VastPark developer zone

I wrote this prominent Virtual Worlds Magazine CEO. I won't say the person's name out of privacy concerns. IT was interesting her take on Virtual Worlds. But also she didn't really put VastPark in the same arena I would say. Maybe she doesn't see the evolution as I do. Let me know what you think. I think she isn't giving VastPark enough credit when saying it isn't a Virtual World. From what I hear it is evolving to be one. Tell me what you think after you read it. Thanks, Jerry

Have you considered starting an OpenSim grid?

There are hundreds of OpenSim grids out there now, the majority of them connected via hypergrid -- avatars can teleport from one grid to another. But some grids are closed, commercial grids as well, to protect in-world content.

Vastpark and similar platform are typically used by large corporations and government agencies to build highly customized virtual worlds -- at a high cost. Typical deployments here run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

OpenSim, by comparison, requires no programming skills -- mini-grids like the Diva Distro can be set up by anyone for free, and professional hosting of a grid starts at around $50 a region plus another $40 or so for the grid management software. (You can get it for much less if you buy in bulk.)

OpenSim comes pre-configured with many features needed in virtual worlds. In fact, for many users, it would be indistinguishable from Second Life. The avatars are the same, The in-world building is the same. Avatars have inventories. There are groups. There's land subdivisions. There are a couple of free voice options (Whisper is the best). It supports mesh and in-world media.

Vastpark isn't designed to be a virtual world. For example, avatars don't have inventories. You can't buy stuff and take clothes on and off.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------