VP at Excite will be going offline, permanently probably, in the next few weeks, as Excite goes bankrupt (get your points at fuckedcompany.com now! LOL).

We have two really good options for chat at the moment. Please add your own thoughts here!!

Option #1: The Palace We have a Palace server space we could use to build an Exile page. How do people think about the Palace?

Option #2: Virtual Places (pay to use) There will be a VP started soon after Excite's demise, but it will be pay-to-use. Right now they're talking about $10/month, though that will most likely change. What do people think about that as an option?

Option #3: Fill in your own option here!!!

-- editrix (editrix@windhaven.com), October 06, 2001

Answers

I believe PaulaS has been Palacing more recently (yeah, I haven't been using it lately, either, Cardi ... though I remember I liked it well enough).

PaulaS? Can you lend a comment for us?

-- editrix (editrix@windhaven.com), October 06, 2001.

Anyone tried Blaxxun's VRML chat?

http://www.blaxxun.com/ c/s?cat=9&sub=2&url=/products/contact/index1.html for the free client product. I haven't run 5.1 yet, but I'd be more than willing to "go in" someplace built to be a Blaxxun VRML environment and play with people in there to see if we like the software and environs.

Let me know, eh?

-- editrix (editrix@windhaven.com), October 06, 2001.

Ashes -- my lissa looks like it could be a good alternative. Do you know who these people are? Just curious.

Hey Taliessin -- what happened to that chat client you were working on? The test version you sent to me was promising!!

-- editrix (editrix@windhaven.com), October 08, 2001.

Oops. And I missed this Sunday in VP, too. I was ... um ... not to give you all too much detail ... detained in the bathroom. Every 10 minutes. It wasn't pretty. I'm getting back on solid food now. Sorta. Just a bug.

-- editrix (editrix@windhaven.com), October 09, 2001.

There is no such thing as a registration code for Exile -- it's a community. Right now, we're "living" over at the message boards at http://www.communityzero.com/exile-test

We still never solved the online real-time chat issue, and so are scattered. I think some people are using iWon/Excite's "new" chat server, which emulates Virtual Places, but isn't the same program at all. It's free.

The boards I mentioned above are free, too. I pay for the space every year out of my pocket to keep it going.

See you there, perhaps.

-- editrix (editrix@windhaven.com), February 10, 2004.

Both #1 and #2 seem workable. I haven't tried the Palace more than a couple of years. Perhaps someone else has been there recently? Damned bad luck and timing to have zero down at this time. Has Excite announced anything definite on closing?

-- Cardialgia (Cardialgia@rocketmail.com), October 06, 2001.

What do you think about the delphi forum? I used it briefly when I stayed with my aunt. Granted it doesnt have some of the neat features that we have gotten used to in VP, but it might be a worthwhile alternative.

-- SunflowerGirl (dianne63@hotmail.com), October 06, 2001.

Where ever everyone wants to go, I'll be there. As far as I'm concerned I don't want to lose contact with any of you! My email is posted and please count me in! I hate to lose touch with some great friends I've made in here. I'll flow with the majority! Ken

-- washngo (gowashkf@home.com), October 06, 2001.

I'd vote for the Palace option. Far more polished, in my opinion than OpenVerse, which is another option being bandied about. The client (and server if desired), and registration code generator is available at.....http://www.cuddlersdream.com/palacedownloads.htm

-- MrEtchaSketch (pz9670@prodigy.net), October 06, 2001.

I've been to the palace recently, and although I prefer Excite to the palace, I would choose the palace over openverse, which..is so messy. I think it would be a nice alternative for awhile, plus, we could have fun making nifty avs. =) i don't know if you can have gests there...*sad*

-- paulas29 (aluap_73159@yahoo.com), October 06, 2001.

Hey there...anywhere you choose is fine - just please let us know how to access it. Don't want to lose track of my friends :)

-- gobbles (gobbles2@hotmail.com), October 07, 2001.

I've not been to anything else, so I'm easy to please. Just please, let me know how to access it.. (Not that I've even been able to catch up with anyone).. But I keep trying.

-- Quiet_X_2 (semper) (r_wilson99@hotmail.com), October 07, 2001.

I'm with Gobbles... wherever you go, I'd like to know where. At $10 or more a month, VP doesn't seem like the best option. How do you get to the Palace? (e-address please) Oh, and it's Sunday, Oct 7 and I'm here! :-) ~Fates

-- Fates (fatesfolly@hotmail.com), October 07, 2001.

The Palace sounds like the best option at this point and if we already have access that makes it even better : ) I wandered through openverse again and I agree with paulas...it's messy. I would most likely pay $10 a month to chat, but I won't sign any contract for long term service.

-- ashes (melinda73119@peoplepc.com), October 08, 2001.

Took a look at my lissa http://www.abyss-multimedia.com/index3.htm It could be interesting being in on the beginning of a new chat forum...good find edi : )

-- ashes (melinda73119@peoplepc.com), October 08, 2001.

Editrix Letting the proverbial cat out of the bag eh?

As you have seen in the test version there were not many of the features of VP yet. All I have done since that version is working on the inards to allow it to use other servers like IRC or Community Zero.

I guess one big question I have about writing a chat client is: Will people be willing to start with limited functionality, that gets added to later a bit at a time? Some functions may never make it, other new ones might be born.

This is just something I do in my spare time so it's not a big budget production.

-- Taliesin (taliesin@excite.com), October 09, 2001.

I suppose I can commute to Palace since I'm rarely in VP anymore. I'm usually over at pogo.com trying to win some free cash, or on IM and email. I'm up for whatever you all decide is free, but from a poor college boys perspective, keep it free if at all possible, else Dale and I might not make it in!

Drizzt

-- Drizzt Do'Urden (Christopher_Carleton@msn.com), October 09, 2001.

Tonight in Triv one of the folks has a friend who works for excite who said: "NEWS FROM EXITE-----no plans to close vp "in the near future", but it will eventually be merged other unspecified chat progs"

-- Landshark2001 (stewmeister@hotmail.com), October 11, 2001.

Landshark - since the only person at trivia who I know "works for Excite" is host-arial, she can back me here when I say we both know that Excite is planning to shut down all operations soon. All includes chat. While Excite may sell the list of chat users & email accounts to another company as part of its divestment of assets remains to be seen, most likely they will either (1) shut down without notice or forwarding or (2) recommend everyone go to another chat and then shut down.

Either way, VP at Excite is ending soon. You can ask management -- remember, I used to be that management. We still talk often.

The one person left working full-time for Excite in chat (the manager) is actively planning to run a for-pay VP server with the now- freelance techie supporting VP. The other tech was just laid off this week. The manager is promoting this new (not yet open) for-pay VP while still running Excite's VP for right now.

They plan on asking for $10 a month for VP use. That's $120 a year from every user. I want to wait to see if this changes before making any recommendations out of hand.

There are still options open for us. Let's discuss them before we all get scattered, eh?

-- editrix (editrix@hotmail.com), October 11, 2001.

I won't be paying for a chat. Can't see spending that money when I really don't use it that much. There has to be other chat places out there. I'm seeing several suggestions that might work for us. Just keep me posted on where we end up going. If it turns out that everyone is going to pay, then I guess I won't see anyone except via e-mail. :-( I was hoping that when Excite was bought out that they would keep all of the old programs and just maybe spruce them up a bit. Oh well. Will try to make chat this Sunday, as last week was hectic. Not as hectic as Editrix's was, though! LOL. See you all again soon...I hope.

-- PandaBear (kismet@dmci.net), October 12, 2001.

if any of you have downloaded the palace software here is the addy you type into the first and second fields, put 'house of media' in the first, and '9998' in the second (minus the ''s) its a beautiful place, with many adjacent rooms, and i'm having too much fun there. the animated avatars are hilarious paula

-- paulas29 (aluap_73159@yahoo.com), October 14, 2001.

oops....i need to fix the address i gave...it is suppose to be 'houseofmedia.com' (don't forget the .com)

-- paulas29 (aluap_73159@yahoo.com), October 14, 2001.

Paula -- I wonder if the old Palace (olllldddd) is still up anywhere. It was the original sci-fi one run by fans, not by scifi.com. I'll have to poke around, I guess. Dang, I'll have to find my old palace AVs on the old computer now! When do you go into the Palace, so I can find a friend there to talk to :-) ?

-- editrix (editrix@hotmail.com), October 14, 2001.

Paula -- Alas, I tried to run my old Palace software and found I had to update it. But since communities.com no longer exists (the makers), it's impossible for me to get the old paid registration (yes, I go back to when Time-Warner started the Palace, and I paid for it all) on my Palace software working. And you can't do a "free registration" anymore. This means anyone who wants to enter a Palace as a new member ends up being a stupid yellow ball. Grr. I was a Palace Pioneer. It's getting to me that I can't make it work, but it's impossible -- not without major hacking. I went to your palace (houseofmedia) and it looked promising, but it says "members only." I was a member, dammit! I was one of the first 100 or so Palace members that ever existed. Arggggg. (Sorry, am frustrated that I'm excluded when I helped start the damn thing in 1995-6.)

-- editrix (editrix@hotmail.com), October 14, 2001.

Ed, just go the Palace download site I posted above. You can download a newer chat client there, as well as the "Client Registration Code Generator (Windows only)". You input a random number into the program, and it will spit out a valid Palace registration code for you so you can have full "member" capabilities.

-- MrEtchaSketch (pz9670@prodigy.net), October 15, 2001.

Alas, the link to the key generator is nonfunctional. I ~did~ look before complaining. :-)

-- editrix (editrix@hotmail.com), October 16, 2001.

I can send you a copy, but I downloaded it today it seemed fine.

-- Taliesin (taliesin@excite.com), October 16, 2001.

I'll go anywhere the rest of you choose to go. I'll pay $10.00 per month or download the palace software or do just about anything to stay in touch. (We [Mr. Laighe and I] still haven't heard anything from Lotus/IBM about leasing VPsoftware ourselves.) Just let me know what the plan is! : ) I don't want to lose track of everyone.

-- Laighe of the Limberlost (laighe@excite.com), October 21, 2001.

just lemme know where you guys go ok

-- ink!!!!!!!!! (tattooed1@netzero.net), October 27, 2001.

I downloaded a chat program with avatars called Vertigo. I lost it when I installed windows xp. I am attemting to download it again, but, the site is down. There is voice chat in the IM's and there are tours as well as a web browser.

-- Susan Galjour (susan_rambunctious@hotmail.com), April 13, 2002.

Can anyone just give me the registration code for Exile 1? please?

-- Leopold Richtcello (banezer@hotmail.com), February 10, 2004.