Saving the Pot Healers in Numbakulla

I have been running walkthrough events the last couple of evenings, and talking to players on the island. Many people have asked me if there is anything they can do to save the build. So I have been wracking my brains....

Apart from the chance that an Angel is going to appear to sponsor us, the only other option I can think of is to group together and contribute tier to the group. There is aready a users' group, which is free to join and open to all. If there was enough support, and we could get a sim's worth of tier, then I am sure I could find someone to buy a sim and let us use it.

I have been looking at the threads for the other immersive builds in SL, and I think one of the problems with deleting after a couple of months is that people often haven't got around to visiting - they miss the opening events, or don't realise stuff is there until it has gone. I have often taken new people on a tour of my favourites only to find that about 50 per cent of the places I have included have been taken down and the people moved on.

The problem is that very few people can afford the money it takes to support a sim and pay thousands of dollars out in land tier over the course of a year. But together...if there is a will to save the pot healers, we could do it. If everyone who reads this thread could contribute any left over tier, it would soon add up.

So...this is an open invitation to all to join the user group and contribute tier if you think the sim is worth saving. If you haven't been and don't know - don't just stand there...get over to Numbakulla and have a look!

Cali

Nothing has impressed me more about SL than my visit to Numbakulla. It seems a great shame that something that has been so expertly crafted and run with such enthuasiasm and good spirit, can't be a permanent fixture in SL.

It is a vast truly beautiful sim, and also a cracking adventure game. People compare it to Myst and Riven all the time, but I think it stands out on its own, having been crafted within a massive multiplayer environment and of course overcoming all the limitations that entails.

I for one pledge all my L$'s to save it, and would be happy to communicate the need to save this fine work to all others I meet in SL.

Save Numbakulla!

p.s. I read on the main website games section that:

"When you create a game in Second Life, you can take your idea and sell it anywhere. Linden Lab grants full IP rights to the digital content you create in-world. Several Resident game developers have already exercised these rights to sell a cross-platform version of their in-world game to a real-world publisher, or rented out their in-world game settings for commercial use."

Is there anyway you could exploit this and get external funding?

I just want to add some clarification to Caliandris' post as I've been receiving some terse messages asking me why I'm getting rid of the Pot Healers game from Numbakulla (I own the island).

For those that don't know, the Pot Healers was the winning team in a competition I ran in November last year to find a team to take control of the island for 6 months and develop an attraction for Second Life as I would not be in a position to use the island for that length of time. Rather than just return the island or sell it, I wanted to give a group of people the opportunity to develop something free from tier fees etc.

The team got the island at the start of December so at the end of this month they will have had it for nearly 7 months in total, all paid for by me. In addition dwell payments have been split (I originally said I would keep 50% of dwell and the team 50% but, so impressed was I at what they had achieved, in the end I became a team member and we split the whole 100% up evenly between everybody). Now that the island has qualified for the May developer incentive I will also be doing the same 100% split on that again because of how impressed I have been by them and their efforts. If it also qualifies for the June one, the same will happen.

I have not gone back on my promises and followed through with all I said I would to the competition winning team. I feel I have given all the support, encouragement and help that I could and the team repayed that by creating something absolutely fantastic (which was always the point of the competition!) However, my involvement has to come to an end as funding projects like this is costly and I already have done for 7 months. In addition I now have more time available for SL and, naturally, would like to use the island again.

I hope that clarifies things for some people who appear to have the wrong end of the stick. I think the entire team should be extremely proud of what they've achieved and, as Caliandris knows, I have said that I will help to make any transition as easy as possible.

I want to say again what I have told everyone who has asked me directly... Moopf gave us a wonderful opportunity to develop Numbakulla during the course of the competition period. He has paid all tier fees and owns the private sim that the Pot Healer's game is on, and so we have been able to do something that we wouldn't otherwise have been able to do.

The team was always aware that Moopf intended to take down the game at the end of the competition period, and it is only right that he should gain access to his sim back, of course. PLEASE don't give him a hard time - he has done a lot for the team and I should have made this clear in my original posting. He has given us unqualified support and a great deal of his own money, over the past six or seven months.

Opinions are divided among the team about whether we should simply accept that the game has run its course, or should try to move or preserve the game in some way. However, among the players there seems to be a lot of affection for the game and the build, and I thought that asking people to join the user group and donate tier would give me some idea of the level of support...that way, we will know if there is a will to preserve it. If there is, we can work to do that, and if there isn't...well then we will have to let it fade into the sunset...and go on to the next project .

I appreciate all the messages of support and offers of help that I have received, thank you!
Cali

A meeting is planned for 1pm Saturday PST to talk about the ideas that people have had for being able to move the Pot Healers and keep it after the competition is over.

It will be held in Numbakulla, naturally enough...all those who want to join the discussion are welcome.

The bottom line is that the cost of keeping Numbakulla would be roughly 3040 US dollars in the first instance, and 2090 thereafter at current rates.

Ideas that have been suggested are selling shares in a new group, renting out plots, selling unique items to support the game, setting up a charity group and raising donations of money or tier or goods to sell.

We could try holding fund raising events, like auctions and sales. Anyone with any ideas, please IM me or post here.

Incognita Lumiere is collecting donations for the project, please donate any unused Lindens to her .
Thanks
Cali

Over the weekend we held a brainstorming meeting in Numbakulla, to discuss the possibility of raising enough money to buy the sim which the Pot Healers game currently occupies, and pay the land tier fees over the next six months.

In the course of the meeting, I received pledges of 600 US dollars, and had already collected 15,000 in linden dollars.

We agreed to form a group, and to give a financial stake in the group to each member, with a share per thousand lindens donated to the game. This will enable equitable sharing of any proceeds should the sim have to be sold in the future. We are using the exchange rate US$4 = 1000 lindens to calculate the shares due people donating in US dollars.

We have agreed to try to raise the US$980 to buy the sim in dollars, and then to try to collect pledges from people agreeing to pay 1000 lindens or multiples of 1000 lindens to pay the monthly land tier. This will be in the region of 50,000 lindens a month. I already have pledges for 12,000 per month, and 45,000 lindens are now in the group's money chest, too.

To raise the US$380 balance for the purchase of the sim, we will be running fundraising activities, such as raffles, auctions, sales, and pay-to-enter build and show and tell competitions...please watch the events list for those. If you have items originated by you, which you would like to donate, please send them to Syber Stryker. If you would like to donate lindens, please send them to Incognita Lumiere or go to Numbakulla and use the donation jar at the telehub. If you would like to donate US dollars, please contact Caliandris Pendragon.

I was trying not to be overoptimistic about the chances of achieving the goal of buying a home for the Pot Healers and Numbakulla...but this has exceeded all my expectations. Thank you all! We will publish details of donors once we have obtained permission from all those who have contributed....
Keep up the good work
Cali

a wonderful place hope your project to save it is going well.

I hope it can be saved it's really a beautiful sim.

have not heard what was happening with this any progress?

I can update you on this! Over the next couple of days the island should have been finally transferred to the Pot Healers and so it will be staying in Second Life I'm sure Caliandris will post an update soon.

Sorry not to have kept you better informed about progress with Numbakulla and the Pot Healers.

I have been overwhelmed by the generosity and affection of the players of the Pot Healers in Numbakulla. After some very large donations from a small group of inviduals, we have raised the purchase price of the sim, and the transfer of ownership to Alan Keisler, who has agreed to hold Numbakulla on behalf of the group, is underway.

We are receiving donations of Lindens large and small, every day, as people discover Numbakulla and move to do their bit to save it. At present we have around three month's tier in hand, with about 45,000 lindens towards another month's tier.

People have been generous with their money, time, support, and others are working on items to sell in aid of Numbakulla.

Unfortunately, my RL has been a bit complicated over the last few weeks, as my son is due to have surgery at the end of July. However, we have plans for regular events at Numbakulla, and developing the story and the games in the future.

There are a number of groups associated with Numbakulla, and we will be rationalising these in the next few weeks too. We have a build group, beta testing group, explorer group and financial supporter group. Everyone who had donated more than about 10 lindens by the beginning of last week ought to have been invited to join the supporters' group. I shall update the donation record and invite anyone who has donated since that time as soon as I can.

May I say thanks to all the people who have donated to the project and helped to preserve it . We will be producing a proper thank you list of donors and supporters in the near future too - I am petrified I shall forget someone if I start that here...except to say thank you particularly to Moopf, for continuing to support the game, and holding on to the sim for us.
thanks Cali