I totally understand. However, the point I was making wasn't about Inworldz succeeding-- but OpenSim failing to grow through infighting like we see in these blog comments.
But to address your issues:
* The majority of those "lost" regions were grid-hosted test regions that they shut down because the intensive testing being performed ended. Their subscriber rate has remained relatively stable... especially compared to SL, which is declining at the rate of almost 200 sims a month.
* Mesh isn't supported YET, but is on their list. Instead of working on toys, they've been working on stability-- something both OS and LL should have been focusing on all this time.
* Media on a prim is not going to make or break a grid-- as is proved by Inworldz popularity. That feature is something they can add whenever they get a chance to do so. Second Life and OpenSim both survived for years without MoaP; I think Inworldz can too. ; )
* According to reports Pathfinding has caused severe lag and performance problems on SL... and I seem to remember that LL "released" their pathfinding-based staff and plans no further development in that area (correct me if I'm mistaken; hard to keep track of all this stuff). So Inworldz is going to fail because they don't support a kluged half-baked "gaming" LL fail-system on a 3D social platform?
* NPCs-- maybe I'm behind the times... but does ANYONE support actually functional NPCs? Does OpenSim? OSgrid? Linen Lab? Again-- Inworldz is not a "game" environment. NPCs aren't needed-- because we have real people behind the avatars. To me, that's the whole point.
* It's not that Inworldz doesn't support the most popular viewer. It's that viewer doesn't support Inworldz. Before long, most likely Second Life won't support that viewer either. There is serious talk coming through the grapevine-- repeatedly-- that LL has plans to shut down all external viewers and require the use of 4.0 when it's released.
It's not the viewer you use that's important; it's whether the viewer you use WORKS.
Viewers are the biggest security and stability issue with VR. After all, the viewer is half the software. If it doesn't work, VR doesn't work. And currently, every viewer on the market has some really severe problems.
Regardless of Viewer, Inworldz is still the most popular grid outside of SL-- indicating to me that viewer isn't all that essential to users of Virtual reality worlds.
Instead-- Inworldz is developing their own official viewer and I can tell you from experience... it's the most stable and functional viewer I've used to date. It may not have all the toys and bells and whistles some people want-- but I can use it all day long and not crash. I kinda like that. : )
* Regarding vehicle scripts-- you may be unaware that Inworldz just completed Phase I of PhysX and that they're providing free vehicles scripts to their users. They are now working on Phase II... which will include projectile and total vehicle scripting. No, it's not currently SL-compatible; it's Nvidia PhysX instead of clunky Havok. Inworldz is not trying to maintain SL compatibility. Second Life has a very bad reputation when it comes to vehicles (does anyone really LIKE Second Life vehicles? And how do well vehicles work on OpenSim, btw?).
Why should Inworldz try to imitate SL? The idea is not to duplicate or clone SL; the idea is to do BETTER. : )
* EVERYONE is still in beta-- including Second Life. Virtual Reality has been in a constant state of beta since before I first joined in 2004 and has remained in that state ever since. SL has never left "beta" state.
* Yes, Inworldz charges more than OpenSim grids-- because Inworldz is a professional business, with professional paid developers, and they're creating a more powerful, secure and stable grid than OpenSim-- by far. That can't be done by giving things away for free and with no working capital.
Other grids don't charge as much because they cut corners and use basic OpenSim software-- which isn't all that stable. They don't have Phlox, they don't have PhysX and they don't have Inworldz stability. Inworldz totally re-wrote their asset server system from the ground up. Quality costs.
Bottom line, despite the points you made above (all of which are true... just incomplete in analysis)-- Inworldz *is* the most popular grid outside of Second Life. That tells me they're doing something right.
On the other hand, OSgrid has some 10-12 times the number of sims of Inworldz, and not near its active population. The point I was making was not insulting OSgrid or OpenSim. The point is that the fighting that has been evidenced on this blog (again Maria-- excellent job on the blog)-- just might be a reason OpenSim hasn't progressed further than it has. There's a thin line between "freedom" and anarchy.
An old truism: "A house divided against itself cannot stand."