VIRTUAL SPACES
(Posted 2007-05-17 13:33:56 by ArchPaladin)

Came across a link for OpenCroquet [ http://opencroquet.org/ ]
[opencroquet.org] today.  Seems a rather interesting project there.  Lots
of buzzwords though, so I'll save you the mental effort and tell you
straight up what it does: the project is a platform for creating virtual
interactive 3D spaces, similar to things we know like World of Warcraft or
Second Life.  This particular engine, however, is not limited just to the
creation of a game world - you can interface with files and other things on
your computer, or use it to create a collaborative space for some large
project (ie. a company-developed software project).

One of my past side projects was to develop an interactive MUD (like WoW,
but completely text-driven), so I can appreciate the need for a framework
like this.  I kind of meet this type of project with somewhat mixed
reactions though.  Everything new and technical today seems to be geared to
the creation of virtual communities - this should be relatively obvious to
people if they look around for a bit.  We have online journals like
MySpace, video sites like Youtube, collaborative projects like Wikipedia,
games like WoW, generic online communities like Second Life, and so many
others - it's like everytime you turn around there's another one that you
never knew existed.  Yet public reception to them seems to get more
lackluster as time goes on.  I think that most of the drive to create these
sites comes from the hope of forming another wildly popular community, or
to revolutionize the way we interact with our electronics, or communicate
on the internet, or some other great breakthrough designed to bring us into
a golden age of some kind of market.  OK, so I'm exaggerating a bit, but
only a bit.

And this is why my reaction to these kinds of projects is muted.  Say you
used this kind of software to create, oh say, a virtual pool hall.  People
can join your world, create an avatar, and walk into your pool hall and
play pool with people all across the world.  Quite a nifty thing, that. 
But doing that doesn't give you the same sensory experience as going to a
real pool hall somewhere.  You can't feel the dents in the pool table, or
smell the smoke that is invariably at every pool hall, or relish in the
1950's gangster-esque atmosphere that some halls create.  No matter what
you do, you cannot do anything better than create a thing that people can
watch on their monitors.  Even if we get virtual reality down, people still
know in the back of their minds that the experience they are going through
is fabricated.

Of course, games like WoW are wildly popular, but WoW is exactly that: a
game.  They use the cool 3D effects to create a gaming experience - other
spaces like Second Life and whatnot don't need those effects to create the
community, which is what they are really going for in the first place.  I
think the real world allows us to interact on a subconscious level.  We
lose that in the online world, and no amount of graphical effects can bring
it back.  Graphics just become superfluous.

Thus, while I think it would be really awesome to sit down and construct a
virtual world of some kind, I can't think of anything that I would create
that I can't already do in the real world.  Pool?  A dojo?  A gaming room,
or gaming world?  Already got all of those things.  Sure, I can't interact
with people in Europe with the stuff I have now, but if I create the world
to interact with the people in Europe, I might lose the chance to interact
with the people in New Hampshire.

Nevertheless, I keep looking for something that I think would translate
well into a 3D virtual space.  I don't know...maybe it's a desire to create
a completely personal and controlled environment.  Maybe it's just a desire
to play with cool toys, or let my imagination run a little more free than I
let it do now.  Maybe it's something else altogether that I haven't
identified yet.

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There is 1 comment on this post:

Comment #1 by Krys ( auggiememnon@yahoo.com ) on 2007-05-18 17:01:38
Note: the pool hall in Ayer has a no smoking policy. ^_^

There are so many things in those 3-D avatar things that just don't work
well.  At one point, while my ex was in Texas last fall, she invited me to
make one and hang out with her on that so that it was "like we are hanging
out".  Not only did this not appeal to me, it also took up almost all of
the memory on my computer.  Plus, I multitask at my computer, and forgot
about our stupid little avatars hanging out chatting on a giant fantasy
chess board (why was it necessary to have a backdrop for what was otherwise
an AIM conversation?).  

Couple this with how limited you are with what you can do.  And I'm not
talking sensually, but like... I couldn't have the avatar sit down on the
ground!  But then, taking into account the sensual aspect, there was no way
to just be like let's sit here, wrapped up in each others' arms and talk
for a while, without it being a two second hug that was then over, and the
avatars go back to standing around looking all awkward waiting for
something to do.

Basically, I was highly unimpressed.  And, yeah, there's no substitute for
actual human interaction.  Even for long-distance relationships, those
things are dumb.  How about the fact that you can't even make them REALLY
look like yourself? 

Then there's the fact that you can't get the subtle across.  If there was a
way to make a VtM game like WoW, the nuances of character would be
completely lost.  Voice, inflection, ticks, quirky little habits, facial
expressions.  If they are incorporated at all, they all become
over-the-top.  SURPRISED! expressions are far too surprised.  Sad becomes
oh-woe-is-me.  And happy usually becomes a jig.

I liked the Sims.  They weren't meant to be taken seriously.  But man, did
they devour time.  It's like that game fed off hours.