I see that Virtual worlds has come up as a possible development project
for the squeak community. I have some interest in this subject, being
inspired by the fact that I cannot participate in any of the current
virtual worlds through my choice of Windows 3.11 over all later versions
as well as the Enix classic, Dragon Warrior 4. 

I have considered many of the problems mentioned on this list such as
how to make it work, how to let players extend it, and how to make it
livley enough for people to want to spend time there.

I have also considered political and economic systems. I have been
greatly inspired by this vision of a "metaverse" and have begun to
design a system based on this notion. One of the key design features is
interface compatability, the preferance for existing internet protocols
over arbitrary interfaces. For example, A bulletin board on a wall in
one of the shops of a town would be a usenet compatable NNTP newsgroup
using the virtual world's newsserver. You could view it with either an
embedde news reader (also capable of accessing the usenet) or you could
use any real-life usenet client to access the same board through the
VW's servers. 

Unfortunately, I have been forced to put this project on the back burner
as I need to build an acceptably good OS first. (The Virtual world would
then serve as a killer app for that OS). I am really interested in the
Squeak "NOS" project and hope to help the project's founder create a
strategy for making it reality as well as helping him find managment
techniques which will harness the help he reports as being overwhealming
at present.

I do not have a working squeak system at this time. I have an "OS-TEST"
machine (a refitted 1992 vintage 486), that I am willing to install a
squeak supporting OS on. Unfortunately it only has 520mb of disk
space... =\ 

Currently it has MINIX on it. 
I am open to suggestions regarding how to procede.

-- 
If your grandmother can use Linux then perhaps she wouldn't mind
admining my server/router and my workstation for me, I just don't have
the time.    http://users.erols.com/alangrimes/  <my website.