TEOTGAWKI

[Zoe Connolly]

TEOTGAWKI = The End Of The Grid As We Know It

We have a few weeks left to enjoy some of the beautiful Openspace sims in SL.

Changes related to SL Aviation....

As long as present Openspace sims exist, I'll continue to schedule air combat dogfights until the end of 2008. There will no longer be any organized dogfights for us beginning in January 2009.

Although our main events will obviously change, EDF and RCAF will still exist.

Our communities live on in both the EDF and RCAF Nings, and for those of us who wish for an air combat experience there is a discussion on the RCAF Ning on how we may continue to dogfight on the web. There is still hope for us die-hard pilots, but SL is no longer a friendly place for our activities.

My own outlook....

I am profoundly saddened with the news from Linden Labs.

I will make some subtle changes to the Connolly Aerodrome in Caledon Penzance as we move away from traditional flight scripted aircraft to hovering-scripted craft. No need for a runway.

Far less spending on aircraft for Zoe and her alts. Good for Zoe's purse. Not so good for aircraft builders.

I imagine a less-active pilot Zoe after the New Year. But Zoe does so many other things and really enjoys machinima production. So I imagine Zoe and her alts accomplishing great things in 2009 and beyond.

I'll make a purchase of IL-2 Sturmovik 1946 in the near future. I've been chatting with Cornelius Fanshaw and Phineas Messmer about how we could create an active online EDF/RCAF presence in a combat flight sim away from SL. IL-2 Sturmovik 1946 seems to be a good combination of historic and alternate history aircraft that appeals to so many of us.

IL2-Sturmovik : Retribution

[Cornelius Fanshaw]

Of course it's not just planes that become problematic, boats and cars will become less useful as well. All vehicles suffer in built up areas. The 10 avatar limit will pretty much kill any group activity in an openspace and make social flying and racing impossible. I wonder what will happen to the Firth? Will Des shift things around a bit if we get any gaps there? I'd hate to lose the water there.
I think the future for me will be mainly wearable stuff like jetpacks and horses (though probably not together!).

[Zoe Connolly]

YESH! Jetpacks are the wave of the future!

And I still own my trusty horse, Sir Laggalot

[GoSpeed Racer]

I will definately join you all. I already own IL2:Sturmovik with the ACES expansion pack and Pacific Fighters. I'll need to scoop up my copy of 1946.

Ding Hao!

[Zoe Connolly]

Yay GoSpeed!

w00t!

[Phineas Messmer]

Very intriguing video!

I suppose jetpacks are all the rage in this falls fashion world

[Air Vice-Marshall Pearse]

Just a small update on this. It looks as if many of the OpenSpace sims in Caledon will be combined into full sims each with 4 tenants. I've already told Des that I can't afford the increases and really even if I could the 20 AV cap would make it useless anyway.

I'm currently discussing options with prospective sim sharers but I've been letting all know that I would like to have occasional dogfights overhead if this goes ahead. So far all have been agreeable to this.

One sim may not be fabulous but if we're positioning were Loch Avie is currently then that would lead into Lovelace as well. So we may still be able to hold combats in Caledon. The only thing being when you get shot down you hit harder rather than splashing :-)

I shall keep you updated.