I was planning to write a topic of Red Dragon existing for 7,5 years when i read a notice D&J's closing down its weekly Friday party's in OSgrid. DJ Jaymaze and host Dorothea will leave a legacy of 7 years of awesome party's every weekend. Being the biggest social community hub in Opensim based worlds this will surely have an impact on OSgrids community. I know from experience that running an active club for some years starts to feel like a job, a responsibility towards your friends. Maintaining this for 7 years is just amazing. People underestimate what devotion it takes to entertain others on a weekly basis, especially in an environment like Opensim. I know it's extremely difficult to "quit" when you run a weekly event for multiple years. (feels like giving up on your friends). Since i have had the privilege to have them as friends, and meet them both in RL, I also know they have taken a very long time to come to this decision.
Unfortunately, i don't believe in "sabbaticals". I know D&J will miss their event even more than us visitors will. But after being "out of it" a while, it's very hard to restart. It's that moment, you realize how much energy and effort you have put into the community, the commitment it took, and how difficult a decision it was to stop. It's extremely hard to "devote" to that again. 7 years is a lot of Fridays.
So i'd like to thank Doro and Jay for all the countless hours of fun, the great times, the party's, the awesome music, the great conversation, all the friends they enabled us to make, and being the cement in the Metaverse community. You will be sorely missed. You might feel to will be forgotten, but I can assure you both, you became part of the many hearts you've touched, will linger in many peoples memories, and bring a smile to people's face when thinking back.
If you have ever attended D&J's party's and had a good time, come say goodbye at the 4th of September, when they throw their "Grand Finale". Make it Epic.
The last D&J Friday party.... The world doesn't stop, but it is the end of an Era. Or at least will feel that way. There will still be a Friday party somewhere, as there can't be a gap when the weekend starts, people need to relax, socialize and party. But without being in the UFO on Close Encounters, with our trusted host and favorite DJ it is going to be different.
Also Opensim lead developer Justin CC announced in a Blogpost his interests shifted away from virtual worlds and thus more or less resigned. Various sources assured me there are still plenty of very capable people committing to the code, and despite it being a huge loss, it will not "end our world".
All the above are true losses for Opensim & OSgrid, which to me personally are more significant than "missing assets". On a personal level, i'm happy for all of the involved. On an avatar level, it feels like the world is crumbling, as it are all extremely devoted people "leaving", and those cannot be "replaced".
