The OpenSim Dilemma

When I logged into OSgrid today, I was presented with these statistics:

Total users: 162,066 • Users online: 44

If we generously assume that the number of active users is ten times the number online, that still leaves over 160,000 people unaccounted for.

Where did everyone go? Why didn’t they stay?

First Impressions

When I first arrived in OSgrid, I came with three friends from Second Life.

Our initial reaction was “Wow, everything is free!”

But that excitement quickly turned to disappointment when we discovered that much of the content was broken or non-functioning - sofas without sits, lamps that don’t light, doors that won’t close and so much more.

Within two days, my friends had left. They’ve never returned - now part of the sad statistic of over 160,000 missing users.

Population

A high population fosters diversity, creativity, and community - all of which help sustain growth and innovation.

But a low population leads to stagnation. The few who remain are left struggling to keep things alive, with fewer creators, fewer events, and fewer reasons to log in.

The Need for Quality Content

Clearly, if we want to retain users and build a healthy, thriving community, we must provide newcomers with quality, working content.

So, what’s going wrong? Why is so much content in OpenSim broken or dysfunctional?

The first reason is easy to explain.

1. Ripped Content

A large portion of the content in OpenSim is copied - or ripped - from Second Life.

But ripped items do not include the necessary scripts to make them functional.

The result? A world filled with hollow shells. Pretty objects that don’t work.

2. The Full-Perm Culture

The second reason is more complicated.

OpenSim has a long-standing tradition of full-perm distribution. This probably stems from the open use of God mode, which makes it easy to bypass any permissions. Some users even demand that all content is full perm as if it were a birth right - regardless of whether they actually need it to be.

The Hat:

Let’s say I make a hat. It includes a HUD that lets users choose from four baked textures with shadows, and a hat band with six color options. A few people pick it up from my store.

Then, someone modifies the permissions and slaps a flower texture onto it.

The HUD becomes redundant, the texture is distorted, and the baked shadows are lost.

But why should I care what they do with their hat?

Now that person shares their "flower hat" with two friends. Each of those does the same and so it goes on. After just six rounds of sharing, there are 127 flower hats in circulation - essentially the entire active user base! Worse still, one of them places it in a high-traffic mega-store.

A new user is more likely to stumble across the "flower hat" instead of the original. What they see is another broken item in OpenSim’s ever growing junkyard - and another reason not to stay.

Degradation

Some users respect permissions. Many do not.

It only takes one person to alter something and begin the chain of degradation, ruining things for everyone.

The Devil

Full-perm is the devil in disguise. It's like a drug. It feels good but it comes with side effects:

• Broken content

• Disrespected creators

• Poor first impressions for new users

• And ultimately, a declining population

  
  

I have pleaded with people not to change item permissions but the excuses keep coming:

“I wanted a copy for my alt.”

“I wanted to share it with my family.”

“I wanted it for my store.”

Is passing a landmark really that difficult?

Bullied

I have been:

• Pressured to release full-perm versions of everything I create because "it is a public platform" and therefore what's mine is theirs

• Accused of trying to drive traffic to my store (for what benefit?)

• Called authoritarian (uhm what?)

• Told I want people to “bow down and worship me” (just... LoL)

• Banned from regions with full-perm ideology

All this because I believe that new users need working, quality content.

No White Flag

I’ve fought the battle. I’ll admit - I’ve lost. But that doesn’t mean I surrender completely.

I love creating, and I will continue to do so.

But I have lost the desire to share my items.

Meanwhile, I can only sit back and watch as the OpenSim junkyard grows.

A Final Plea

Creators: You enjoy what you do. You are proud of your work. It hurts to see it ruined.

Set permissions! Yes, the disrespectful will change them but we don't need to make life easy for them. Make them work for their crime. Who knows, your item might survive long enough for newcomers to find and enjoy the way you intended.

Users: Respect the work of others. Remember the hat? Ask the creator for a flower version. They love to create and will probably give you a version of the hat with multiple flower textures on a HUD (with baked shadows).

With a little consideration we can make OpenSim a place where people arrive, feel impressed, and want to stay. But it starts with each of us taking responsibility for the quality of the items we share.

Please—for your own sake, and for the sake of the community—stop the full-perm madness.