The End of the World is Nigh

Actually, I think that the End of the World is right here (SLurl):

Avaria and Avaria Tor, the End of the World. Normally, you'd see two more regions here.

I was contacted late this evening with the sad news that Avaria Sav and Avaria Kro -- 50% of the land area for the Grendels sims -- were closed by Grendels management because they feel that The Lab has been treating them shabbily despite the considerable rent they pay. I've contacted Flea Bussy for comment (like I'm a real reporter!), but likely others have already written tons about the closures. In fact, check out these sites:

• Tatero Nino "So Goes the Grid" (Web)
• MetCam Oh "Linden Lab Once Again With Egg On Its Face" (Web)
• PrimPerfect "As goes Grendel’s, so goes the Grid: two out of four sims closing, citing lack of Lab support" (Web)

I spoke with Cacia Escape, Grendels' Staffer, and she told me that unresolved performance issues were the ultimate end of the sims. Management felt that the expenses were too high, sim performance too low, and customer service nonexistent. "I've had times where it took relogging 4-5 times over 3 hours to rez a single cube," she said in IM. "I only use LL made clients, no 3rd party viewers." She added that this was typical three or more days a week despite having very few people in the region at the time. One of the last tickets that were filed was resolved only after faxing Rod Humble's office. From my experience, her description of sim performance was pretty dead on. I'd usually take my purchases home to open, when I could be patient (who hasn't wanted to play with their Grendels purchases right away?) or be faced with long delays and boxes that wouldn't delete -- only to be Auto Returned later, of course.

As often as I'd shop there, though, I'd just as often (or more) flop down to ground level and just fly about in one of my wonderful Psyra Extraodinaire bird avies or tromp around in one of the many, many dinosaur avies I bought at the shop upstairs. I'm sure the regions were great for role play, but I simply enjoyed the terrific scenery. A great way to unwind after a hard RL has always been a visit to the Avarias. Visiting Grendels has always been an experience in the spirit of Second Life: Extraordinary imaginations at play and you can join in. Which rather sums up the comment I got from Flea. Figuring "real" reporters would cover the story from end to end, I asked "Where do you go from here?" to which Flea answered "Keep makin avs, keep making stuff."

Regions come and regions go, sometimes to the detriment of us all. But folks like Flea Bussy and the entire crew at Grendels Children have the Imagination to keep Second Life alive. It's a shame they feel the need to withdraw, if only a little bit. Maybe the End of the World isn't here, but we've lost a very important part of it.