vZones
Internet enthusiasts have created many visual virtual worlds in which users acquire virtual characters and then interact with each other. Examples include “Active Worlds, Worlds.com, Whyville, and vZones.com.” Explore one of these worlds. In your blog, provide the name and URL (if not one of the above) for the world, explain how it works, and describe what is engaging and/or not appealing about it. How real is the interaction in the virtual world? Describe how it feels to interact through the use of a virtual character.
I explored two worlds: vZones and Active Worlds. vZones is celebreating their 10th anniversary, or at least the server I was on within vZones, "Dreamscape," is.
When I entered vZones Dreamscape, I was given a choice of avatars, and then shuffled thru a very brief orientation. After orientation, I was spit out in the welcome center where a little rabbit greeted me and gave me some additional debriefing. The little rabbit was a real person, and led me around to find some real people to chat with.
I logged on at 11am CST, and there were not a great deal of people logged on. I met one other person, Doodles, but the phone rang so she had to catch that.
The world itself is brightly colored, like a comic book, and from what I saw, layed out like a city. I walked down a street, past a fountain where a number of avatars were sitting, their owners away from the keyboard. I continued down the street until I found the Caribe bar. I entered, expecting to find some action, but the bar was empty.
Frustrated at not finding anyone to chat with, I logged out.
I've used these sorts of chat programs before. I used to use The Palace, which was a precursor to the 3-d virtual worlds.
What is engaging about these worlds is possibility, on many different levels. There is the possibility of creating a whole new persona for yourself. The opportunity to meet people castly different than yourself. And, although this sort of annoys me, the chance to buy virtual commodities. That is, you can upgrade your avatar with expensive clothes, a BMW, Bolle sunglasses, and so on. This commercialism is sad, but it also creates a far more realistic virtual world, one in which people are still defined in part by their possessions. It seems that humans need to divide and classify, and even in a virtual world, we'll find some way to do so.
One can dance and date and travel in the virtual world. One can do the things they wish to do in real life but are inhibited from for some reason.
One thing that is a barrier though is the fact that communication seems to occur in soundbite fashion. Your text, what you say, appears in a bubble above your head, and conversations are generally quick, shallow, and develop based on hsort bursts of text. It's not convenient, and I think even frowned upon, to "say" something a few paragraphs long and take up the netire screen with your words. Maybe that's just my impression, but I have a hard time saying anything really meaningful.
Although, in the end, these worlds, like a popular bar on Friday night, give users the opportunity to socialize in a new venue, one devoid of clouds of smoke, loud music, and the inevitable drunk chauvinist.
I explored two worlds: vZones and Active Worlds. vZones is celebreating their 10th anniversary, or at least the server I was on within vZones, "Dreamscape," is.
When I entered vZones Dreamscape, I was given a choice of avatars, and then shuffled thru a very brief orientation. After orientation, I was spit out in the welcome center where a little rabbit greeted me and gave me some additional debriefing. The little rabbit was a real person, and led me around to find some real people to chat with.
I logged on at 11am CST, and there were not a great deal of people logged on. I met one other person, Doodles, but the phone rang so she had to catch that.
The world itself is brightly colored, like a comic book, and from what I saw, layed out like a city. I walked down a street, past a fountain where a number of avatars were sitting, their owners away from the keyboard. I continued down the street until I found the Caribe bar. I entered, expecting to find some action, but the bar was empty.
Frustrated at not finding anyone to chat with, I logged out.
I've used these sorts of chat programs before. I used to use The Palace, which was a precursor to the 3-d virtual worlds.
What is engaging about these worlds is possibility, on many different levels. There is the possibility of creating a whole new persona for yourself. The opportunity to meet people castly different than yourself. And, although this sort of annoys me, the chance to buy virtual commodities. That is, you can upgrade your avatar with expensive clothes, a BMW, Bolle sunglasses, and so on. This commercialism is sad, but it also creates a far more realistic virtual world, one in which people are still defined in part by their possessions. It seems that humans need to divide and classify, and even in a virtual world, we'll find some way to do so.
One can dance and date and travel in the virtual world. One can do the things they wish to do in real life but are inhibited from for some reason.
One thing that is a barrier though is the fact that communication seems to occur in soundbite fashion. Your text, what you say, appears in a bubble above your head, and conversations are generally quick, shallow, and develop based on hsort bursts of text. It's not convenient, and I think even frowned upon, to "say" something a few paragraphs long and take up the netire screen with your words. Maybe that's just my impression, but I have a hard time saying anything really meaningful.
Although, in the end, these worlds, like a popular bar on Friday night, give users the opportunity to socialize in a new venue, one devoid of clouds of smoke, loud music, and the inevitable drunk chauvinist.
posted by CA Lund at 9:22 AM
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