John "Pathfinder" Lester has an inspiring post about Devokan Trust on OSGrid, a collection of regions on the OpenSimulator-based OSGrid which were inspired and built by fans of Myst/Uru Live. Originally, they were created in Second Life, but, as Devokan member Dot Macchi explains:
[We] ventured into Second Life, and acquired and built a sim or two (named plain "Devokan" this time). However, the horrendous cost of land in SL is unsustainable if you don't have a commercial bent, and so we sadly gave up the sims... About the same time I was investigating the possibility of renting regions in OSgrid. So the story developed into one of transferring the essence of places across worlds/universes.
Read more here. The upshot is Devokan reborn in OpenSim for much less than it would cost to exist in SL, and reborn beautifully; they're easily some of the best OpenSim regions I've ever seen. Click to see Pathfinder's many pictures of this place.
:) beautiful
Posted by: Deep Semaphore | Friday, April 20, 2012 at 12:14 PM
Beautiful. Thank you for showcasing the hard work of this group. What they have accomplished is very inspiring for fans of all platforms of virtual worlds.
Posted by: Pathfinder | Friday, April 20, 2012 at 12:21 PM
Myst Online: Uru Live, the inspiration, is online at: http://mystonline.com/en/play/
I was privileged to be in the role play and move to OSGrid. The peeps building there are doing some awesome builds. I have regions there too. Mine are currently off line as I am working in Blender.
There are still Myst-Uru fans in SL. They are doing replica builds of Uru areas. They have dances, karaoke, parties, and shops with Uru memorabilia. In-world search for Eder Gira or visit: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Eder%20Gira/21/232/44
The active fan group is the D'ni Refugees.
Posted by: Nalates Urriah | Friday, April 20, 2012 at 01:16 PM
I clicked the picture and went to a link and looked through the photos. I'm pretty sure I can see stolen content from second life, and I've informed the original creator. It's all fair and good complaining about the prices of Second Life land, which is very expensive. It's another thing stealing someones work. This is repeatedly seen on all of the alt' grids, which destroys credibility and smacks of self entitlement.
Posted by: Cube Republic | Friday, April 20, 2012 at 02:37 PM
Wagner, thank you for your kind write-up!
A note to Cube Republic: We're not aware of "stolen" items, trying to work in good faith using items either made by the team themselves or available from the wider OpenSim community. But if you could let us know of anything specific we would be happy to remove it. Thanks!
Posted by: Dot Macchi | Friday, April 20, 2012 at 03:28 PM
I always thought I'd have an island in SL when the land prices came down. Then I discovered that SL is the one technology that never gets cheaper. So I have an island in InWorldz. 45,000 prims, $75/month.
Posted by: Rusalka Writer | Friday, April 20, 2012 at 04:46 PM
Myst/Uru fans are some of the most creative fans I've ever encountered. I heard one of them once talking about starting their own MystGrid, even.
Posted by: Vax Sirnah | Friday, April 20, 2012 at 06:55 PM
And here comes the essential question by guys like me who have no clue about anything:
I always read about open-sim grids, but how can I log in there? In other words: how can I / my SL avatar visit the above featured regions?
Posted by: Roger | Friday, April 20, 2012 at 11:11 PM
Hi all,
Its great to see the Devokan regions including Tao, being aired. There is always the problem of not being able to spot items from previous platforms, and as a builder too, its something I have fallen foul of so I try to build as much original items as possible. So its good that people are readily available to help identify rogue items. TY Cube. :)
Roger, you can visit many of the different Grids, by using a viewer that will allow log ins to the 20 or so various other grids.
I use Imprudence, but there s are lots of others and I think, you can use SL viewer too, but I don't know how as I havent tried.
The various viewers will allow you to see and use different aspects of the regions features, like Meshes or Windlight settings.
I use OSGrid myself, so I can get you started on that if you like.
go to www.osgrid.org, go to downloads and download the Imprudence viewer. You will need to create an avatar account, (free), and then you can log in to the IMP viewer from there.
If you visit, wrights plaza or LBSA you can ask questions, and people are usualy very helpful, and you can load an avatar body and so forth.
my Avatar is Mat Mahogany, and you can IM me if you like in the search tag.
Good luck and hope this has been helpful.
Mat
Posted by: mat mahogany | Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 02:12 AM
"I heard one of them once talking about starting their own MystGrid, even."
Funny you should say that, Vax. Is there any traction in the idea? On the hypergrid, of course.
Roger, you'd be very welcome, and don't miss Mat's regions on OSgrid either -- Pulse, Stuart, Kamali among many others.
Posted by: Dot Macchi | Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 02:21 AM
@Roger, you cannot visit these grids with your SL Avatar. Linden Lab played with that functionality and shut it down because of IP issues of taking inventory across grids.
Visit the portal to any grid, however, and you can set up an account. I recommend learning to Grid hop from one grid to another, as I've done with my avatar from Reaction Grid.
Here's more about Hypergrid:
http://www.hyperica.com/how-to-travel/
The big grids InWorldz and Avination are closed like SL (and of little interest to me). Join us for a look on the other side.
Posted by: Iggy | Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 05:46 AM
You can certainly establish an account that has the same name as your SL avatar (if nobody has done so before you) and get skins and hair and clothing pretty much free. Open Sim is much the way that SL was back in the earlies; ie friendly and cooperative. If there is 'stolen content' on that network of sims, well, it was someone else's IP in SL, too, but if you are building a Myst-style building, yours is invariably going to look just like everyone else's content, since you are all aiming for the same very distinct look or mood in your work. Two or more people, 'stealing' from the same source can hardly be stealing from each other.
Posted by: David Cartier | Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 06:53 AM
@Roger if you'd like to learn how to make hypergrid jumps between different opensim-based grids, you can join the Hypergrid Adventurers Club and explore with me and other friends each week. http://becunningandfulloftricks.com/hypergrid-adventurers-club/
@Iggy preventing the movement of inventory between grids is a completely solvable problem, and the current version of the hypergrid protocols already solves that issue. Opensim grid owners can flip a switch that prevents content from leaving their grid via inventory transfers. And Diva Canto (inventor of the hypergrid protocols) has even more great plans for the future of hypergrid (http://metaverseink.com/blog/?p=299). I think LL cancelled their grid interoperability experiments simply because they were more interested in keeping SL a walled and monetized garden rather than investing resources in developing new tech and new business models that would connect them to a larger open metaverse. AOL vs Internet mindset.
Posted by: Pathfinder | Saturday, April 21, 2012 at 08:42 AM
@Cube Republic Keep casting those stones in that glass house.
I would retort with screens of Second Life content stolen, especially 3d Mesh Models, Marvel comics etc, but it would probably take months of man-hours.
Posted by: Breen Whitman | Sunday, April 22, 2012 at 11:58 AM
Breen don't feed the trolls!
About Open sims, I really urge any to try KItely!
I still belive OSGrid is the place to be, if you want to host your own regions, but Kitely makes all seems so easy that I've no doubt it will be the future most visited commercial grid!
Where can any of those offer 1 full region with 100.000 prims for Free, a so easy way of login as using your Facebook or twitter account and seemless teleports, be via in world reg map or just clicking on the Kitely website regions showcase!
Posted by: foneco zuzu | Monday, April 23, 2012 at 04:49 AM
Although Cube may sound like a troll, he does raise an interesting question: If you create content exclusively for OpenSim, how do you prove ownership? Unlike OSGrid, Second Life has a micropayment system which incentivizes theft. There's an entire thread at SLU (http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/general-sl-discussion/63903-mesh-police-ripped-content-watch.html) dedicated to the naming and shaming of merchants who rip meshes from commercial games and sell them in SL. However, when people see similar items in SL and OpenSim, they automatically presume that the SL item is legit and the OpenSim one is not. Why is that? How did Second Life earn that "credibility"?
Human rights activist and SOPA supporter Catherine Fitzpatrick, also known as Prokofy Neva in Second Life, once wrote in her blog (http://secondthoughts.typepad.com/second_thoughts/2011/02/immensely-disillusioned-by-the-heavily-materialistic-second-life-system-sigh-.html):
"If I had world enough and time, I'd dl all her free crap and sell it. I encourage any or all of you to do so."
Which is precisely what happens on Linden Lab's grid all the time. Second Life is riddled with stolen textures, audio clips, animations, and now meshes, because it has an economy that attracts thieves and scammers trying to make money. OSGrid has none of these things. Which is why SL fanboys are in no position to point fingers at OSGrid and dispute its "credibility".
Posted by: Masami Kuramoto | Monday, April 23, 2012 at 02:47 PM
Amusingly, Myst builders in many environments are much more likely to have either direct or tacit permission to use Myst materials than most other people using commercial IPs. Accusing them of theft is pretty much silly.
Posted by: Eleri Ethaniel | Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 09:43 PM