There is an interesting multiplayer environment. It’s very focussed on chat and since all characters are humans, that can be a bit strange. Especially given that they all look so cute. Same style, same age, etc. It’s as if the designers are trying to create some “Love Boat dynamics” (and indeed, the first thing that happened to me was that a girl took me to a secret pool and immediately wanted to kiss me -I mean I did look incredibly cute, but still… 😉 ).
Anyway. What is interesting in this game is that you don’t have complete control over your avatar. Especially in social situations. All avatars respond to each other autonomously. When you walk past someone, their avatar will look at yours. The player doesn’t need to give it a command to do so. It’s autonomous behaviour. When you try to participate in a group, the avatars move out of the way, to make some room for yours.
And then there is the special conversation mode which connects the avatars together in a group activity. The camera changes to show the whole group and the avatars look at each other. Once in a while, they will nod simultaneously to each other, again without user intervention. It’s as if the avatars form their own community.
This automated body language works really well to create a feeling of social harmony. Willy-nilly you believe the avatar on the other side, and its automatic behaviour subconsciously puts you in a friendly mood towards the player represented by it. Very powerful stuff.
Posted on June 7, 2006 at 4:40 am
Hi Michael!
I’m Joel, an active member of There. By the way, There isn’t a game but rather a user created virtual enviorment. It is 90% user made. There actually gives its member professional tools to build and mold their own world, one of the very amazing features of There. Also, users make actual mini-games inside There, so it is sort of like games inside a game.
Yes, you are right that all of the avatars are human but I expect There to release more avatar customization in a little over 3 months, so stay tuned for that. And indeed, there is a romantic style to some of There, more mystery to me tho. Also I love how you commented on the avatar dynamics.
All of the avatars, including animals, have Artifical Intelligence in There. In a way each avatar has its own personality, the way it makes faces and its body language toward other avatars. But the animals, which are only dogs currently, have more artifical intelligence then the avatars. The dogs in some respect observe and learn from their enviorment, at least that is what I have noticed from my observations.
There is meant to be a communications and creativity platform, which I sometimes call a CCP. What I love about There it it allows the members to form and mold their own world. They choose what experiences they have and what activities they perticipate in. Also, I like the picture you choose. It is of Saja, basically a lost floating city of some kind.
Also, There has a history actually. There are ruins, temples, old buildings, and artificates from “before avatars ruled over There”. I actually sometimes finding myself pondering what this building or that artifact could of been used for. It is quite interesting, you find yourself getting into There and almost thinking you are in world. It is a very immersive and creative world. There is an experience any social or artistic person should have.
Well, see you in There Michael!
Posted on June 7, 2006 at 8:37 am
I like how There locks characters into a conversation. And when that happens the social situation steers a lot of the behaviour.
An explicit way of doing this, is sitting down on a bench or any other object that allows this.
The interface for interacting with the world like this is very elegant: rather than clicking on the bench itself, you click on a little 2D graphic symbol that floats on top of the object. Then a menu opens from which you can choose how you want to use the object.
I like this as an interface because it clearly seperates the reality of the game world from the reality of the player’s world. I’ve always been annoyed by highlighted or growing objects in games. And I don’t want my cursor to be part of the game world.
Posted on June 7, 2006 at 8:41 am
One way of dealing with the “Love Boat dynamics” would be to allow players to modify the look of their avatars in more extreme ways. Then you could make yourself look ugly if you’re not interested in romantic encounters. Or old or young to avoid such contacts with characters from different age groups.
There already allows you to change your appearance in-game whenever you want to.
Posted on June 7, 2006 at 12:28 pm
I checked out There a while ago, but was scared off by all the user created content. Also, I don’t enjoy being in the middle of nowhere, I like things to happen all the time, focussed action so to speak.
Therefore I really like http://www.imvu.com/ . It’s rumored to be a spin-off from There, but much more compact. It’s basically MSN Messenger with an avatar.
But do check it out, I love the graphics, the simplicity and even the marketing model. Most pollished software I’ve come acrosss in a while.
Posted on June 7, 2006 at 8:44 pm
Yeah Michael, I do like There’s interface as well. It is simplified, easy to use, and navigate all at the same time. Also, There does have a way of seperating the game world from the actual user world.
But Dylan, why don’t you like the user created content? It adds a depth and creative feel that most other online MMO’s don’t have. Also I think it is in a way profound to allow the users to shape and mold their own online world, to do the activities you want to do.
Also Dylan, I have tried IMVU as well. I actually have it installed on my computer this moment. It was created by the same guy, Will Harvey, who created There. I guess the company wasn’t following the direction Will wanted so he left. But that is complicated and old stuff, basically There is back on its feet now. However, after Will left he went on to create IMVU. You’ll find alot of There members in IMVU, sometimes even I check in on it to see what new features or change have been made.
Posted on June 8, 2006 at 12:11 pm
I already something about There and IMVU, yeah. As long as they are still friends, everything’s ok right?
About user created content:
It’s just that most users aren’t artists, nor designers. If you want your game to look pretty, don’t let non-artists meddle with it, as far as I’m concerned.
Of course, if looking pretty isn’t the main focus of your goal, than user created content can be a tremendous asset! I strongly believe in giving users (or readers, buyers etc) more power – flight of the creative class.
As a new-comer though (and as a researcher rather than a user) I felt a lot of the content had a negative impact on the whole package.
On the subject of these types of games / applications: I really dislike Second Life. I know it is extremely popular, but the graphics are just ugly, ugly, ugly. And I was disappointed to see there were only ‘beautiful’ people in Second Life. As an experiment I created a really fat afro-american man, but I really stood out. In fact, I felt lonely.
Posted on June 8, 2006 at 12:51 pm
[…] or (in There-speak) create a seperate “conversation mode” where the conversation itself selects (part of) the animations rather than the individuals […]
Posted on July 7, 2006 at 12:30 pm
HI! I’m a There player, I really love the game for many reasons 1.its 3d! 2.you get to meet people & 3.You get to play games! Tam
Posted on July 7, 2006 at 12:50 pm
In that order? 🙂
Posted on July 22, 2006 at 9:51 pm
I have played in “There” since Beta amd I still have never found a game like it. I think that the whole system of combining chat text entry with the triggering of expression, Listening to music while your little avie dances,Virtual pets.
Exploration of There’s immense and tremendously varied cyber-landscape; either on foot or by vehicle by land or air. Travel to space!
Arranging houses or zones to create living quarters, meeting places, game rooms, movie sets, race tracks, mazes, and more.
Buying, selling, and trading of member-created items has endless possibilities.
I don’t think another V.W. can compare to “There” That’s why it is alive and prospering for over 3 years now and many more to come.