The first time I used Dotsoul was probably some time in 2006. At that time it was quite busy. Dotsoul was (as far as I know) the first public virtual universe using ActiveWorlds version 4.1 to allow building. Many users of the main ActiveWorlds universe wanted to try all the new features before 4.1 was released to the main universe, which didn’t happen until much later.
Dotsoul was a great place to hang out and I met quite a few new friends there. I was sad to see that the world went offline some months ago and now the website is gone as well. All there is on the website is a login screen.
When I first tried to find out what happened to Dotsoul I was told that it would be back soon, but I guess it never happened. Does anyone know what happened to Dotsoul?
Group picture with some friends in Dotsoul. August 23 2006.
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From what I gather, it essentially went extinct. The user level dropped off nearly entirely, and I suppose the costs involved with running it just didn't justify versus how many actually used it. I know I had built a lot there myself, like the floating islands (with trooper) but there was so many things going on there that there was no real focus on what it was supposed to be about. One day we'd come in and they'd say “It'll be like an RPG of sorts”, and another day we'd come in and they were doing something else… leaving the other stuff to lay waste or just go stagnant. It is and was a very great place… but to be honest DotSoul felt like a virtual environment with Attention Deficit Disorder.
Yes I suppose it was like that, but it was fun none the less 🙂
Yes, I was wondering what had happened. I built a cave set etc with real art (tm 🙂 from my wife, but got real busy. When I went back (um 2 years later!) to do some more and change image links, no world. Pity, cheers to all.
MeJ
First the dreamland park object path server went offline for unknown reasons. Then the world server stopped working because ActiveWorlds needs an annual renewal fee of several thousand dollars to re-activate it. Dream and Light don’t have the budget for it any more.
As I understand it, the builds are still archived by ActiveWorlds. I have a complete backup of the object path, should it ever return.
Ok, I noticed objects not loading before it totally disappeared so the server going down may explain that.
I still think it is strange that most people I asked didn’t really know what happened. A short announcement on the website would have been enough. But it doesn’t matter anymore now.
Well, I’d like to offer my thanks to Dream and Light for the fun.