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Jul 2, 2001, 5:07am

Happy Birthday, ActiveWorlds!!!
Six years and still going... :o)

This software has been running online for 6 full years now with
comparatively little downtime and no end in sight... Seems to me that
"they" must be doing SOMETHING right to still be around; don't you agree???

Worlds.inc went bankrupt and it's rumored that they screwed their investors
during the process... They are back but the program they run isn't really
something I would ever feel "at home" in... (Music CD's, anyone???)
The Palace is gone now... It went bankrupt even though it had many, many
users... :o(
Black Sun has cut it's "area of influence" (or whatever you want to call it)
way back now...
Worlds Away is now a porn site I hear...

There were other VRs that no longer exist and may never be heard from
again...

ActiveWorlds, however, is still here after 6 good years!!! :o)

Way to go, AW!!!

Jul 2, 2001, 10:32am

More like "hung on for dear life for 6 years". The possibility still exists that AW
could very well go the way of all those other VR places you mentioned, with it's
stock still hovering around $1/share and only gaining any profits this past quarter
after steady losses. Yes, "the end" is indeed in sight, the only question is "When?"

And I'd like to think that the *only* reason that AW has even lasted *this* long is
because of the user-created community. WorldsChat, The Palace, etc were nothing more
than glorified chat rooms. You'd come in, chat with some people, visit another
world/room, chat some more, make your own avatar, chat some more, and that's it. AW
is so much more than that. I firmly believe that if it wasn't for the strong
community we have here, (with things like ComReg, AWEC, Cy Awards, etc) Rick & JP
would have been out on their collective ass a *long* time ago. Now if only "they"
would realize that...

[View Quote] --
Goober King
Rick: "Where's all these $20 bills coming from?"
JP: "I dunno. We must be doing something right!"
rar1 at acsu.buffalo.edu

Jul 2, 2001, 12:10pm

[View Quote] That's kind of a depressing thought. You never know what might happen in the
future, to say for sure that AW is going to disappear at any moment is
really...cynical? It kind of makes AW life depressing and gloomy to think
that, rather than just keeping hope for and drive to AWCOM that it can
continue. So they're not making much of a profit these days, I can only
imagine they didn't have much to work with in the begining either, and we
haven't seen any layoffs or anything from the AWCOM HQ, have we? I hope
they're getting fed okay, at least.

>
> And I'd like to think that the *only* reason that AW has even lasted
*this* long is
> because of the user-created community. WorldsChat, The Palace, etc were
nothing more
> than glorified chat rooms. You'd come in, chat with some people, visit
another
> world/room, chat some more, make your own avatar, chat some more, and
that's it. AW
> is so much more than that. I firmly believe that if it wasn't for the
strong
> community we have here, (with things like ComReg, AWEC, Cy Awards, etc)
Rick & JP
> would have been out on their collective ass a *long* time ago. Now if only
"they"
> would realize that...

Hmm...this is interesting, but now that only Cy Awards is really in
existence now, what ARE we to do? :) I dunno, many groups died out and AWCOM
DID plummet. But it wasn't the emergence of new groups that brought the
company back on its feet, it was Juno. :/ it was, wasn't it? Community keeps
the users in, but if they already paid 20 bucks, they're pretty much
expendable for all the company cares. Makes more room for new cits. ;) So do
we really keep AWCOM together? I wonder, but I don't mind being just another
speck in the universe of thousands and millions. So long as I got this
newsgroup, some great friends, things to do, and AW for many years to come
(Happy birthday guys!!), I could care less about showing off the power of
community or anything else. The universe can fit us all. ;)

Although, it would be a nice experiment to see what happens if we end all
events, worldbuilding, and townbuilding in AW for a year. lol.

Nornny

Jul 2, 2001, 12:16pm

AW will die, but because the management doesn't seem to know how to run a
succesfull business... and development's stalling for the moment as well,
because of the use of RW...

KAH

[View Quote]

Jul 2, 2001, 3:00pm

Actually, there has been a couple layoffs at AWCI that you never hear about. The one
I remember in particular was Dennette, who was hired as an object creator, if I
recall correctly.

The story goes that Dennette was working on a project for them, and then JP told him
to drop everything and work on another project. Dennette tried to explain that he was
almost done with the first project, and that he felt it was a bit more important than
JP's project. Subsequently, Dennette was "released" for insubordination.

Please, correct me if I've gotten the facts wrong. It's been a while, and I don't
think Dennette's world is running anymore, where he had posted all the information
about this. Facter, could you shed some light on this perhaps?

[View Quote] --
Goober King
Proof that Goobers ARE as dumb as they look.
rar1 at acsu.buffalo.edu

Jul 2, 2001, 3:07pm

[View Quote] I'm sorry, I honestly cannot comment on that or provide details except to
say one thing - that information is very incorrect.

F.


>
[View Quote]

Jul 2, 2001, 3:49pm

Sorry about the length. But, I feel it needs to be said.

Development sure as hell isn't stalling. In my entire time as an AW citizen, I saw only three new releases. 2.2 (2.1 was in there
when I was a tourist-I think, but that was a LONG time before I registered), 3.0 and 3.1. Now 3.2 is coming down the pipe. We're on
what is almost a half year development cycle now, when they used to be incredibly spread out. Management's ability to run a
buisiness is AW's only downfall.

The technology, in the right hands, is quite capable of more than people give it credit for, including it's own creators. Take SW
City's Peril Mountain for example. This first person shooter, while the graphics are cheezy at some points, works around
Alphaworld's (Yes, it's in Alphaworld) super low cell limit, AW's restricted commands, etc, all without a bot. That's right. NO bot.
Eep refused to play the game for that reason, though I suspect that it was just his bias against it's builders. Multiple weapons,
special gadgets, well dressed enemy guards, some KILLER sound effects and some really awesome background midis (Yes, midis CAN sound
cool AWCI. Can you maybe put some at GZ?), kinda James Bond-ish, except no hot girls (yet). It rivals primitive FPS games across the
board, and is based on one of the cheeziest 3d applications I've ever seen. AW has it's gaming ability. But gay paintball worlds
aren't it. Bingo and chess games aren't the limit.That rather odd world known as the thirteenth floor sure as hell isn't. Games
don't even have to be bot baseed.

Losing Renderware isn't important at this moment, it's giving AW a goal. A purpose. It's best role, it seems, would be a simple chat
room with an amount of games on the side. Not a crappy e-comemrce tool. E-commerce went out with the 20th century Rick and JP. Wake
up and smell the burning silicon. Partnering with all these other companies like Juno isn't going to make you any money after
awhile. You're simply theiving away from their user base. Once the big companies are done with you, you'll be ass broke and have to
go begging to your parents for allowances again. You need to do for the customers what the customers want you to do. If you do what
the general public wants, you'll attract more of your own users, they'll stay longer, give you more payments in the long run, etc.
It'll take longer, but eventually, you'll have infinite cashflow and be able to buy Canada (Why you'd want it I don't know...)

You may now resume your normal lives.

[View Quote]

Jul 2, 2001, 3:56pm

Since I'm a particularly hostile mood I'll dissect Facter's reply as well.
[View Quote] Typical corperate stuff. Note the double space between "is" and "very" Looks like he went to superiors for words there. Not that
theres anything wrong with it, this is inconsequential to AW's future.

Jul 2, 2001, 6:04pm

[View Quote] > Actually, there has been a couple layoffs at AWCI that you never hear about. The one
> I remember in particular was Dennette, who was hired as an object creator, if I
> recall correctly.
>
> The story goes that Dennette was working on a project for them, and then JP told him
> to drop everything and work on another project. Dennette tried to explain that he was
> almost done with the first project, and that he felt it was a bit more important than
> JP's project. Subsequently, Dennette was "released" for insubordination.
>
> Please, correct me if I've gotten the facts wrong. It's been a while, and I don't
> think Dennette's world is running anymore, where he had posted all the information
> about this. Facter, could you shed some light on this perhaps?

Dennette was a programmer. He programmed that lame WeatherBot in AlphaWorld, but JP turned it into a monster by asking for changes to the weather constantly. Supposedly, anyway.

Facter - Dennete did say that he was fired for insubordination. He had a sign explaining what happened at the GZ of his world (Sygyzy). There's now way to tell if it's true or not, but somehow I don't doubt the story too much :P

Jul 2, 2001, 6:37pm

I rather liked the concept of the weather bot, but grrrrr, the constant changing sucked.. At least getting some nighttime in Alpha
would be nice (Black fog please, but not too close) <==Facter, see what you can do.
[View Quote]

Jul 2, 2001, 7:35pm

It's a miracle isn't it:)
icey

[View Quote] > Happy Birthday, ActiveWorlds!!!
> Six years and still going... :o)
>
> This software has been running online for 6 full years now with
> comparatively little downtime and no end in sight... Seems to me that
> "they" must be doing SOMETHING right to still be around; don't you agree???
>
> Worlds.inc went bankrupt and it's rumored that they screwed their investors
> during the process... They are back but the program they run isn't really
> something I would ever feel "at home" in... (Music CD's, anyone???)
> The Palace is gone now... It went bankrupt even though it had many, many
> users... :o(
> Black Sun has cut it's "area of influence" (or whatever you want to call it)
> way back now...
> Worlds Away is now a porn site I hear...
>
> There were other VRs that no longer exist and may never be heard from
> again...
>
> ActiveWorlds, however, is still here after 6 good years!!! :o)
>
> Way to go, AW!!!

Jul 2, 2001, 9:43pm

[View Quote] No, it is jsut no one elses business why an individual is no longer with the
company - cant you respect someones privacy? Double spaces? My god, you are
paranoid - the word that WAS in there was "that information is very, very
incorrect" - I got rid of the second very as it wasnt necessary - are you
REALLY that paranoid?

Okay guys, I'm about ready to give up here.

F..

Jul 2, 2001, 9:57pm

>
> Facter - Dennete did say that he was fired for insubordination. He had a
sign explaining what happened at the GZ of his world (Sygyzy). There's now
way to tell if it's true or not, but somehow I don't doubt the story too
much :P

Quite frankly, there is alot more to the story than that - and I dont really
think that someone losing employment is a matter that needs to be publically
aired, whatever the circumstances - its a confidential thing, and if he
wants to relate his own version of the story then thats his deal, but we
wont divulge *private* details out of respect for a previous employee.

I have nothing more to say on the matter, sorry. Please understand that this
is also a professional business environment, as much as you guys dont think
so sometimes.

F.


>

Jul 2, 2001, 11:14pm

*shrug* That's fine. The details aren't really important anyway. The main point is
that Dennette was another "victim" of Rick & JP's antics, so things behind the scenes
at AWCI aren't as rosey as some would have you believe.

Need another example? How about Cybernome? While he never was actually on the AWCI
payroll, he did take over as COFMeta caretaker for a little while, and actually had
managed to make the place a happening world again. But then, he suddenly decided to
leave. It wasn't because he was bored with caretaking. It wasn't because he couldn't
stand all the citizens hassling him about changing this or adding that. He left
because he couldn't stand the AWCI bureaucracy and red tape. He couldn't get anything
he wanted done because he was always met with "We'll get on it" or "We'll look into
it". Finally, he couldn't take it anymore and left to start his own 3D worlds (coming
soon! *smirk*)

Granted, that escapade was more Lucrezia's fault than anyone else's, but considering
that COFMeta is (was?) supposedly Rick's baby, you'd think he would have taken a
greater interest in its well-being. But noooooo....

[View Quote] --
Goober King
So, who's next to go? Roland, perhaps? Gand?
rar1 at acsu.buffalo.edu

Jul 3, 2001, 12:20am

Yep, GK hit the nail right on the nose. I was with Cybernome for a while
and we were talking about all these great things that could really boost
Meta's popularity.. Better lighting, new and improved avatars, more objects
etc. He told me he was so close to getting all these things but it never
happend. It's a shame, really. The guy worked so hard on developing that
world and making it a wayyyy better place but AWCI/ENZO/Boogeria just didn't
see it.. :-\ I don't blame the guy for letting the world fall into the
depths of crappiness.
--
Syntax
syntax at swcity.net
www.swcity.net

[View Quote]

Jul 3, 2001, 1:47am

Okay, lets all stop the arguing and just be thankful that AW has lasted so
far! And I am not that new of a newbie, i just left for a couple years, some
of you might remember me as Judge It

[View Quote]

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