a vital requirement. Not when the majority of shoppers for Second Life related items are going to be one of two places: either in-world or on SLM. So is Google-oriented visibility really that much of a vital driving force? It’s a nice-to-have, for sure for merchants – but I hardly think it is going to encourage the heaving masses to rush to Second Life any more than closer links to Facebook will bring hordes of new users screaming to the gates of Second Life.

But, all that said, it’s good to see that, following Philip’s address at SL7B, the Lab appear to be taking the time to listen to issues and address them. They need to keep this up – not just within SLM, but across the board. And the next time they fire-up an initiative that is liable to impact the lives of a sizeable portion of their user community, one hopes they’ll put their new listening skills to good use up front.