Comments on: Who here has replaced virtual worlds with Facebook page?

By: TD Goodliffe

TD Goodliffe — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:44:21 +0000

Matt - what's next? I think we're seeing innovation inside the framework of existing virtual worlds. The problem is the people behind the frameworks are not innovating alongside the users with great enough speed and frequency. It's amazing what happens when a large group of creative people get together inside a confined space. There is also music collaboration happening all over the world being brought together in videos like this one (which Eric Rice shared through his blog, interestingly). This stuff seems prophetic to me: http://ericrice.com/spin/2009/01/28/stand-by-me/ The whole concept of a typical office meeting will continue to be challenged as it is both time hoggy and non-environment friendly. It's already being challenged with web conferencing and I see further expansion. I have to write a follow-up post on this because I've been seeing web collaboration and training in the corporate world changing dramatically the last few years. It's a worthy topic. Virtual worlds can be strong in an educational context as well. Imagine a classroom science project using something like Second Life (in a controlled environment where no flying penises can intrude). With budget constraints these days a lot of field trips are being canceled and our children are growing up without the benefit of exploration beyond the classroom walls. Virtual worlds might provide -- although not as good as the real thing -- an opportunity to explore and expand young fertile minds.

By: Eric Rice

Eric Rice — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 20:55:34 +0000

Accessibility. I’ve become so lazy that I log into my favorite SL sim by way of an IRC gateway, because I really don’t need/not in the mood to log in and have to move around.

There’s also no explaining the others (more or less). Worlds and games need a broader method to access the universe. As far as voice goes, once we start chatting in world, using voice in world, making our screens larger to hide the world, why exactly are we in the world at all? And why don’t we have this belief about game worlds (hint: context).

An aside: my captcha phrase was ‘insanity person’

By: Matt Dickman

Matt Dickman — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:25:40 +0000

There are a lot of amateurs out there who move from one hot thing to the next, to most they are tactics in the marketing toolkit. I think it’s very poor strategy, but it does happen b/c companies are curious and more willing to try it.

To your point, I think the future of virtual worlds could be strong, but it will take people with *your* vision to work it out. Lack of innovation is killing it right now and there is nobody looking at what’s next.