What I find hilarious is how everyone believes that Zuckerberg invented both the term "metaverse" and the concept of 3-D virtual worlds, but at least the use of the term "metaverse" for existing virtual worlds.
The OpenSim community has probably spoken of a "metaverse" as early as 2008 when the Hypergrid was introduced. The Infinite Metaverse Alliance was founded in 2016 under that name. Grids have been using the term "metaverse" for years. Alternate Metaverse, one of the biggest grids, was launched in late 2019. Metropolis was launched in 2008, its full name was "Metropolis Metaversum" when it shut down in 2022, and it certainly didn't adopt that full name and change its logo accordingly after Zuck's announcement.
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.
And Horizon failed because it was built upon the expectation that billions of people around the world would be able and willing to shell out money for a VR headset from one specific brand that's more expensive than an iPhone, just so that they can access "The Metaverse". Horizon was designed to be only accessible through Meta's own VR headsets. It's like requiring a special Meta PC or mobile phone for over $1,000 just to be able to use Facebook, Instagram and/or WhatsApp.
Also, as already mentioned, Meta couldn't be bothered to check how feasible and convenient it'd be in practice to do all kinds of stuff in full-blown VR with goggles on. They thought they could make Ready Player One early reality with
Facebook Meta becoming Gregarious Simulation Systems, the world's biggest corporation, and Horizon being the OASIS, everyone's everywhere, all-purpose VR. They thought they could make it early reality by implying towards the press and the general public that it's going to happen anyway if they say so. They bet billions of dollars on it.
And, much to their surprise, they lost because someone somewhere checked Meta's predictions and advertising claims against reality.
Successful 3-D virtual worlds always work as pancakes on run-of-the-mill computers. If at all, VR has to be optional. This really goes to show that Zuck didn't learn anything from existing worlds.
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.
Another mistake that just about all virtual worlds launched in the 2020s have made is not to offer their aspiring users anything in-world. Their makers assume that it's sufficient to develop the engine, run a world server and give people a frontend of sorts. Beyond that, all they offer is one or multiple islands of barren land painted green with maybe a few cartoonish trees and parcels that are horrendously expensive even in comparison with Second Life. If you're lucky, there's a kind of welcome building somewhere. Outside, however, there's nothing but boredom. Or maybe the odd luxury mansion or office block which some stinking rich paying customer had professional 3-D designers build.
Virtual worlds that require a) shitloads of money to buy land, b) professional-level 3-D design skills to build something to put on your land and c) corporate-run Web space to host your build, all just to have
something in the landscape, are DOA.
Virtual worlds that can be built and decorated by their residents fairly easily and cheaply, i.e. not requiring them to be Nike or a Kardashian, are the ones that really become and stay popular because they are and stay interesting. They keep changing all the time, giving you new places to visit and explore.
If virtual world operators decide to "deal with that later" and focus on advertising and money-making first, there won't be a "later".
For comparison: When Second Life was opened to the public in 2003, it already offered a lot to see and do, not built by the Lindens, but by early residents. And yet, it let residents build in-world almost whatever they wanted to build. Building cost increasing amounts of money, but it's still possible, and it's what has kept Second Life interesting for two decades.
New OpenSim grids don't necessarily have that much to offer right away. But the obstacles for building are much much lower than in Second Life even, partly because land is dirt-cheap and available practically infinitely, partly because most of the time your land is all you'll ever have to pay for. OpenSim is where one individual can own (and offer for rent) two thirds of Second Life's entire land area.
The same as said above goes for avatars. Advertise your platform all you want. But if users can only choose between four operator-issued, unmodifiable standard avatars because even importing complete avatars from e.g. Ready Player Me isn't high up enough on the to-do list, and the idea of modular Barbie doll avatars à la Second Life/OpenSim has never even occurred to the devs and meanwhile become technically impossible to implement, then you won't be able to keep people interested for long.
Not only do Second Life and OpenSim avatars look better than those in more recent virtual worlds, but they can be modified to your heart's content in many many details. All by in-world means instead of generating all-new complete, monolithic, one-chunk avatars on 3rd-party platforms and then having to convert and adapt them to whatever virtual world you use with 4th-party tools.
Another advantage of pancake worlds: They don't have to be designed to
always, even with huge crowds of avatars around you in a dense forest or a museum full of sculptures or a replica of the Cologne Cathedral or something, reach 60fps on passively-cooled, fanless mobile hardware running on rechargeable batteries while connected through wi-fi.
Like the latest female trends with elephant sized asses and wasp waists at the same time and lips at least three fingers thick?
Many actually expect your avatar to look like this. If it doesn't, you must clearly be too dumb to use Second Life or OpenSim. I'll elaborate on that in a separate thread later.
