A Tale of Two TPs

'Safari' means journey in Swahili, and the hypergrid safari is really two journeys in one. There's the sightseeing trip, of course, but there's also the 'I'm going to beat this 'Identity Not Verified' crap if it kills me' journey, and last night was perhaps our greatest ever triumph in that department. 

 German Grid is a hypergridding Shangri La. Dabici Straulino summed it up in an IM.
Dabici.Straulino: My curiosity is driven by the fact that I have never been able to visit German Grid and this what ever the multiple ways I tried.  I just checked using the LM to Folkcafe - same problem - unauthorized teleport.  and I tried with the second destination, Star trek - same message Any ideas why I experience this - and I am quite good with hyperjumps in general.

On one of our very first Safaris, when there were just four of us, we tried to tp Fuschia to German Grid for about fifteen minutes without success, so it's not an Atlantic problem. Too many people tp'ing all at once? It can't be that, since last night half the group got to the destination pretty much immediately, leaving Francogrid Thirza surrounded by disgruntled safaristas, who decided it was the red Star Trek jumpsuit causing the problems.

The Francogrid Clubhouse

Star Trek? Well, our second destination was Copper Tomsen's Gateway to the Stars, also on German Grid, so there are free Star Trek TNG jumpsuits at the Francogrid clubhouse. here is Roxy Gellar rocking a Science Officer Star Trek/Franco-avie mashup. That's Edy Rau sitting in front of her, goodness knows what he thought.

 It was a surreal experience to have one foot in the silent tp-frustration laden atmosphere of the Clubhouse, and the other at the thrilling joyous concert of  Wolem Wobbit in the iconic Folk Cafe. What kind of music? Well here's a flavor:

See what I mean? Fun stuff! You need to get over to Youtube and subscribe, huh?

The live set was being streamed on Radio Nettetal, and look! there's the Folk Cafe audience right up on their website.

Because there is nothing 'virtual' about listening to Mr. Wobbit and friends even if the inworld band has something of the NPC about them. Edy Rau was the perfect host and the venue is lovely, edy's not doing inworld concerts at present because he is working on his RL music - so watch this video and Like it on YouTube, please!

 The tp's and the music sort of absorbed us all, but German grid is a lovely destination in its own right, with a nice Plane Ride complete with NPC pilot, a cruise around the bay, not to mention a small Freebie area, and now 'even' Dabici has been to German Grid, I bet we will all be returning again and again. There's music at the Cafe every Wednesday from 20.30 CET.

These are just some of the 20 + who eventually made it from F-grid to G-grid without any trouble. The audience peaked at 34 avatars. Metro Thirza sent out tps to the folks left behind every few minutes, which must have been amazingly annoying. Some got them, some didn't, and after a while the real journey of safari began, as people started strategizing. It's unscientific, but it works, because in the end, barring latecomers, it appears we got everybody but Wizzy there even Dabici made it.  I really thought Miso Susanowa was never going to get there, but after a massive 25 or 30 offers of tp, she finally walked through the door.
Of course, we could just set up a gate at the Clubhouse and have people jump through it. But what would you learn from that?

Miso Makes an Entrance

Strategies include - going to get a drink and trying the tp again after waiting for a good 5 minutes. Going to another sim on the same grid - although Francogrid Thirza tried this on about 6 different sims and got 'Unable to verify' everywhere, until she went back to the clubhouse, tried again, and arrived instantly at destination. Karima Hoisan went back to Kitely, and that worked for her. Some found being tp'd by avatars helped, others found the Landmark worked better, still others used the 'Type it into the Map' system and got there. James ATLOUD went to Hyperica and jumped. Some tried going to the gates on Sanctuary and couldn't get into German Grid. The most bizarre has to be Art Blue who was clicking on the tp link in the IM window and was being redirected to a 404 web page. Fuschia got to the concert but her attachments didn't, which hasn't happened in weeks, but then she lost internet which kinda explains that. Wizzy just couldn't get there - was it the weather? The distance? The resilience of Safaristas is always heartening and amazing. The prize has to go to Wizardoz Chrome, who jumped to another sim on the grid, and then walked to Folk Cafe. It took about 40 minutes to get everyone there.

Second destination, also on German Grid, was Gateway to the Stars which is Copper Tomsen's colossal labor of love. He made everything and there's more than prims here. A whole cultural backstory beams out at you via the many posters, memorabilia and explanations that surround you on every side. There is way more than you could hope to take in during a single visit, including a Vulcan village and a nice bar on the space station. 

Wizzina and me studying the Vulcans

If you are looking for a RP home in the open sim Space tradition, this might be the place for you.

 They certainly have plenty of room.

 Very last stop, back on hgsafari sim, Francogrid. There's a dance platform on the north of the island, and there's a Questionnaire Notecard at the Clubhouse on the other side of the mountain, which I'd appreciate you taking the time to fill out.
Next week, don your waterproofs, and/or winter gear, we're heading to a Winter wonderland, and hopefully a concert on the Titanic. Hopefully. See you there.

Nara, Lucy and me strutting our stuff at Phew