Sandboxes...

When I first entered into the papa grid, I found my way to a sand box and was promptly welcomed to the world, griefer style. I was shot, dragged, altered, kicked, beat and I think someone even held me up at gun point and demanded I hand over my bling. It was a scary time and I refused to go back to a sandbox with one exception, the Ivory Tower.



Inworldz has a cluster of four sandboxes for users to build their wares if they should need it. So today, I decided to venture back into a sandbox for the first time since my early days on the papa grid. Only this time, I was going to do it Inworldz style. I was pleasantly surprised to find a few people building and even more surprised to not get yelled at when I landed on one of their builds. Even though there wasn't much conversation going and the builders were spread out, it was still a pleasant visit. There were no griefers, no obscenities screamed back and forth and nobody asking me for money or trying to lure me to the darker side of virtual worlds.



Which got me thinking....I've been active in Inworldz since the beginning of April. Not once has someone asked me for money, griefed me directly, or tried any pick up lines. Sure, IW themselves have been griefed and they have had problems with spamming at the coffee shop and possibly other issues that tend to plague virtual worlds; unless the founders step in and put a firm foot down. However, it's a pleasant surprise to think back and not remember one single time that I was directly harassed in ways that are all to familiar on the papa grid anytime someone leaves their private parcel.

If your looking for a peaceful place to build, the Inworldz Sandboxes are easy to find the map by typing Inworldz Sandbox then teleporting over to begin your building adventure.

Diversity, it's a beautiful thing...

When taking into consideration that Inworldz, up until about two months ago, was a relatively small community with around 1k users, the growth that has occurred is amazing. They are currently sitting at around 7k users. Sure, it's still small in comparison with papa grid and some of those 7k are alts, name savers, or people that were just not ready for IW and the pioneer spirit that requires patience and even more patience at times. Because of the small original community within IW and the needs/wants of the community at that time, diversity was minimal. There may have been a few furry avatars available or you could be a human.

However, things...they are a-changing in IW with more and more content creators making their way into our once small community. They are bringing changes, concerns, and products that they hope the masses will enjoy and purchase. Others are bringing their expertise at building wonderful sims for the community to explore. There is no cost to explore the sims as they have been created out of kindness and add a much needed level of diversity to the world.

One community, Raglan Shire, appears to have the patience, the enjoyment of pioneering, and the diversity to bring in a whole new level of user experience. I've always been familiar with tinies and own a few on the papa grid, but never heard of this amazing community until they burst into Inworldz full blast and started to create a home for their tiny friends. Ok, maybe it wasn't so dramatic that they burst in, but they are Inworldz, offering an amazing delightful sim full of whimsy and fun for exploring.

















The sim is centered around a huge magical tree that sits in the center with teleporters to take you to the many different areas. I met up with Zauber, a tiny dragon, by the ship and he explained that it took about two weeks to build as much as they have. By appearances, they do have a bit more to go, but watching the progress is one of the best things about seeing new sims come online. The diversity that Raglan Shire is bringing into the community has urged others to create tinies. Some for free and others at a cost, all are well done and a welcome addition to Inworldz.

It's the special touches like creating a world for tinies so they have some place to go that makes Inworldz continue on it's path of supporting creators and their endeavors to use their imaginations to create a wonderful world in which we can live and play.

Wishing

I was sitting outside my local Starbucks slowly sipping a Grande Chai. A truck drove by. A big truck actually. A really big truck, which is sort of unusual for the neighborhood I live in. It was a Walmart truck. Big blue letters screaming Walmart. It stopped at a traffic light, so I got to stare at it for a moment and that is all it took. My mind flooded with images.

I saw a big box outlet coming to town. No name on it mind you, it was a day dream and mine seldom have much detail. You know the story, mom-and-pop operators get a stick, and everyone else gets cheap crap. And just like all the stories you ever heard, everyone in town was excited about the big box's arrival, until they realized the hidden ugliness that comes with the big box.

Some of my neighbors enthusiastically helped draw the attention of the big box outlet. They made lots of noise about how they wished they had more choices in what products they got to buy. Others worked day and night to ready the ground, that it would be ever so easy for the big box to set up. Still others started to save their pennies, so they could be the first to burst though the doors when the big box finally opened its doors. With time, the big box heard their cries, looked at how accommodating the community and its leadership was, and decided to come to town.



I fear this scenario is unfolding in IW. We have wish lists in the forums, people pointing out what would make IW a more user friendly place, and we are growing in numbers. All of this is natural and I do not find fault in any of it. My only concern is that collectively, these activities sing a very sweet song. A song only the big box operators on papa grid can hear. Once enchanted, they will come, and they will come in droves.

Some will welcome the big guys with open arms while others will feel the influx is turning IW into an extension of papa grid. It doesn't really matter. Once the big guys show up, the little guy will get the stick once again.