Weekly Poll #1: V4 Rights in Alphaworld

For some time I've wanted to integrate viewer opinion on the blog, and I've suspected that the easiest way to do so would be through polls... but indecisive me, I never quite decided on how I wanted the polls to be formatted on here.  I did some tooling around today and I'm pretty happy with where they're at now.  It's not eating up too much of the page there. :)

I'll try to make this a regular thing, changing the poll topic every week or so.  Readers will have the chance to vote and comment on the related posts.

Weekly Poll #1: V4 Rights in Alphaworld

With the ongoing absence of Tom comes also the absence of his many services, one of which being the bot that managed special rights in Alphaworld.

The bot was well known for its dramatic setting at Pamozo Island -- where it would cycle through citizen numbers in the rights list upon request.  This is necessary because of a technical restriction in the rights list that only allows so many characters (and consequently citizen numbers) to be included in the list. The bot helped us to get around this by adding a citizen number to the end of the list when they wanted to use v4 rights, and then bumping the first person on the list off.

There's currently a debate on the forums about what should be done now that this bot is currently offline... because its been reported that it would be at least mid-July before AWI could restore the bot.  Many users feel that the right should be open for all builders, while others want a line to be drawn. What do you think?  Is what we have the best solution?  Feel free to vote, and if you're not represented in the poll... feel free to leave a comment!

A Closer Look at Advertising: Utilizing Twitter

Let me just get it out there now: I have a history with this idea.  Active Worlds doesn't have a very big presence on the Twitter scene, but I think we get fair use out of it. Flagg's twitter feed, for example, currently boasts 77 followers as well as having the feed displayed on several websites, such as this one.  SW City Interactive has had its own 'Switter' feed integrated for a couple of years now that is actually fairly popular around town.

Twitter gets a bad rap sometimes for over-emphasizing the insignificant, but when you're dealing with virtual worlds the potential for rapidly changing or spontaneous events makes a quick and easy solution like Twitter a desirable tool to keep on our belt.

SW City Interactive users can post messages to @SwitterSWI via kwout

Content creators in Active Worlds stand to benefit from the use of Twitter in a couple of ways.  The first is its ease: everything has been done for you.  You don't have to design a website, you don't have to pay anyone; you've just got to set it up and go.  140 characters or less, preferably.  Twitter, or any social media situation really, is a quick platform for providing quick updates to people who are interested in the same things you are.  If you already have a good following, this is cake!  If you don't, it isn't to hard to spread the word. :)  Read on!