Today, I sent out an email to several dozen grid operators of the OpenSim grid list (and other sources), containing a set of 13 questions about their grid. The purpose of this is to give an overview of the current opensim grids out there and their differences. I already received several answers, but many are still unanswered, so to be fair to all, I will not post any of them yet. However, you can expect to have each grid that answered being covered in its own posting and I’m also working on a reference spreadsheet that will show some data about the grids and offers a quick comparison. I intent to write a small article, portraying each grid and may probably get back to some operators with individual questions, so it might take about a week until the first Grid Portrait will be posted. All of them will be featured in the Missing Image category¹ , which is the place to highlight interesting places in the Metaverse.

But, for your information, here’s the email I sent out with the questions asked and a short comment:

Hello there,

I’m V of tgib.co.uk, where I plan on giving our readers an overview of all major opensim grids. Therefor, I’d like to ask you some questions about <insert grid here>:

1. What audience is your grid aimed at?

This should give a general impression about the grid and its targets / intentions.

2. Do you have any guidelines regarding PG or adult oriented content?

This question is kinda similar to the following. It’s supposed to give an overview on which audiences the grid is appropriate for.

3. Is there an age limit for joining your grid?

I made this question separate from the previous one as there are grids that aim to be PG rated, but still target an adult audience.

4. Is there a theme to your grid? If yes, how do you introduce new members to it?

Themed grids are probably one of the advantages of OpenSim, as they don’t need to follow the ‘one size fits all’ doctrine of Second Life and end up with drastically disparate user groups with conflicting interests. They might, however, limit your audience drastically.

5. Is your grid hypergrid enabled? If not, do you plan on incorporating hypergrid in the future?

As I wrote earlier, the hypergrid technology is most important to the future of the metaverse. For now, it gives people the ability to make a short visit to the grid without having to register an account there.

6. Is it possible for users to connect their own regions to your grid?

Operating a grid is separate from operating regions. Basically, grids store the assets of the avatar inventories, while regions can run independently and also be hosted by the users themselves, or third parties.

7. Can users rent land from you? If yes, at which rates?

Many grid operators offer regions for rent, some exclusively so. This aims to give an overview on the rates they charge.

8. Is there a currency system built into your grid? If not, do you plan on having one in the future?

Currencies are the backbone of economy. At the moment, there are many different currency systems available for Open Simulator, ranging from using paypal to developing a customized system that only works on the grid in question.

9. What kind of resources are there to get more information about your grid?

This is both for myself and interested readers to get some more background information about the grid and its community.

10. How can users participate in how the grid is managed and built?

Of course, a grid stands and falls with its community, so this aims to give some impression about its involvement into the grid evolution and management.

11. How are disputes handled between users or between the grid management and users?

Running a grid faces the operators with some governmental issues as well, so this aims to learn about how they are handled.

12. Do you hold events? If yes, how are they announced? Also, can members hold their own events?

Again, this is part of community management, and may be an additional incentive for a grid.

13. Can we make this interview with your answers public on tgib.co.uk under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)

Without a yes to this question, I obviously couldn’t post the interview here.

Thank you for your contribution. I look forward to hear from you.

V

http://tgib.co.uk/

Stay tuned.

1. which is sadly underdeveloped as of yet; I just don’t get around much at the moment [↩]