- Joined
- Aug 19, 2019
[ For context: Activeworlds is a 3D virtual world where players build things using premade objects, and use a programming language called "AW Code" to make the objects do a lot of different things ]
* AW is the oldest 3D virtual world on the internet - launching in 1995, its had a long history of having issues attracting new players to it's servers.
* In 1998 AW had it's first financial crisis when it literally ran out of money. Almost the entire staff was fired, and the subscription price was raised. This marked the end of major growth for the user base.
* In the year 2000 ActiveWorlds was listed on Nasdaq under the symbol 'AWLD' . (( It was quietly delisted at an unknown time )) The total user accounts created was just over 312,000 at this point.
* In 2002 the subscription rates where again raised - to $70 per year. There where just under 340,000 total accounts created at this time.
* 2004 - competitor Second Life launches, taking much of the still active community with it. It's painfully obvious that ActiveWorlds is very outdated at this point in time.
* 2010 the last paid administrator ( AWLD1 - 'Stacee' ) quit. What little remained of the community left. Notable community leaders that quit where Vera, Tuna Blues, Dreamer2, SW Chriss, and Comander Jossif . All of the Xelagot bots AW was using to manage the servers where pulled offline by XelaG .
* In 2013 AW went free to play.
* 2016 there was a huge increase in the licensing fees being charged for privately hosted universes. Longest active citizen, Rick, pulled his privet world offline and quit - he was the 8th person to sign up for AW in 1995. Youtuber 'Vinesauce' made a viral video showcasing how dead AW had become.
* September 1st 2019 - all self hosting for worlds, universes, and galaxies has been discontinued. Everyone has to pay AW INC for their hosting services. Hosting and licensing fees where raised . There are a little over 435,000 total user accounts created as of when I wrote this.
* October 2019 - it's extremely rare to see more than 5 active users on at one time. Almost the entire 'online' player list consists of bots or accounts that have not logged out. Many public worlds are long abandoned - not even visited by bots. Moderators ( PeaceKeepers ) don't really exist any more. There is sometimes an unpaid volunteer sitting at Ground Zero in world 'AW' who handles issues.
.
.
.
The financial information of AW Inc is not publicly available, however it's widely speculated, based on the company's behavior, that AW has been taking out loans to pay the bills. Anyone who tries to bring up the topic in the official forums is banned, and the posts removed.
The one major issue with this game is the fact that is is so outdated ! It was made in 1995, looks like it was made in 1995, and feels like it was made in 1995. Despite the fact there has been major advancements in ' 3D building ' since 1995, the staff at AW Inc don't care. They basically still use the same clunky interface and controls , despite the fact it's now 2019 . When SL was launched in 2004, someone over at HQ should have taken note, but no.
Here are some reasons people don't say in Activeworlds:
1: no free cam mode while building ( can not move your perspective while objects are selected )
2: 100% keyboard buttons for building - no mouse support at all
3: free rotation, scaling, special effects, textures, and other common tasks are accomplished using AW Code, and only AW Code
4: no linking multiple objects when importing / exporting groups. All objects groups you import are unlinked.
5: no ghosting while importing object groups - good luck getting things lined up properly !
6: importing/exporting object groups in general is a flipping joke. Way too many things wrong with the way it works.
7 players have to memorize hundreds of .rwx file names to effectively build.
8: players have to memorize hundreds of texture names
9: AW Code has been slightly simplified over the years - it's still a mess.
.
.
99 Bottles Of Beer programming challenge, written in AW Code - this is just the first 2 bottles in the cycle.
* AW is the oldest 3D virtual world on the internet - launching in 1995, its had a long history of having issues attracting new players to it's servers.
* In 1998 AW had it's first financial crisis when it literally ran out of money. Almost the entire staff was fired, and the subscription price was raised. This marked the end of major growth for the user base.
* In the year 2000 ActiveWorlds was listed on Nasdaq under the symbol 'AWLD' . (( It was quietly delisted at an unknown time )) The total user accounts created was just over 312,000 at this point.
* In 2002 the subscription rates where again raised - to $70 per year. There where just under 340,000 total accounts created at this time.
* 2004 - competitor Second Life launches, taking much of the still active community with it. It's painfully obvious that ActiveWorlds is very outdated at this point in time.
* 2010 the last paid administrator ( AWLD1 - 'Stacee' ) quit. What little remained of the community left. Notable community leaders that quit where Vera, Tuna Blues, Dreamer2, SW Chriss, and Comander Jossif . All of the Xelagot bots AW was using to manage the servers where pulled offline by XelaG .
* In 2013 AW went free to play.
* 2016 there was a huge increase in the licensing fees being charged for privately hosted universes. Longest active citizen, Rick, pulled his privet world offline and quit - he was the 8th person to sign up for AW in 1995. Youtuber 'Vinesauce' made a viral video showcasing how dead AW had become.
* September 1st 2019 - all self hosting for worlds, universes, and galaxies has been discontinued. Everyone has to pay AW INC for their hosting services. Hosting and licensing fees where raised . There are a little over 435,000 total user accounts created as of when I wrote this.
* October 2019 - it's extremely rare to see more than 5 active users on at one time. Almost the entire 'online' player list consists of bots or accounts that have not logged out. Many public worlds are long abandoned - not even visited by bots. Moderators ( PeaceKeepers ) don't really exist any more. There is sometimes an unpaid volunteer sitting at Ground Zero in world 'AW' who handles issues.
.
.
.
The financial information of AW Inc is not publicly available, however it's widely speculated, based on the company's behavior, that AW has been taking out loans to pay the bills. Anyone who tries to bring up the topic in the official forums is banned, and the posts removed.
The one major issue with this game is the fact that is is so outdated ! It was made in 1995, looks like it was made in 1995, and feels like it was made in 1995. Despite the fact there has been major advancements in ' 3D building ' since 1995, the staff at AW Inc don't care. They basically still use the same clunky interface and controls , despite the fact it's now 2019 . When SL was launched in 2004, someone over at HQ should have taken note, but no.
Here are some reasons people don't say in Activeworlds:
1: no free cam mode while building ( can not move your perspective while objects are selected )
2: 100% keyboard buttons for building - no mouse support at all
3: free rotation, scaling, special effects, textures, and other common tasks are accomplished using AW Code, and only AW Code
4: no linking multiple objects when importing / exporting groups. All objects groups you import are unlinked.
5: no ghosting while importing object groups - good luck getting things lined up properly !
6: importing/exporting object groups in general is a flipping joke. Way too many things wrong with the way it works.
7 players have to memorize hundreds of .rwx file names to effectively build.
8: players have to memorize hundreds of texture names
9: AW Code has been slightly simplified over the years - it's still a mess.
.
.
99 Bottles Of Beer programming challenge, written in AW Code - this is just the first 2 bottles in the cycle.
====
Note: Aw Code is literally an object oriented language. Each object can take a limited amount code.
AW Code can not store or manipulate information.
====
Model: Sign5.rwx
Description[The output]
Action[create name sgn]
Model:pole1m.rwx
Description[shortcut #1]
Action[create name bbow, animate me . 1 1 999 astop; adone sign "bottles of beer on the wall" name=sgn]
Model:pole1m.rwx
Description[shortcut #2]
Action[create name bob, animate me . 1 1 999 astop; adone sign "bottles of beer ... take one down, pass it around" name=sgn]
Model:pole1m.rwx
Description[The Button]
Action[create color red;activate astart 99]
===
Model:pole1m.rwx
Description[99]
Action[create name 99, animate me . 1 1 999 astop; adone sign "99" name=sgn, astart bbow, astart 99a]
Model:pole1m.rwx
Description[99a]
Action[create name 99a, animate me . 1 1 2000 astop; adone sign "99" name=sgn, astart bob, astart 99b]
Model:pole1m.rwx
Description[99b]
Action[create name 99b, animate me . 1 1 3000 astop; adone sign "99" name=sgn, astart bbow, astart 98]
===
Model:pole1m.rwx
Description[98]
Action[create name 98, animate me . 1 1 2000 astop; adone sign "98" name=sgn, astart bbow, astart 98a]
Model:pole1m.rwx
Description[98a]
Action[create name 98a, animate me . 1 1 2000 astop; adone sign "98" name=sgn, astart bob, astart 98b]
Model:pole1m.rwx
Description[98b]
Action[create name 98b, animate me . 1 1 3000 astop; adone sign "98" name=sgn, astart bbow, astart 97]
===
Model:pole1m.rwx
Description[97]
Action[create name 97, animate me . 1 1 2000 astop; adone sign "98" name=sgn, astart bbow, astart 97a]
Model:pole1m.rwx
Description[98a]
Action[create name 97a, animate me . 1 1 2000 astop; adone sign "97" name=sgn, astart bob, astart 97b]
Model:pole1m.rwx
Description[97b]
Action[create name 97b, animate me . 1 1 3000 astop; adone sign "97" name=sgn, astart bbow, astart 96]
Note: Aw Code is literally an object oriented language. Each object can take a limited amount code.
AW Code can not store or manipulate information.
====
Model: Sign5.rwx
Description[The output]
Action[create name sgn]
Model:pole1m.rwx
Description[shortcut #1]
Action[create name bbow, animate me . 1 1 999 astop; adone sign "bottles of beer on the wall" name=sgn]
Model:pole1m.rwx
Description[shortcut #2]
Action[create name bob, animate me . 1 1 999 astop; adone sign "bottles of beer ... take one down, pass it around" name=sgn]
Model:pole1m.rwx
Description[The Button]
Action[create color red;activate astart 99]
===
Model:pole1m.rwx
Description[99]
Action[create name 99, animate me . 1 1 999 astop; adone sign "99" name=sgn, astart bbow, astart 99a]
Model:pole1m.rwx
Description[99a]
Action[create name 99a, animate me . 1 1 2000 astop; adone sign "99" name=sgn, astart bob, astart 99b]
Model:pole1m.rwx
Description[99b]
Action[create name 99b, animate me . 1 1 3000 astop; adone sign "99" name=sgn, astart bbow, astart 98]
===
Model:pole1m.rwx
Description[98]
Action[create name 98, animate me . 1 1 2000 astop; adone sign "98" name=sgn, astart bbow, astart 98a]
Model:pole1m.rwx
Description[98a]
Action[create name 98a, animate me . 1 1 2000 astop; adone sign "98" name=sgn, astart bob, astart 98b]
Model:pole1m.rwx
Description[98b]
Action[create name 98b, animate me . 1 1 3000 astop; adone sign "98" name=sgn, astart bbow, astart 97]
===
Model:pole1m.rwx
Description[97]
Action[create name 97, animate me . 1 1 2000 astop; adone sign "98" name=sgn, astart bbow, astart 97a]
Model:pole1m.rwx
Description[98a]
Action[create name 97a, animate me . 1 1 2000 astop; adone sign "97" name=sgn, astart bob, astart 97b]
Model:pole1m.rwx
Description[97b]
Action[create name 97b, animate me . 1 1 3000 astop; adone sign "97" name=sgn, astart bbow, astart 96]
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