(Note: This post is slightly premature, because the third phase of the project hasn’t actually ended yet – it still has another month to run. However, I don’t feel this is likely to make much difference. WordPress screwed up and wiped the second half of the post, forcing me to rewrite it. Also, it’s rather dull, as is everything I write.)
So, after leaving, returning, leaving, returning, leaving, and returning to/from this project, it seems that it has finally decided to die. By which I mean that all attempts to obtain funding have failed, they’re running out, and they can’t afford staff. I can’t say I’m going to miss it much. In all honesty, the project didn’t die because of a lack of funding – instead, it died due to the lack (or, more accurately, the ignorance) of a coherent vision. This is a problem for a project with the stated intent of trying to work out how to make an idea work – so far, all it has to show for it is that it doesn’t, mostly because the management over-compromise to make their vision fit in.
The third phase of the project was, apparently, formed with the purpose of discovering what happens when you add school to the mix – a mix with the slogan “not school – not home – schome.” You basically get school. In fact, that’s exactly what you get. Complete with deadlines, grades, pressure from teachers, and rushed homeworks.
Continue reading ‘Schome Park the Third’
I am hereby forming the Anti Awarding Yourself Barnstars or Telling (No, Wait, Politely Asking) Other People to Give You Barnstars and Barnstars for Set Arbitrary Criteria Society. Or the AAYBTNWPAOPGYBBSACS for short.
Anyone who wants to participate in a useless society that does nothing, has no aims and will achieve nothing, please leave a comment. Note that the ANWPAOPGYBBSACS is in favour of barnstars awarded by people other than the awardee because that person actually felt the awardee deserved one.
This is from the same people as the last request.
I have been asked to post this on my personal blog, so…
Stupid OU
That is all. Also, the level of paranoia utilised by the Schome project is absurd.
(“OU” standing for “Open University”)
Having actually been there (I’m fairly sure I was invited so that I’d write nice things about them, to be honest), I can now say things about them and not be clueless as to what I’m saying. Yay! 
The problem is, I don’t have much positive to say. Let’s see…
- They’re obsessed with their public image and publicity.
- They put publicity before anything else.
- There are a couple of real jerks there – not the fault of the project, but Edi and, to a lesser extent, marsbar9 (name says it all) really ruin the experience.
- Excessively paranoid.
- Censor everything.
- Pop out of thin air to flame anyone who might disagree with them. (Decimus, I’m looking at you…)
- It’s a dull place to be anyway.
- Bureaucracy is rife.
In all honesty, you’d probably find more engaging creations and discussion at “Sandbox Island (TG)”, “Sandbox Island (TG) 2″, “Sandbox Island (TG) 3″ or “Sandbox Island (TG) 4″ on the main TG.
It’s a shame – all the adults (that I met) are nice, and most of the students are fun too – but the whole experience is destroyed by a small group of them, and partially by the odd censorship.
My advice would have to be something to the effect of “Keep away from them.” Sorry, the vast majority of people there. Especially Decimus. I generally liked him, although I suspect he’ll be the one who appears to flame me. 
This page on Schome’s forums appeared in my referrers log yesterday. The thread is a couple of months old, but people are apparently looking at it anyway. So…
If you’re going to tell me that I’m a “stupid person” who is “so desperate for attention that they love to criticise,” in response to my “scathing attack on your work,” at least have the decency to do so where I can see it without it happening to pop up in WordPress’ stats page. You probably feel the comment is hypocritical – but the difference is, I have a space for you to leave comments. You do not. At least, not an obvious one.
If you care, the comment that annoyed me was that of being “the first” to work things out – people have worked out said things before. Without just checking the code, because the physics code remains hidden. That is all.
Also, I made a new category solely for this post.
I have changed my opinion on adults on the teen grid. I’m not against them, but I’m no longer for them.
Why? Because they aren’t doing any educating!
I don’t mind the teen grid having more adult sims than teen sims. I couldn’t care less. What I care about is that they aren’t doing any of what they’re here to do; that is, teaching.
Let us consider Global Kids. They now have three sims: Global Kids, GK Machinima Island and GK Serious Gaming. Why do they need a GAMING sim to teach?
In short, they don’t. They use it to run games. If they let other teens use those resources, I wouldn’t mind. But they don’t – it’s all no build. So them and their managers have the resources to outdo anyone confined to parcels of land on the grid.
TG Adults are going downhill, fast. They had better do something about it.
Oh, and as a side note, I can’t help but be amused by the physics group on Schome Park. Here are some helpful hints:
- The physics engine is only accurate to within ten centimetres, so objects count as touching if they’re that close. There is no mysterious force field.
- Gravity is 9.8m/s/s. For proof, try putting this in a script in a physical object, then putting it in the air.
llSetForce(<0.0,0.0,9.8*llGetMass()>,FALSE);
This will cause it to levitate. You can also test this by dropping an object and have it immediately report its velocity.
- The mass of an object is proportional to its size, but nothing else. When large objects mess up experiments, they probably ran out of energy, which is an arbitrary device used to stop scripts breaking stuff.
- There is no wind or water resistence, but objects will hit terminal velocity.
- The on friction from an object varies based on its material.
- Water has no representation in the physics engine – it’s just a visual effect.
- SL will not let you have objects at the quantum level, and doesn’t simulate its effects.
- c can be argued to be infinite, as things at any distance appear to happen at the same time no matter where you observe from.
Adults, do something useful. (I am aware Schome Park does more than try and work out SL’s physics, but that project is pointless. I advise they go and read this.)
