I am sorry for my delay in posting. So many great points have been raised have been expressed in the last couple of days. Now, where to begin...

Ah, Groups! We thought that by putting a high price on group formation, we would naturally limit the number of Groups created. But with little else to do with site currency, perhaps this backfired. People may have created Groups just to have something to do with their idle cash.

The idea of Groups may still be valid, but the sub-community need they fill may be partially picked up by Hoods and partially diffused by the sheer number of inactive Groups.

As a solution, we may try to cull inactive Groups and make the approval process for new Groups a little more difficult (not based on site currency). Finally we could make the replacement of inactive leaders a possibility.

The Hoods - I think we were all surprised by their success. Why are they so successful, and why have they cannibalized Groups? Both are forms of sub-communities and both allow people to register their participation in the sub-community. Why would one turn out to be more desirable than the other? There are two differences between Groups and Hoods: First, Hoods are not controlled by individual leaders and secondly, Hods are spatialized. Perhaps it is these very qualities that are proving to be more desirable?

The Festivals are a way of giving people common goals toward which they may work together. Working together is a communal bonding experience. The objections to non-stop partying may actually be a form of asking for other communal goals. One goal that has been floated many times before is the building of encyclopedias and libraries.

At one point, I was ready to begin development of the "Encyclopedia Antica," a knowledge base that the community could build that would be as factual as possible. But this would not be the vines. It would be a component of the community, integrated with it. When I learned of the Wikipedia project, I thought that it has been done. But perhaps it is time to consider such a project?