SAVING SVARGA

... and so it came to pass that the Goddess' time upon the earth had grown short, and Her power to command it, waning.  Thus she swore to abandon her creation for a time, though she was loathe to let it perish.  "Who will care for my creatures when I have left this realm?" she said, lamenting to the uncaring sky.  And a steward from the City of Brotherly Love came forward, to offer his hand, but still he feared that would not be enough.

Or to translate from Genesis-speak: 

Laukosargas Svarog's brilliant artificial ecosystem may be in jeopardy, and FlipperPA Peregrine needs help to save it.  Details after the break.

"Me and a couple of other partners have set up a company in real life to develop some software and the initial workload is keeping me away from Second Life,"  Laukosargas explains.  "So I figured I'd reduce my commitment for a little while, given that scripting is EXTREMELY unreliable at the moment (which has put me off working in Second Life), and I thought I'd come back in a while to see if the bugs are fixed.  Meanwhile I have to pay $200 per month to keep Svarga going."

To defray those costs, FlipperPA Peregrine has volunteered to create an ad-hoc group that'll cover the cost of Svarga's 16 acres while she's away. "I'm trying to get people to pledge extra bits of their tier to cover the sim so it doesn't poof," he tells me.  "I'm donating 4000 meters of my own tier, and have had several other pledges. We're now in the 10,000 meter range... I'm just taking IMs and keeping a list until we get enough to make a significant dent in Lauko's monthly payment-- so until we're at 32000, I'm keeping a list."

Svarga, it needn't be said (but I'll say so anyway) is one of Second Life's undisputed wonders of user-created content.  It would be a shame to lose it-- and an especially ironic loss, if frustration with changes to the scripting language was a culprit.

FlipperPA Peregrine.  You have some unused land tier?  Instant Message the man with purple hair, and help keep Svarga's synthetic ecosystem thriving.

Comments

[Odysseus Fairymeadow]

What kind of minimum donation are we talking about? I've never paid tier, but I may be getting to the point where I'm paying my premium membership in L$...

[Jennyfur]

Svarga has been one of my favorite places in Second Life since we discovered it.

I was ecstatic when Flipper told me of his plans to help save Svarga. Ironically enough, I was mid blog post about how sad I was that it was closing.

http://jennyfursblogshite.blogspot.com/2006/09/save-svarga-part-one.html#links

http://jennyfursblogshite.blogspot.com/2006/09/save-svarga-part-two.html#links

http://jennyfursblogshite.blogspot.com/2006/10/save-svarga-part-three.html#links

[startleby]

So people decide to underwrite one users pet project?

There's a lot of other people out there who can't afford the sims they've "bought" from SL.

But I guess we only get an appeal from hamlet for money if its one of his favored few that needs it, huh?

[Hamlet Au]

Dude, you been to Svarga before?

[rikomatic]

Dude, startleby, we aren't talking about any run of the mill sim. We're talking a sim that gets lots of favorable press and blog attention to SL. It's been digged, it's been boingboing'ed, it's been technorati'd. Svarga is nearly its own meme.

For it to go away would be incredibly sad for many, many residents. If there is a way to preserve the island sustainably, I'll be happy to lend my support and lindens for that.

[Mike]

Can you treat it like a national forest and just donate it to SL?

[Odysseus Fairymeadow]

Whether you donate it or not, you still need to pay for it somehow. Are you thinking of doing what the national parks do and charge like L$100/day to enter?

[Mike]

That's not really that crazy. It seems that the amount of positive press SL gets off of that sim, it would be in Linden Lab's interest to own it, keep it alive, and maintain it.

If you buy a parks sticker, you get access to all the parks. Why not have a similar system in SL? I'd pay $500 (linden) to have access to showcase sims. Not like it would be tough to set up the group.

[Taras Balderdash]

The Avatars of Change is mobilizing to help Svarga. Lauk has allowed us to keep an Oracle Orb at the Temple in Svarga for several months, and helping with tier is the least we can do.

May Supreme Avatar Smile Upon You!

Br. Taras
Prelate, AOC

[Zen Zeddmore]

Would she be intrested in selling Svarga outright in full, or having a group ownership situation? I've been impressed with Svarga enough to cover the expense solo(if need be) for a few months untill things settle into more secure and scripts behaving nicly etc. Mention me to her. my in world IM's forward to my email. so let's talk.

[Odysseus Fairymeadow]

My impression was that if she sold the island to a new owner that it would be wiped clean before the transfer was made. There is a lot of personal projects on the island that she is reticent about giving up control over, so any payment plans would probably need to be negotiated with that fact in mind.

[Fledhyris Proudhon]

I really wish there was something I could do to help, but I can't even afford tier for land of my own :( Svarga is an amazing place, somewhere I have come back to time and again since I started SL six months ago. It really should be a SL treasure; it's such a shame that the creative talent in this game requires monetary backing to thrive, just as it does IRL.

Svarga goes far, far beyond the needs and aims of one designer: this sim really does contribute to SL as a whole, adding beauty and innovation to inspire the world. I will grieve sorely if we lose it.

Please, Lindens, you know this isn't just an ordinary sim - can't you do something to preserve it?

[zingg akami]

Is it possible to donate money too? i have no land tier left to pledge but would gladly pay money to cover some of the costs of maintaining svarga

[FlipperPA Peregrine]

Thanks to everyone who has helped out. The reason I'm doing this is simply because Svarga is one of my favorite places to explore and hang out on the grid. If it were to disappear, I would be saddened. Laukosargas and I talked, and this seemed to be the best way to avoid the monthly tier cost being paid, while maintaining the ecosystem. We're over 20,000 meters pledged to the group by very generous individuals, and need to get to about 59,000 (with the 10% group bonus) to make this a reality. If anyone else can help out, by all means, get in touch in world! Thanks.