Top Stories of The 2010s, Part Four

The 2010s are over. But as we say goodbye to the decade, there's some looking back at what happened. The Newser has covered much in the past ten years, and we're looking at some of the top stories that made the news and got more attention than most.

Read the fourth part of the series in Extra.

Islandz Discord Server Taken Down, Questions and Comments Continue

Sometime yesterday on Monday January 28, the Discord channel for Islandz was shut down. On Saturday, Elenia Llewellyn (Beth Reischl) announced that the virtual world, which was set up in November as the replacement grid for Inworldz, was closing down due to her running out of money. While there are articles about Elenia's announcement, such as the Newser's, the announcement itself and the following comments are gone.

The Inworldz Disporia Discord group ( https://discord.gg/aTDyn9U ) that was set up before the closing of the virtual world in July 2018, remains up. And numerous comments have been coming in. Many are angry and upset, such as content creators who never game permission for the goods they designed not to be used outside InWorldz who were unhappy to hear about Elenia deciding she would send back the items residents saved in OARs without going through them to see which content had the okay to use elsewhere and which didn't. But their options are limited as a lawsuit would require hiring a lawyer, and Elenia has stated she's broke and has no cash to give as compensation.

The impending closure of Islandz has brought back the sad memories of former residents of InWorldz when that grid closed in July 2018, as well as reviving discussion of why it closed. Elenia had stated that she had taken out a loan to keep the grid running, though claimed something went wrong in repaying the lender despite having the funds to do so. No one else on the team at the time seems to have been told this decision. Exactly how this came to be is only speculation, though one can guess the departure of certain members of the team that helped Elenia keep it running over the years, things went downhill. With the confusion and questions surrounding the closure, and doubts following it, only a fraction of InWorldz's users chose to move to the new grid to make their virtual home. Some people who kept the faith in the owner did move in, and Jim Tarber did join in to help out despite his earlier talk of staying out. But it wasn't enough. Instead of a new beginning, it was a sad last chapter.

Hypergrid Business, as well as Ryan Schultz and Daniel Voyager have also written about the closure of Islandz. Some people have also left comments. While Elenia may have left virtual worlds, it's fair to say the discussion of what she left behind will be talked about for a little longer.

Bixyl Shuftan

Islandz, Successor Grid to Inworldz, Closing Down

Following the closing of the InWorldz grid in July 2018, once second only in Second Life in size among open-ended virtual worlds, there were hopes among many of it's residents that Beth Reischl (Elenia Llewellyn) would get a new grid up and running. Finally on November 14, her new virtual world Islandz was online and open to all, especially former residents. Over time, some of InWorldz' residents moved in, and the grid grew slowly, eventually encompassing a few dozen sims.

Then on Saturday, Elenia dropped a bombshell. Islandz would soon be closing as she had run out of money to the point of being about to lose her home.


I'm just going to throw this out there now... the grid is not sustainable. We knew what our break even point was, we're not even remotely close. I'm being evicted from my home, my date of move out is Feb. 11. My mother is about to be evicted from her home because I'm working up here so they hiked her rent up as it's the same landlady. My phone is completely shut off. I have no electricity, hence why I'm up by my Mother's condo during the day. I've tried to sell my motorcycle in the States to no avail as it's not riding season.

People are disheartened at the lack of content we could restore, and I don't blame them
So, this is where we are at right now.

I woke up at 7 am trying to figure out the best way to say all this and I'm just beyond stressed, depressed and disheartened at this point.

Elenia stated she had kept things going about as long as she could, "That is where I'm at right now. I'm tired of crying every day, tired of stressing every day. ... I'm maxed out, in every way shape and form. ... I can't do this fight anymore. I have cried myself to sleep more times this past month than I care to admit to." Of the OARs content files, as she had to concentrate on her real-life family's needs, she didn't have the time to go through them to determine which content the creators had given their okay to use outside InWorldz and which didn't, "so I will simply email them out. ... no matter what I do, some of you will not be happy. ... I'd LOVE to give you all filtered oars, really, but I can't."

The response was some people upset that once again their grid was closing, plus content creators upset that their protection was gone. Elina thanked her fans for their continuing support over the months, "you guys have been great, seriously." To those who were upset at her, "I'm done with the metaverse. ... I have zero, zilch, zip, nada, just maxed out credit cards. ... I'm done. I have literally lost everything. Sorry if you all don't get that." After about an hour, Elenia made her last comment.

Over the weekend, people would continue to comment in Discord chat. Some were confused, "can someone tell me please what is going on, the only thing I read when I scroll back is that a lot of ppl are upset." Some were upset, "I am a consumer who was screwed royally." But there were many comments expressing sadness with little or no anger over their home closing once more and sadness for Elina's financial state. "Give Ele time to get over the emotion of what she told us today. It's a harder blow for her than for any of us." "This is very sad news. I have the greatest respect and admiration for Jim and Ele for fighting like lions to get Islandz up and running. I have the greatest respect for all the people I have met in Islandz who worked like Trojans to provide us all with free content. I have nothing but respect for all the selfless work done by so many here. It has been an amazing community and I am proud to have known you all." "My heart goes out to you Jim Tarber  and especially to Elenia. You have both moved heaven and earth to try to bring us back all together in Islandz. I appreciate all the months of hard work, sweat and tears you have put in. You both have my full respect for what you have done so far and tried to accomplish FOR ALL OF US."

Jim Tarber told people not to start another Gofundme to keep the grid afloat. He would go on to say, "I actually had a plan after IW shutdown to just fire up a couple of recovery servers and provide filtered OAR exports for folks for other grids. I didn't think it was realistic to try to recover everything on a new grid, with all the legal and ethical headaches (and costs) associated with that.  In hindsight, that would have saved a lot of trouble. However, Ele was so moved by the support of the community that she decided to try anyway. I'll give her credit for continuing when I didn't think it possible. But the real world has finally caught up."

There is some talk of a final farewell party. But unlike the last days of InWorldz, there is no talk of a successor grid. The only options are to choose between the Opensim worlds, or perhaps somewhere else like VRChat, Sansar, and of course Second Life. As for Elenia Llewellyn/Beth Reischl, it looks like sadly this will be the last we hear of her, at least for a long time.

Hat tip: Oldesoul Eldemar

Bixyl Shuftan

News and Commentary: More On InWorldz's Closing

The InWorldz grid is gone. On Friday afternoon, most of their residents found themselves no longer able to log in, and by Saturday morning the place had completely shut down. The closing has left many sad former users with a decision: where do I go now? From both InWorldz and Second Life residents, there have been a number of other questions such as "How could this happen?" "Will there be another InWorldz?" "Could this happen to Second Life?" Yours truly offers a few answers, or partial answers, based on my observations.

Read the article in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

InWorldz's Rise and Decline

When it comes to virtual worlds, to many residents there's Second Life and then there's everybody else. But some among the "everybody else" stood out. For several years, the largest alternative to Second Life was the InWorldz grid, which stood over other OpenSpace worlds in terms of both active and total accounts. A few years ago, with rumors of Linden Lab thinking about an "exit strategy," a number of residents were taking a closer look at the smaller virtual world. So what happened?

Read more in Other Grids, MMOs, and Games.

InWorldz Gofundme Halts Donations, Co-Founder Issues Statement

In the latest in the developing story about the impending shutdown of InWorldz, the Gofundme that owner Beth Reisch set up for the virtual world is no longer accepting donations. She had  originally stated the money would be going to save the virtual world. But after most of it had been raised, she had apparently changed her goal to instead establishing a new one, and moving things from InWorldz to this new one. While some people were supportive, others were confused or angry. And comments were disabled.

Also, there was a statement in Hypergrid Business by InWorldz co-founder David Daeshler on the situation. As he had left the staff over a year ago, he wasn't sure what was going on.

For all those that have been asking me what is going on with InWorldz, I’d like to make a public statement.

I have not been involved in the management or operation of InWorldz since the end of 2016. I have not been privy to company information regarding finances or operational factors since at least that time. I don’t know the state of the loan agreement that was executed by Beth Reischl alone. I do not know if the creditors that are owed money by Beth and InWorldz, LLC have been repaid, or if they are still seeking final resolution to what sounds like a loan default.

Further, I don’t know where the funds from the GoFundMe campaign that Beth Reischl started are going. Since the decision has now been made to start a new grid, I do not know if those funds that were collected under the name of InWorldz, LLC are now being funneled to a new business entity, or personal accounts.

I feel very badly for all residents that are at the risk of losing their home and their things. I have missed being a part of the InWorldz community and spirit for the past few years, but the business has struggled due to a constant push for the lowest possible price against competition with no business model. We have all had to make sacrifices and, in some cases, move on to make ends meet.

I hope the Beth can clarify how this new grid will operate, and how InWorldz, LLC’s creditors will be repaid given a possible move to a new business entity.

I miss you all. I miss hearing how InWorldz improved your life. I miss hearing about the new love and real-life marriages that happened because of our service. InWorldz will always hold a special place in my heart, and I’ll always remember what you all taught me…

Always, just one more dance.

Sincerely,

David C Daeschler

In the meantime, the hours tick away for the virtual world, the day the servers set to expire being Friday July 27.

Update: InWorldz has provided a Schedule of OARS , "After we produce the OAR file, the items will be cleared from the region and it will be taken down. This way you'll know when the OAR file has been done. I know everyone wants more time, but we don't have any more time to give. So by producing a full OAR, we can process them over the next week to get items filtered out and moved on to their region owners."

Sources: Hypergrid Business, Gofundme, InWorldz

Bixyl Shuftan

InWorldz Gofundme Within $500 of $17,000 Goal, Questions About Future Arise

The Gofundme set up by it's owner Beth Reischl has raised most of the money it needs to stay afloat. As of the printing of this article, it has raised $16,506 of the $17,000 USD goal.

But will the money be used for it's original purpose? At Update Number Three, Reischl seemed to be saying instead of saving the grid, the money would be used to create a new one.

Wow! Everyone has been amazing! So here's where things stand. I asked in discord this afternoon, once we hit our goal, then what? What about next month? After much agonizing and upset, it was suggested by the residents that we use these monies to start a new grid. We'll be able to move OARS, profiles, groups. Inventory can only be taken that can be put in a box to be OAR filed. We'll be opening the sandbox for people who have no region to place their items and can get them back.

If you are NOT ok with this, I urge you to please withdraw your support on the page. I do not want to take anyone's money who is not ok with this! Otherwise, please start boxing your items up on your region or ask a friend or tomorrow I'll be opening the Sandboxes up for people!  

Every single one of you simply amazes me!

There were some unhappy comments following this announcement.

Toysolider Thor: I thought this was to save Inworldz. Why now still abandon Inworldz and force everyone to change to a new grid? I am lost. Inworldz has a lot of invested brand recognition and many have an emotional affinity to it. I dont get it.

Lin Stamos-Valentine: So the $17,000 was NOT to pay the loan and set up a new payment platform then (as we were told)? You are using it to start a new grid and we only have a few days to save 8 years (in my case) worth of work? Even though you HAD to know long before now that InWorldz was a lost cause? Jim says no matter what the grid was closing, but I thought we could save it, but now we aren't. Did I donate to start a new grid? NO! I donated to save InWorldz. I am asking for a refund. Go ahead and get mad at me, but I feel very betrayed at the moment.

Elpida Tisagapi: Ok STOP! the fund raising was to safe IW not to make a new grid! IW is special and its the ppl and the community there that makes it special. The goal is nearly reached and will give Beth a month to sort the problems with the loan people. Moving to another grid is NOT solving anything at all! Never mind there are no full perm creators, in their right mind, who will ever give their permission to move to a new grid with NO control what so ever. I know I speak for Tao Dreamscape in this matter too. There is NO way she will agree to that. I look after Tao's store on both IW and SL (the customer service side) and please take this as if Tao herself stated it. For me its IW or nothing. Fight for IW instead of taking the easy road.

Gillian Holmes: It was not 'suggested by the residents' that you start a new grid, it was decided by a small clique of people who rudely refuse to listen to the views of others. Most residents don't even know about this yet. I think you have taken money under false pretences. The initial 'cause' has been replaced by totally different one. You should refund all donations and start again clearly stating exactly what you are raising the money for. As it stands this could be viewed as fraud.

 Others were more supportive.

Hypatia Emerson: They are doing what they have to with what they have to work with. They didn't come up with the idea to start a new grid. The people on IW suggested it and talked Ele into it on Discord. She could just tell you all to go take a leap. She didn't she set up a go fund me to save our homes. The timing is too short to save the grid so she asked what to do and IW people said make a new one and transfer us over.

Tom Minor: Inworldz isn't the grid, it's the people.. and the creative spirit they share. That is what's worth preserving.

Frand Lupschen: The current discussion and I have been brought up to the current situation. InWorldz as a business has been killed by the loanshark company. It no longer has any business assets. The account is empty. So the business is really dead. What is happening now is that everyone is to put out the content they wish to keep in their regions and oars will be made of the regions. For those who do not have land, several sandbox regions will be made available. The oars, user list DB of active accounts will be retained and used to build a new grid that will use the saved content as the starting point for a new world.

So while it looks like the Gofundme will succeed, some new questions have arisen about the long-term future of the virtual world. Stay tuned for further details.

Update: As of 10AM PST, some people have withdrawn their donations, lowering the total raised to $16,211. Also, comments have appeared to have been disabled.

Bixyl Shuftan