2010 hasn’t been the most endearing of years. While the real world has teetered on economic and natural disasters, its many virtual counterparts haven’t been spared either. The year began with the closure of Metaplace.com, and as March begins to take hold, There.com, a visionary in the virtual world’s space will also cease to exist. That is just sad to hear.
There.com has influenced virtual worlds across the web. While Twinity has remained grounded in real life cities, many other options and features have been inspired by There.com.
Yet features and options are just a part of a virtual world, for what really makes anywhere ‘home’, is the people and the community that surround it. In its decade long run, There was able to amass a loyal community, one which thrived on creation and interaction. These people and their avatars will, in one fell swoop, lose their homes. Will all the time and effort they spent in customizing and building, conversing and befriending, be lost on the internet?
We’d love to hear your thoughts.
* What will happen to the community, what will be missed the most?
* What will the community be looking for in other virtual worlds?
* Can Twinity serve as a new home?
Just comment here, on our facebook page or come to the special inworld event today at 6 pm CET.
Comments 6
I checked There years ago and was very disappointed so left.
What was nice is the physics but that is all.
Maybe there was a good community and friendly faces, but I never met with that.
So on my side I don’t mind to see There go. But There was similar to Twinity in ‘crafting’ and I wouldn’t be surprised to see some Thereiran as a Twinizen (already or in the near future).
I am not sure that you are aware of it but just noticed that Thereirans are sent letters to Blue Mars and about to settle there. Seems there will be a fight here between Twinity and Blue Mars.
There is surely one point where Twinity is better and that is the hardware requirements (however not too expensive to build a Blue Mars ready computer in these days).
My reaction is the same as Nimrod’s. I was first a trial user in 2003, then came back for a spell in 2007. Both times I was awed by the artistry but after a few weeks of exploration there was nothing much else that held my interest. This is because There barely developed its product throughout the years and waited until the last minute to do anything. By the time it added all the content that players had been begging for years and years, it was too late.
Lack of development was just one of the many terrible mistakes There made over the years:
http://thetwinitymonitor.blogspot.com/2010/03/wow-death-of-there-my-reactions-and.html
Twinity, take note. No matter how revolutionary, innovative, or trendsetting your product is, none of that matters if you don’t develop the business sense to run it properly. You saw what happened to There. There revolutionized the metaverse. Others came along, copied its innovations, and not only beat it at its own game but stole its status as the innovator. (It’s unbelievable that everyone today rants that everything is a “ripoff” of Second Life as if it invented everything when its entire success was due to its adoption of There’s virtual economy.)
So really understand just what’s at stake here. It’s not enough to be innovative and create buzz. There’s the actual running of the place and developing your world to its fullest potential. Without that, you have nothing. Worse yet, all you do is leave room for another less innovative company to come along, borrow your ideas, and capitalize on your mistakes to be the “next big thing.”
Whatever you do, don’t let that happen. Think clearly about your business plan, don’t cut corners, look to successful competitors for clues as to how they got it right, and above all, develop your product to its fullest potential.
I answered your second question on my blog today:
“What will the community be looking for in other virtual worlds?”
http://thetwinitymonitor.blogspot.com/2010/03/who-are-thereians-and-why-its-important.html
@nimrod and @r.c.
thanks so much for your comments. actually, i think there are even more places trying to grab the therians. 🙂
@r.c. – i read both of your posts, and i really appreciated your analysis and feedback there.i’ll post a follow-up on it on our blog later today.
As a therian now in Twinity, i must say that there did take some investment of time to really get to know and love what was available. the artistry was incredible.such talented designers. what grabbed me was the ability to own your own neighborhood and design it into whatever you wanted. i was constantly trying new things.
there are lots of sites trying to grab up the therians. utherverse has nice graphics and a free house for premium. all decor is free. i love that, but everything is so sexually oriented. i stay in my own four walls, and just work on decorating. great practice, lol.
i did not care for kaneva at all.
blue mars is great, but until they make it streaming, not many will use it. not much to do there either. i am quite happy here. always friendly people. is a bit laggy on my pc, but its ok.
thank you all for the gracious acceptance of us homeless therians!