Last time we were talking about OpenSim we were faced with three problems that were to come. It sounds all nice and nifty but question was how are we going to deal and manage our names, money and inventories. Sure that it was hard to expect that things will follow any kind of plan instead of just happening. Last night I registered and made a few ruthed steps on OpenLifeGrid and CentralGrid. So, here are the first answers…
Names… Names, last names actually, were supposed to be the least problem. But as I started the registration form on OpenLifeGrid I knew that my future life will sound like of a schizoid that remarries twice a day. No, you cannot keep your old last name. Pick another one from the list. CentralGrid is better for that matter. Both names are open fields, so you just type what you like (Linden and Grid being only that are not available). I know that right now this sound like I am ranting too much and that I am making too much noise about things not so important. But, one day, we hope, grids will be interconnected. Who the hell will I be in that moment? Should we just add all of our surnames? After all, dandellion Forx-Kimban doesn't sound so bad. (**EDIT**) Check the comments to see how to get your desired last name on OpenLife Grid
Inventories… No, there is no connection of inventories between grids. No, I don't have an idea what else to say. This one is going to hurt one day.
Money… Money is the reason I started to write all this. As Reuters informs us, Steve Smith of BCX Bank
has purchased 11 sims on Central Grid, a rapidly-growing world based on the open-source package OpenSim. In Central Grid Smith hopes to expand his financial empire in a way never possible in Second Life, offering not only interest on deposits but printing his own currency a la Linden Lab, tentatively to be called the “Central Grid Dollar (CG$).”
I don't have a slightest idea what is BCX Bank, but this is very illustrative about what was expected to happen. Sure, Smith has that idea of making his own currency (with ugly name, btw) which may show up as a step that is too large. But the point is that Linden's attempt of regulating banking in second life made some of them stand on their own feet and grab more than they had before the Linden's move.
Will BCX Bank stand in this? I don't know. Nor you do. Banks are raising and crashing in meatspace too. If this one doesn't survive, some other will. After initial storms, there will be a solid core of third parties doing financial stuff all over the metaverse. Money is a very fluid thing. Before you know, your accounts will flow from one grid to another. At least it will be no worse then now with money in your second life pocket and accounts on SLexchange, OnRez and who knows where else. Will there be one currency for all the grids? Hardly so. Probably the only constant things will be USD and EUR for which we will buy micro-currencies.
Grid selecting… One thing that is really annoying at the moment is selecting the grid to login. If you are not accessing the Linden's grid you have to type all those parameters where you login. Yes, I know that few shortcuts on the desktop would help. But then, you have to change your name and password in the client. Not to mention that, if you want to log to different grid, you have to restart the client. I am dreaming of the day that will be in drop-down menu. Just run the client, choose the grid and it fills names, passwords and stuff. Like browsers usually do. (*Bats her new prim eyelashes in the direction of all the coders that can do this*) Don't you think that it is time that we have OpenSim packed viewer? The one with possibility to choose where to login and the one that opens some other page instead of default Linden's?
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