News and Commentary: More On InWorldz's Closing

By Bixyl Shuftan

InWorldz is gone.

Due to shut down on Friday July 27, the place began going down Thursday night as sims were shut down, and people packed their items away as the management stated they would try to save what could be through an OARS. On Friday, people could still log in at 2:30 PST, but soon after when yours truly was there, the last of the sims couldn't be acessed. From the chatter on Discord's InWorldz group, and the newly created InWorldz Disporia and Relay For Life of InWorldz, it looks like a few people were able to hang on for a while and even relog. but by Saturday July 28 at Noon, the last few people finally lost their grip as the place went completely offline.

There's a lot of sadness, confusion, and more than a little anger. And that's certainly to be expected. While HyperGrid Business reported about merchants in the virtual world being "concerned about perceived drop in users and commercial activity and worry that the grid owners are no longer committed to the success of the grid," the announcement on Monday hit people by surprise. "Why did she not have the funds to pay her bills?" As the co-founder of the place hasn't been around for over a year, he can't say. When another noted virtual world, Avination, went down, the reasons were the company's cash reserves being wiped out by thieves using stolen credit card numbers to buy virtual currency, and then a "catastrophic" data loss it couldn't afford to pay to fix. And this grid had a far smaller population, and numbers of private sims than InWorldz. How did a larger gird that escaped problems on this scale go under?

All we have to go on is Beth Reischl's explanation was that she took out a loan from a subsidiary of Paypal, of which she seemed to be saying she'd taken out loans before to cover development costs, and despite the money being available to pay them, for some reason the company declared "non-sufficient funds" and took out a lien against them. She stated when she called them to resolve the issue, the person she talked with was "very combative" in blaming her for the situation, and further attempts to resolve the situation were fruitless.

The Gofundme campaign Reischl started adds to the confusion. Started in an attempt to try to save the grid, once most of the money was raised, she stated that instead the money would be used to help make a new grid. Why the sudden change? Her words, "What then, what about next month?" was a suggestion the money troubles were pretty deep. The sudden change in the reasons for the Gofundme plus questions as to how the Grid could have found itself in need of a loan made for a lot of confused people, as well as a number of angry ones who suspected something fishy was going on.

Those whom were exclusively or mainly using InWorldz have a choice of where else to go. At least one, Mobius, is taking the moment to offer them a break if they move there.

To every resident of InWorldz,

We are sad to see InWorldz go, and you might need a new home so we at Mobius are offering to InWorldz Residents who want to make Mobius that when you order a region with the coupon code TTL31 you get the region 50% off for each month you have your region until you close it down. This offer ends 9/9/2018.

As Hypergrid Business stated, "for people looking for a closed, commercial grid" like InWorldz (or Second Life), which offer greater control over who can get in (such as griefers) and more power to protect content creators, there aren't that many options out there, "The three major closed grids are The Adult Grid, Virtual Highway, and DreamNation. There are also several educational grids that are closed, and some grids run by companies and other organizations that require privacy or control. Almost all other grids are hypergrid-enabled. As of May, hypergrid-enabled grids accounted for 98 percent of all OpenSim land area and 97 percent of all active users." According to a poll Hypergrid is doing, and still ongoing, the results as of the writing of this article suggests the greater shares of InWorldz users are heading to the Discovery and DigiWorlds grids, with Kitely in third place. As of July 28, Hypergrid says in DigiWorldz there have been "more than 250 new user registrations since July 24, and has up up 71 new regions." Maria Korolov's article would give a rundown of many of the worlds InWorldz users could head to (besides Second Life, of course).

Besides how come InWorldz went down, there have been a few questions yours truly has been asked. One is will there be a replacement for the InWorldz grid and when will it be? As of the writing of this article, there's been no date given for the opening of this replacement grid, or it's name. And outside the core group of hopeful inWorldz fans, it's usually being called the possible new grid or plans for a new grid. But there are a couple Discord groups, InWorldz and InWorldz Disporia one can join to talk to InWorldz members for possible information. But at this time, so far it's all speculation. It's current tech department head, Jim Tarber, has stated that he will not be part of any successor to InWorldz.

Talla Adam of the Metaverse Traveller would say, "No date has been mentioned for InWorldz II to open but it will probably be several weeks given the amount of work to do. When it does open, some may well return. So for some of the departing refugees it might be a two-way tip - hard to say really. But there is a lot of bad feeling and people feel put out losing stuff and having to move anyway. The longer it takes to rebuild will also play a part in determining how many will return."

What will happen to the Relay for Life in InWorldz event? In short, without an InWorldz and no date given for the supposed replacement grid, it's a safe bet that the event won't be happening. What is likely to happen is that the event will be moved to another virtual world. Which one this will be is unknown as to how long the decision might be. One can check the Relay for Life of the Metaverse Discord group for possible details.

Could this happen to Second Life? In short, not any time soon. While Linden Lab has been accused of a number of things, rightly and wrongly, over the years, not having a desire to watch the bottom line is something it seldom is. About a little over a year ago, it was suggested the Lab was making 65 to 70 million dollars USD. But while it's finances are sound for now, over the past several years Second Life has undergone a slow but persistent long-term decline in the number of it's sims. While it has been hoped that Linden Lab's recent adjustments in what it charges for sim tier can reverse this trend, the results are still less than conclusive. Even if this trend is halted, there's still the chance a future CEO could pull a series of blunders on the scale of the Content Creator Terms of Service controversy right when someone develops a virtual world that unlike Sansar people can make a virtual home instead of simply an experience. So trying to predict Second Life's future beyond a decade becomes problematic. But unless there's a global catastrophe such as a worldwide economic depression or a planetary power grid failure from a solar flare, it's a safe best the virtual world we know and love will still be around for several more years at least.

As hundreds, probably thousands as the days go on, set up in a new virtual world, and residents from Second Life look outside wondering what happened, no doubt there's many smaller stories to be told. Feel free to send the Newser any reader submissions about your experiences in InWorldz, or your new home.

Sources: Hypergrid Business, The Metaverse Traveller, New World Notes

Bixyl Shuftan

InWorldz's Rise and Decline

By Bixyl Shuftan

Four and a half years ago, the future of the InWorldz virtual looked bright. It was growing in terms of both active users and regions, notably a number of residents of Second Life whom were taking an increasing interest in this other grid which while the largest of the OpenSim worlds had remained a distant second place compared to the larger and more established virtual world. Today, InWorldz is facing the end. A statement made by it's owner Beth Reischl stated due to financial troubles, the virtual world's servers would be going down Friday July 27.

So what happened? While the relationship between Linden Lab and it's customers, the residents of Second Life, has always been a little problematic, about four and a half years ago it was worse. This was the "Rod Linden" period in which aside from responding to problems, the Lindens didn't talk much to the residents aside from the occasional statement. They made a number of clumsy moves, such as the 2013 Third-Party Currency Exchanger Ban that was lifted only when there were entire communities talking about leaving Second Life for other places. A few months later was the Content Creator Terms of Service controversy in which a poorly-written change to the Terms of Service in regards to the rights of content creators that with a public already wary of Linden Lab's moves, the result was some seeing the Lab as preparing to sell the content of it's users as it's own, possibly as part of an "exit strategy" of either closing down Second Life or transforming it into a much more tightly controlled place. It's hard to saw how many believed this, but the way Linden Lab had been acting, even those less prone to panic were thinking it could happen.

And so many residents of Second Life began taking a more serious look at the second-largest virtual world around: InWorldz. Tuna Oddfellow closed down his one of a kind performance in the more established virtual world and reopened it in the second-largest. I soon found the free Wingless avatars on InWorldz, then Luskwood was offering to give SL residents on IW a copy of the avatar they purchased on the larger virtual world. The Podex third-party currency exchanger set up shop in InWorldz. While there was already a Relay for Life in InWorldz, it became much larger, an InWorldz-Second Life Connection Center to aid SL residents new to the smaller grid sprang up, there was a meeting to discuss questions about InWorldz in Second Life, and more.

With all the attention on InWorldz, it was time for the Newser to make a small change. Where we once stuck such articles in "Extra," we created a new section, "Other Grids, MMOs, and Games." We would interview the founder of InWorldz. And then there were my virtual neighbors in the Sunweaver/Angel community. Nydia took an interest in the Connection Center, and when it's founder suddenly up and closed it she helped create a new one. The Sunweavers/Angels would also get a couple sims as a "life boat" for our community just in case Linden Lab really did shut down Second Life, still spending most of our time in the established virtual world, but getting to know the new one a little. With all this attention, InWorldz soon reached a total of 100,000 accounts, and it's fifth anniversary party was a happy occasion, that of a small but growing virtual world on the rise.

It's a good question of how things would have turned out for InWorldz had Linden Lab persisted in it's 2013 third-party currency exchanger ban, and if it's blunders in 2015 such as the closing of the SS Galaxy and the near-shutdown of the Grendel's Children mall had happened a year earlier. But even as the smaller virtual world was celebrating the promise of a brighter future, things were already turning around at Linden Lab. In January 2014, Rod Humble stepped down as CEO, and in February Ebbe Altberg took his place. Linden Lab under Altberg became more talkative to people, and among the first things he announced was that the controversial changes in the Terms of Service in regards to content creators would be undone. And in July they were changed to the satisfaction of most.

With the reasons InWorldz was getting more attention now relaxed, residents in Second Life became less inclined to hop over. The Relay for Life would continue to hold events there. But overall attention fell. With Linden Lab announcing the development of their next-generation virtual world Sansar, perhaps attention that would have otherwise been paid to InWorldz by residents of Second Life was focusing there. The Newser itself would continue to pay a little attention to InWorldz, but not as much. The numbers of active users would go up and down some, then in Spring 2015 start a decline that would continue. The number of sims would spike in mid-2015, then start to decline. The decline in sim numbers was slower than the numbers of active users, though. Then InWorldz found itself facing competition not just from Second Life, but another OpenSim world. Kitely grew rapidly in just a few years to become about half InWorldz size in the number of registered users. By 2015, the two grids were about equal, and in 2017 Kitely had become the largest of the OpenSim grids. Another grid, Avination, which was a competitor for the largest OpenSpace world in their early days, was the target of theft by criminals, and then hit by a "catastrophic" data failure that led to it going under in 2017.

InWorldz itself began making some moves that raised more than a few questions. This had begun early on when in August 2013 their General Discussion forums were closed, citing an increased activity of trolling and hateful posts that was taking time and effort to moderate them away from their activities in keeping up the grid. In April 2017, they announced they would no longer publish their statistics of how many regions or active users they had. And to a number, this was a signal the grid was in decline, and the owner wasn't sure how to stop it other than hide it. Reischl was distancing InWorldz from other OpenSim worlds, insisting it wasn't really one, "InWorldz has moved on from Opensim a long time ago," and seemed to be saying she was no longer publicizing the statistics because of an "us vs them" attitude there.

In January, Hypergrid Business published an article saying merchants in InWorldz were becoming concerned about the grid's future. "...we have seen a drastic decline in sales and residents," one merchant told Hypergrid, requesting anonymity saying he was concerned about possibly being banned. An "InWorldz Chamber of Commerce" had been set up in fall 2016 "To help promote in-world commercial activity, and to collectively advocate on behalf of their interests." But their director expressed disapointment in her meetings with Reischl, Hypergrid reporting, "She said it was not her job to keep merchants or residents in InWorldz." The article also stated, "Residents have also complained on social media that the founders haven’t been paying attention to their concerns. Of the top managers, owner Reischl moved to Panama and founder and CTO David Daeschler has mostly moved on to other projects." Another resident commented that early on, "one of the best things about IW was the fact that it was so easy to talk to the founders on the forum and they actually listened to us and gave us feedback it made IW feel like a community." But now it was looking more and more like how she saw Second Life at the time she joined InWorldz.

As of the writing of this article, Reischl has launched a Gofundme that was initially stated as having the goal of trying to save InWorldz. But then after most of the money needed to reach the goal was reached, the objective changed from trying to save the grid to packing up to move to another grid. The result has been confusion and some anger, and eventually comments on the Gofundme disabled. And then donations were no longer being accepted. One complication of getting the facts about the situation is that one major source of news about InWorldz, Hypergrid Business, is not particularly liked by the virtual world's owner, "InWorldz has repeatedly complained about unfavorable coverage"

Either way, things look poor for the future of InWorldz. If the grid is saved with the intention of keeping it up, the near-shutdown will make it a challenge to do so. If instead the place is closed with it's staff forming a new Grid, they will essentially be starting all over again, along with anyone who goes with them. Not everyone wants to start all over again, even if they could take most of their things with them. One recalls the virtual world "There" which reopened a couple years after it closed, but has been a tiny shadow of it's former self. Also, not all of the content creators are happy with the idea of their goods being moved to another grid without their consent, so there is the possibility of legal action.

Where InWordz's residents go from here, judging from the comments I've read at least some will be sticking around, either in InWorldz or whatever grid takes its place. But others have expressed that from their point of view, the place they have known is finished. Where they go from here is speculation. It's a fair guess some will head to Second Life, especially those with friends and other ties there. Others will move on to Kitely, the virtual world that overtook InWorldz to be the largest OpenSim world. Perhaps some will move onto smaller OS worlds, or start their own for themselves and close friends. Some will have lost heart in virtual worlds alltogether, either taking a break before going back, or for good. And those with a lot of friends who go different directions may likely end up splitting their time between where they go, whether Second Life, another virtual world, an MMO, etc.

As a resident of Second Life whose main interest in virtual worlds has always been here, to me InWorldz was a smaller cousin of the virtual world I knew. It was place with a less of the hustle and bustle of the more established virtual world. There was less of a variety of things to buy, but I eventually found an avatar I was happy with. And if somehow Second Life went away, InWorldz would be there as a place me and my friends could continue to meet up. Now, it is going away, at best becoming something smaller and different from what we have known. It is an irony that a few years ago, a number of us were thinking Second Life was about to close down and were seeing InWorldz as our next home. Now, we watch as instead for all of our problems we are still afloat, while the place we were considering moving to is sinking. While perhaps someday there may be another virtual world that will take the place of Second Life, InWorldz isn't it.

Sources: InWorldz, Hypergrid Business, Gofundme

Bixyl Shuftan

Relay for Life in InWorldz Kickoff

By Bixyl Shuftan

In Second Life, the official Relay for Life fundraising season is almost over, the Wrap-Up event being this upcoming Sunday. But for InWorldz, their season is only just beginning.  Made up of both residents primarily in this smaller virtual world, and Second Life residents whom also have avatars here, InWorldz own Relay season is smaller in scope than that of it's larger counterpart, but still raises quite a bit of cash. And on Saturday at 8AM, InWordz Relay season began with their season's opening event: the Kickoff.

The event started with a "Pre-Speech Warm-Up" party by Martin Glom, followed at 9AM with a live music performance by Mikie String. Starting at 10AM and going on to 11 were a few speeches.

A transcript of the speeches was provided to the Newser.

* * * * *

Oldesoul Eldemar
My Fellow Relayers

As my first speech as the Chair of Relay For Life of InWorldz, I really do not know where to begin.   RFL of IW  -has come together as I have never seen a group of folks work.  This past two weeks have just been phenomenal.   Not only am I proud of each and every one of you - but wow !  The amount of work completed could have only been done by some very fine folks. I am not going to name names, due to the fact that I know I will leave someone out. You know who you are and my genuine thanks go to each and every one of you ! 

For those are you that may be thinking, now what IS that bobcat talking about THIS time.
We procured with the help of a most gracious donor a new  main 2x2..  Honestly, this is the best thing that could have happened to us.   We are out where we can add on and become as big as each and every one of your hearts.   BIG thanks to our donor and our great committee!  We appreciate all that you did and to those not on committee but who gave us a great hand when needed,

It is so exciting to already have 12 teams and not just any 12 teams but 12 fine teams that will do a great job.   Already we have made more money in General Donations than ever before - https://rflofiw.org/  Scroll down to see totals.  You will see totals for your team there already.  The kiosks rezzed here and  and by the amphitheater have been contributed to.   Please remember it is bad luck to rezz a kiosk without adding even a few  izzies. We will be adding convio totals to this page, thanks to our dear friend Wolf Hartnell..  If your team does not have convio set up yet, there are several of us that can help you do that. With six  teams already signed up, it will take very little time.  http://relay.acsevents.org/site/TR/RelayForLife/RFLCY16SL?fr_id=70672&pg=entry Use your IW information on this form.   Kitty Gumbo is your team ambassador. 

Most of you know me but for those who don't,  just a little background information, this is my 8th virtual relay,  The people who have always been behind me and supported me have been in each and every one, answering all my silly questions and teaching.   My dear wife Cassie has been with me every step of the way.  Admiral Beaumont and Ms. Eilidh McCullough have been priceless.   What you see is the result of these kind friends and their teaching.  My typist is a teacher and I feel it is necessary to always acknowledge those who gave us guidance.   Leadership is not new to me, but it was in virtual worlds.   I assisted two different  RL relays at our schools for several years,  by providing materials and acted as a liaison for relay and the school system.    A memorable moment was having the opportunity to hold our granddaughter's hand and walk around the track.  Poppa really appreciated that moment. 

Coming to Virtual Worlds, I have captained  an awesome team in SL  and served on committee as a coach. .  However my proudest moments were working with RFL of IW with our team, WeeFolks For a Cure under the guidance of Hairy Thor and Bain Finch. I have served on committee and helped whenever possible.  I have had the enjoyment of watching a fantastic relay grow from a little office on Hairy's sim to a sim, to a 2x2 and now this .  It is beyond words.  i was so impressed with InWorldz and the possiblities - I joined the Events Committee and also help with Grid wide events.   So you will see me around ! I do have a deep belief in a boots on the ground approach.  When you have an event, have Martin place it on the calendar and we will be there as best we can.  There are only 12 teams, so please, it is not necessary to plan on top of each other.   Remember your venues too, and take care of them. 

We are a global relay, our committee shows it, our relayers show it!   We cannot have everything at the exact right time for everyone, but we will do our best.   Also - our global economy is izzies - that is how our totals will be reported.   Convio does use USD but Euros can use paypal and it will convert. 

We only hold a 10 week relay,  the rest of our time in InWorldz, will be working with folks from Hope Lodges, setting up our InShape Trails, giving them someplace to be a part of a wonderful community while  still in treatment, or after they go home.   We will concentrate on health, wellness, nutrition and other helpful things such as our Chakra classes led by our Fight Back Ambassador, Cataplexia Numbers.   We will be hosting a Survivor and Caregiver group for those wishing to have a group to chat with.  Cassie and I know as caregivers for our mothers, both cancer survivors, a group like this is invaluable.

Finally, I do believe that this, our 5th year  relay is going to be a banner year.   I relay so that folks will never have to hear those words - you have cancer.  I see that there is new research coming along and I think it is quite promising.  Please look at our info boards and check with those links.  You will be proud.   Plan some great events  - attend events  - but most of all these three things you MUST DO!! Smile, have fun, and do awesome things.  Get to know one another, listen and help one another.  

At this time, I would like to introduce another very special friend who always makes me smile when he says - wow, just wow!, my co chair Martin Glom.   He was chosen for his wonderful ideas and new fresh beginnings.  Let's GO GO GO RELAY!!! Martin....

I would now like to introduce a very special person to all of us.  Ms. Cataplexia  She is our Fight Back Ambassador and helps with builds, notices, and keeping Olde in line - i takes a village to raise a bobcat.   Ms Cat. 

Thank you so much for joining us today - the text was purposefully done for our Euro friends for whom English is not a first language.   We will be joining DJ Cat - (yes, she does that too)   in the Stage of Infinite Hope (where we started)   We need the exercise ! 
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Martin Glom
Thank you so much Oldesoul

Ill keep my speech short and sweet much like myself (Pause for Laughs) "silently talks to himself" keep cool its your big day Mr Glom keep cool no major boos yet and i dont see any eggs (Yet)---haha im just kidding.

Hello to all and welcome to Relay For life Of Inworldz 2016...(Our theme this year Relay Round The World One Hope One World) and that is what we do every year we relay from all around the world Were a global Relay and were so excited you're here to join us.

Relay For Life of Inworldz is a signature fundraising event of the American cancer society and we all relay on a global scale...Global Relay For Life (IRFL) events are now held in more than 600 communities spanning 23 countries and 2 virtual worlds.

This unique activity is designed to celebrate survivorship and raise money for life-saving research and programs, unites and mobilizes community members committed to eliminating cancer.

When I see our community here I think wow, everyone keeps saying to me inworldz is such a small grid there is no one around the place and it is is empty, I think to myself what are they sniffing are they on drugs have they even opened there eyes and looked around, since coming to inworld 3 years ago I've seen a community with some of the biggest hearts I've ever seen so kind generous.

This year marks a new chapter for relay for life we see our previous Chair and Co-Chair step down after doing some invaluable work over the past 4 years, to open the door to a new Chair and Co-Chair which enables RFLofIW to get some fresh ideas fresh experience and fresh minds in this signature event.

But none of the ideas would be possible without a team force behind us that's so strong including our Community here in Inworldz its amazing to see so many people come together from around the world to hold hands and to be together in a time of need.

We have seen this many times throughout the year and previous years after loosing so many close friends and family members and the hurdles we have been faced with our will, strength, community and, determination is what makes us bounce back when the chips are down i know i can rely on our community here and my fellow relayers from around the world.

I would like to extend a huge thanks to ms Luna Stormfeather who is our chief editor for our magazine and our Media Specialist, and of course to the one and only Wolf Hartnell who is our tech Support Specialist who makes relay possible from our vendors to our kiosks he is the driving force behind the scenes of relay

We have seen how much of a community spirit is here in inworldz, when we 10 days before relay lost the ACS sims and where left to become self-sufficient,we had to get a new sim which we got from an Anonymous Donor who wishes to remain Anonymous but you know who you are and we thank you so much for what you are doing to help us carry the relay torch.

When we got the sim we had to rebuild everything and our community jumped in right away to help we seen just how amazing a community can be in a time of need we where speechless and in aw at how amazing everyone was.

Now there are too many amazing people to list and you know who you are but a big shout out has to goto Cassie Eldemar, Aminata Potez , Eilidh McCullough , Cataplexia Numbers,  Benski Trenkins , Yichard Muni, and everyone involved in making our relay possible i dont want to leave anyone out but he list is too grat to mention everyone so many kinds hearts coming together you all know who you are and we love and thank you.

For what you all done combined in 10 days was amazing and totally un real there of course is allot more working behind the scenes and up front in our relay and it would take me a long time to name them all but you know who you are and we respect and admire everything you do and you and everyone should be proud of what you do and achieve each year.

And I also would like to extend huge thanks to Mr. Rycon Bamaisin who both him and his wife are active relayers, Rycon is the mind behind a new project were hoping to get of the ground trough our own radio station and our dream of having morning shows and shows for survivors and caregivers and relayers a place to chat and share feelings this will be one of a kind to Inwolrdz and never done before on this grid, thank you so much Rycon to both you and your wife Nicole for everything you do.

I am so happy to be taking the Torch from the previous Co.Chair to step beside an amazing person as Oldesoul his knowledge and experience is what will shape this relay, his dedication and spirit is what will excel this relay, his passion and courage is what will take our relay above and beyond I'm just glad he trusted me enough to stand beside him while he was doing it.

I am looking forward to learning and supporting Olde  and the community in everything I do during season and off season and I thank you all for allowing me the chance to relay with you and lets make 2016 our year.

Big hugs and GoGo Relay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bain Finch
Thank you Martin and Oldesoul.

When I came into IWz to help with launch Relay I had many goals and wishes for this Relay. And in our 4 years together, you have hit many of those goals and filled a lot of those wishes and help create ones I didn't have.

And since handing off to new leaders, which I firmly believe is in the best interest of an all Relay organizations to have new leaders at semi regular intervals, to breath new energies and ideas, to make the whole better,, hit a few more goals all ready with the creation of the RFLofIW magazine!

Thank you Luna Stormfeather and all those involved. And now the launch of Fouse Radio, the official Radio station of Relay For Life on InWorldz!!! Woohooo! Yay! Thank you Rycon and everyone that help create and launch Fouse Radio!

Another goal / wish I did have, and this one I knew it would take some time for it to come together. But you know, I do think we have taken another very important step in reaching that one.

One very important piece of this goal is my dear friend, met her in another Relay, (coughs, hummm) and she help establish that support group there. She has a long career of working with cancer support groups, at home in the UK and Holland and pretty much all over the organic world. My very dear friend Poppy Zabelin and she is here to help build a support group for our InWorldz survivors and caregivers.

Personally have been fortunate,, knock of wood, cancer free, but I know my family's history, two generations back. I was a secondary caregiver for my dad, as I was living at home at the time and my mom was #1.

Now since joining Relay, been the primary person for many friends, to hold their hands and talk, cry, laugh, all the way through their journey. So ya, I define myself a caregiver.

Caregivers need just as much help, as survivors, as they are living and juggling two or more lives, if they have children still at home. The stresses for them are just as real, just as heavy, just as weighty, just as life changing, for them, as those in their charge.

I hate how the outcome for the survivor is reduced to a percentage or odds, the one thing I have never asked of someone by the way.,,, The outcome for the caregiver, can be just as dark. You might lose your life's partner or loved one, and in many cases, have financial and emotional challenges for years to come regardless of the outcome.

Yet they feel they need to strong and in charge. But in all reality, you are totally out of control, stressed beyond belief and running for you and their lives.

Tightly woven with this wish/goal of mine, are the ideals, mission and goal of another ACS creation, Hope Lodge. Many countries in the greater global cancer society family, have their own version of hope lodge too.

I know Canada has them, many European countries too, under different names, with essentially the same objective of provide a temporary lodging while undergoing treatment away from home.

These lodges all become central resource centers for these people, with all the information they need, local connections to companies and service designed for them. And because some stays can last of a long time, with some cancer treatment types, are staying with others, have each other to lean on.

As I said on the Morning show on Fouse Radio, The one truth I have come to know about InWorldz residents, you have it in your DNA to pull together. We fight through the oddest issues and keep on going.

You are the beacon of HOPE. For all those to come, I am betting, past survivors and caregivers, will be here for you, with their life's lessons, with their personal stories, for what helped them get through the long dark night. Maybe, just maybe, just knowing the simple fact they got through it and are not only surviving but are thriving, is enough to strengthen ones resolve, to get through theirs.

With what have happened in the few days with the creation of Hope Village, have another piece of that puzzle, just got place on the board.

And as more people join our RFL of IW survivors and caregivers group in InWorldz and our IWz family grows, will now have a home for wellness and mutual support, to help those going through the long dark night of cancer. Survivor and caregiver, will have a place to make the journey, a bit easier, a bit brighter.

That's what two of these sims are for. Over in the NW corner will be Our Lodge of Hope, built by our very talented and sweet soul Cassie, and in the NE corner, the future Resource Center, housed in a beautiful Cathedral built, as a dedication to his mother of blessed memory, another amazing builder and equality beautiful soul,, our very own, I'll do anything for tuna, our good friend Benski.

Another dear friend, talented builder and wonderful soul, our very own Cataplexia Numbers will be following shortly, began holding wellness session for us, and I am so delight she offering that wonder piece the big picture puzzle.

Oh by the way, I lost the cover picture to the puzzle, so I don't know that the final picture looks like! So we do need your help. LoL :-P

Later today, not sure were, campfire? Here? At 2pm IWT., Poppy and I would like to invite everyone for a discussion, of what this puzzle picture might look like and whether you might have some of the peices.

If you have been touch by the indiscriminate finger of cancer and are currently fighting or have reached that hard fought day, you get to hear "all clear," please join our RFL of IW survivors and caregivers group in InWorldz.

Last week when I was told I would be talking about this today, the words to this song been floating around me head, words written by Tim McGraw, words I hope you, and pretty sure ?
many of you hold dear,,, "Someday I hope you get the chance To live like you were dying."

Thanks you, thank you all for what you do, thank you hope you create and share openly every day of the year. One World. One Hope. GO Relay!

And now the very lovely and talented, Cataplexia "Cat" Numbers


secondlife:///app/group/c0de14fe-55c4-442c-a1ef-bad3792fa037/about
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cataplexia Numbers
Hello everyone!
My name is Cataplexia Numbers and some of you may know me as a builder
well today, I would like to build with all of you.
In a world where strength comes in numbers and hope comes to those
who have the strength and the vision and the courage to believe....

I would like to build a wall

A wall of people!
  -  standing strong together,
  - leaning on each other,
  - picking up each other when we fall
 A wall of unity!
   - Stretching around the world from every walk of life
   - reaching nation upon nation till it reaches us all
   - there is strength and strong support in unity!
 And most of all, I want to build a wall of HOPE!
   - That bends  but never breaks
   - That offers safe refuge to those who have lost hope
   -  A wall of people, hopeful for a cure for cancer.
  
    As Relay For Life's Fight Back Ambassador- I offer all of you
    MY Strength & Courage to fight
    My Prayers to recover
    and MY HOPE to find a cure!
  
    I invite all of you, no matter who you are
    or where you come from
    to join me in this fight!
    To give YOUR Strength, Courage , Prayers & Hope
  
    To give your HELP!
    Build this wall with me!
    Stand tall in our unity and fight!
    Stand united in our hope
    and stand PROUD
    knowing that what we do together
    CAN make a difference in so many lives!
  
    I am a cancer survivor
    and I want to invite you all
    to be survivors too!
  
    Help me build my wall of hope, of strength and of unity!
    Help Relay For Life build resources and donations
    that will give hope to the hopeless
    that will help give courage and comfort
    To those who have been stricken with cancer and
    to those who have lost loved ones
    to this horrible tragic disease
  
  
    How do we fight?
   The biggest enemy of any disease is Knowledge!
   
   Help us raise funds necessary for research into finding a cure for cancer
   
  Help us create resources for the treatment of those who are stricken with Cancer
   
  Help us fund Genomic testing, a strong tool in the prevention of cancer
   
  Help fund the research and development of medications that will help those in need

  and...
  one of the most valuable tools of knowledge to help fight cancer is to know your body!!
  
    CHECK YOURSELF!
  
    If something on your body such as a mole changes -  Have it checked!
  
    If you feel pain somewhere that you did not injure, bang or bruise - Have it checked!
  
    if a bodily function is not working correctly such as a broken urine stream, stools            that are too small, painful, too dark or bloody, irregular menses, heavy bleeding -          Have it checked!
   
     Check your own body- know what feels "normal" and when something is not right!
   
    Have routine checkups with your physician yearly- Mamograms & papsmears on
     time!

    If you are sexually active or your pre-teen to adult children are, please have yourself and them tested   for the HPV Virus which causes cancer! Wear condoms to protect     yourself from this and more!
     
    Ladies, check your breasts for lumps or abnormalities, i promise you wont go blind!
  
    Men check your prostate- your testicles - you wont go blind either!    
  
    If something doesn't seem right- HAVE IT CHECKED by your Dr!
  
    My fight was an easy one. My cancer was found in its early stages, and after a hysterectomy there was not a trace left.  I am happy to say its been a over a year now, and I remain cancer free, I am thankful every day of my life.

But others are just beginning their fight. My husband Scott here in InWorldz was just diagnosed with cancer. This was discovered during a routine checkup. He had no idea and was only beginning to show symptoms. Many more people around the world are diagnosed every day, but I have hope for them, and hope for my husband.

Hope because people like us will never give up the fight!

Hope because we will not stop until this disease is a tiny blurb in the history books about the monster, cancer, that WE took down! Together! United in HOPE and Strength & Courage!!
  
    Never give up the fight!
    Never lose hope!
    Stand together and be strong for each other!
  
   This year's Relay For Life of InWorldz is about hope across the world.
   May our wall reach that far and grow, ever stronger in the coming years!

  I have collected some favorite quotes on Hope:

Hope is the elevating feeling we experience when se see--in the mind's eye--a path to a better future.
JEROME GROOPMAN, The Anatomy of Hope

Hope never abandons you; you abandon it.
GEORGE WEINBERG, Self Creation

Without a minimum of hope, we cannot so much as start the struggle.
PAULO FREIRE, Pedagogy of Hope

Hope is the tiny seed that if tended and kept alive, can blossom into the most beautiful of gardens!
Cataplexia Numbers

I wish to thank all the Relay For Life participants- The Chairs & Co- Chairs past & present, Admin, Builders, Team Leaders & Members, Designers, and countless contributers. Thank you all for continuing the fight!
Thank YOU for keeping hope alive!

* * * * *

After the speeches was an "after party" at the The Stage Of Infinite Hope, with Cataplexia Numbers as the DJ. Yours truly got in at the tail end as it was winding down. Oldesoul would post some pictures of the event (here).

A few months from now will be the InWorldz own Relay Walk. Between then and now, one can check up on events and updates on the RFL in IW on their website: https://rflofiw.org/ .

Go Relay!

Bixyl Shuftan

News and Commentary:Tropical Paradise Closes, IW/SL Connection Center Owner Involved

By Bixyl Shuftan

Earlier this month, the Tropical Paradise virtual world closed down. "Hypergrid Business," a newsletter that covers Opensim worlds, quoted staff member Thishan Dezno as saying the place was "shut down with no warning to either its residents or its staff ... everything - including the grid, the website, Facebook (page) and Twitter (account) - were taken down without any prior notice or warning to anyone" Hypergrid reported many residents and some staffers had both cash and content on the grid.

Normally the fading away of a small virtual world would have nothing to do with Second Life. But curiously enough a name familiar to some who travel back and forth between it and InWorldz is involved: Amore Crux (amore.xofan).

To those who don't know, Amore was the founder of the InWorldz/Second Life Connection Center . On December 7, Amore suddenly announced without warning that the center was closing. Nydia Tungsten, involved with the group stated, "I was blindsided by the closing of their welcome centers then found out it was a decision Amore had made on his own because of.... 'differences'... he had with the founders, his decision affected ALL their members and left them out of the loop as to why and what would happen ..."

Then Amore just as quickly partially reversed himself, saying the group would be open, but on a smaller scale. Behind the scenes, he was making accusations. He told the group, created to help people make the transition from Second Life to InWorldz, not to assist anyone outside it. When I ran into and questioned him in InWorldz, he told the following:

"im expanding the center to include another grid and we'll from now on be totally grid neutral ... its the Tropical Paradise its a new grid started in maj this year ... im as of now Project Director for that grid ... and it means i need step back to be neutral in here ... ill be making a gate to that grid in SL as well its about 500 active members and many of the big creators/merchants you know from in here is in there already ..."

A little later in the conversation, "we have a direct communication me and the founders and they will also be free to use my system thats bullet proof and it works for any grid owners since its not based on a technical system that can be scamed like it seems to have happen in here ... but its a later matter to solve we also looking in to other services and the main task now is to get the welcome area to work as our connection centers" "So your system is 'scam proof?'" I asked, "That's quite a claim." "yes it is since its all on record and its based on old fashion cash for cash"

Of his shutting down the IW/SL Connection Center group, "this was really meant that i would need to run my self as you know i just wanted to build and normal ppl does but it kinda has been the demand from the members that has forced me to make it to what it is today" "So the group's now run essentially all by you now?" I asked. He went on, "and as i said im now turning it in the direction it was meant from start a members helping members group only and hopefully with not much need of me personally so me to can do whats fun :) "

Amore then began taking greater control of what could be spoken in the group's chat, stating in a group announcement:

But i've now added a extra member title level in the group which means no one directly gets the chat access by just join the group it gonna take a request to get that access and of course misbehavior leads to lose that right as well. Most of you already got the right set already i know i've missed some few but im working on that so just let me know if you not got the right to chat yet and i'll fix it asap! Until i've find a person that is fully trusteed that i can delegate to handle the request to be upgraded to chat access you send to ME directly!

Soon after two people told me they were muted.

As time went on, less attention was paid to Amore. Following the Grid's closing however, attention was back on him. In the Hypergrid article's comment second, one person commented, "Oh, and was this the one that 'Amore ' guy went to after forming that sl/iwz connection group thing, then leaving that and dissing them, then disappearing?" I called Amore and asked him about the matter. He told me that he'd gotten out of Paradise Grid in March, "all you need to say is all our group members was warned about join that grid a long long time ago so its not directly any news thinks"

The IW/SL notice history only went back thirty days, and was blank. Amore passed me a notecard which He told me was of the announcement. He claimed changes in the Grid began to put his group's money at risk, "the SCARY PART! ... You're NOT allowed by your OWN hand to quit the grid (terminate your account)!!! You're obligated to inform them you are, either directly or by their support page! (read their TOS) " The statement warned not to get in Tropical Paradise, and if you had invested money, consider it lost, "it proves that anyone can be fooled to trust wrong ppl"

Once again, Amore found himself in a controversy, although a smaller one this time. Still, his behavior with his suddenly closing, then just as quickly reopening the IW/SL Connection Center over differences with the InWorldz founders without consulting even his business partner then shutting her out, and now his involvement in a virtual world that suddenly closed and took all money invested with it, one can be pardoned for asking ...

Just what has Amore been up to?

Bixyl Shuftan

Scenes From The InWorldz Fifth Anniversary

By Bixyl Shuftan

On Sunday March 16th, InWorldz began one of it's biggest events this year, it's fifth anniversary celebration. A few dozen sims had been set up to be the location for some celebratory builds for this milestone in the virtual world's history, as well as some events. I went there to take a look at what the IW5 as it's come to be called had to offer.

  There was a shopping hunt for those wanting to search for quality freebies.

Several sims were all water for boating activities. And there were some dock areas, including this sailing ship area with one anyone could take for a ride.

One had to take some care, otherwise you might end up beached.

 Not far from this dock were some pirate caves.

 There were a number of caverns to explore.

I think there was also a treasure hunt game, but I passed it by and moved on.

At the Welcome Center, there was a box with a few freebies.

Nearby on a landing pad was a helicopter ride anyone could board and fly, with a notecard providing a few instructions.

One couldn't just release the controls and let the chopper hover. After this shot was taken, the craft began to fall back to earth, with a few more keyboard presses stopping the descent.

The official InWorldz Fifth Anniversary T-shirt, worn over my normal green one.

 On March 23rd, I came across a small party not too far from the Welcome Center, with Cataplexia Numbers spinning some tunes for those there. With a nautical theme, she was playing songs like "Airship Pirates," and "The Ship."

There was also a couple cannon and a boat rezzer, one that was damage-enabled. This was for a demo battle. When a boat's hitpoints reached zero, the thing went up into a cloud of smoke and sunk. "Let them know were over here having a ball blowing up ships!" one lady told me, "Hope you all don't try and blow up my pretty pink ship if I sail it. Heh heh!"

Among those there was Ilianor Illios, whom offered to show me her builds in the Fantasy area. She told me one had won the contest for best build there, "This is my work. It's a fairy wagon with the royal fairy family. I have added all techniques, tortured prims, sculpts, and mesh. ... In the contest, I liked all the builds. It has been a surprise to win."

The build next to it wouldn't show up on my viewer, the official InWorldz viewer for the Mac (I was using my older computer to travel to InWorldz), but another Ilianor took me to did, "this sun is double faced, on the other side is sunset and here sunrise.

Ilianor told me she had made many builds for InWorldz. Besides her build for the contest, she also had others for the adult sim and the Gallery. From Italy in real life, she had come to InWorldz from Second Life as part of a mostly American virtual community which moved all at once in 2009, "When they came to InWorldz, I moved too." She had a different name in the larger virtual world.

As it turns out, Ilianor is also a harp player. She will perform today March 31st in InWorldz from 1 to 2PM SL and IW time at "Gypsies of InWorldz."

The IW5 will be going on for a few more days, so there's still more to see. If you want to see more pictures, Daniel Voyager has a few more on his Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/danielvoyager/

Ilianor had more to show me, her store and her "City of Light." But that is another story.

Bixyl Shuftan

Getting a Luskwood Avatar In InWorldz

By Bixyl Shuftan

One issue some friends of mine have with InWorldz is the lack of variety of furry avatars. Although the Wingless freebie avs apparently have been around for a while, for some, this isn't enough. Some find the design a little dated. Others find them quite different from the particular look their used to. And of course people usually want as many choices as possible. While some might be tempted to get a copybotted avatar, this isn't a good idea. InWorldz's residents consider those just as bad as those in Second Life, if not worse.

So it seems for now InWorldz residents are limited to either sticking with the Wingless or learning to make their own avatar. As most are not really builders, the second seems like not really an option. So what about getting someone already skilled at making avatars here? If you're a user of Kinzart Kreatures (KzK) avatars, you can pretty much forget about having your look in InWorldz. On their Tumblr, the KzK spokesman branded Second Life residents thinking of moving to the smaller grid as cowardly, and dismissed the virtual world as a "haven for thieves and copybotters alike."

Luskwood had a different answer. Michi Lumin and others on the Lusk team have accounts on InWorldz.  Talking with Michi, she told me since I was a customer of theirs, they'd send me a copy of my red Fox avatar to me in InWorldz. Just allow for some time for it to arrive. After a few weeks, Michi sent me a message to look for a package when I returned there from Drew Luskwood. And heading back, I found a new box in my inventory, one for a Luskwood Red Fox. So I rezzed it on the ground, unpacked, and changed avs ...

And I was back to my familiar look from Second Life. Well, almost. I have a preference for flexi-tails, so I kept the one from the Wingless. Here's the avatar at Podex InWorldz.

Drew, whom is considered part of the Luskwood Core on his profile,  had sent a message asking if I got the avatar. I answered, and we had a short conversation.  Drew told me Luskwood wasn't quite ready to be setting up kiosks in InWorldz. They were waiting for the place to become a little larger, notably in the number of residents logging on daily. For now, they would have a limited presence in the smaller Grid, delivering avatars to individuals.

Still, Drew and others at Luskwood were impressed with InWorldz's rate of growth. It might not be long before Second Life's first avatar company has vendors in this virtual world.

Now if I can only find a fedora and light brown trenchcoat ...

Bixyl Shuftan.

Interview with Elenia Llewellyn, InWorldz Founder

By Bixyl Shuftan

Somewhat like Second Life, the InWorldz Grid has a development and support team bend it. This includes three Founders, Elenia Llewellyn, Legion Hienrichs, and Tranquility Dexler. Unlike Linden Lab however, the InWorldz team is willing to talk to residents outside special events. I got in touch with Founder Elenia Llewellyn, and we met up at her home on the InWorldz grid.

"Welcome to my hidey hole," she greeted me.

I thanked her, and after a little talk, I asked her, "So what do you do here in InWorldz?"

"I am one of the partners,"  Elenia answered, "Where Tranq handles the day to day development of the grid and the developers, I handle the day to day administration and support."

I then asked her, "How did you get your start in virtual worlds?"

"Through Second Life actually," Elenia told me, "I remember watching it on the news one night, and I had long thought it would be cool to see a world where people could create their stuff and use it. Then a couple years later, I heard about SL (again) and had to go check it out. I didn't particularly care about the social aspects of it, as I'm a tinkerer and someone who likes to know the mechanics of something. So I dove into learning how to build. My big goal was to do furniture, but I have this obsession over making things look real, and this was just as sculpties were coming out. With the prim market of SL, my builds were too 'prim heavy.' It was kind of sad."

"So, I was talking to my friend, Bob Bunderfeld one day about this, and he pointed me to the metaverse at large. Tried another grid, and that didn't pan out, so I said to my friend Legion Hienrichs (who is also a partner) that I thought we should test out OpenSim and getting it up and running on our own."

"That was Feb. 12, 2009, our first successful test!"

"That's the date you set up your Grid?" I asked, "How did things go in the first days?"

Elenia laughed, "Not bad actually! Considering we were on GoDaddy barebone servers, and had to find a real host. Which meant a couple of re-installs of the system. After a while, we talked to friends who logged in and next thing we knew, what we had started as our own little building spot was quickly being asked for regions as well. (It) blossomed into a business before we knew it, albeit a non profiting business. But a business nonetheless."

"As time went on though, we quickly realized the limitations of the systems and the code and that we'd need a professional developer to handle it."

"How did you go about getting one?" I asked.

"Well, had a couple who tried," Elenia answered, "but I had put the word out that we were looking. One of our residents, Scotsgraymouser Janus knew some of the IBM folks over on SL, who knew Tranquility and referred him to us. Him and I talked via emails and then he worked on a particular module for us. Next thing you know, he was on board full-time and then a partner in the business."

"Btw, he'll forever deny the fact that I told him it would be hard work... he swears to this day I told him it would be easy-peasy as a joke." She grinned.

"About when did a number of people start coming here?" I asked, "Is it true that "the first thousand took almost a year, the second thousand just bait over a month"?

Elenia pondered her answer, "Hmmm, our first year we were pretty obscure. Sure we had a lot of people take a look, but it really started up after we got the economy going and groups working properly. But yes, that story is true as far as the second 1k took just a month. I don't tend to look much at registered users though to be honest unless I'm looking at the retention numbers. I look at people online, region sales and I'z buying/selling for real numbers on our growth."

"And when would you say that started growing?" I asked.

"We go through growth spurts," Elenia told me, "usually during the spring and fall, then that churns down during summer and fall. But our first real growth, unfortunately was from SL's handling of the homesteads. Then our next big growth spurt was recently as the TOS started to really get discussed which also coincided with our full PhysX rollout for vehicles."

"Now that we've been around for almost 5 years though, and have some really long term customers and residents, I think people are feeling comfortable with the idea that we are working hard to make a better virtual experience for users, and not going to disappear tomorrow."

"What have been some of the challenges in operating the Grid," I asked, "other than what you mentioned?"

Elenia thought over her answer, "Mmm, we had the technical issues of course of getting more and more avatars onto a region. The prim limits were a challenge. Physics was a challenge. Our scripting engine was a great challenge, and of course inventory fetching for users. On my side, biggest single challenge was fraud which we dealt with. Then keeping up with the grid code changes to keep support rolling as it should."

"Finding enough time in the day, is still a challenge while we balance real life and get more help. Those I think now, are our single biggest challenges."

"InWorldz used to be close to the size of one or two other Grids," I reminded, "Today no other virtual world is as large, except Second Life. What do you see as the reasons people choose InWorldz over other grids?"

Elenia answered the reasons for their success as, "Well, as I mentioned we do have longevity now almost 5 years later. People know our name, they've heard it a few times over the years. We've worked hard to provide a really great stable environment for our users, give them support, and outside of that, I think our biggest single positive is that we do listen to our residents and change things if we find a good way to do it. They feel that they are part of the world with a voice, that this IS their world and that's exactly what it is. Without their voices or opinions we can make changes all day long, but it has to be for the right reasons. They are the users and they know what they want to make their world into, we can only guess. They are our greatest source of inspiration."

"And, our biggest source of advertising! I can't count how many times I've heard from a new resident 'my friend told me to come check it out.' "

I then asked, "What would you say have been some of the best examples of resident creativity here?"

"Oh wow, where to start without showing favoritism?" Elenia needed a moment to answer, "I love our art shows, I love seeing our residents fantasies coming to life on the grid. It's almost a little insight into how they work and think. I love our events we sponsor. There's just so much talent out there, it's hard to define as best examples. I think the best example though, if I have to give it thought, is not individual creations, but individuals able to create now. Where before they felt constrained. To see them tackle things they've always wanted to try, and were afraid to do so."

"I have stuff in my inventory from the very early days of the grid still, of residents who wanted to show us that they were building and creating and thanking us for making it available to them. Those pieces, while old and beginner stuff, is really precious to me." She then began rooting through her inventory, putting objects on the ground, "And then I get this stuff from residents (grin) … Hey now I don't need a Christmas tree! .. Awwww a tiny snowglobe!"

She turned back to me, "And this is why I can't really give a best example.... I look at some of these gifts, people I've known for a long time and where they first started at. And they've come such a long way. Which is what we wanted, we wanted to free people to be creative, to test themselves, to learn and most of all, to love doing it."

I was briefly interrupted in real life, but Elenia stuck around until I returned. I then asked, "Will there be any special event for InWorldz on it's anniversary?"

"We are working that out as we speak as a matter of fact," Elenia answered, "laying out the plans for the 5th B-day bash in April."

I then asked, "Will there be any kind of event for when InWorldz reaches 100,000 residents?"

"Hmmm, they like to get together to have on the fly parties on IDI and welcome in the Xth user to log in." Elenia told me, "We encourage it and let them have fun on IDI. If I know our users and mentors, they will be watching that login screen like hawks. And next thing you know, there will be a dj, a disco ball, and all sorts of crazy going on." She giggled.

After a chuckle, I then asked, "So besides this, what are the future plans for InWorldz?"

Elenia responded, "Well, now that we've gotten our big portions handled and taken care of and feel we're on a more equal footing we want to expand this technology. Tranq has been working on InShape and getting that completely tested and working right. We've got some feedback there and then I'll start pushing that forward. We always want to look at ways this technology can benefit our lives, and we see a lot of great opportunity there for expanding it out for more users."

"We want to move more into delving into what PhysX can do in relation to the avatars and clothing and hair. We have a lot of good stuff we want to get going, but it all works hand in hand with growth so we can achieve those goals."

"Was there anything else you wanted to add for the readers?" I requested.

"A huge thank you to our users." Elenia smiled, "It's because of them that we do so much and keep going and for being our inspiration."

"Thank you for your time Elenia."

"Thank you Bixyl (smile)."

I then bade the InWorldz founder goodbye, and we both went our separate ways.

*  *  *  *  *   *  *  *  *  *   *  *  *  *  *  

On a personal note, although I requested members of Linden Lab to talk in the past, none would so much as answer me. I never saw my predecessors James and Dana interview a Linden either. This marks the first time Second Life Newser has sat down with one of the founders of a Grid for a talk.

Perhaps this willingness to chat with residents on their terms is one of the reasons some from Second Life have been checking out InWorldz.

Bixyl Shuftan