Newsletter #8 September 20, 2000
In an announcement earlier this month, Communities.com, the company that makes the Palace software, said that after September 27th, there will be NO further support for or development of it. Instead they will be launching new software made "from ground up".
The community of people on Palace has been very alarmed by this, not least because no info has been given about the exact nature of this new software. The primary concern for especially Palace owners is, IF we will still be able to have creative control of the new product, and if we will, what sort will it be? Since they won't tell and we have been given about 14 days notice, a lot of people are working on saving our Palaces from immediate (or nearly so) death.
Here's a status report of some important issues going around:
*REGCODES
.... after the 27th there will NOT be any possibility to get new regcodes from CC.
*WEB PRESENTATION
... after the 27th the Palace net presense will result in NO directory system, NO links to palace....and a vast decrease in searchengine listings.
The active remedy and effort to countermeasure this is that palaceowners/providers are currently teaming up...making websites for their palaces or if they already have....make many links to other palacewebsites and resource sites...... AND make a lot of work submitting to searchengines and directories on the web.
*OS ISSUE
... there will be NO new development of the palace software as we know it. The final death to Palace will be when people generally get new OS (operating systems) on their computers, which Palace software in current and final issue is not geared for.
*POSSIBLE TAKE-OVERS
Another thing to consider and ponder is a possible buying of the Palace by another a company. The general feeling I've met is that people think there are quite a few companies interested. It remains to be proven.
*ISSUES OF CONTACT
Currently and very promissing it seems that the center of "opposition" can be centered around
www.palacetools.com
a website made by a team of palace developers (PalDevGroup)
The have launched that website a bit prematurely and are working like slaves getting it into gear and answer questions and bind community together....including articles, bulletinboards etc. and all you need to keep in touch with Palace as a community. Great effort is made to make some sort of central directory for Palaces, like the one Communities provided. Be sure to check that site.
there's a lot of stuff going around but these are some of the top issues.
As stated the perhaps biggest problem...and the reason for the community acting this way is that it seems we will in the future have to live in a premade commercial environment....no individually made palaces....no odd little sites with friends....just big things.
The internet is perhaps the most drastic example that life always changes....nothing lasts...and things develop.Change is not a blind machine moving us forward....it's decisions made by humans.
BUT..... to make new software that excludes the creativity and artistic individuality on palace that was the thing that made it so unique, that many people have developed and worked on for YEARS....is to my mind....and a majority of the community, NOT development....it's a step back. I think most people taking active part in this are very computerliterate people indeed, most make a living of it actually, so they are well aware of what "change" means...
Even IF we would get some creative input...FACT is.... WE JUST DON'T KNOW YET WHAT IT WILL BE.
Rumor has that it will be a plugin for your browser, that you would have to make it in Flash, and that there will be a host of new features and better security. BUT... we CAN'T AFFORD to wait...maybe it will be great...maybe it won't. It still boils down to that we HAVE to react fast and play safe.
Keep checking back for new info, and remember to support your Palace! :-)
