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View Full Version : RE: Have you been to any virtual worlds?



Lucradia
March 21st, 2011, 06:44 PM
Since this was necro'd: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=892644

I wanted to reply with what I know as well. Not only is there Second Life, etc. but there has been, for a long time now, a service called Active Worlds. It uses DirectX, but openGL when DirectX isn't found. Active Worlds has an educational version known as AWEDU available. You are free to use either as a tourist; but to get citizenship, you must pay a subscription fee.

Tristam Green
March 21st, 2011, 07:30 PM
I wasn't even aware ActiveWorlds was still around. I remember that way back when. I also distinctly remembering hearing (as a tourist) in AW the idea for this online world where you could trade your real money for virtual money, then make virtual money in an online trade, which you would then trade again for real-world money.

I remember thinking "wow, what a stupid and unsustainable idea". I remember the name being touted as Second Life, too.

aG93IGRvIGkgdWJ1bnR1Pw==
March 21st, 2011, 08:50 PM
I've always imagined virtual worlds would present communication and interaction in an abstracted and more efficient way than the AFK world. So far, most of them do the exact opposite, presenting a poor replica of the AFK world without any benefits of their own. As it is, IRC is the best "virtual world" there is.

BTW, am I the only one disturbed by the name "virtual worlds"? It's just like the "Real life" term, it's discrimination. Just because it's on the internet or on your computer doesn't mean it isn't real. It's a very real and very important part of our lives, and shouldn't be belittled like that.

Tristam Green
March 21st, 2011, 09:21 PM
BTW, am I the only one disturbed by the name "virtual worlds"? It's just like the "Real life" term, it's discrimination. Just because it's on the internet or on your computer doesn't mean it isn't real. It's a very real and very important part of our lives, and shouldn't be belittled like that.

Statements like this baffle, sadden, and infuriate me at the same time.

jennybrew
March 21st, 2011, 09:32 PM
Ive never really had the time to try a virtual world.
What gives with them?

Lucradia
March 21st, 2011, 09:37 PM
What gives with them?

<<Insert floor giving out joke>>

Copper Bezel
March 21st, 2011, 09:56 PM
Statements like this baffle, sadden, and infuriate me at the same time.
I don't see the "discrimination," but it is good to remember that the people you're talking to on the internet really are real people, too. = )

sydbat
March 21st, 2011, 10:01 PM
I enjoy virtual worlds all the time...it is known as "imagination". It can be augmented by well written books, or quality TV, or thought-provoking movies, or excellent music, or just about anything else that takes you outside yourself and challenges your "reality".