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First of all, I'd like to make it very clear that I have been a member of
Dreamscape waaaaaay back to '96, the old Compuserve Days and therefore, I
know full well about crashing and downtimes. There were days when you would
"freeze", "crash", and get "booted out" a dozen times in an hour. And, it
was no small feat to try and get back in when you had to juggle floppy
discs!! However, Dreamscape was exciting and seriously FUN! And, we had
waaaaaaaaaaaay less "stuff" inworld. The "stuff" didn't matter .. it was
about being able to get inworld to laugh and chat with friends from all over
the world. We'd all "grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" when we got back in and
I'm sure there was LOTS of colorful language going on at many keyboards!
Sometimes that "grrrrrrr" was the only thing you'd say before crashing out
again! It was all very new and I think a lot of people probably accepted
the fact that with something new comes risk ... as they say "Sh*t
happens!". No matter what we all want to believe, we just can't have total control over
everything in life.
So, here we are, 14 years later, far fewer people inworld but lots more
"stuff" and many many more locales, and I sometimes wonder "what happened?"
Dreamscape was originally created with the idea, I believe, of the members
being able to create their own "society". And, I recall Town Meetings where
those paying members could ask questions and get feedback from the higher
ups. Yes, several hundred people would gather to ask questions and get
answers. At some special events there might be 3 or 400 "ghosts", possibly
more. There was a passion, excitement and yes, a total addiction to being
inworld. Sometimes, at special events today, I see there MAY be less than
150 people inworld.
I have to wonder if Dreamscape's CEO walks amongst us... "lives" within the
community to see what the average person has to say, considers what people
like and dislike and wants to make it a place that not only will KEEP
satisfied customers - but knows that those people will pull others in
because they "Have GOT to try it". That is how I originally came to play inworld. Someone I spoke to in an art forum in Compuserve sent me a message
one day. It said "OMG, I've just tried this new "THING" called Dreamscape -
you have GOT to try it! It's SO cool and SO much fun!" I knew, as soon as I
upgraded my computer, it would be one of my first orders of business just
from her enthusiasm.
I'm tossing out the idea that the members request a Town Meeting to discuss
any issues, opinions, etc with the "powers that be" to get back to the
feeling of involvement with their community. *gasp* The idea of taking
advantage of the wealth of knowledge that can be gained freely from
brainstorming is not a new idea! Some will say "I don't care - they won't
do anything". I'm sure some felt helpless and hopeless and made the
decision to leave. But, if you are a believer in Dreamscape as a place to
go and have fun - to put the cares of the real world behind you - and would
commit to at least a monthly Town Meeting, speak up.
I think the most frustrating part of the recent technical problems is the
feeling of no control. And that IS obvious. Someone else "is working on
it". Someone else "will let you know as soon as they do". Well, I'm fine
with "Someone Else" taking care of those things that they are qualified to
do. I'm not a control freak. However, IF those "Someone elses'" TRULY want
Dreamscape to survive, and TRULY want to show their commitment to providing
us with a quality product and TRULY have their hearts into the original idea
of what the Dreamscape community was supposed to be, they will listen to
what the people want.
"Always have an opinion about something, because if you DON'T, someone else
will give you theirs!"
Xie
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