More on Sansar's Transition to Metaverse Investments

 
When we last reported on Sansar a few months ago, it was a virtual world in trouble. It was described as on "life support," and was involved in a million-dollar lawsuit. Little wonder that when the world went offline one day in December, people were quick to assume the plug was pulled on it, though it was up and going the next day. 

With the virtual world in this kind of trouble, Sansar needed help, and soon. A few days ago, it arrived. On the Sansar Discord channel on Tuesday  April 12, there was an announcement. Sansar would be getting a new owner: Metaverse Investments. Speaking for the company, Chance Richie promised to get the virtual world back on track and be "focusing on the future and making Sansar the most Creator-friendly Metaverse on the planet." He also promised to resume community meetings.

Hello Sansarians! My name is Chance Richie, and I will be working with Wookey to transition the Sansar platform to Metaverse Investments Ltd. Wookey Technologies has been diligently looking for the right candidate to take over the responsibility of progressing Sansar to the next level, and Metaverse Investments Ltd is looking forward to the challenge.

I am working with the Wookey Team to get Sansar back on track.  In my opinion, the Wookey Team has done a lot of good work on the platform and has had to work through many challenges inherited from the Linden Labs acquisition.  I believe the Wookey Team has been fully committed to the platform and expanding it to a broader audience by focusing on the true immersive VR Metaverse experience.  I understand that there has been some history with the former direction and team, however what is most important is focusing on the future and making Sansar the most Creator-friendly Metaverse on the planet.  My strategic vision is focused on providing the Creator community the tools they need to build the most engaging worlds, quests, and experiences in the Metaverse.  I strongly believe that if we fulfill that vision, visitors and residents will come in droves.

We understand Sansar has problems that need to take care of as soon as possible and it has been a challenge to address these issues with a limited team.  My first priority is bringing in the engineering talent necessary to get things fixed and stabilize the platform. So do not despair, help is coming soon!

In the meantime, I want you to know how amazing I think the Sansar platform is, and that I see great potential. That potential will only be realized if we are successful engaging the Sansar Community, so to that end I’d like to restart the meetings Ebbe Altberg used to do in Sansar.  More to come on that!

Rest assured, we did our homework and know Sansar has a great community that is welcoming to new users. The Sansar Discord has also been a great way to pass knowledge on to new people and I have gotten more familiar with the platform as a result of following the channel. No question seems to be too difficult or tiring for you. Sansar is clearly "for the people, by the people", and we want to amplify that culture.

And last but not least, I’d like to thank the Sansar ambassadors and helpers who have stuck with Sansar through thick and thin, including all you die-hards who kept events going. You never stopped believing and I am here to reward that belief in Sansar by providing you the tools you’ve all been looking for.

I am transparent almost to a fault so feel free to reach out and ask me anything.  Even though Sansar is about 8 years old from its initial conception, it is still a startup, and I am going to try and instill the “nothing is impossible” startup mentality.  Admittedly, I am far from Phillip Rosedale or Ebbe Altberg, but I have built and sold software companies and guarantee you I will put my heart and soul into making Sansar a success.  I am looking forward to meeting you on Discord and in the first "Community Meeting".

I am the Sansarian known as “Oriym” and if you see someone in the Nexus with a black cowboy hat on it is probably me.  Please stop me and say hi if you see me wandering around!
 
Hopefully the new owners will be able to not just keep Sansar running, but growing.

For those who don't know, Sansar was created by Linden Lab, officially going online on July 2017, as a next-generation virtual world. But it's numbers remained small, so Linden Lab would eventually sell it to Wookey Technologies in 2020. 

Image credit: DrFran Babcock

Bixyl Shuftan
 

Cynthia Farshore Now Running Caledon Downs

Cynthia Farshore, the owner of Farshore Radio, now has a new sim: Caledon Downs. Cynthia is no stranger to the large steampunk community, as she DJs there sometimes and a couple years ago got a store there with Shockwave Yareach, "Yareach and Farshore Mercantile." Now, she has a whole piece of the 28-sim area.

The sim itself has a large hill in the eastern half that overlooks the sims to the north and south. A railroad goes through the sim over the hill, and as of the writing of this brief, the one complete roofed building on the ground is the sim train station, located near the southern border. Close by the tracks in the north is an airship stop, for Caledon Air Transport dirigibles, which consists partially of a floating platform. To the west, the sim is more water, with a canoe ride available on a pier. There are two rope bridges spanning chasms.

While Cynthia has gotten a good start, much remains to be done. While I visited, she was working on a forested area. She feels it will be close to a year before her current plans for the sim are done. And knowing Cynthia, she won't truly be finished with the sim.

Caledon Downs (197/24/44)

Bixyl Shuftan

Has Seraph City Been Saved?

On February 27, it was announced that Seraph City, the "dieselpunk" sim made in the style of how science fiction from the 1930s saw the future, was all set to close (link). Edward Pearce wrote in his blog that the sim's owner Bromo Ivory had decided to shut the place down on March 21st. A few days ago, the show Designing Worlds dropped in for what looked like a final look at this unique city area before it was gone.



But word is, someone has stepped in to help. Chatting with Fuzzball Ortega of the Steelhead Community, he told me someone from the Steampunk community was about to take ownership of the place. If the plan goes through, fans of the sim will be able to keep on visiting. Second Life Newser will have more once we have talked to the new owner.

Bixyl Shuftan

Cartoonimals Changes Hands

Good news for fans of the Cartoonimals sim. The place will be staying. A friend of the old owner Duggy Bing stepped forward to take care of the place. The news at the time was overshadowed by the closure and return of the International Space Museum, but time was found to check the place out. The place has been touched up some, and while there, there was a chance to speak to the old and new owners.

Read more in Places.