Elf Clan

Elf Clan Charter

 
ELF CLAN ROLES
In general, roles in Elf Clan are that of form more than of action. We are considered a "theme" group rather than heavy "role playing".

The Dwagons are very role-oriented by nature, as are the pixies, orcs and dragons. Other roles are more open and non-precise. Elf Clan is often referred to as being more easy-going and laid-back than other groups. Rather than focusing on story-drama and sexuality (which often forms the center of other fantasy groups), Elf Clan members tend to simply enjoy one another's company.

Our roles tend to be skin-deep, our nature open and friendly, and our members in general tend to be shape shifters more than in other groups. Rather than defining roles for our members, we allow our members to define themselves. No one is barred from Elf Clan or these lands because of their preferred form or activity (so long as such respects our charter... which specifies accepted conduct in our home).  So these are just general outlines of our primary roles-- roles that we see people adopting on a regular basis. To get a flavor for what Elf Clan is and what role you may wish to adopt, visit ElvenSong Castle in Inworldz (or ElvenMyst castle in Second Life), grab a tour document, and visit all the places shown. It is likely something within will tweak your interest-- and you will discover the role that you yourself will develop.

ELVES, ORKS and DWAGONS
"What is an Elf?" is the question most commonly asked in Elf Clan. It's a valid question, for the concept of "elf" is not clearly defined in the roles of fantasy literature. Most commonly recognized are Tolkien Elves from Lord of the Rings, but those are obviously not the Elven of English literature, much less "Keebler Elves".

These are by no means the only roles available, nor are they "set" definitions. There are just generalized concepts of typical roles that have formed in our group over the years. They can be altered or added to at personal whim.

ELF CLAN ELVEN
Elf Clan Elves take primarily three classifications:

HIGH ELVEN. Not named because of rank, but because of choice of environment. The High Elven tend to carve their abodes out of the solid rock of mountains... high places.  In the past Elf Clan has always resided in "mountainous" type landscapes with large hills, mountains and waterfalls throughout. This environment was more apparent on the old sims of ElvenHearth and ElvenHope... and on our current Inworldz sims of ElvenGlen, ElvenHope and several other mountainous regions.

High Elven are often typified by their style of dress, which is flowing, luxurious and highly ornamented. Rich colors and embroidery decorate their clothing, and highly decorated armor in battle. Unlike Tolkien Elven, Elf Clan Elves consider dwarves close friends and often trade with them to obtain the finest metalworks.

Physically our High Elven closely parallel Tolkien's elves. Both males and females tend to be tall and slender. Three times stronger than mankind, lightning reflexes, unerring accuracy and balance. Our Charter has HONOR as its first point, which is the core principle of all our society.

The High Elven spend more time in intellectual pursuits so can be powerful wielders of earth magic... almost the equal of dragons and unicorns (but not quite).

 
FOREST ELVES. The Forest Elves are the same "race", but prefer to live in wooded areas. This has become more common on our Inworldz lands where we have vast forest areas in numerous regions. The Forest Elves prefer to wear less ornate, simpler clothing, preferring comfort to beauty. They enjoy rich neutral colors such as brown, tan, yellow, orange, green or red for highlights, and tend toward sturdy cloth and leather as their daily wear as their lifestyle is more physically demanding than the high elves. Their forest magic is powerful, though perhaps not quite as developed as the high elven. Physically they are somewhat stronger than the High Elven and tend to be more practiced in arts of weaponry.

DROW. The Drow in Elf Clan tend to be highly individualistic. They are a different race of Elves, more like very distant cousins of the other Elves. Some claim the Drow are a mixture of Elves and Dark Fae, but that is unverified. Others state the Drow are "fallen" Elven (a Tolkien concept, but equally unverified in Elf Clan). In Elf Clan we tend to consider the Drow as a race of Elven that turned to dark arts and evil under the reign of Sauron, then changed their ways when they discovered Elf Clan lands.  Their skin can range in color from gray to blue to violet. Their ears tend to be much longer and more pointed than other Elves. Eyes are usually white, steel, violet or red. Hair can be white, blue, violet or black. The Drow tend to focus more on physical pursuits than magical or intellectual. They prefer to live in caverns either in mountainous  areas or deep underground.

NIGHT ELVEN. Very rare, the Night Elven are a form of Drow which are solid black from head to toe and look more like walking shadows than Elves. They wander the  forests at night and are extremely powerful in magic, perhaps even moreso than the High Elven. Night Elven are very rare in these lands, hardly ever seen (which is as they prefer it). They are by no means evil, but neither do they tend to be social (with some exceptions).  It is almost impossible to capture and hold a night elven... suicidal in fact. Of our Elven races, the Night Elven, while living in peace with all, are the most dark, both in appearance and nature.

The Night Elven and their characteristics are a pure Elf Clan-created character. Without lore precedence, these were created in the early days of Second Life as a protective role in Elf Clan. Their claws carried enough punch power to knock a griefer across three sims. Their totally black appearance-- in those days-- was a very intimidating avatar. Between the Elven Elite Guard and the Night Elven-- Elf Clan was well protected and developed a reputation for no-nonsense and zero tolerance when it came to griefing.

That's the Elven. Now for the other races.

CLICK HERE FOR PT 2

CLICK HERE FOR PT 3

CLICK HERE FOR PT 4

Elf Clan Charter

EXPANDED GENRES
For quite some time it has been a primary rule of landholding that all ground-level lands in Elf Clan must be of a fantasy theme.

With our more relaxed situation on Inworldz, we are able to expand our themes considerably for islands totally separated from other lands.

In the real world there is a tremendous crossover between the areas of Fantasy and Science Fiction. Elf Clan can now recognize that cross-genre concept.

On Inworldz regions in the Elf Clan Fantasy Islands... any privately-owned island(s) totally separate from other Elf Clan lands (not touching on any side or corner) may contain ground-level themes
other than strict fantasy in the following areas:

1) Science Fiction
2) Steampunk
3) Post-Apocalyptic

If someone has an alternate idea, we will consider additional genres as well so long as they exist within the general concepts of the "unreal" (for example, Alice in Wonderland, Willy Wonka, etc).

CHARTER STILL APPLIES
All aspects of the Elf Clan Charter still apply.

Ground-level lands must be family-friendly G-rated.

Genres such as vampirism, horror, occult, witchcraft etc are still forbidden.

All lands must be open to visitors and visitor-friendly.

Contemporary builds are still excluded. Genres such as Steampunk should exhibit quite a bit more fantasy/sci-fi creativity than simple re-creation of Victorian times and homes. Science fiction themes should show unique and creative structure rather than blockish, ugly buildings. Above all we wish to remember that Elf Clan lands are beautiful and unique. Even in our adoption of other genres, we wish to retain the creativity and skill for which Elf Clan is known. While we know that not all members have equal building and scripting skills... we still encourage everyone to "think outside the box" and build with style and flair beyond the norm. : )

ELF CLAN ADAPTS
Elf Clan has always tried to grow and adapt with the needs of our members. From the beginning we have allowed more than just "Elven" culture in our group, even welcoming the Orcs, Drow, Fae, Dragons and others when they asked to join our lands. From our early days we have allowed Star Trek groups to conduct guided tours in their shuttlecraft. We've always tried to be a bit more "laid back" than typical Elven groups.

With the change of our venue from Second Life to the Inworldz platform, we are able to expand and alter our efforts according to member needs and preferences. Since we can now offer our members their own private islands, we see the potential to expand our genres to include areas that are usually of interest to fans of fantasy and science fiction alike. We hope you enjoy this new opportunity and join us in welcoming these additional genres to our group.

--o--

Elf Clan Charter

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See:  ELF CLAN CHARTER

Living on Elf Clan Lands
Elf Clan has several regions that offer rental lands.  You can find a list of currently available lands in a sign at ElvenSong region.

Prices may vary depending on the region and amount of land available.   The lands are moderated, family friendly and scrupulously maintained by the sim owner. You won't be next to bad neighbors or garbage builds on an Elf Clan region!

If you enjoy building, enjoy being part of a community, and love the idea of family-friendly lands,  Elf Clan is a great place to rent. You have full use of megaprims, more than double the number of prims you get on Second Life, and no link distance limits. The building tools are powerful, and the lands peaceful.  Elf Clan is beautiful.

HOW TO RENT LAND
Go to ElvenSong region in Inworldz and in the main Castle TP point, pick up a copy of the latest list of rental regions.  Find the location you want and contact the region owner. 

BUILD REQUIREMENTS
All builds must be theme in nature (according to the region theme). Ground areas must be family-friendly. You may have a skybox if the region owner allows. Ground builds must conform to guidelines set forth in the Elf Clan Charter.  "What you do in your home is your business. What you do in the streets is ours." 

ADVANTAGES OF ELF CLAN LANDS ON INWORLDZ
* High [rim allowance
* Considerable link distance
* Fully malleable megaprims
* Land Rental: Dirt cheap
* Elf Clan rocks!

--o--

    One of claims I hear from time to time... both from users and server companies... is that prims cause "lag".   The more prims you have, the more lag they create.  There is also the concept of prims taking more server memory.

    While prims do take up a bit of RAM*, the claim that prim count causes lag is a myth.    We know this because we tested this claim years ago, on Second Life and put an end to that myth forever-- or so we had hoped.  Some monsters just won't die, even when you cut off their heads.

CORRELATION is not CAUSATION

    Now to be fair, there is a correlation between prim count and lag.   It would appear that sims with low prim count have little lag, whereas sims with high prim count have a lot of lag. 

    But as statisticians and math majors know, correlation does not equal causation.   Quite often correlation is just a symptom, whereas the disease is something else entirely.  This is the case with prim count.

THE ULTIMATE TEST

    About a decade ago when the "Lag Monster" hit SL seemingly out of nowhere, we techs started running lag tests.  What was the source of the lag?   Was it "user content" as Linden Lab claimed?  Was it "too many prims"?   Was it "too many textures"?  Too many scripts?  If it was any of those things, then why had sims with identical setup worked just fine a week before and now they weren't?     Users wanted answers.  (The answer was that LL had made some major server changes without informing their customers... but that's another story entirely.)

    A friend had just bought a new region and before building anything on it, invited me to spend a day running whatever lag tests I wanted to run.   I accepted his invitation.

    The tests were simple:  we would rez prims in various quantities and configurations and run metered "lag tests" checked both by scripts and avatar experience (mainly, turning in place, walking around and flying and seeing if we noticed any difference at all).   We had half a dozen people present serving as observers to verify experience.  

    First we walked and flew around an empty region.   We checked the sim stats, recorded sim stats, got a baseline to check against.

    Second, we rezzed 1,000 cubes and placed them all around us.   Ran the same tests.   No change in baselines.

    So we duplicated that 1,000 cubes until they numbered 5,000.   Ran the tests again.   No change in baselines.

    Linden Lab allows 15k prims on a sim so we couldn't go past that.  To be totally fair and not push the server to max, we rezzed 12,000 cubes and spread them around.   Ran the tests again.   All observers reported the same thing:   Absolutely no change in baseline stats or avatar experience. 

    Twelve thousand prims-- zero server or client impact.

    Okay, there was the "prims cause lag" myth blown out the window.

    But to be fair, let's start from scratch and do it differently.   So we rezzed cubes, spheres, cones and cylinders to see if prim shape made any difference.   Ran the tests.   No change in baselines.

    Several years later an Opensim team decided to test prim lag on their system.  This was a good test to run since they were trying to stabilize their platform by eliminating as many causes of server lag as possible.   They rezzed 140,000 prims at ground level.   Result:   Zero discernible lag.   This validated all the tests we'd run years earlier, but on a factor almost 12x greater than what we'd run.

SCRIPTS.  IT MUST BE SCRIPTS

    Okay so if it's not prims, what would cause lag?  Scripts, right?  Linden Lab told us:   the more scripts, the greater the lag.   That made sense.   But there are two kinds of scripts:  active and inactive.   Active scripts are constantly changing things, doing something.   Inactive scripts just sit, waiting to do something (sit / touch scripts) or have already done something (texture animation scripts).   Some inactive scripts can be run once and then removed-- with their effect still on the prim.   For example, you can animate a texture and then remove the script.  The texture will continue to animate.  A non-animated sit-scripted prim, once the script is run and removed, will still continue to seat avatars properly.

    But Linden Lab claimed that all scripts cause lag, because the sim server had to check every script every cycle to see what was going on.   Okay, let's test that out.   We removed 5,000 of the prims and created a prim that contained a touch-based sit script (inactive).   Then we replicated that prim to a count of 5,000.    Now we had 5,000 prims with trigger-happy touch-scripts in them, just waiting for someone to click them... an amount the company claimed was "far too many scripts on a sim".

    You have probably already guessed the outcome:   zero change in sim baselines.  The entire region still ran as if it were totally empty.   How about that.  Inactive scripts have zero perceptible server or viewer impact.  No lag.

OKAY, SO WHAT WAS CAUSING THE LAG?

    If prim count, prim type and simple script count wasn't causing lag, what was?    It turned out the primary lag issue was due to internal SL server issues-- which we discovered by a very extensive Elf Clan experiment that revealed LL was stacking full regions on single cores "by accident".    We asked a dozen people to check all 800 regions on SL (the sim count at the time) and found out that "accident" happened a LOT... and was the primary source of region lag at the time.  It has been so ever since.

    However in case of modern day lag issues, with companies that do not pull such shenanigans (at least, not without properly informing the customer, such as with Inworldz legit 2x2 regions)... lag is caused by several identifiable issues, depending on the grid involved.

    Active scripts can indeed cause lag to an extreme amount.  In fact on SL it was possible for one badly-designed script to completely crash a sim.   Inworldz took care of this by allowing scripts only so much "server room".  While script response might lag if the scripts are poorly written-- they would be unlikely to  impact the region server itself.  That was a smart move for Inworldz.

    On all grids a major problem is texture handling.   The more textures there are, the more textures the client has to load when entering a region.   Add to that poor texture processing where many grids load the same textures over and over again.   This is the result of a badly-designed cache system (the software that stores textures on your hard drive and in RAM for instant access) and buggy loaded-texture tracking.   That is a major issue, because this is in part server but mostly viewer based-- and grids tend to use the same viewers.  (I am not sure at this time how the official Inworldz viewer handles textures; I haven't tested it.  I have tested Firestorm and the problem is still present in that viewer.)

    Avatars cause incredible lag.  Take every factor in the book (textures, prims, active scripts in AO devices) and put them all on a moving, multi-jointed avatar, and you are going to have server and client impact.   The more avatars there are, the more lag.  Pretty much everyone is aware of this. No huge surprise there.

    Arguably (depending on the surroundings), Avatars are the single most laggy factor on any grid.  You can take a nice, peaceful, content-rich, fast-performing region and drag it down significantly by adding 20 avatars.  Add 50 to 60 avatars and the region can go to borderline crash-status.  Yup, avatars lag.  We all know this.

    Server issues.    From time to time there are server-related issues that cause lag; the best thing to do about that is to reset your region daily, or at least once a week.  Server software can get confused, start dragging its heels and needs refreshed from time to time.   This is simply nature of the beast.

    But some server issues could be fixed-- teleporting for example.   On OpenSim grids, an avatar teleporting into a region can bring the entire region to a standstill until the avatar has finished porting.  You can imagine the impact this has on a busy nexus.

    Flexys cause considerable lag.   A classic test was when we examined three types of avatars:

    1. A huge armored avatar consisting of a solid 1,500 prims.

    2. A standard female avatar with flexi hair and dress.

    3. A dwagon, 401 prims.

    Checks were done to see the impact each of these avatars had on a standard sim.  Surprisingly the dwagon caused least impact, with an avatar "lag factor" of 1.0 (by our scale, starting on a scale of 0, a plain avatar with no attachments).   Second place was the armored avatar, which caused a lag factor of 2.5.   (No surprise there... direct prims-on-a-moving-avatar correlation).    But the big surprise was the standard human avatar with flexi hair and dress.  Nothing special, just standard attire.   A whopping lag factor of 6.5.  That one avatar took double the system resources of the two other avatars combined. 

    Try telling a paying customer they can't have flexi hair or clothing and see how far you get.   ; )

    In another test we went to a region that had several "content tests" already set up (very interesting region, that).   One of the most interesting tests was their "flexi ring".   They had twelve flexi "blankets" all hung out in a ring.  When any blanket was clicked they all either turned not-flexi (standard prims) or flexi (standard prims with flex), blowing in the wind.  The result was astounding.  When the flexi on those twelve items was turned off, the region ran fine.  When the flexi was turned on the region lagged significantly.  Walking became difficult.  Turning in spot became more difficult.  Turn off the flexi blankets, stability restored, no lag.

    So if you have a region that seems to lag and there are lots of flexi tree branches and flora and flags and other items... turn off the flexis.  They are seldom worth the incredible impact they have on a region.

LIMITATION OF PRIMS ON A REGION

    If you ever set up an Opensim server you will discover something interesting:   in the instructions they recommend setting maximum prim count to 200,000 per region.  What?  Are they insane?  

    Well no.  As we've seen simple prim count has little if any impact on the server or client.   You can set up 45,000 prims on a region (as on Inworldz) and still have plenty of server RAM left for sim performance.  You can set the prim count to 200,000 and so long as you keep scripting and textures to a minimum, no problem.

    Bottom line:  the number of prims allowed on a server is pretty much irrelevant.  What is relevant is what you do with them.

    The reason smart grids like Inworldz limit prim count is because they know there is a correlation between prim count and server performance.   Why?  Because the more prims people use, the more active scripts they use, they more textures they use, the more flexis they use.   So limiting prim count is a sensible way to keep things within server stress limits.   45K seems a "happy medium"... allowing far more prims than the sim owner is likely to need while at the same time keeping away from the edge of the cliff.

BUILD SMART, BUILD WISE

    If you visit ElvenSong region on Inworldz, you will find a prim-rich environment.   You will also notice (once the sim loads), there is very little "lag".   This is especially the case if you go into high sky and visit Replicant City.   This prim-heavy, script-heavy, texture-heavy area manifests hardly any  lag at all, if any (once you give it time to load).  Why is this?   How is it such a creation can have almost no lag?

    1.  Smart scripting.   The scripts are written to be inactive where possible.   The fewer active scripts you have, the lower the sim impact.   Replicant City is highly interactive and almost everything is scripted, but the majority of scripts have to be triggered either by touch or contact.   Sensor scripts are very limited.   Active scripts are very limited.  There are no scripted bots.  (Scripted bots can be a major source of lag if not used sensibly.)

    2. Smart texturing.   There are thousands of textures at Replicant City... but they're all hidden from simultaneous view.   They're down corridors and around corners and inside closed buildings.  To "see" them you have to enter the area where the textures are.   So for the most part you're never loading or seeing more than about 200 textures at any one time.   This greatly limits texture impact on visitor experience.

    3. Almost no flexis.  Flexis were limited to an absolute minimum.  Almost no flexis = almost no flexi lag.  Simple fix.

    That's the skinny on lag and prim count.   Prim count does not cause region lag.  Zero prims or 140,000 prims...  they're not a source of "lag".

     Watch your scripting (use active scripts as little as possible-- especially scripted bots), how you display textures, and above all watch how many flexis you use.   Keep these down and you'll significantly reduce or even eliminate lag on your region.

--o--

* SERVER RAM.  While prim count does require server memory, most server systems are set up so that they have more than enough RAM to run a server, regardless of prim count.   A 2-gig server (standard size) can handle an entire region full of prims and still have lots of room left over.   In fact it can handle multiple regions-- to greater or less effect depending on the number of regions.    So a costly grid like Second Life claiming that they can only offer 15-20k prims because of server limitations-- is (arguably) lying to their customers.  We've run the tests.  The data doesn't lie.

WAYFINDER QUOTES

Original sayings from the founder of Elf Clan... for what it's worth

True  freedom  is  not without limits, for that which is ungoverned inevitably  infringes  on  the  freedom  of others.

When winning becomes the all-important goal, the game ceases being a game.

If we did not appreciate absurdity, we could not bear to look in a mirror.

Live today as if it is your last day, with tomorrow wisely in mind in case it isn’t.

There is only one truth-- but countless interpretations.

The best way to achieve you dreams is to stop waiting for them to happen.

Instead of going with the lowest bidder, go with the best reputation. The lowest bidder is usually the lowest quality.

Artificial intelligence has always been applied to computers and robotics. Perhaps that term should rather be applied to today’s generation of human beings.

Never let emotions interfere with common sense or legal defense.

Forgiveness cannot change the past... but it can change your future.

Walls cannot stop eagles or gophers.   The only way for the human species to progress socially is to stop building unnecessary walls.

Prejudice is not the sole property of any ethnic group.  It shall remain universal until we realize that the color of ones skin is no more important than the color of ones eyes.

No matter what nation you do laundry for, it always comes out dirty.

Questioning the claims of others, no matter who they are, should be a built-in self-defense mechanism for our minds. Think about what you believe. Question your deepest convictions.  Examine what you read and hear.  Doing so regularly will serve as a protection against both naivety and gullibility.

Wayfinder's First Law of Research:  For every PHD there is an equal and opposite PHD.

Related:

For any belief or argument one might hold, there are numerous "authoritative" links, blogs and papers written to support it... however errant that belief may be.  For every link there is an equally authoritative opposing link.

Also related:

Science regularly believes it has discovered "facts", which are in reality temporary, extremely limited observations waiting to be updated or debunked.  Swallowing the claims of human beings without question, however educated those people may be, is to forget that they are merely human beings... and that scientific "facts" are regularly being updated.

One doesn't require a degree to know the sky is blue.  Knowing why the sky is blue is interesting, but doesn't change the reality of the sky.

The primary problem of mankind is not one of ignorance, but of stupidity brought about by arrogance. For along with basic ignorance— with which we are all born and can only hope to partially alleviate— there would seem a pandemic of believing we know far more than we actually do, being insistent on such, and an eagerness to condemn those who disagree. It is this particular self-inflicted disease which has brought about the destruction of advanced society throughout history. It is unfortunate that such attitude seems to have a strong penchant for survival, or perhaps there would be some hope that those of common sense would survive longer and eventually balance the scales. As things stand, the stupid and arrogant tend to destroy before anything has opportunity to mature, and the meek never have a chance to inherit the earth.

The Internet is at the same time the greatest informational tool ever created… and the greatest weapon.

If you focus on beauty that is all you shall see... and miss all else that is good.

I think in the ultimate scheme of things almost everything is a "waste of time".  The difference is in how well it is wasted.

The haughty one denies what is real because he cannot measure it.  He twists creation to his personal desires and invents his own truth.

What one chooses to believe or disbelieve will change neither reality or consequence.

No stone is larger than the pebble in your shoe.

Have you noticed nature does not require dusting, vacuuming, nor the lawn mowed?

Never play a flute near a grizzly bear.  It's not that the bear hates flute music; it's that you're near a grizzly bear.

Personal belief does not alter reality.  People defy gravity regularly, but eventually that plane is coming down.

If necessity is the mother of invention, cash-strapped is the father of ingenuity.

Policy should be directed by common sense. If you leave a cookie on the table when a dwagon is nearby, it ceases being your cookie.

This is the way it is, the way it's always been and the way it has to be, are great deterrents to progress. 

Conformists build solid foundations; they are seldom architects of the future.

Hatred never begets tolerance. Labeling someone a homophobe is just another form of bigotry.

Abhorring censorship does not excuse abandoning all common sense.  Moderation is what separates society from anarchy.

When recorded music replaced family musicians, we lost a significant portion of our humanity.

 
Never put visionaries in charge of a company. Let them come up with the ideas. Never put techs in charge of a company. Let them accomplish the ideas. Put a businessman in charge of business... and put the  customer in charge of the  businessman.

 
Once you remove greed and ego as factors, what remains is progress.

 
No attitude is immortal, nor immune to consequence.

 
It's the little things that count. The difference between functional and non-functional code is one character.

Most people don't like hearing truth. It causes stress and often results in the requirement to do something.

 
There are always consequences for actions. Sometimes they are slow in coming... but they do eventually come.  The lessons of consequence are not so kind as self-moderation.

 
Many people believe that a profitable business is a successful business. I say it's how you earn the profit that makes you successful. Criminals may be profitable; only the vile would consider them successful.

Some people claim that Jesus Christ and Mahatma Gandhi died as financially poor, misguided fools.  But people die, both rich and poor. I seriously doubt today's richest men will be remembered 2,000 years from now, or that millions of people will still follow their every word.

 
No matter how fancy the decor in your restaurant... it's the food that will keep people coming back.

There is a vast difference between pursuing technology for solar and wind energy... and creating highly radioactive nuclear furnaces. Just because we can do something doesn't mean we should.

 
Humankind is the only creature on earth that is endangering the planet itself. Intelligence would seem the seed of stupidity.

THANKSGIVING:  A holiday where people celebrate our forefathers coming to a new world... where they slaughtered the inhabitants, stole their land, destroyed the buffalo herds and became the continent's greatest predator. Of course that was over 200 years ago. We'd never do that today. Today we prefer to bomb oil-rich countries, punch large holes in the ozone layer, raid the Social Security fund into near bankruptcy, dump mercury into the oceans and ravage the Amazon rain forests. Thus we can be grateful and give thanks that we haven't yet wiped ourselves off the planet.

Naivety is a wonderful and peaceful thing... until some fool removes it from us.

Naught but change is everlasting, chaos the eternal constant. 

Those who read books are in truth voyeurs, content to spend a significant part of their lives examining the thoughts of others, learning without the benefit of personal experience.  However at times such is justified by the presence of chocolate, a fireplace and good brandy.

If the legal system were based on justice and common-sense, people wouldn't need attorneys to use it.

Rare is the leader who dies peacefully and without significant regret.

GUIDE TO LIFE

Listen to your head, not your heart. Ask for advice from trusted, experienced friends. Then make a decision without obvious regrets, and stick with it. Common sense is better than I.Q. If you can’t solve it, the two choices are adjust to it or choose something different entirely. When there is no other choice, endure with dignity.

That solves most problems. Not all, but most. That just leaves the unsolvable problems, in which case ignoring them or giving them less importance in your mind often makes them far less burdensome. Because sometimes problems just solve themselves.

If in danger, exit. If others are in danger, help. Don’t try to do it all yourself. Don’t do something obviously stupid. Follow your heart only when it’s right. Learn to recognize when your heart is misleading you, because it’s emotional and often doesn’t think. Do what is right, even when you don’t want to. Consider the welfare of others above your own. Keep your word. Fulfill your obligations. Spend less time in mindless activities (television) and more time creating, working, cleaning, making something. Spend less on frivolities, save every dime you can. Keep secrets to yourself, where they’ll remain safe. Readily admit mistakes and apologize. Always check ego at the door. Do not be the center of your world.  Avoid being the center of attention.  Focus on others.

Help those who cannot help themselves. Be patient, choose your battles very wisely. Respond in wisdom and tolerance. Always be kind, always— especially to those who are unkind. Replace negativity with acceptance and resolution. Leave the past in the past and move forward; learn from the past, but don’t let it rule over you. Be good to yourself and better to others.

Regarding the concept of High Elven

If we are superior, it is by natural existence and longevity. If we seem arrogant, it is due to knowledge and wisdom, not pride. If we are aloof it is not by our desire, but due to the objectionable habits of those from whom we remain apart. The High Elven are an ancient race. If others are viewed as children in comparison... this is understandable.

Wayfinder's Notes on Virtual Reality

Virtual worlds seem to have virtual success.

The way people act in virtual reality where no one knows who they really are, is likely who they really are.

I do not support real life pimps or pedophiles; I will not tolerate virtual ones.

The last time I checked, World of Warcraft had 11.5 million customers... each paying $15 a month to play the game. Quick math: 11.5 million x $15 = $172.5 million per month. Linden Lab: appx $5 million per month.  $5 million isn't chump change, but it's not WoW.

I've done business with companies that would fall all over themselves to retain a $50 a year subscriber.  Linden Lab cares nothing for those who spend thousands.
 

Regarding Technology and Society:

 
Favorite miscellaneous quotes from other folks:

"Some people are so open-minded their brains fall out."
-- Rick Warren

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."
-- Thomas Jefferson.
 

"I'm surprised that battered fish is even legal."

--anonymous

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results."
-- author debated

"The way things are going in fashion, there will soon be nothing left for prostitutes to wear."
-- Bill Maher

"The ignorant man simply doesn't know. There is no shame in that; we are all ignorant in areas. The stupid man knows, but ignores. There is no excuse for that."
-- my father

"I can afford to buy the biggest steak I can eat. How much more does a man need?"
-- Richard (an old friend)

"You want to be profitable in the restaurant business? Charge customers a reasonable amount, and give them more food than they can eat."
-- Robert (another friend)

"Don't worry about the money. Put your customers first, make them happy, and the money will follow."

-- anonymous

"There is nothing more irritating than a person who doesn't know what he's talking about-- except of course a person who does."

-- anonymous

"When you choose revenge, dig two graves."

-- ancient proverb

"When I hear somebody sigh, 'Life is hard', I am always tempted to ask: Compared to what?"
-- Sydney Harris

"Never lie, and you won't need to remember which lies you've told."
-- my father

"Life is too important to be taken seriously."
-- Oscar Wilde

"A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones that need the advice."
-- Bill Cosby, oddly enough

"I like cats. I just can't eat a whole one by myself."
-- Author wisely unknown

"Despite the cost of living, have you noticed how popular it remains?"
-- Anonymous

"We should always respect our elders.  I don't have to respect anyone."

--accredited to George Burns

"Death makes life simpler on so many levels."
-- Eli, a friend of mine making a satirical comment on the human condition

"Bad behavior gets noticed far more than good behavior, because it triggers parts of the brain responsible for threat assessment."

--Zauber Paracelsus

"For math students easily confused by the holidays, remember that Oct 31 = Dec 25."

-- anonymous

(Explanation for non-math folks:  octal 31 is the same number as decimal 25.)

"Money makes the world go round, but the Earth turns regardless of cash flow."

-Zauber Paracelsus

"Whatever a man is sowing, this he shall also reap."

-- Jesus

DA DWAGON AND DA ORC
by Snoots Dwagon

Is true story...

The orc smashed through the brush in typical orcish manner, unheeding of the damage caused to fauna or small burrow. His huge battle axe, Crunch and his sword Slasha in hand, he knew himself to be da biggest, baddest creature in da land. He was ORC! Let all fear him.

A few hundred yards further, unfortunately in his path, lay a nest of eggs. The eggs looked odd, covered with scales instead of normal shells, each one colored differently. They had not been wisely placed, and had the dragon who laid them not had a few too many ales that evening in a friendly drinking contest, they might have been placed on a high ridge where they belonged. But, as things might happen, laid they were, the dragon went off to explore a strange sound, and never found her way back.

However, as things would have it, she had the good fortune to lay them near a steam vent, which proved perfect for completing the job she started, even if the inhabitants would hatch without the oversight of a mother.

It should be noted that dwagons are somewhat mischievous even with a mother to guide them. One can only imagine a brood without such guidance.

Of all the eggs, only one had hatched, its former inhabitant pecking at the empty shell and examining the other still-intact orbs. Before long, his brothers and sisters would emerge. But for now he was alone, confused, without mother, and perfectly unaware of all the above. Which meant of course, he was completely happy and curious about everything. Pure, unadulterated dwagon.

He pecked at a couple of eggs, and was rewarded with a resounding peck from within the shell. It would not be long now, maybe an hour or two, before general mayhem would occur, courtesy of a dozen dwagons on the loose. But for now, he was by himself.

There was one thing he knew above all other things: he was the "Offishul Guardian of Da Eggs", an dat was dat.

Unaware of all this, was an orc.

There are three things orcs and dwagons have in common. Both are totally fearless, totally clueless, and therefore totally happy. The unwitting orc happily blundered on through the forest, bringing a near-end-of-life to the countless creatures that barely escaped the size-25 boots that clomped unheedingly forward. Unheeding that is, until suddenly he was greeted by a foot-tall winged lizard with attitude.

"Hi dere!" chirped a high, squeaky voice.

"HUH?" responded the orc, the voice actually making its way through his dull senses and causing him to stop. "HAR! A dwagon!" he roared.

"You an Orc?" the dwagon chirped. "How is you?" The orc looked at him first with one eye, then the other.

"I is fine!" the orc rumbled. "An lots better now dat I gots eggs fer breakfas!"

Now dwagons are many things, but slow-witted is not one of them... which is where they differ from orcs. The dwagon immediately understood the orc's meaning and, since he was "Offishul Guardian of Da Eggs", that was just not going to happen.

"Nope nope nope," the dwagon politely corrected the orc. "Dese are my eggs and dey hatchin' an you not eats 'em." Which of course, the orc thought to be extremely hilarious.

"HAR HAR HAR!" the orc laughed. "You make good joke!" Upon which, the orc made the serious mistake of actually reaching for an egg.

"AARRRGGHH!" the orc roared, pulling back his hand, now showing several dwagon bite marks. "You in trouble now! You bites an orc, you on da menu!"

"BLEH!" the dwagon chirped, spitting. "Orcses taste nastee. BLEH!"

The orc growled. It was obviously smashin time. His hands tightened around Smasha and Crunch as he prepared to add dwagon to his diet.

"DAT DOES IT!" the orc cried. "Eggs an meat on da side!"

"Nuuuuuuuuuuu!" the dwagon screeched and began running around the orc's feet, his little wings flapping.

"I gonna smash you!" the orc yelled. Thinking quickly, the dwagon ran over to the nest and grabbed a piece of his egg shell and put it on his head. His new helmet intact, he turned to the orc.

"Nya nya!" it sang, running to the side to draw attention away from the nest. The orc, totally forgetting the eggs, charged after it.

One thing can be said about dwagons: they are fast. Not as fast as an orc, but a dwagon can make much sharper turns. This was a fact the orc discovered as its head made sudden contact with a tree that refused to move out of his way.

The orc's vision eventually returned and he looked up at the branches, aware that for some reason he was laying on his back. Slowly, cognizance returned to him.

"HAR! GOOD ONE!" the orc laughed. But his laughter was cut short when he suddenly felt dwagon on his chest, saw two swirling eyes staring into his, and felt claws tighten on his chainmail, which he was fortunate to be wearing at the time.

"Sorry bout dis!" the dwagon said, and suddenly latched onto the orc's nose.

"AAAARGH!" the orc cried, jumping to his feet. The dwagon hung on with tiny teeth and fangs as the orc danced around. Just as the orc reached toward the dwagon to dislodge it, the dwagon jumped from it's claw-held position and landed atop the orc's head.

Orcs unfortunately have rather bulky, if long, arms. While they are pure murder in battle because of their reach, orcs simply have great difficulty reaching over their heads in full battle armor. Which is why the dwagon suddenly found itself enjoying its perch, as well as a vantage point from which it could watch the orc dancing around in little circles trying to get to the dwagon. The creature sat down on the orc's helmet, wedging itself between two spikey horns, and enjoyed the ride.

"YA LITTLE SCALED RAT!" the orc cried out. Unable to reach the dwagon, it occurred to the orc to try the battle axe instead. It turned the axe toward the dwagon and hauled back to swing the gigantic, devastating weapon.

He forgot the dwagon was sitting on his head.

The orc found himself looking up at another set of tree branches, different from the first, battle axe Crunch buried deeply in his helmet and just barely grazing the skin beneath. The sound of the impact of stone against metal still reverberated through the forest. Slowly the orc rose to his feet and spent the next couple of minutes walking around in random little circles.

Eventually regaining his limited senses, the orc pried the stone axe from the helmet.

"HAR! GOOD ONE!" the orc said. He turned to see where the dwagon might be. Unfortunately for the orc, the dwagon was right behind him, head cocked, eyeing the one, single area of unarmored body part on the whole creature. The orc heard one, single chirped phrase...

"HINEY BUTT!" This was followed by significant pain to said "hiney butt" as several very sharp teeth sunk unto his posterior. It of course, took a full five seconds for the pain impulse to reach the orc's limited perceptive faculties, during which time the dwagon hung on and sunk teeth deeper. So by the time the orc realized what was going on, there was a considerable amount going on.

"AAAARRRRGGGHHH!" the orc roared in pain, spinning once again to try to dislodge the dwagon from his backside. The dwagon of course, thought this was great fun, and would have continued to hang on as the orc spun, except for the irresistible urge to utter one, single cry of glee.

"WHEEEEEEE!" Upon which, the dwagon dropped to the ground, unfortunately right in front of the egg nest.

"I gonna get you now!" the orc roared. Forward he came, with the weight and muscle of a good size bear, placing the dwagon in a predicament. If the dwagon stood there, he would be stomped flat. If he moved, the eggs would be stomped flat. What could he do?

"LOOKIE DERE!" the dwagon cried out. "BLONDE NAKEE PRINCESS!"

"Whuh?" the orc responded, stopping suddenly in his tracks and spinning around to see what the dwagon was talking about. Which of course, was a mistake.

Instantly he felt severe pain around the ankles as a very swift ankle-biter used one of its main, instinctual attacks. The dwagon wove in and out between the immense feet, nipping at the orc's ankles in such a manner so as to continually draw the orc away from the egg nest. The orc chased the dwagon, which in turn kept biting his ankles, which caused him to further chase the dwagon, which kept biting his ankles in a bizarre battle dance. This dance continued until the dwagon looked straight up and noticed something else: the Orc wasn't armored underneath from the front side either. Nothing but rough cloth separated Orc from air.

Now, it is a well known fact that dwagons have different forms of breath. Some have fire breath, which fortunately for the orc was not the case here. Some have acid breath, which was with equal fortune not the case. But in this particular case, this dwagon's breath was sufficient to meet the need.

The poor orc's eyes widened as the sensation slowly dawned upon his dull brain. For when one speaks of dwagon ice breath, mere cold is not the issue. Even snow and ice cold does not come close. In the far, distant future, a group of men called scientists will discover a substance called liquid nitrogen, which might be almost as cold as dwagon ice breath. And that breath was focused directly underneath the orc, going straight up his chainmail skirt to unprotected regions. The orc found this somewhat disquieting.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed, which provided the dwagon with no end of amusement as the orc danced around, dropping both Slasha and Crunch as his attention focused completely on things far more essential to his well-being than a couple of mere weapons. Fortunately for the orc, his dull senses had caused him to move before all areas of anatomy were totally and completely frozen, and after a few minutes both orc blood and sensation began returning to numbed regions.

In the meantime, unbeknownst to both orc and dwagon, things were happening back at the nest. One peck, then two, then a chirp, then five, then eleven as the other eggs hatched. Eleven sets of eyes peered out of shattered egg shells, taking their first look at the world. And that first look was that of an orc dancing around and howling, clutching smarting body parts, and a small dwagon dancing around the orc... which was something eleven dwagons thought was funny to no end. Quickly they climbed from the nest and joined the orc in this wunnerful dance.

After a while the orc settled down, the numbness, followed by the pins and needles sensation, subsiding to the point it didn't require the entire attention of his limited consciousness. Regaining his senses, he looked down to see not one, but twelve dwagons, of all different colors, chirping and dancing right along with him. Slowly a smile crossed his dull face.

"HAR!" the orc cried out. "GOOD ONE!" and he sat down on the ground facing the dwagons.

"OK, no egg breakfas", the orc stated wisely, considering all the eggs had now hatched. Resigned to his fate, he reached into his backpack. "I guesses I jus settle for cookies."

Suddenly twelve dwagons stopped dancing. Twelve heads snapped toward the backpack, twelve sets of eyes locked on the hapless orc, and twelve little voices chirped in unison...

"Cookies...?"


-- o --

Copyright 2008 Snoots Dwagon

ELF CLAN CHARTER

At the entry point on ElvenSong (on ElfClan region, OSgrid)  there is a TOUR GUIDE. Clicking that tour guide delivers a notecard of all the major Elf Clan attractions. You will be amazed at how much is offered-- and how diversified the listing.

From Elven to Pirates to Star Trek to Warhammer 40k to TRON... we've got it. :)

Click on the TOUR GUIDE and enjoy!

--o--

Elf Clan Charter

VISITOR GUIDELINES     updated 2018-09-05 

Welcome to Elf Clan lands!

Basic charter: * HONOR * RESPECT * FRIENDSHIP *

NO DRAMA, zero tolerance-- fair notice.

New visitors and members are welcome! Feel free to explore. If a building is unlocked you are welcome to explore (if locked, please respect privacy). The entire land is at your disposal.


GUIDELINES and RULES
We are friendly folk, our lands harmonious and peaceful. Please help us keep it that way.
 

Family-friendly lands.  Please keep your appearance, chat and gestures honorable.  No see-through clothing or nudity, no lewd activities.

Ancient Elf Clan saying: "What you do in your home is your business. What you do in the streets is ours."

VISITORS:   Please recognize you are a guest in our home.  As in real life, guests are expected to conduct themselves with with honor, respect and friendship. 

These lands are a respite from crude.  Please help us maintain that peaceful, friendly environment.

THINGS TO AVOID

All region owners have control over their own lands.  We here discuss things that are wisely avoided in these family friendly regions.

* REAL LIFE.  People come to Elf Clan as a respite from real life worries.  Please help us maintain our peaceful and harmonious atmosphere by leaving real life issues and activities at the door.

* CONTROVERSIAL THEMES.  Occult, demonism, vampirism, sexual and foreseeably offensive themes and activities are excluded from these lands.

* POLITICS, SLAVERY, RELIGIOUS ACTIVITIES. Please check attitude and ego at the door.   Both politics and religious activities can be very  divisive and are not Elf Clan theme.  This includes national emblems, election campaigns, religious activities,  icons, statues or symbols of any kind.  In short, we're here to escape real life, not drag it into our fantasy-based lands. 

As a note: this includes fantasy-based gods and demons.  Over the years we have found it wise to completely eliminate such concepts on our lands.  Such things are unnecessary to theme and do not promote group harmony.

* Drama, propaganda, and people-with-attitude are  unwelcome. (Drama is defined as excessive emotional display and negativity, power-plays or "head games").  Visitors and members are expected to honor group guidelines rather than expect us to conform to visitor whims and opinions.   Zero tolerance when it comes to drama.  Friendy is the theme of the day.  ; )

* WEAPONS. Weapons guidelines are pretty much left up to each region owner.   In general, standard weapons guidelines apply.  Using a weapon of any kind on an unwilling target is considered abuse and handled accordingly.

* LOCKED AREAS. If a ground-area is unlocked (or allowed-exploration high sky area), feel free to explore.  We welcome visitors and explorers.  If it is locked, please respect resident privacy. 

Before entering a building, please check your map and if someone is home, "Knock knock!" is considered polite... just as in real life.  (This of course does not apply to obviously public buildings such as taverns.)

Sealed enclosures (such as no-visible-entrance skyboxes) are considered "locked".   If you have to "camera in" or otherwise enter the area without authorization... that is considered trespassing.

ELDAR and Land Owners.  The Eldar (ancient Elven) are the managers of Elf Clan, the ones who make and enforce group policy.  They are Guardians of our group, with ultimate authority.   Land owners are considered Guardians with similar authority over their own lands

Our Eldar and land owners go out of our way to be friendly and hospitable, considering all members as our equals-- so long as those members show equal honor, respect and friendship in return.  Indeed, a great deal of Elf Clan policy has been a result of friendly member feedback and suggestions.  Feel free to approach the Eldar with your ideas and concerns.  Feedback is our greatest asset.

CURRENT ELDAR:

Wayfinder Wishbringer (Founder of Elf Clan)

Peter Lioncourt

Moontan Valeeva

Cinnamon Raymaker

GREETERS & GUARDIANS

Snoots Dwagon

 
--o--

Note:  It has been announced that Windows 10 is not compatible with the Intel HD 3000 graphics chip.  It seems to be compatible with other graphics chips.  This article addresses PCs only, as I'm not an Apple user. 

Over the years virtual worlds have grown, development work has been done, things have improved.  We now have  better performance, faster performance, and wider computer compatibility. 

WORKS ON A NETBOOK???

So recently I was surprised to discover that computers which I would never have used for VR before... now work.  I procured a 10.5" netbook (tablet with a keyboard) .  It's super lightweight, has a touch-screen, and cost $299 +tax.  It uses an Intel Tablet processor.  It's not a "killer" computer by any means, nor does it have advanced graphics.

What I was surprised and pleased to find was that this little, low-power tablet computer works okay with virtual worlds.  Of course it's not as spritely as a gamer desktop... but it works.  I'm able to walk around without significant lag, I can create and build, textures rez.   Before now we couldn't recommend lightweight computers.  But the industry has improved.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOU?

Bottom line it means that instead of buying a gamer system just so you can use virtual worlds... you can spend $400-$600 and have a totally suitable system.  Rather than needing Nvidia and ATI graphics systems you can get by with standard 3D Intel graphics systems (with some exceptions as noted above). 

Of course, faster "gamer graphics" systems will perform far better.

WHICH PROCESSOR?

These days there are so many different processors all sporting different claims-- it's difficult to tell which is the best.  In general, Intel i5 and above or AMD Ryzen 5, 7 or above is recommended as good CPU systems.  You can get by with lower-power system like the i3... but it will be at some sacrifice in overal graphics.

The tablet I'm using as I write this article is a 1.4 ghz processor... and while it's not near the speed of my 3.6ghz i5 quad processor in my desktop, it does well enought for an ultra-portable touchscreen netbook.   But lag is to be expected in such a low-power computer.

You may want to shy away from unknowns such as A-class or E-class processors.  Celeron and Sempron are very slow; I strongly recommend avoiding such.

GRAPHICS CARDS-- THE ULTIMATE ISSUE

Rule of thumb:  A quality graphics card is more important than a high-level CPU.

There are so many different kinds of cards out there, and the numbering systems have become confusing.   The three primary cards are Nividia, ATI, and Intel HD.  Intel HD is not a "gaming" card, but it can do a reasonable job on virtual worlds.   But by all means, if you can get a quality Nvidia or ATI card, do so.  Some computers (laptops especially) have the graphics built in and cannot be upgraded.   So...

Be sure to do your research.  Visit the card manufacturing sites and compare card performance.   At this time I strongly recommend the Nvidia 1050 or above, or the ATI Radeon 10 or above. The specific card you want will depend on your needs and pocketbook.  Do your online research before buying and realize that the same model card can vary widely in price.  Don't get suckered in by graphics card shysters.  Read the customer reviews. 

WHAT ABOUT UBER GAMER CARDS?

This may come as a bit of a surprise... but examine the following facts (and please read it all, because otherwise some may disagree):

My prior computer:

i5 4-core CPU, 8 gigs RAM, GeForce 1050 GPU w/ 2 gigs vRAM

My current computer:

i7 8-core CPU, 16 gigs RAM, GeForce 3070 GPU w 8 gigs vRAM

Logically, the i7 system should just run rings around the much-less-powerful i5 system, yes?

Well... no.   In truth I noticed no difference in basic operation.  Textures didn't load any faster.  There was no noticeable difference in operational speed.  Worlds didn't load any faster.

What this means is that it seems there is a point at which these virtual worlds hit a performance ceiling. Beyond that, investing a ton of money in a high-level gamer system really just isn't worth it.   Instead of buying a "gamer system"... you could buy an i5 4-core with a 2060 graphics card and get along just fine... saving yourself several hundred dollars in the process (ie, a mid-level gamer system).  You can even go with a 1050 graphics card and get along well... as long as it has enough RAM.

Note that this article could use a bit more information on Radeon cards. In general however, Nvidia GeForce is considered the "card of choice".  Ask your local computer guru about Radeon graphics cards.

IS THERE ANY GAIN IN GAMER SYSTEMS?

YES, there is some gain in having a "gamer" system.  For example, I can now crank my draw distance up to 512m instead of 256m and it works just as well (credit that to four times the video RAM).  I tried boosting it to 1024m but that got a little glitchy in heavy-texture areas. With a gamer system you can use things like shaders, or set your system from high to Ultra... which may give you better graphics... or really may not.  If you don't notice the difference visually... tech specs are somewhat irrelevant, aren't they?

Most people will get along fine with a mid-priced i5 or Ryzen 5 / 7 system.  Most people will do well with a GeForce 1050 4-gig card or a Radeon 10 (I do recommend a bit more RAM than 1 or 2 gigs).   But buying a gamer-level system just for Second Life or Opensim... is really not essential.

COVID 19 NOTE

Due to severe damage by Covid-19, many Chinese chip manufacturers have shut down operations.   This has created a severe shortage in the graphics card industry-- and a resultant incredible increase in graphics card prices... if cards are even available.  Hopefully this will change over time and graphics cards will once again become widely available at reasonable prices.  At the original time of writing this article, shelves were cleaned of mid-priced grahics cards.   Now these cards are showing back up on the market again, at prices that aren't absolutely absurd.

BE AWARE OF MEMORY AVAILABILITY

There are two kinds of graphics memory:   1)  Dedicated on-card  and 2) Shared.

Graphics cards use either or both.  When purchasing your system be aware of how much graphics memory is available... and what kind it is.   Here are some guidelines:

* It is good to have 8 gigs system RAM available with Windows 10 or above.   If you get a 4 gig machine and your graphics card shares part of that RAM... you're not going to have much to use for virtual worlds.

* Dedicated graphics RAM (on the video card itself) is best in ideal situations, but avoid machines with less than 1 gig total graphics RAM (dedicated or shared).   Some machines only have 128 megs of dedicated RAM and can't share system memory; they will not have enough graphics memory to handle virtual worlds.

* As of July 2022, 4 gigs video RAM is recommended, but you can get by well enough on a minimum of 2 gigs.  1 gig will work but is pushing it.

* Shared RAM isn't as fast as dedicated RAM, but it still works. Shared RAM will often be found in laptops or cheaper desktops.

The main point is that it's now possible to buy a relatively low-cost netbook, laptop or desktop computer and have a functional computer for virtual worlds.  This is of course very good news for users with limited budgets.  Still, the more you spend (up to a point), the better the performance.  (See the summary, following.)

SUMMARY

Recommended system is an i5 or Ryzen 5 system (or above) with at least 8 gigs RAM, and a GeForce 1050 (or above) graphics card, or a Radeon 10 (or above) graphics card with at least 2 gigs vRAM (4 gigs is better).  Go with what your budget can handle.  Because the truth is, Second Life and Opensim just isn't up to the level of octa-core, high-level graphics systems yet.  There's just no real need to to spend the extra money unless you just want to.   Of course a gamer system is very nice and will offer some advantages... but those advantages will have a diminishing level of return per dollar.

--o--

Virtual Worlds are more stable than they used to be, but they still have some major issues.   So here are hints and tips for how to avoid such problems.  Mind you, nothing totally prevents lag and crashing.  But these hints should help reduce crashing significantly. 

CCLEANER.  (yes, that's 2 "C's").  If you use Windows, this is one of the best "cleaner" systems I've seen and has done more to help me maintain a stable computer system than anything else.  It's free.  Download and install the program.  Sometimes that's all that's required to get your system to run smoothly.  Do not use the Registry cleaner; that's a sure step to disaster.

ADJUST CACHE.  Set your viewer cache according to your system abilities.  Originally this was set low, but with today's gigs of RAM and high-level hard drives, you can often increase cache considerably.  However, cache being set too high can cause system confusion.  Adjust this to the point that it seems to work well, according to the following setting...

CLEARING CACHE.  Edit/Preferences/Network. If after time you find yourself crashing regularly or lagging extensively, simply Clearing Cache under the Avatar/Preferences/Networks setting might fix that problem.  Note that right after you do that things will run slowly for a bit as textures have to totally reload.

VIRTUAL MEMORY.  This is one few people know about, but is very important.  In Windows, Virtual Memory is your computer using hard disc drives to store constantly used information-- kind of an artificial RAM (I don't know how it works on Mac.  You'll need to research).  Chances are your VM isn't set nearly high enough.  Low Virtual Memory is one of the major causes of crashing.

   When I checked my system, my VM was 2 gigs.  I increased it to 9 gigs by using two hard drive partitions.  Any setting of 4gigs or more is probably sufficient.  There is a limit as to how much VM any hard drive is allowed, so if you have more than one hard drive you can set additional VM... although this may slow down things a bit as your system pulls info from additional drives.

Look up how to set Virtual Memory on the Internet.  Doing so will depend on your computer and operating system.

It's fairly safe to set  most hard drives to at least 4096megs (4 gigs).  Save these settings, exit and reset your computer.  When you come back in, go back to that area and double-check the new settings have been established.  Once you increase your VM, time between crashes should increase significantly. 

ADJUST BANDWIDTH.  Check your Viewer bandwidth setting.  Different systems will require different bandwidth.  After experimenting I settled on 1500 kbps for mine.  Your internet may require less.   The best way to test this is to look at the bandwidth indicator bar in the upper right corner of your screen, and see which setting keeps that bar on green the most.  If you're constantly going into the red, your bandwidth needs adjusting.  Experimentation will determine which is the best setting for your system.

ADJUST GRAPHICS.  Edit/Preferences/Graphics.  Graphics are even more important than your computer when it comes to VR performance. 

   Graphics cards.   A good graphics card is more important than a killer computer system and will have more to do with your overall performance.

   Low-Medium-High-Ultra.  These settings in your Preferences / Graphics area will directly determine how much stress Inworldz places on your graphics system.  If you have a low-power computer you may wish to use the blocky-but-adequate LOW setting.   Medium gives a bit better graphics while requiring relatively low system resources.  High will require a faster computer and good graphics card, and Ultra will require a "gamer" level system.  

   Graphics Settings. The graphics settings on your computer will greatly affect your performance.  Very few people can use the Ultra setting to advantage.  Most people find that High is best under modern home computers (2020).  For low-graphic laptops (or Intel-based graphics), lower settings may be needed.

   Draw Distance.  Withmost systems today, draw distance of 256 is a good setting. Some high-level graphicis cards can handle 512 or more.  In some situations (such as inside a store), setting graphics to 64m or 96m can cause textures to rez more quickly.

   Avatar Impostors.  Avatar Impostors imitates avatars at a distance, but it also destroys those avatar details.  Unless your system is low-performance, you're probably okay to click this off.  However if you have it off and find yourself crashing regularly, try turning it on and see if it helps.

   Detail Sliders. On the right of your graphics window are detail sliders.  If you're having crashing problems or serious lag, it is amazing how reducing those sliders to Med or Low will increase performance.  Unfortunately it will also reduce the detail of your graphics (on Low settings, cylinders turn into hexagons)... but your performance will improve significantly.

  Shadows and Advanced Shaders.  Shadows are pretty.  Shadows are graphics hogs.  Unless you have a powerful graphics card, leave shadows and Advanced Shaders off.

   Emergency only:  Basic Shaders.  Some users report serious problems using any shaders at all.  If nothing else you've tried seems to be working, turn off Basic Shaders.  This will majorly affect the quality of presentation, but if you're on an old, slow computer with minimal graphics, it may make the difference between being able to use the system consistently or not. 

CLOUDS.  Most folks aren't aware of it, but the routines that created animated clouds in the sky take more graphics resources than one would expect.   If you're having regular trouble with lag or crashing, try turning off clouds.   You'll wind up with just a clear blue sky... but it may make the difference you need.  You will find this in the ADVANCED / RENDERING menu.

AUDIO AND VIDEO.  If you're standing in one spot (like a a dance, regardless of animations), audio will likely not cause problems.  With very low performance systems, audio can increase lag.  But most people don't care at a dance; they're not physically moving much anyway.

   Video.  My recommendation:  don't use video in-world.  If you want to view a video, ask the land owner for the direct-access link (if possible). 

   Video loading can create stop-dead lag, serious performance issues, and even crash your viewer.   You can run a direct-to-computer video (such as YouTube) and your Viewer at the same time with far less drag on your system resources.

    In most cases, turn off "auto loading" of both video and music.  Switch them to manual so they're not being triggered every time you cross a parcel line.

ADDITIONAL TWEAKS.   The following changes may assist greatly in handling texture tracking and other lag issues:

Preferences->Graphics->Hardware Settings
Turn off the option Enable Streamed VBOs

Advanced / Debug Settings / XferThrottle

and

Advanced / Debug Settings  
FSDestroyGLTexturesImmediately

Under older 32 bit computer systems these had to be regulated.  Under modern 64 bit systems these can be left untouched.

    Don't be afraid to tweak graphics settings.  You can always reset them to default if necessary.   But if you are crashing regularly, the system being stable or unstable may depend on one setting you haven't yet tried adjusting.  So take the plunge.  If it helps, it helps.  Don't be afraid to try something you haven't tried yet.  It may be just the trick.

--o--