Dirk-Jan de Bruin - Virtual Worlds

I remember staying up late to participate in 'the end of the world' party for a very small, but active Virtual World, named Hotel Silicon (well, it was renamed a few times: I joined when it was Fujitsu's WorldsAway 2.0 Beta server, it was also known as Hallway World among it's members). At the end, all walls on the hotel-like surroundings were turned black, and, if I remember correctly, people were able to gain powers normally reserved for Acolytes (community moderators).

For me, it was a sad moment because it marked the end of a exciting period in my life. I was an active beta tester for Fujitsu when the community was only available to selected beta testers doing QA for Fujitsu. This grass-root community was so small, everyone knew each other and we had lots of fun while chatting and hunting for bugs. I made my telephone company very happy, because at that time flat fee cable and ADSL were not available; instead I used an expensive ISDN line and got charged for many, many hours, but in the end, it was worth every penny.

When the community opened up for public, things changed. The community got crowded, it was harder to know everyone and at some point less-than-nice people started to become part of the community. WorldsAway/hotel Silicon - and the earlier LucasArts Habitat - already featured a Virtual Economy: People used tokens as currency, bought items and rented apartments. A small group of people though preferred to trick people out of their possessions instead of peacefully participate in the community.

In response to such developments, I started a small but active community-watch group, named the Twinkle Clan (Twinkle was the name of my Avatar and my dog). This clan educated users, hosted entertainment and hunted down tricksters. It was a fun time, and in the end we even organised for a whole month, the Twinkle month, games and events, celebrating the group and the community.

All that ended when the world was closed. I did join the follow-up community, but things where never the same again: Different people, different scammers, different groups. It was time to leave it all behind: It was time for other people to have some fun.

Shortly after Hotel Silicon closed, I was more active demonstrating Virtual Worlds at conferences in the Real World, and also started working as a Virtual Community Manager for a small start-up in Finland.

When I read the article mentioned below about the closing down of Asheron's Call 2 (I was one of the closed beta testers for Microsoft's Asheron's Call), but was never as active there as I was in WorldsAway), the memories of Hotel Silicon instantly returned.

MARCH 25, 2009, Clive Thompson:
Teleportation, the last battle, and the Creator talks: How the world ends inside an online game

Also read:
DECEMBER 19, 2005, Clive Thompson,
What’s life like in online world that’s about to end? My latest Wired News column

MARCH 3, 2009, Simon Carless, Analysis: Tabula Rasa's Final Moments - A Firsthand Account

And of course, the 1990 classic published by Virtual Community Management guru's Chip Morningstar & F. Randall Farmer: The Lessons of Lucasfilm's Habitat