Massively

Kate Paiz takes LotRO's Exec Producer reins from Jeffrey Steefel

Justin Olivetti — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO industry, Free-to-play

For Lord of the Rings Online fans and players, this past weekend was undoubtedly one of the busiest news periods for the title since launch. Once official word hit that LotRO was indeed going free-to-play, players had FAQs and charts and numerous interviews to read, digest and figure out what it meant for the future of the game.

It's understandable that a second big announcement would get lost amid the flurry of F2P frenzy, especially since it was packaged in with the F2P announcement itself. However, now that things have settled somewhat, it's important to recognize a significant leadership change at Turbine. Kate Paiz has taken over as Executive Producer for the title, following in Jeffrey Steefel's footsteps, who has moved on to a new project at Turbine.

According to her introduction letter, Paiz worked as a producer for both There.com and DDO, and helped to supervise the latter's transition into its successful hybrid F2P model. This experience will be invaluable for LotRO's new evolution, and she couldn't be happier: "Given my background, it's hardly surprising that I believe very strongly in the power of providing gamers with a choice in how they pay and play our games." Considering that one of her first public acts as Executive Producer was to handle the bombardment of interviews and forum questions about LotRO's upcoming model, one could say that her new position was forged in the fires of Mt. Doom itself.

Kate Paiz takes LotRO's Exec Producer reins from Jeffrey Steefel originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 07 Jun 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Virtual Whirl: More Marriott, less Microsoft

Tateru Nino — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Culture, MMO industry, There, Second Life, Virtual worlds, The Virtual Whirl

It's certainly taking time for people, organizations and businesses to learn how to obtain benefits from virtual environments, and it will take quite some time yet to figure out how to optimize those results. On the plus side, there are many hundreds of thousands of people working on that.

Working out how to effectively operate and manage virtual environments for large numbers of people, well, that's actually taking a lot longer. There are far fewer people actually involved in the process, and the same wheels are being reinvented over and over - and quite often, they seem to be square ones.

Continue reading The Virtual Whirl: More Marriott, less Microsoft

The Virtual Whirl: More Marriott, less Microsoft originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 24 Apr 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

One Shots: No matter where you go, There you are

Krystalle Voecks — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Screenshots, There, One Shots

Much like when MMOs go offline, when a virtual world goes offline, we also see a number of displaced residents wondering what to do next. Thankfully, in this case, our contributor had his next destination all mapped out ahead of time.

This image comes to us from Alan C., and was taken in the final hours of There.com, which recently shut down after being in service for seven years. He writes in to explain this flight: It was the last couple hours before There.com closed. Using my last ThereBucks I purchased a gold and black Trek outfit and a Tiki Trek flying shuttle. I met a fellow trekker and we flew for the last time in There. Just like the bumper sticker says, I am "Boldly Going Forward". I am now playing Star Trek Online and not looking back.

Do you have a screenshot from a game that shut down -- gone, but not forgotten? We'd love to see it, if you'd like to share. Of course, if your favorite MMO is alive and well, those are welcome too! Just email those in to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a brief description of what we're seeing. We'll post it out here on Massively for everyone to enjoy and give you the credit!

Gallery: One Shots: Gallery II

One Shots: No matter where you go, There you are originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Virtual Whirl: Questions from the virtual mailbag

Tateru Nino — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Entropia Universe, Business models, Economy, MMO industry, There, Opinion, Second Life, Blue Mars, Virtual worlds, HiPiHi, The Virtual Whirl

This week, in The Virtual Whirl, we're going to take a selection of reader questions that we've received in comments and in the virtual mailbag and do our best to offer up some useful answers. Join us as we whirl through the mail. Not surprisingly, the two most frequently asked questions involve the demise of virtual environment, There.com.

Continue reading The Virtual Whirl: Questions from the virtual mailbag

The Virtual Whirl: Questions from the virtual mailbag originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Frenzoo offers a new home for displaced Thereians

Tateru Nino — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: There, News items, Virtual worlds

With the pending closure of virtual environment, There.com, it's only natural for a number of other virtual environments to make themselves attractive to the outgoing Thereians, as many of them are going to be selecting another virtual environment to participate in anyway.

Simon Newstead, co-founder and CEO of fashion environment Frenzoo contacted us today to let us know of a surprisingly generous offer that he's extending to the displaced Thereians.

Continue reading Frenzoo offers a new home for displaced Thereians

Frenzoo offers a new home for displaced Thereians originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 03 Mar 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

There.com is closing

Eliot Lefebvre — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Events, real-world, MMO industry, Server downtime, There, News items, Virtual worlds

Virtual worlds have had a rocky time in the marketplace. Focusing on user-generated content, it takes a while for enough users to become active and enough market traction to be established for them to start becoming financially viable. Earlier this year marked the shutdown of Metaplace, Raph Koster's entry into the field of virtual worlds. Now another long-running part of the field is closing down, as There.com has just announced the service will be closing on March 9th.

A retrospective on the game's history is available on CNET, discussing the world's status as being a competitor for Second Life without ever quite gaining the traction that its bigger cousin managed. While the environment was seen as slightly more kid-and-media friendly due to restrictions on adult-only content, the project had a difficult time turning a profit. After seven years, it's finally overwhelmed the company.

The official announcement includes a number of resources for those who have invested money in There.com to regain it prior to the shutdown, with extensive buyback programs and refunds available for all participants. Our condolences to the team on this sad turn of events.

There.com is closing originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 02 Mar 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Virtual Whirl: Community guide to Virtual Worlds

Tateru Nino — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Guides, There, News items, Opinion, Second Life, Blue Mars, Virtual worlds, The Virtual Whirl

Welcome to The Virtual Whirl, a new weekly Massively column covering virtual environments generally. The term 'virtual world' is slowly seeing less use, being supplanted by the more general 'virtual environment', but the world term still has a fair bit of life left in it.

Virtual environments covers a whole lot of ground. From William Crowther's original efforts in 1976 that based a game in a virtual version of the Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, virtual environments have been a part of gaming, artificial intelligence and behavioral research, modeling, telemetry and process control and more.

Nowadays we're seeing Second Life, Blue Mars, There.com, IMVU and others trying to find places in non-game contexts, like content-development and prototyping, publishing and performance, entertainment and social, education and business; efforts that are met with varying amounts of success.

Continue reading The Virtual Whirl: Community guide to Virtual Worlds

The Virtual Whirl: Community guide to Virtual Worlds originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 24 Jan 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Scion car prototypes to be drivable in There

Samuel Axon — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, There, News items, Virtual worlds

Toyota-owned car manufacturer Scion has enjoyed a fruitful partnership with virtual world There. The company operates a virtual nightclub shaped like existing Scion car models. According to virtual worlds blog Worlds in Motion, the company has now decided it likes this kind of marketing so much that it is introducing three concept cars -- the Hako Coupe, the FUSE, and t2b -- into the game as drivable player vehicles. There has always placed a fair amount of emphasis on vehicles, so this seems to fit.

At GDC earlier this year, we performed in-depth analysis of Scion's There campaign (and hosted some images depicting its plans) and came to the conclusion that it was pretty novel. At the time, we reported that There users had spent a total of 1,915 hours in Club Scion. Since then, that number has risen to 3,000. Whatever your feelings on in-game advertising are, it seems be working in this case.

Scion car prototypes to be drivable in There originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Does it get any better?

Tateru Nino — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Real life, New titles, Free-to-play, Browser, Casual, Virtual worlds

Take an advertising/marketing operation and mix it with a virtual world, and what do you get? No, not There -- well, maybe them, but that's not who we mean. The answer is Riplounge.

Browser-based and 2.5D (2D sprites in a pseudo 3D environment), Riplounge is for ... umm. Well, actually we're not quite sure. We think it is aimed largely at the wannabe-hip, under-25, knows-about-the-same-about-computers-as-your-granny demographic. Or maybe the I-wish-I-was-15-again demographic.

Continue reading Does it get any better?

Does it get any better? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 23 Mar 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

GDC08: Building brands in virtual worlds

Elizabeth Harper — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 10:53:00 EST

Filed under: Events, real-world, Virtual worlds

We've seen a lot of interesting things at the Worlds in Motion Summit which took place at GDC earlier this week, we found this post-mortum of Scion's virtual campaign in There.com fascinating. While we tune out commercials and skim over print advertisements as much as anyone, but well thought-out interactive advertisements in virtual worlds still feel novel and interesting. (Well, okay, some of them aren't.) So what made Scion's campaign stand out? Read on for an analysis.

Gallery: GDC08: Club Scion

Continue reading GDC08: Building brands in virtual worlds

GDC08: Building brands in virtual worlds originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 21 Feb 2008 10:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Dr. Phil comes off as pro-MMO

Michael Zenke — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 23:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, There, News items, Politics, Education

Over at the games blog Game|Life they pointed out a somewhat rare event: a sudden outbreak of common sense. Well-known psychologist for the masses 'Dr. Phil' recently stuck up for virtual worlds on national television. More specifically, he pointed out that there was nothing inherently wrong with them. On a episode devoted to teen behavior, Dr. Phil confronted a young woman who apparently spent too much time in the There virtual space.

While Phil apparently couldn't understand the appeal of online friendships, he did take pains to clarify there was nothing wrong with the service or the activity - just her choice to over-indulge.

Addressing Michael Wilson, CEO of There, the good doctor explained that there were "a tremendous number of safeguards" in place at There, saying "Your intention is not to consume kids from their real life. Like many MMOs, There is free to play but charges for in-game items like cars and furniture. According to Wilson, if someone is overspending, There will contact the account holder and ask them if they're aware of how much they've spent on the game. If a parent calls with concerns, There will shut off their kid's account. In other words, said Dr. Phil to his guests, "The problem is not the game, the problem is the use of it."

Now if only Phil could communicate that to most of America ...

Dr. Phil comes off as pro-MMO originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 12 Dec 2007 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Regarding content in virtual worlds: build it, or buy it?

Akela Talamasca — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Game mechanics, Crafting, There, Opinion, Second Life, Player Housing

For those of you who may not be completely familiar with Second Life, one of its biggest draws is that it's a haven for content creators, as opposed to virtual worlds like There.com, which doesn't let its users build anything of their own. Now, of course, what you get in exchange for the freedom to build anything you want is having to see what everyone else is building, and this includes the infamous flying penises and other Objects You'd Rather Not Have Seen, Thanks.

But, as my friend Eric Rice recently pointed out to me, there is something to be said for not having to create your world yourself. "I don't always wanna COOK dinner", he opined, and I know what he means. In my over 2 years as a SL resident, I've not created one thing; I have neither the knack nor the interest, frankly, though I do enjoy the fruits of the labors of other residents. Shopping is great fun in SL, and probably on the top of a great many lists of enjoyable activities. Exploring is equally as enjoyable, and it's this aspect of virtual worlds that deserves some scrutiny. More after the jump.

Continue reading Regarding content in virtual worlds: build it, or buy it?

Regarding content in virtual worlds: build it, or buy it? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 09 Nov 2007 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Without a clue - why there isn't more competition for Second Life

Tateru Nino — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Opinion, Second Life

Actually there's quite a few reasons that there's little competition to Second Life in existance or planned - at least the sort of competition that a Second Life user would think of as a competitor to Second Life (hint: They don't think TSO is, or Kaneva, or Red Light Center, or Project Entropia or IMVU. Many don't count Active Worlds or There as competition either).

One of those reasons is that even people who think they're in the same industry or who are pundits and commentators on the industry don't have any idea what Second Life is. They don't use it, so they don't know what people are getting out of it. So when they come to build a 'Second Life Killer', they build something that does not (as far as the average user of Second Life can see) have much of anything that competes.

Continue reading Without a clue - why there isn't more competition for Second Life

Without a clue - why there isn't more competition for Second Life originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Nov 2007 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments