As the temperatures start to drop here in the US, it’s becoming the perfect weather for some to escape into the digital landscapes of virtual worlds. Lately, things have been a bit erratic, both in the sky and on the ground, pushing some to reach for the comfort of OpenSim grids. It’s no wonder that both the number of registered users and virtual land areas have recently seen an uptick.
However, what sticks out as unexpected is the decline in active users—more than 2,700 have logged off. Last month, Moonrose counted over 900 active users, but website hiccups mean no stats from them this month. Similarly, Vida Dupla’s prior 375 actives weren’t reported this time around, and the Great Canadian Grid, which boasted over 600 active users, has shut down.
Many grids are also witnessing their own dips in engagement. OSgrid is seeing a drop of more than 800 users, Craft World is down by over 200, and five others have lost upwards of 100 active users each. So something bigger seems to be afoot beyond just missing data or a closed grid.
Could it be that people traded virtual parties for Halloween ones, or are they just enjoying the crisp fall air and cozy vibes outside? Well, not quite. Paul Clevett from Wolf Territories gave us the lowdown—OSgrid is undergoing maintenance. Thanks for the heads up, Paul!
Turns out OSgrid has been offline since November 7 due to space issues in their storage cluster. With 17 years of accumulating assets, they’ve hit a crunch. The grid saves not just asset data but also redundant copies, which appear larger than they actually are. To sort this out, they’re reconfiguring storage—no small feat involving moving millions of assets—all while maintaining a decent user experience, hence the maintenance mode.
The less-than-ideal news is there’s no clear timeline for how long this will take. On the brighter side, users shouldn’t worry about losing their assets.
Currently, I’m keeping tabs on 2,677 public grids, with 295 active this month and stats from 232 grids shared. If I’ve missed your stats page, drop me an email at [email protected]—let’s get your grid some exposure!
This November, in terms of land area, OSgrid held its ground as the largest with 32,867 standard region equivalents, although it lost over 2,000 regions. Wolf Territories Grid led the pack in activity with 7,379 unique logins in the past 30 days.
Now, about those grids—DreamGrid-powered private realms aren’t counted here.
OpenSim, the open-source platform, allows for anyone, tech-savvy or not, to create and explore virtual worlds similar to Second Life. You could run worlds on your server with DreamGrid or OpenSim itself, even finding hosting for less than $5 per region.
You can find a list of OpenSim hosts and download the Firestorm viewer. Also, check out where to source content for your OpenSim space.
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Top 25 Grids by Active Users
In social grid circles, popularity is king. Users seek vibrant communities, merchants seek thriving marketplaces, and event planners hunt for bustling events. Here’s the top tier this month:
- Wolf Territories Grid: 7,379 active users
- OSgrid: 4,046 active users
- GBG World: 2,498 active users
- DigiWorldz: 2,190 active users
- Alternate Metaverse: 2,058 active users
- Darkheart’s Playground: 2,011 active users
- WaterSplash: 1,497 active users
- Trianon World: 1,092 active users
- Neverworld: 1,042 active users
- AviVerse AlterEgo: 1,020 active users
…
OpenSim Content Marketplace
Kitely Market features about 20,973 listings, offering 41,105 variations of products, with 35,866 options being export-friendly. Kitely has served 632 different OpenSim grids to date.
As demonstrated in the chart, exportable content continues to expand (green on the graph), while non-exportable content remains steady over the years.
Notably, Kitely is the largest hub of legally available content across OpenSim. It’s accessible for both open hypergrid and closed grids, with instructions available for closed grids to configure.
Additionally, Kitely now supports PBR materials and larger texture files, announced just this month.
New Grids and Suspensions
There’s a new kid on the block: NakedWorldz. Meanwhile, grids such as Angel Grid, Ares World, and DreamNation have been suspended. If they don’t come back, they might be marked as closed in future updates. Changes in URLs or domains? Shoot me a line.
Top 40 Grids by Land Area
Region counts are based on standard regions, and active user stats partially account for hypergrid visitors. Many grids, especially those for specific entities like schools or companies, may hold back on full transparency with their numbers:
- OSgrid: 32,867 regions
- Wolf Territories Grid: 29,987 regions
- Kitely: 18,126 regions
- ZetaWorlds: 13,032 regions
…
Do share if there are any grids out there we haven’t caught wind of—email [email protected].
And a big thanks for tuning into another dive into the virtual with Maria Korolov, your guide through the ever-evolving landscapes of OpenSim grids. Stay connected for more updates and insights every month!
