What is the difference between Second Life and Inworldz?

[Summer Logan]

Someone recently told me about inworldz so I went to their website and checked it out. It looks exactly like Second Life and even using a viewer that looks like viewer 1. So what really is the difference? Why would I join this new worldz if it's exactly like Second Life? And what does Second Life think about this other world forming and looking the exact same and working the same way? They are even making money off of this game. Isn't there some sort of copyright issue here? I mean there is a difference between open source code and knocking off another game intirely right? I'm confused!

 

Please explain but keep rude comments to yourself. I'm just curious and wondering about this other world...

 

Summer

[Dilbert Dilweg]

Inworldz is just another grid . Using SL protocol.. just a different grid run by different company/people. They use the open SIM/open grid system

I don't see any reason to join unless you are sick of SL but then again you would be sick of it all . So no reason really lol... I found it boring because all my friends are here.

 

[Marigold Devin]

None of us can say what Linden Lab think about Inworldz, but as the total number of users logged into it don't come close to what Second Life have currently, I doubt they're worried. 

Regarding copyright, anything that is out in the open can be adapted to be similar, but the open source code is identical, and free to anyone who wishes to use it, adapt it, modify it.

Dyson vacuum cleaners have many patents so people cannot copy their products identically, but there are many similar ones on the market.

Bizarre world in which we live, eh?! (And jolly confusing for most of the time.:smileyfrustrated:) 

[Charolotte Caxton]

I suppose it may be easier to think of it as another restaurant or shoe store. Like Pepsi vs Coke, or maybe Coke vs a store brand soda actually.

They are not exactly alike, because Second Life has been around longer it has more creators and creations and from what I understand better engines that make things do stuff better.

The viewers are open source so anyone can make a viewer and several of them are able to be used in various virtual worlds. 

I think ideally there would be several virtual worlds and we would be able to teleport between them like we do sims in world, in world of Second Life. Much like being able to visit all of the internet with one browser.

So, I don't think there is a copyright issue, because there have been other virtual worlds like Second Life. Like Coca Cola, any one can make a dark sugary soda, but no one can make another Coke, not even Coca Cola

Some reasons I have heard for joining InWorldz are: Last Names, much cheaper virtual land, and.. well, that's all I've heard.

[Calamari]

I use both worlds, there's a lot to like about both, SL is more advance in many ways, but land is really cheap in inworldz a full island is only 75$ to buy and 75$ monthly tier and comes with 35,000 to 45,000 prims.  Inworldz all so has better prims tools, max size is 128m and min size is 0.001 you can all so run small scripts in the build tool to automatically calculate things like prim size and rations.  Inworldz has there own scripting language based on LSL but with some improvements, all thoe inworldz lack some of the new functions released in SL they have some of there own like the ability to write to notecards from a script.  Monopolys are bad for the consumer so I think having inworldz around is a good thing to give LL some competition, I find there consumer service much more friendly then SL, In a lot of  ways it reminded me of the old days of SL.  I still spend most my time in SL mostly because of the new features.

[Peggy Paperdoll]

Inwolrdz is a spin off of one of the Open Grid group.  All those Open Grid grid wolds are developed from a reverse engineered source code of the Second Life grid software.  They stated of in a very deep hole compared to SL and for the most part all the grids built on that reverse engineered code are too busy digging out of the hole that they have very little time an resources to play catch up with Linden Lab......I estimate that the best grids (of which Inworldz is probably at the top of that list) are about 2 to 3 years behind SL in development.  And they are not gaining much, it at all.  LL couldn't do much about the reverse engineering but they can, and do, make it very difficult for anyone to really compete in features and advances in technology.  Those people learned quickly that it ain't as easy as they thought about making a better mouse trap.

The main draw Inworldz (and others) have in land fees.  They do have cheaper land and land tiers than SL.  But that limits their inccome for development.......and that, in turn, makes it very difficult to compete with SL.  LL has that advantage and is exploiting to the hilt.  It will be a while before any of the Open Grid worlds get competitive to (if any of them every do.....and Inworldz probably has one of the best chances.  But they ain't there yet).

Another thing that is a big put off for about Inworldz.  I have an account there but I haven't logged on for about a year (maybe longer).  What I saw (besides the lack of stores, shops and venues) was many of the same problems SL was experiencing in 2006...big time lag for no apparent reason, frequent sim crashes, extremely poor sim crossings, and teleports failing at least 50% of the time.  I also noticed that everyone there was an SL refugee.  Being a former SL resident is not a bad thing and very understandable.....but it was the constant dissing of LL and SL.  That crap gets really old very fast when all I wanted to do was join the world and have fun like I do in SL.  I know many of the Inworlz people are disgruntled SL people........but they don't need to bore me with their petty issues about SL and LL.  I mean how many times do people come here and diss LL for lag, sim crossings, sim crashes, and low frame rates?  All that existed in Inworldz........in spads!!  I left one evening shaking my head about the childishness of most of the users in Inworldz.....and haven't returned since.

To sum it up..........Inworldz is a clone of SL.  And it's about 2 to 3 years behind SL with no reason to believe it will ever catch up.  Cheap land is the only advantage.......and that will attract the builders who build for the fun of it.  But the builders trying to meet tier are starving because there is no market for their products.

[Summer Logan]

Thank you everyone who responded. I think this has cleared up my thoughts on it. I will however be sticking to SL.

[Amaranthim Talon]

Summer, the best way to find out what is better/worse/different or meh about any of the new virtual worlds popping up is to try them out. For one thing, there is no reason for an either/or scenario.

As a long time resident of SL - almost 6 years now - I feel I have seen some of the best and worse SL has had to offer. For the past two years, I have been calling InWorldz home. That doesn't mean I don't keep a pied-à-terre here in SL! I come here for dancing and exploring and socializing with the friends that have chosen to stay here. I want to build and create- then I revel in InWorldz! I tried Avination also, but for me was not a good fit. Doesn't mean others don't love it there!

Thing to keep in mind is choices are a good thing- as for IW being a tad behind in the times? Sure, but they are catching up and doing it carefully. Think about this, they have a huge catalogue of mistakes to peruse and avoid!

If you find yourself curious, come on by and say hello- we'll be happy to welcome you.

[Ziggy21 Slade]

...People!

[MoiselleErin Teardrop]

Inworldz pretty much sucks. Nothing there, not a lot of people and the grid is kind of shaky. I mean it looks like there is a tremor now and then.

 

You can check it out but you are not missing anything.

There are in fact a lot of VRs out there that use the SL viewer but they are so dead, I mean like "currently logged in - 26" WOO HOO.

[Siwan Sandalwood]

" I have an account there but I haven't logged on for about a year (maybe longer)."

If you haven't logged in in a year maybe longer, maybe you should before talking about what InWorldz is like now. I find them very responsive to customer service, and I like that they still use Viewer 1 technology, which I felt wasn't broke in the first place. Most of the people I've met there are friendly. More and more stores have been opening there over the past year, and prices are low since sim costs are low and prim counts are high, resulting in low overhead. Also, $75/month (plus only $75 start-up fee) is the maximum price for a sim. It goes down the more you own so that many groups who previously had only a couple of sims are creating whole continents. Lag has improved, and I find that sim crossings are much smoother than in SL. Not bad for a small company run by just a few hard-working people. Keep in mind, it only started up just over a year ago when you last logged in, and I've seen it grow by leaps and bounds in that time!

[Peggy Paperdoll]

Well, I haven't logged in for over a year because I don't want to log in.  I wasn't impressed a year (or more) ago.  It's a clone of SL and I already went through a lot of the growing pains SL experienced.........I just don't want to go through that again (though I had fun back then but I'm afraid the second time around won't be as fun).  I know enough about SL to know that Inworldz had a very long way to go before they could get close to SL.......and with the new features (mesh, shadows, DOF) LL has added, the clones hill to climb just got steeper. 

The problem I saw right off the bat was the Inworldz people were there because it wasn't SL........I know a couple people who are still primarily on Inworldz (but come to SL occassionally).  That attitude is still very much prevalent.  I went to Inworldz because of one of those friends..........it's just not for me.  Why would I want to be on a clone of SL when I'm already on SL.  I was hoping for something different..........and Inworldz is not different (not at all different except everyone there seems to hate SL.......I don't like that attitude).  When something like SL but different hits the Internet, I'll give it a try.......until then, I'm here.

To each their own.  I've made my choice.  I have no intentions of returning in Inworldz.  If my friend can't convince me why would  stranger convince me?

[Amaranthim Talon]

Not everyone there hates SL- most will tell you they/we still come to SL. I am still premium in SL and have my little home here. But no reason one cannot have dual citizenship, as it were.

But no one can or should decide for others or even really try to convince. We all  have our preferences- chocolate, vanilla, strawberry- choices are a great thing.

[Argus Collingwood]

I am in both worlds as is my hubby. There are many SL musicians that play IBW.  There are many creators who have their brands available IBW. I use Imprudence in InWorldZ and FS in SL. Try it out. I use the same name IBW. You can have the Best of Both Worlds:))

 

ETA: IBW = In Both Worlds

[Charolotte Caxton]

Thank you for the edit, I was reading it as In Between Worlds

[Treasure Ballinger]

Mmmhmmm.  Agree.  I certainly don't hate SL.  I love SL.  I love Inworldz, too.  I'm heavily in both.  But I can only speak for me, not why other people may or may not be there, or in SL, or anywhere else.   Someone mentioned some of the 'old SL' type of glitches, which I happen to find charming, being of a pioneer spirit.  I'm premium in SL and part of an active community both places......don't see why I need to choose.

[Artemis Starfall]

The biggest advantage of InWorldz over SL is that builders can work more cheaply there.  It costs nothing to import/export.  Land tier is cheaper.  You can make prims larger and smaller than the max/min in SL.  The downside on InWorldz is that it is still, technically, in beta.  There is talk about going fully live soon. The population is not very large, yet.  PhysX is being added in pieces and should be complete soon.   If you are not a builder there is not much incentive to join InWorldz just yet.  If you are a builder then the cost savings alone is incentive enough.  InWorldz doesn't have mesh yet as far as I know.  But for many folks that is not a big deal.  If you are just looking to socialize then InWorldz is probably not the place to go yet.  If you want to learn to build or are a builder looking to save money then InWorldz is the place to go.  InWorldz is constantly being updated so anything I write today is subject to change from month to month.  It is a maturing realm whereas SL is "matured".

[Czari Zenovka]

---

Siwan Sandalwood wrote:

Keep in mind, it only

started up

just over a year ago when you last logged in, and I've seen it grow by leaps and bounds in that time!

---

Not true.  It wasn't well-known until 2010, but it existed prior to that.

A good portion of current IW residents are SL merchants/content creators.  In April of 2010 LL changed its policy on what could be uploaded and stored on one's PC from anything for which one has full permissions, ie. purchased animations, textures, sculpts, etc. for a build to only being able to upload only what is 100% created by that user.  Content creators scrambled to get all their builds uploaded prior to the policy change and, since they did not agree with the new LL policy or ended up liking it better, some people chose to make IW their main virtual home.  Other merchants set up their stores in IW as well as continuing to operate in SL as a hedge against the possibility of SL closing.

I was one of those people who created an account during that time and investigated the idea of having my shop there as well as in SL.  I never planned to leave SL.  I met and spoke with the founder on several occasions and met a couple who had been in IW pretty much since it began, thus I was dumbfounded when I asked how long IW had existed and was told two years!!!  That meant it began sometime in 2008.  The influx of content creators/merchants in 2010 caused the population to balloon rapidly.  I visit once in awhile as a good friend of mine lives there and I often see logged in population of 200ish people.  I'm not sure what the total population is now.  I recall the excitement when it hit 1,000 people during the "Great Merchant Rush of 2010."

Edit: Clarification

 

[Amaranthim Talon]

Well Physix has rolled out across the grid now. The Founders and Devs are doing the standard bug killing that goes with a major new rollout. Feel free to pop in during any time- there are always Mentors on the first rezz place-known as IDI - to welcome new Residents and get them settled in. Tons of high qulaity starter stuff to get you de-Ruthed. Us SL oldtimers remember Ruth fondly but she can be a bit of a shock to newer folks.

Nope, no mesh yet on main grid, but being played with in the Beta grid- IW likes to make sure they have all their T's crossed etc to avoid stuff blowing up later. But come check it out sometime and make up your own minds

[Doc Falworth]

Although this thread is old, the difference remains the same. Simply said, "The People" make the difference.

I found no evidence of Inworld residents openly dissing SL nor do I find the opposite SL residents dissing Open Sims. There are those who cut their teeth in SL and will not leave until the power goes off at Linden Labs, while others have the very same pioneer spirit to explore other worlds, that same spirit which created Second Life. There is good in both worlds, shortfalls as well.

I am a resident and creator in several worlds. Looking at the numbers only, growth is extraordinarily fast for the Open Sim grids as opposed to Second Life which now matures slowly, Open Sims are bustling to improve and successfully gaining market. Is there anything for Linden Labs to fear? I seriously doubt it. Why? Because as a creator in several worlds, I am not alone. There are now three major market places and three major currencies that convert to cash.

Second Life can afford to shrink by 5% per year for the next two years and still lead the other two markets. However, like IBM and HP quickly learned, they cannot rest on their success forever.

[JeremyAtticusFinch]

My girl and I are avid SL player and because we live in different parts of the country, this is how we share our lives together. But recently, since the introduction of pathfinder (coincidence?) SL performance has gone to "hell in a hand basket."

Since this is only way that we can be together, we started to worry, "What happens if SL goes **bleep** up?!!" So we started looking around for alternatives, "just in case".

So we both made accounts on InWorldz and started to try to replicate ourselves there.

The first thing I noticed was that IW does indeed seem a lot like SL 5 years ago, so yes, there are a few things missing from the experience, but that is NOT necessarily bad. First off, I am not overly impressed with MESH, so I was pleased to find that IW had none. YAY!

Another pleasant surprise was that they (at the current time) do not charge to upload. That bears repeating...  No charge for upload! Since the first thing I wanted to do was to copy a lot of my own personal creations and textures from SL to IW, this was invaluable!

On the downside, I have had a lot of failed teleports and there is some sort of glitch with the ALT+RightMouseButton when I try to cam someplace...  It doesn't work on the first click so I have to click twice.  Irritating, but not a showstopper.

Additionally, there are not a lot of my old favorite clothing stores, but surprisingly, there WERE a few of my favorites...  Redgrave, Inedit, to name a few.

Anyway, it seems like a great time to get in BEFORE they wise up and start charging for uploads and the price of land goes up. And we will still be playing in SL for the foreseeable future, but now we have a plan B.

I was thinking about "life" the other day and I decided that you are born and you get to live until you "eff up" badly enough and remove yourself from the gene pool. I think that probably applies to "business" as well and lets face it, LL has already dodged a few bullets, but really, sooner or later, they are gonna "eff up" badly enough and will have to call it quits.  Just my 2 cents.

Atticus

[Amaranthim Talon]

Glad you are enjoying it over there! It really is a great grid with lots of up and coming innovations - check out this new hypergrid post: http://networkedblogs.com/IypxV

I don't think SL will ever go away- we have seen the sky is falling stuff for as long as I can remember - but, like you, I am thrilled that there are options- and of all the ones I have "test driven", IW hands down!

[Aire Xaris]

The Difference?

My homestead cost me roughly about $31.00 US a wk for 3750 prim and a continance of Unscheduled maintenance and server rollouts that pretty much rendered SL and my overpriced rented sim, completely useless for about two days out of the week~ as far as building or uploading goes.

My 1/4 sim InWorldz cost's me rougly about $7.00US a wk for 11,0025 prim and uploading textures are free.

There are many differences between IW and SL.   Hands down SL has some very cool features, sadly buying/renting space doesn't happen to be one of them.:smileywink:

 

SL has pushed the online web based marketplace to the point that most, if not all of it's more serious content creators  HAD to create a marketplace store, and in theory that SLX  pressance would've or should've served to drive inworld traffic to that creator's store/sim. ~It did, for the most part, but because of the money grab (*cough cough ) LL price increase, coupled with the success of SL's intergration with www, you can literarly be anywhere and still have the success of "traffic".

I keep a small  Inworld store at Alady island and have affiliate Vendors in SL.

I still consider myself a Content Creator,~ just not in SL. Aire Xaris in SL now,  is just a really good looking "magic Box"

SecondLife to me anyway, has successfully turned itself into a really cool mall. Their new Viewers are less about the content creator/ builder and more about the "Shopper".

 

IW has come a long way since I first landed there in 08, Main problems I can see is it's Search Feature, and SOME SL creator's price gouging new residence.  If you are a builder or creator, and you have an inkiling of marketing skills, you've learned that the SEARCH feature is way more intergral to selling your products and driving an inworld eccconomy than maintaining an overpriced sim or having a place to park your Mesh Yacht that a lot of residence can't see anyway

 

while I will continue to keep a foot in both worlds, IW to me offers more as a Content Provider than SL does. My textures and builds are mine, and they are on my puter, so I'm not too concerned about exporting/importing. (Sl can keep my horse/motercycle/cat/mesh house/boots/ hair, etc~ (I would have to go to sanbox or join an overpriced group owned sim to rez and use/edit them anyway

 I feel that IW has given me ore of  the tools I need (PRIM) and the affordability to be creative again..kinda what Philip had in mind when he started this whole thing in the first place was'nt it?

 

[Drakeo1488303260]

in worlds is not a friendly place. if you ever wanted to know what it would be like if a drama queen run out of SL got her own grid, talk  to people like me that invested thousand of dollars t0o go there and promote. talk to the peopl that have been hurt. There is 73,000 users and 150 online right now. there is no retention do to the .

Your biggest competitor is the founders. they throw huge events that last all week . Now that may sound like fun . But the fact is if you go there open a place and you you have a club any time the have a event your place will be dead. I will say we made a little money there but never made much. it is pretty dead most of the time.

 there is good things there but the truth. The <mentors have abused people in the forums while the drama queen the founder has taken there voice away . here is a story of a woman that brought so much to IW

 this is a note the mentors where allowed to keep posting you will notice no replies after a while from the atacked people. the mentors are the founders voice. .

   Let you know this inworldz looks friendly from the outside. You are warned it is trying to grow but the founders have spoon fed a small group of people and now they are  defending them  as they abuse you.

 

[Deja Letov]

There are two major differences as far as I'm concerned, one negative and one positive.

On the negative side is the number of users. It's nowhere near what SL has. I made an account last year to try it out because I wanted to try and sell my things there as well, but even with the low cost of getting a sim, I still couldn't justify spending money in a world where no matter what landmark or sim I went to, it was like a ghost town.  I tried hard to find busy places but was unsuccessful.

The positive side is the cheaper cost of doing business there. Honestly if they could increase the traffic, I would add it as a second home for sure and most definitely would open up for business there. I log in every few months to see if there are any changes in traffic but so far no increase.

The actual grid, viewer, etc I didn't really find anything negative about. It was like SL only 6 or more years ago (which I actually kinda liked for nostalgia). I also was greeted upon creating my account by someone really nice and helped me get my avatar in shape with a freebie store. So very helpful people I thought.