ZetaWorlds Mission Statement
Over the years our goals and commitment remained largely the same. In this document we want to outline some of this in a more detailed manner. We hope this provides some insights into our processes and why the grid operates the way it does, why our policies exist in their current form, and what we plan to accomplish with ZetaWorlds.
Key points being:
Key points being:
- Technology
- Community
- Culture
- Monetization
- Metaverse
Technology
Historically ZetaWorlds was a technology testbed for OpenSimulator and the third-party applications surrounding it. We kept up to date as best as possible with current developments and did not stick to releases all that much. A primary point was always to help OpenSimulator developers by testing new features and changes as well as bugfixes introduced to the development branch. As such, some of the most complex and potentially harmful issues were first seen here and subsequent testing resulted in them getting resolved before the wider public was even aware of their existence.The aim to stay close to development and provide a platform to test changes on is something we want to stick to as the grid grows. We believe the potential for detrimental issues is far outweighed by the introduction of new features earlier and bugfixes more quickly. One of the best tests is an actual production environment after all. We always aim to reduce the negative impact of this as best as possible, but with such a complex piece of software like OpenSimulator that’s a pretty big task in itself. Through a uniquely streamlined development pipeline we have been able to reduce downtime and the time taken to mitigate issues. This allows for this rapid testing schedule to continue without much trouble for our residents and visitors.
With a fairly close relationship to the development cycle and the development team themselves, we believe that providing ZetaWorlds as a platform for testing and development helps to bring the entire OpenSimulator metaverse forward. Equally important are the changes we make to OpenSimulator and the third-party applications we develop surrounding it, given that they resolve many of the long-standing issues in OpenSimulator, revolving around problematic design principles or software limitations not easily removed. The most prominent of these is PHPSAS, an asset server written in PHP, which has been the backbone of ZetaWorlds for a long time now. Similarly, we continue to add and expand OpenSimulator’s many features and add new modules to it, which OpenSimulator is uniquely suited for.
As OpenSimulator ages, the requirements for its successful operation change. Differently to some, we plan to work with the most recent versions of the dependencies and runtimes surrounding OpenSimulator, since this often provides greater stability, performance and extended capabilities, and have great potential to enhance the experience of using OpenSimulator (and ZetaWorlds for that matter). This does, equally as with OpenSimulator itself, come with the caveat of our being first to note potential issues and incompatibilities. While not exhibited often, such incompatibilities are often harder to track down as they are outside the OpenSimulator codebase and thus often a lot more complex or simply vastly different, but thankfully, the development teams for them have been mostly forthcoming with regards to problems.
Community
The ZetaWorlds community has grown substantially over the years, and it remains one of the primary goals for the administration to provide a space for everyone to find their place within. As our policies reflect, we aim to have a community that can exist even if there are parts of it that do not actively participate or seek to build their own communities. We largely attempt to only intervene when policies are violated. We take a more hands-off approach towards the interpersonal relationships and maintenance of the communities that form within ZetaWorlds, in order to not dictate a direction or interfere with what users may wish to establish.Intervention in matters of community is something we wish to reserve to cases that show a clear need for guidance and assistance as we believe any direct intervention should remain a last resort for resolving conflicts. Growth on a community and personal level is not achieved by force and has natural mechanics that provide a greater chance of bringing long-term success. This is not to say we do not seek active involvement in the community as we gladly listen to feedback and provide the tools required to build the community and provide individuals the capacity to create theirs.
Being open to suggestions and even critical comments are an important part of it all as they create the dialog we seek to establish.
We wish to create an environment that is inclusive and open, free from conflict and negativity, while balancing the needs and rights of individuals and our policies.
We will intervene when it makes sense and is necessary, but otherwise allow for natural growth and direction.
We will provide tools and guidance to communities and individuals aiming to build their own.
Culture
A topic rarely touched upon is the culture or “feel” we wish to convey to everyone on the grid. We believe this aspect is all too often overlooked, but a vital part of any community or organization as it sets the tone and direction more so than most other parts.This may be through policies or the communications we issue to everyone on ZetaWorlds and beyond. The approach we have towards what goes on within ZetaWorlds is still fundamentally rooted in a wish to foster a culture of trust and understanding on either side of the grid. This is part of the motivation behind this mission statement.
Providing plenty of ways to get in touch and a fair attitude towards requests or disputes raised is one of the key aspects. We hope to show our commitment to stay impartial, but supportive of our users and their concerns and issues. This goes beyond the realms of ZetaWorlds into the wider metaverse as well as we actively seek to protect both ZetaWorlds as a whole and every user on it. The greatest tool we have in building a culture that represents our ideas is the knowledge and experience we share with everyone through our various channels. May this be simply technical, in regards to operating and managing OpenSimulator, or in regards to community moderation and management.
Reflecting a bit of our internal culture into ZetaWorlds of building on the experience and knowledge of volunteers and staff members and enabling everyone, in an unbureaucratic manner, to engage with ZetaWorlds on many levels and provide their knowledge and expertise. We hope to remain inclusive in this manner and utilize the human resources our users can provide if they choose to offer them.
The greatest source of pride and happiness has to be building a community that is diverse, inclusive and full of people that call ZetaWorlds their home. Continuing on this path we hope to maintain this positive and open engagement with the community on the grid and the wider metaverse.
Monetization
This is an uneasy topic as there are two sides to each coin and thus there can never be an ideal solution, only compromise. In its history ZetaWorlds has shifted from depending on active funding towards self-sustaining its operation through sale of subscriptions. We aim to maintain this status quo while providing affordable rentals and subscriptions that reflect both the market value of our offers and the incurred costs.ZetaWorlds was founded on the idea of being open and free to use on the basis of fair-use. We plan to maintain this as best as possible, but equally feel a duty to not provide excessive capabilities when they incur larger than normal costs for us. This is why we have put some restrictions on free users where reasonable, while trying not to create a diminished experience. Paid memberships exist to offset the costs incurred of providing grid services to larger projects.
Operations of ZetaWorlds incur costs beyond just the machinery and people as there are licenses, software and development. We try to adjust pricing depending on these factors with the goal to first attempt to reduce our operating costs rather than adjusting prices up. Being transparent about changes and why they occur as well as honoring long term support through not adjusting existing subscriptions and rentals.
There is no perfect approach to monetization as there is always a potential for it to be a barrier of entry. Especially the many variables and capabilities of OpenSimulator make monetization of actual usage fairly difficult. Through the setup we have built for our subscriptions and rentals the impact of individual load points is reduced and we can build our pricing around more general factors of performance and capacity. We aim to continually work and adjust this to both reduce operational costs and allow for better pricing structures reflective of the provided service level.
Metaverse
We feel a duty towards the metaverse of OpenSimulator to be a good neighbor and operate in good faith with regard to how ZetaWorlds meshes into the greater fabric of the metaverse.The Hypergrid system is a wonderful piece of technology allowing all the grids to be, in a sense, connected and form a greater metaverse full of diversity. There are infinite possibilities for collaboration, culture exchange and positivity, but also a danger for exploitation and negativity in such an open system. The good outweighs the bad, but that does not mean we can simply ignore the potential dangers and issues that can arise.
As such we have imposed some restrictions to mitigate known issues while aiming to maintain accessibility and compatibility to the metaverse as best as possible. This goes from preventing bad data from propagating through us, to providing open channels of communication for others in the metaverse, along with helpful information as to both the reasons and consequences of actions by us or others in the context of OpenSimulator’s metaverse.
When restrictions are imposed on other members of the metaverse this is usually done in accordance with our policies, designed strictly to protect ZetaWorlds and its users. These policies are a result of the experience, positive and negative, we have had and the knowledge of the inner workings of OpenSimulator and the Hypergrid. Our aim is always to lift restrictions and work together, towards a better metaverse for grid operators and users alike.
Our channels of communication remain plentiful and open, feel free to get in touch.