(not) Inside the 3D world of Kaneva Beta (updated)
Wondering how long it takes to get an invite to see the 3D side of Kaneva.com? Yesterday Weirdharold tipped me off to this place with his post. I’m not quite sure if Harold is inside the world or not yet, but I did see a few other VTOR authors checking it out.
This morning I registered for the site and started exchanging raves and approving every friend request. Yes, complete online strangers were filling up my friends list and then later a few faces I recognized like Eric Rice / Spin Martin and fellow VTOR authors Lestat and JohnnyRS. I found the ease by which people were offering me friend requests to be almost uncanny. I don’t remember any other site where I’ve been able to grow a “friends” list so quickly.
The actual profiles of people are MySpace messy and it’s well advised to turn down your speakers before visiting each page to ‘rave’ them, which is basically just offering a thumbs up vote for either their page, community, content, etc. There is a definite window of opportunity to jump in now and get into a back and forth raving mode with others to generate activity. Not sure how long this phenomenon will last, but it’s there now at the moment, perhaps because a lot of people want to get invited to see the 3D side of the world.
Update 3/2/07 3:26pm PST: I must apologize to the folks at Kaneva for learning that there is NDA in place and I was not given permission to post about my status as a beta tester nor to post any pictures or accounts of what’s inside the Kaneva 3D world. I have edited this original post and will not disclose anything further about the virtual world of Kaneva until the NDA is lifted.
BTW, thanks to Eric Rice / Spin for pointing out the absurdity of this NDA.
March 1st, 2007 • 
TD Goodliffe • 
comment | March 2, 2007 at 16:44 | individual comment-link
I dunno if that really counts as an NDA. The system was broken, you could use the world without hitting accept. The screenshots are going to happen anyway, in a world where people just game for raves, doubtful.
Anyway, made a ton of progress with texturing today, figuring out how it works. I’ve got various things to show off.
And it has nothing to do at all the massive conferences I’m speaking at either. /smirk.
comment | March 2, 2007 at 17:16 | individual comment-link
Well it’s not any kind of NDA system I’ve ever used/seen/agreed/disagreed to before. You tried out the game design engine software yet (or is that NDA too)?
comment | March 2, 2007 at 17:18 | individual comment-link
Not yet. I’m strapped for time. I think I at least ‘get it’ enough to know where to rank it. There’s so much stuff coming down the pipe that a good sampler-platter approach might work best. I’m a studio, not an agency, so it’s not mission critical for me to be all over that like ESC, RRR, or MOU.
But damn, is my house PIMP. xD
comment | March 2, 2007 at 17:26 | individual comment-link
Hehe, I remember this virtual Vegas MMO that let you totally trick out your pad. I reviewed that over at Hmm some time ago. I should peek in there and see what’s happening. A pretty neat idea for a casino-oriented MMO. You could even put working slot machines inside your place and people could earn $$$ playing them.
comment | March 2, 2007 at 17:27 | individual comment-link
I still have no access to the virtual world I shouldn’t be talking about even if I had an invite. But getting all these friends and raves make me feel really good inside even if they are all fictitious.
comment | March 2, 2007 at 17:29 | individual comment-link
Yeah, the whole semi-fictitious ‘friend’ thing still fascinates me. I don’t know where these ‘frienships’ will lead, JohnnyRS. Maybe that’s a worthwhile study for when the NDA is lifted. What happened to all our ravers?
pingback | March 4, 2007 at 06:13 | individual pingback-link
[...] have started to appear for Kaneva. Mark Wallace awaits in anticipation, TD Goodliffe’s first impressions are good, Shankar Gupta is lukewarm and Lordfly Digeridoo panned [...]
pingback | March 4, 2007 at 09:35 | individual pingback-link
[...] is still under NDA, which is getting obeyed, bent, or broken to varying degrees. 3d apartments, check. Pre-built geometry that you can buy and [...]
pingback | March 4, 2007 at 18:53 | individual pingback-link
[...] is still under NDA, which is getting obeyed, bent, or broken to varying degrees. 3d apartments, check. Pre-built geometry that you can buy and [...]
pingback | March 7, 2007 at 15:46 | individual pingback-link
[...] Sight unseen I’m excited and next month an early beta is supposed to be available for free download with the actual launch in fall. I’ll post plenty of screenshots and details here when this arrives assuming of course it doesn’t come with an NDA like Kaneva. [...]
comment | June 3, 2007 at 23:37 | individual comment-link
I joined the Kaneva world in 2006 and am having the time of my life filling my virtual apartment with stuff from the virtual mall. I have decorated the place using my own design and am able to upload audio/video to my virtual tv. My avatar is capable of different gestures and dance moves while sporting the latest in fashionwear from a wardrobe hand picked by me also purchased from the mall, all the while being able to chat by using my own chat window. I’ll be able to upgrade to a larger apartment or 2 story loft at anytime or an empty warehouse that I can design my own floorplan using construction materials from the mall homestore.
Credits for purchasing are given when you join and when they run out, you can get more by logging on certain times per week in 2 hour time spans. If decorating apartments gets boring you can invest in a theater,club or cafe…design it and be able to open it to the public sharing your own media or media from the Kaneva audio,video center. You also get a 2D profile page with many options.
L.M. Peaslee
Orange County, Ca
comment | June 4, 2007 at 08:00 | individual comment-link
L.M.,
We realize that Kaneva will carve it own niche community on the web, but they are a long way form actually being ready to go public.
I am always bitching about Second Life, and by comparison to Kaneva… Second Life is perfect. The main difficulty with Second Life is the learning curve, which keeps volumes of people that show up in Second Life from continuing on.
Your building in Kaneva is so limited at this time! First You must purchase from Kaneva any boards etc you wish to build with. Second you have no choice on the repeats or alignment of textures you apply to the surfaces. Your hand picked wardrobe purchased from “the” mall is from an extremely small collection available. Your dances and gestures are some of the most silly looking I have seen in any “game”.
Overall your comment attempts to glorify Kaneva, but I have to say, Kaneva is still in its infancy stage…. and has a long way to go!