• How Metaplace was born

    Hours Categories Gamemaking
    Comments 1 Comment

    I got asked where the idea for Metaplace came from on our public forums. I wrote this lengthy reply, which turned into a blog post over there, and now a blog post over here.

    I came from the world of muds. That means I got my start in virtual worlds in the days when anyone could download a codebase, and assuming they had a server they could get going and dive into running a world of their own.

    That went away with the big MMORPGs. But when we did UO: The Second Age, there had already been a movement among players towards having “grey shard” server emulators. Some of the tools users had made to hack the UO datafiles were actually better than the tools we had in-house.

    So I informally floated an idea for the expansion that didn’t go anywhere. Why not release the game server as a binary, release documentation for our scripting language (which was fantastic for the time), release our tools client, and let people make their own worlds?

    You will have to go over there for the rest. 🙂

  • VW08: Business Guys Debate the Future, one take

    Hours Categories Game talk
    Comments 5 Comments

    Dusan Writer has a take on the panel I was on, casting it as Metaplace vs Linden Lab — though to my mind that leaves out the contributions of Mike Wilson of Makena and Corey Bridges of Multiverse. That’s because Dusan is interested mostly int he clash of philosophies about where virtual worlds are going:

    But it leaves a question: are virtual worlds places? Or will the technologies that enable 3D spaces become so ubiquitous that we’ll stop thinking of them as distinct places? Because in Raph’s view, the tools and technologies to create 3D artefacts, the system for managing your avatar and identity should be EXPRESSION-agnostic. In other words, we should have the tools for creating content and then be able to seamlessly publish that content to cell phones, browsers, Flash, separate clients – whatever, it’s not the viewer, it’s in the engine from which content is derived and creating standards and tools for expressing the content from that engine.

    FWIW, virtual worlds are definitely “places” in my mind. But to me, clients and devices are merely windows that look onto that place. That doesn’t preclude rich 3d “windows” — I merely happen to think that multihead, flexibly represented VWs is the future. I would swap the word “engine” for “server” perhaps, or “world.”

  • VW08: Technical Visionaries Debate the Future

    Hours Categories Game talk
    Comments 6 Comments

    Liveblog, excuse trhe typos!

    Technical Visionaries Discuss and Debate
    The Future of Virtual World Technologies
    This session will analyze the future course of virtual worlds technologies. Join us for debate between leading industry technology experts on the future of the technology, where it’s headed and what needs to be done to get there. Don’t miss this lively conversation.
    – John Swords, Director of Business Development, The Electric Sheep Company (moderator)
    – Ian Hughes/epredator Metaverse Evangelist, IBM
    – Ben Goertzel, CEO, Novamente LLC
    – Mark Wallace, Chief Executive, Wello Horld, Inc.
    – Christian Renaud, CEO, Technology Intelligence Group

    Mod: When we brainstormed, a common theme was that we might be at a point where it’s time to talk about VW’s 2.0. The last few years could be described as 1.0, what characterizes the changes and what is 2.0?

    Ian: The 2.0 thing kind of scares people, geeky. For me, there’s stuff that is probably going to happen that breaks this avatar model. There may actally be better ways for us to interact as humans over this medium, and it may be that while we try to repicate the world and dress up in interesting ways, that there are better ways, whether it is motion tracking or other ways we choose. That may be a leap we need to take, though avatars has brought some acceptance.
    Read More “VW08: Technical Visionaries Debate the Future”

  • At VW Expo Wednesday

    Hours Categories Game talk
    Comments 1 Comment

    I’m driving up to LA tomorrow morning for the Virtual Worlds Expo. I’ll be on a panel. If you’re there, say hello!

    1:00 – 2:00 pm Business Visionaries Panel: Where is the Business Headed Next?
    Innovation is coming fast and furious on multiple fronts from multiple vendors. This one-of-a-kind session brings together the business visionaries of major virtual world companies for an interactive discussion on the future of the industry. Join us for a session you won’t want to miss.
    – Ginsu Yoon, VP of Business Affairs, Linden Lab
    – Corey Bridges, Executive Producer, Multiverse
    – Michael Wilson, CEO, Makena Technologies, Inc.
    – Raph Koster, President, Areae
    – Joey Seiler, Editor, VirtualWorldsNews.com & Virtual Worlds Weekly (moderator)

  • A Theory of Fun is available again on Amazon

    Hours Categories Game talk, Writing
    Comments 13 Comments

    This is a nice blog anniversary surprise!

    I don’t know for how long, or why (maybe the publisher stuff is sorted out? Maybe someone found a cache of them hidden under a mossy rock north of Pirate Cove) — but it’s claims 1-3 weeks shipping time, and it’s $17.24, and it’s not used copies. As you may or may not know, it’s been out of print since last October or so, and copies have been going for as high as $300.

    If you’ve been waiting, now might be the time to order it!

    Theory of Fun for Game Design @ Amazon

    BTW, if any current owners want to review it, it could use some fresh reviews…