RIP the Metaverse

[Dakota Tebaldi]

RIP Metaverse, we hardly knew ye

Mark Zuckerberg spent years trying to make the Metaverse happen, but now it has been replaced by AI and is headed to the tech industry idea graveyard.

www.businessinsider.com

The capital-M Metaverse, a descendant of the 1982 movie "Tron" and the 2003 video game "Second Life," was born in 2021 when Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg changed the name of his trillion-dollar company to Meta. After a much-heralded debut, the Metaverse became the obsession of the tech world and a quick hack to win over Wall Street investors. The hype could not save the Metaverse, however, and a lack of coherent vision for the product ultimately led to its decline. Once the tech industry turned to a new, more promising trend — generative AI — the fate of the Metaverse was sealed.

Yeah it's just not going to work, guys, ever.

Virtual worlds where people can just hang out and socialize, are a workable concept. It's good for people who like to use it. But it's niche, as we SL users know quite well. The place where "the metaverse" as a concept fails is when it aspires to be larger than that, something that an enormous segment of society uses not just for socializing but for most of their daily-life activities, just because. It's a really hard sell because right now all they have to show you is mostly unimpressive virtual worlds that are the same or worse than what's already been around for the last 15+ years, and you're supposed to believe they're worth your time and attention now because in, like, 20 years or so they're definitely going to be awesome, you'll see.

There's nothing wrong with seeing an idea for an invention in a sci-fi novel and saying "wouldn't it be great if we made something like that for real"; but there comes a time when despite your earnest effort it becomes clear that the idea isn't really practical and/or your approximation just doesn't capture the public interest, and you have to accept that.

 

[Essence Lumin]

There's nothing wrong with seeing an idea for an invention in a sci-fi novel and saying "wouldn't it be great if we made something like that for real"; but there comes a time when despite your earnest effort it becomes clear that the idea isn't really practical and/or your approximation just doesn't capture the public interest, and you have to accept that.

It's just astounding how these super rich people like Zuckerberg will put so much money into something that isn't going to work. Same goes for Musk with his twitter ambitions.

 

[Noodles]

I have said it before.

A lot of the problem is that VR, will never become mainstream. Too many people get nauseated from it, its too expensive, it reauires too much space, it requires too much single task focus.

SL is niche, but it "works" because you can multi task.

Also, SL, I think works because of how robust its build tools really are. Its like 20 years old now, but its still essentially the only place to get a super realistic avatar.

I never used Meta, but I have played a bit of Fortnite, which REALLY WANTS its Creative mode to be a "metaverse". But good god sooooooo much of that is just so weird and jankey and locked into these weird Fortnite gamey mechanics. The new Unreal Creative sort of helps, but not really.

Like, I really liked the Soundwave series music events, and they are currently pushing these sort of mini ones called Playwave, and man, they are all just, so poorly made and buggy and awful. And I am pretty sure mostt are Unreal based, and not "old editor" based like Soundwave Series would have been.

A bit off topic on that rambling, but from what I have seen in other "Virtual Worlds" in the whole metaverse, a lot have the same problem. Everything just has this weird odd jank to it. Like the .echanice of everything can't just get out of the way somplauers can create and exist in the world.

 

[Free]

The amount of money flushed down the virtual toilet on Zuckerberg's Metaverse gamble is near mind staggering.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

The amount of money flushed down the virtual toilet on Zuckerberg's Metaverse gamble is near mind staggering.

They got an incredibly low bang for their buck... I bet they spent many times more in that short amount of time than Linden Labs ever did...

 

[Khamon]

The money wasn't dumped off the side of a barge into the deepest ocean. Some of it was paid to people in salaries and benefits. Much of the rest was spent on equipment, rent, vehicles, et al that also supported people and economy. Wasted money is the values hoarded by the oligarchs because it sits in the bank and does nothing for anyone. We can eliminate such power by erasing those records and now I've said too much. doom dee doom doom da da da doom doom

 

[WolfEyes]

The money wasn't dumped off the side of a barge into the deepest ocean. Some of it was paid to people in salaries and benefits. Much of the rest was spent on equipment, rent, vehicles, et al that also supported people and economy. Wasted money is the values hoarded by the oligarchs because it sits in the bank and does nothing for anyone. We can eliminate such power by erasing those records and now I've said too much. doom dee doom doom da da da doom doom

I'd rather "erase" the money hoarders.

 

[Sid]

Also, SL, I think works because of how robust its build tools really are. Its like 20 years old now, but its still essentially the only place to get a super realistic avatar.

Like the latest female trends with elephant sized asses and wasp waists at the same time and lips at least three fingers thick?
Yeah, really super realistic.

SL is becoming a freak show more and more every day.
Just have a look at what is offered at the most popular weekly sails event: 60L$ happy weekend.

Pfff.... in SL one can have a super realistic avatar, yes.... can have.
But please overlook the gazillion 2.3 meter tall gorilla male avatars and the avatars described above.

 

[Essence Lumin]

The amount of money flushed down the virtual toilet on Zuckerberg's Metaverse gamble is near mind staggering.

Somewhere in the low 10's of billions so somewhat less than but similar to Elon's 40 billion investment.

 

[Soen Eber]

... and these are the ones so many think should run the country.

 

[Sid]

Somewhere in the low 10's of billions so somewhat less than but similar to Elon's 40 billion investment.

Much money makes people think, that they are experts on everything.
There are exceptions though: I don't have much money but ... eh.. never mind.

 

[Sid]

... and these are the ones so many think should run the country.

...... into the ground?

 

[Innula Zenovka]

Wasted money is the values hoarded by the oligarchs because it sits in the bank and does nothing for anyone.

It doesn't just sit there, though. Banks aggregate their customers' deposits and invest a proportion of them in the form of loans to customers.

That's where the money comes from that they pay the depositors, and the bank makes its money on the difference between what it pays savers and charges borrowers.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

The money wasn't dumped off the side of a barge into the deepest ocean. Some of it was paid to people in salaries and benefits. Much of the rest was spent on equipment, rent, vehicles, et al that also supported people and economy. Wasted money is the values hoarded by the oligarchs because it sits in the bank and does nothing for anyone.

The money was better spent on those dev salaries than sitting in banks, I agree with that. But there are certainly more productive investments they could have made... like healthcare or at least games that don't suck... They got very little for what was spent.

We can eliminate such power by erasing those records and now I've said too much. doom dee doom doom da da da doom doom

haha.... I personally favor redistribution. Maybe I'm just risk adverse, but worry a full on economic revolution would be a disaster and maybe just lead to reinventing the current mess.

... and these are the ones so many think should run the country.

What's weird is that many of these people are so inconsistent in their belief that money = intelligence. Trump's wealth proved he was smart to them, but some far richer people like Bill Gates are hated because of....mostly conspiracy theories. Not saying Gates is a great role model either, just that many MAGA cultists are weirdly inconsistent.

 

[GoblinCampFollower]

It doesn't just sit there, though. Banks aggregate their customers' deposits and invest a proportion of them in the form of loans to customers.

That's where the money comes from that they pay the depositors, and the bank makes its money on the difference between what it pays savers and charges borrowers.

Yes, you are correct. Though in this case I think most of the capital for Meta came from investment banks where it would have mostly just been in other stocks. But your point stands.

 

[Noodles]

Like the latest female trends with elephant sized asses and wasp waists at the same time and lips at least three fingers thick?
Yeah, really super realistic.

SL is becoming a freak show more and more every day.
Just have a look at what is offered at the most popular weekly sails event: 60L$ happy weekend.

Pfff.... in SL one can have a super realistic avatar, yes.... can have.
But please overlook the gazillion 2.3 meter tall gorilla male avatars and the avatars described above.

I mean, at least they have legs.
And if you want, all the various "sexy time bits.".

Ugly fashion and style will always be a thing though.

 

[Dakota Tebaldi]

What's weird is that many of these people are so inconsistent in their belief that money = intelligence. Trump's wealth proved he was smart to them, but some far richer people like Bill Gates are hated because of....mostly conspiracy theories. Not saying Gates is a great role model either, just that many MAGA cultists are weirdly inconsistent.

They're inconsistent about every single thing they value. Like, this is the same self-selected group of people that thinks the US government is actively trying to kill them all with chemtrails and vaccines but also casually declares that anyone who doesn't stand up for the Pledge of Allegiance should be thrown in prison.

 

[Monica Dream]

The place where "the metaverse" as a concept fails is when it aspires to be larger than that, something that an enormous segment of society uses not just for socializing but for most of their daily-life activities, just because.

Yeah, I think that right there cuts to the heart of the matter -definitely.

 

[Argent Stonecutter]

The Metaverse is 3d Compuserve.

 

[Beebo Brink]

A lot of the problem is that VR, will never become mainstream. Too many people get nauseated from it, its too expensive, it reauires too much space, it requires too much single task focus.

I absolutely LOVED my Oculus Quest... when I first bought it.

Diving into virtual reality was a wonderful experience that I will never regret, but once my current first-generation Quest wears out or becomes so outdated it won't function anymore, I'd be reluctant to replace it. For all the reasons you listed (except nausea).

Over the long term, I simply couldn't keep the room space clear enough for a good experience. I live in an old house, with small rooms, and it would take an entire room to play my games; I get a little less than that after pushing all the furniture to the walls. As a result, I trigger the barrier warning if I lunge just the slightest bit too far in Beat Saber or cast my line too far in fishing. That's after I've chased out the cats, a dog and closed the doors so I'm not tripping over them.

The single-focus requirement is even more of a challenge. With SL, I can glance up for a quick exchange with my wife, then get back to SL without even moving my fingers off the keyboard. I can hold a phone conversation and still keep working in SL. Getting in and out of VR is so much more cumbersome and disruptive because you have to remove the entire headset, then reposition yourself when it's put back on; there's no way to multi-task.

Once I'm retired (3 1/2 weeks!!!), carving out chunks of uninterrupted play time will be (theoretically) easier to do. Maybe I can get back into VR more regularly. But the retired set is probably not the market that VR is looking for.