Probably One Of The Worst Ideas/Questions I Have Ever Posed: "Is There Any Community-Building Opportunity in The On-Line Game Zero AD?"

Probably a non-starter in this particular game. I did actually play 0 A.D. a few years ago, and recall it being unusually difficult for a Real Time Strategy game. The object in RTS games, traditionally, is to gather resources, build a base, field an army, and destroy the enemy. These games are usually designed in such a way that the average match lasts around an hour.

What you are proposing would be very unusual for a game like this, and would be more appropriate for something like a minecraft server or some other sandbox game. The kind of game where there are no real goals, and nothing one actually must do.

I agree with Joshua on how Minecraft (or any similar virtual space) would be more appropiate, but I'm not sure if it's the most efficient way to spread epicurean philosophy in younger people.
I found an article (link below) on how some people do their job meetings in videogames: GTA, Animal Crossing, Minecraft, etc. However, I think it works with people they already know, not for integrate new people. In those cases, they didn't' want to have more Zoom meetings. My opinion is that so far our Zoom meetings and the forum itself are good enough for the creation of an epicurean community.
Perhaps tiktoks or (more) videos in YouTube may have more impact in attracting new younger people.

Executives are getting together in video games, to bond, brainstorm or rampage. (Published 2020)

www.nytimes.com

This whole virtual environment thing has been talked about as the "next big thing" and "we'll all be meeting and working and playing in [fill in the big virtual world system]" for at least 20+ years. I remember when everyone was going to be meeting and working and playing in Second Life:

Second Life - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

There were going to be conferences and libraries and exhibits and who knows what else in Second Life. Evidently, it's still a thing according to Wikipedia but I never hear about it.

Now, it's Meta and Zuckerberg's Metaverse.. and that's evidently hemorrhaging money and credibility.

I agree with Onenski . Stick with online dedicated meetings, YouTube, and (if there was actually a dedicated infrastructure and staff) social media. But social media takes consistent content creation and engagement... and there aren't enough "staff" in the Garden to keep that up.

Second Life seems to be close to what Cassius aims at.

A neighbor of mine uses it regularly to meet friends who live in Scotland. In addition to joking around, he plays virtual orchestra with them.

I am Maetes4 in Second Life. However, Maetes4 has hardly done anything in the first few months and has been in a coma for the last several years since then. I just checked: It seems there is an "Epicurus Beach" in Second Life but it seems that that one refers only to hedonistic activities and not the philosophy. Moreover, there are 3 "Epicurean" sims or whatever, but they are for adult rated and other entertainment. There is no Epicurean Garden or Kepos yet. If there is sufficient interest among us, we can consider building one and see how many people come in to explore the place. However, while playing is for free, building a place might cost something.

This is all very interesting, however as I saw Don's post above about Second Life and how to purchase land in that virtual platform, it came to me that this isn't the same as actually having a physical headquarters -- such as forming a non-profit, renting office space, and having weekly/monthly meetings. So reading this thread brings up further ideas (because I think online gaming or virtual reality is not a good place for spreading Epicureanism).

Some possible ideas for moving forward:

1. Clarify and organize Epicurean philosophy into a system and format which can clearly and easily be taught (books, courses, pamplets).

2. Offer well organized online courses

3. Outreach to atheist groups, attend atheist events to network, and hand out pamplets

4. Find enough supporters through outreach who get "on board" and then form a non-profit

5. Find a good location to start a physical headquarters (near a college?)

I've never heard of Zero A.D. but the first thing that came to my mind was Second Life and similar games such as VRChat or other outlets such as a MC Server & even GTARP. I've thought there to be some potential in MC or VRChat, as even during the pandemic some were switching boardroom and conference meetings via zoom/skype to Among Us or Garry's Mod.

That being said, while a (further) digital community might be out of the picture for now, it would be entertaining and quite novel to see a replication of famous Epicurean sites in one of these, the ruins of Herculaneum or a depiction of the Garden in Athens, etc.

As far as virtual environments, I don't think they include the Garden (game is set earlier) but the YouTube channels that provide tours of ancient Greece via the game Assassin's Creed: Odyssey are pretty cool:

Open in YouTube for the full playlist.

I'm not a player myself but from what I understand they've done a good job of reconstruction.

Quote from Don

As far as virtual environments, I don't think they include the Garden (game is set earlier) but the YouTube channels that provide tours of ancient Greece via the game Assassin's Creed: Odyssey are pretty cool:

I'm not a player myself but from what I understand they've done a good job of reconstruction.

I've played Odyssey before. It's pretty accurate and some of the dialogue itself is mixed with Greek alongside English (or whatever language is chosen.) Samos is included in the game's map, but like you said it's set earlier, during the time of the start of the Peloponnesian War, thus, Samos is known more for its wine and for Pythagoras.