One of the oldest grids in OpenSim, the 3rd Rock Grid, returns.
The grid shuts down in 2024, and many of its former residents have found new homes at ZetaWorlds.
But now original owner and founder Terry Ford is bringing the building back to life.
Ford began work on the grid in 2007 and opened it to the public in 2008. By August of that year, he had leased 178 locations, and the grid was also the first OpenSim grid to have a work permit system and a work economy.
3rd Rock Grid was also the first home of content creator Linda Kelly, who changed the look and feel of OpenSim by offering a huge amount of free, original, fully licensed content, helping new grid owners serve their users without violating copyright laws.
“She started OpenSim at 3rd Rock Grid and played a huge role in our early success,” Ford said.
But his wife passed away and he had no choice but to step down.
“At that time, I didn’t have time to dedicate to the grid,” he said. Hypergrid business. But he still continued to work on the grid in the background.
In 2015, he opened a new Grid and OpenSim hosting company, DigiWorldz, but still helped 3rd Rock. He said, “We continued to manage servers, code, etc. until 2021.” That’s when 3rd Rock Grid’s new owners decided to create a non-profit organization and move technical support to a team based in Europe.
When 3rd Rock Grid closed in 2024, he offered to help again or buy the domain back. “But they refused,” he said.
Then last month the domain went up for sale again.
“3rd Rock Grid has meant a lot to me and many other people over the years. Because of its history and many firsts, we had to bring it back,” he said.
So far, Ford has offered the same three regions where Grid first launched in 2008: Welcome, Hunter, and Our Town.
The welcome area is open to the public and accessible via the hypergrid. Grid.3rdrockgrid.com:8002.
“But there’s nothing there yet,” Ford said. “We expect it to be ready for new users within a week or two.”
Ford does not have access to the grid’s content at the time of the closure, but has 196 former regional backups following the 2021 transition.
“I can’t use these backups because the grid wasn’t mine at the time, but if the past owners agreed and someone wanted to put it back online, I would,” he says. “But again, only with permission from the past owner.”
Previous local owners can contact him directly to see if backup is available, he said. (email protected).
So what happens to Ford’s current grid project, DigiWorldz? The grid, currently measuring 2,535 standard regions with over 13,000 registered users and nearly 2,000 monthly active users, will continue to be maintained as it has always been.
“It will be business as usual at DigiWorldz,” he said. “3rd Rock Grid is not DigiWorldz, and DigiWorldz will not become 3rd Rock. Although they will share internal systems and a new control panel, the two Grids will be separate entities, each with its own unique identity made up of users. I hope that some of our former users will return and help us build the 3rd Rock Grid community of the future. Everyone is welcome.”
Regional pricing information for 3rd Rock Grid is not yet available on their website, but DigiWorldz has regions starting at $11 per month for a 25,000 premium standard size starter region.
