OpenSim World Avination Also Apparently Losing Users

Virtual world explorer Daniel Voyager has some valuable year-on-year stats on Avination, one of the more popular OpenSim-based virtual worlds:

• On the 17th of January 2012, Avination had 43,787 registered users and 3,226 unique log-ins in the last 30 days
• On the 18th of January 2013, Avination had 55,146 registered users -- but only 1, 773 unique logins in the last 30 days

More here. So in the last year, monthly user activity (the core metric) has gone down by over 50%. It's possible this is an anomaly, but it definitely suggests an overall loss of users. This tracks with OpenSim usage in general, which has remained more or less flat over the last few years. None of this is meant as a criticism of OpenSim, of course, because it still remains a pretty impressive open source-based virtual world platform for many uses. However, the lack of user growth points to an important consideration:

OpenSim is often touted by its advocates as a cheaper and in many ways better version of Second Life, but for many reasons, few SL users seem to be moving there on a regular let alone permanent basis. And the continued loss of SL sims is not corresponding to a comparative growth in OpenSim users. So whatever its technical strengths as a Second Life alternative, few SLers seem to be accepting it as a substitute.

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Comments

[Pussycat Catnap]

Most users are consumers: of content, venues, and/or socialization.

Content creators, venue providers, and sandboxers are the minority.

Consumers will follow content creators -AND- venue providers (but not one alone), who in turn will follow consumers (the market for their offerings). Its a chicken/egg problem.

Only sandboxers will go off alone into the uncharted wilderness. Content creators and venue providers will for a time follow sandboxers if they believe they are consumers, but if the sandboxers don't turn out to also be consumers, they will give up on them.

[swannjie]

sl has been a very interesting creative platform for me, as an online real time social network creativity platform. The real time aspect of it is its strength which comes with a very expensive cost - and that is, time. For important exchanges, an email is a much more effective tool. For shared good memories sl holds a special niche in that we do see 3D objects as if we were visiting in real life. For most people, the graphic rendering is not good enough when compared to real life; if people were to speak real time, then they go into real life! A pale version of real life at the same cost - time - is too expensive for people to "play". sl is more interesting than OpenSim because of the people. OpenSim doesn't have enough people traffic for it to be interesting. A lot of the artistic sims have disappeared over time, which makes "the world" seem like a visitable "movie" and not a place that could be revisited. Above all, its because it takes too much time for too little continuity, and if people bothered to learn about the sl ways, how could it be applied/re-used in real life? Etc etc. Lastly, health wise, its very bad for people to be sitting in front of a computer all day if they actually took vw life seriously. How could sl be healthier for the physical body?

[Masami Kuramoto]

Is Avination still a walled garden?

[T.D.]

If LL lowered tier as it should would these grids/refugees consider returning to SL? I imagine some of the most hardcore SLers are on these break away grids.

[Suz Blessed]

I am very active in Avination and i must admit do like this grid a lot. I know the sim count dropped..... so what?... This will raise again. I was in SL for 6 years and i did like it there, how ever the costs are way to high and the support is lousy. In these times of crisis people cannot afford these costs. I doubt if people woukld come back if the prices where lower. There are so many OpenSim grids .... people spread... and are searching. Designers only drop their stuff and give no costumer support, they only want to sell. They only need marketplace in sl, they give up their expensive lands, where noone will come anyway. People in virtual worlds shop like in rl on the web. It is a shame that due to badmouthing from other grids about avination ( most people do not investigate themselves, they simply believe what others say) Avination lost people. But again i belive once people open their eyes they will come back sooner or later. Because Avination had good support and personal contact to the people (although for some people nothing is good enough). The prizes are low and affordable and the technique improoves day by day. We sure have bugs and issues... even SL has! Did we all forget that SL was down a several times due to technical issues in the last months? And do people leave SL because of that ??? .... Give others a chance, avination is working very hard, building up again.... we do not give up. And do you not think that this Mentality will be rewarded ???? Well I do.....

Oh and a little thing about copybotting... the biggest fear of creators.... and a reason for them not to come to another grid aswell.... Well in sl are so many copy botters and when you report those people, lindenlab is doing nothing about it ... SL a safe place ??? NO WAY ....

[Magnus Notringham]

I am very active in Avination, and have been for nearly 2 years now. I came to AVN from SL initially due to some shabby treatment I received from the lindens, but once I started looking around for a brave new world, Avination is definitely the tops! Yes when you compare the numbers from a year ago to today you will see a drop, but some of that is that we in AVN had a huge wave of new sim owners due to them nearly giving away sims for a time, of course compared to the pirces that SL charges they are nearly giving them away (45000 prim full sim 60US). Once the trial period was over and the sims went back to full price alot of them just disappeared. I would not go back to SL if they paid me too, AVN is much more user friendly, great support, and awesome land prices!

[Poof Toonie]

Avination has alot of freedom to express yourself artistically...the owners and Team for working out problems are very generous and patient with New Grid issues. I think the population drop is due to "entertainment and social interaction' does not go on there. Most people who stay are Content creators and commerce is just about non-existant.
A bunch of starving artists mostly :) ..I do love it and Invite all to come visit..

[richard]

viewer doesnt work 1/2 of the time,tp not working.

[fafas]

WHO EVER READ THIS NOW 2014 , stayaway of this grid.nothing to see here , only 10 ppl with their 20+ alts , trying to earn money in casinos.
Avination is still alive cause of casinos

[Hardes]

Avination is dead and i blame the founder(s) for that! Never listend to what creators or us normal people wanted. Now they stand alone with the grid.
And it was awesome in the beginning. A paradise for creators and shoppers!All the fav. brands from sl had been there .
Now they have an awesome engine, updated to 64 bit, no problems with sim crossings, crystal clear pictures on your laptop or computer screen but no people anymore. Cause they had been all scared away!
And what does it help now to rez a building from an old rez-box that also has to be updated to 64 bit and the creators already left the grid?!!!!
Even Suz Blessed that posted here 2 years ago, already left the grid !

[Tim]

at least it still has more to offer than other grids like VH or zandramas. e.g. vista is still over there, that means you have a very good AO and you are not walking around like a zombie like on other grids and you have still awesome skins around you can choose from and not only one or two skin factories like on other grids, so that you dont like look a clone! the problem is creators dont put it up in classified. you have to look around at your own and find out and there is still a lot to find! Just open your eyes and look around.

[psolas]

Hello there. IF someone read this blog i want to warn you all.
First of all avination is not an actual grid, All it is a bunch of 25 people and their hundred avatars that are all trying to make money off the casinos,Since this grid is located to UK.
Not a few good names from SL tried avination selling their general use stuff but they did realise its all about gambling so they left.
So recently not more than a Week,THe owner of this grid, shes very well known, Melanie thieker
decided to ban one of the best game creators in there , simply because he had about 60M linden ( Carecoins is the name there and a little cheaper than lindens) almsot 140k used.

She vanished his games too , and the 60m that been bought from the people.

to sum up if you respect your hard earned money ,avoid this scam called avination and try warn anyone that thinking about moving there.