In that frame, it absolutely is. That's Zuck's trying to force an existing social interaction through his personal lens. I think of it more like activity-specific attire. When you go to a water...
In that frame, it absolutely is. That's Zuck's trying to force an existing social interaction through his personal lens.
I think of it more like activity-specific attire. When you go to a water park, you put on a swim suit. When you go to a sports game, you put on a jersey or some other bit of team paraphernalia. When you play Minecraft, you put on a blocky avatar. The form follows the function. This is putting the form before the function. Some kinds of meetings are better in VR, like the one I had last week with the architect designing our new office space. We could easily walk around and point at things we liked and didn't like, and get a sense of scale. But we hold our daily morning "standup" meeting in Zoom, because it makes more sense.
I don't really get it either. Facebook seems like it's just trying to reinvent the Internet, but more limited and centralized. I feel like we already have all of the elements that make up a...
I don't really get it either. Facebook seems like it's just trying to reinvent the Internet, but more limited and centralized.
I feel like we already have all of the elements that make up a "metaverse" as described in sci-fi with Minecraft, Discord, Google Earth, and/or alternatives and others. What is anyone pining for a new "metaverse" after?
Metaverse really just seems like "It's the internet, but even more lock-in." And frankly, post-COVID, I kinda want to spend less time in front of screen in my house. Not more.
Metaverse really just seems like "It's the internet, but even more lock-in."
And frankly, post-COVID, I kinda want to spend less time in front of screen in my house. Not more.
We only get glimpses of other people's Minecraft setups from their screenshots and videos. It might be nice if it were easier to casually go places and look around, like using Google Maps or...
We only get glimpses of other people's Minecraft setups from their screenshots and videos. It might be nice if it were easier to casually go places and look around, like using Google Maps or Google Earth.
I also wonder why we haven't seen an improvement over Minecraft that's as popular. Couldn't the physics be improved? Maybe it would still be low res, but people are four blocks high instead of two? I'm sure there have been attempts.
I definitely agree with wanting the ability to more easily find public worlds, but if you have the address you can drop in without significant difficulty. As far as improvements to Minecraft's...
I definitely agree with wanting the ability to more easily find public worlds, but if you have the address you can drop in without significant difficulty.
As far as improvements to Minecraft's formula, I'm not sure what those changes would really provide? There are hundreds of games modifying and playing around with the basic formula, but when Minecraft is a perfectly solid platform for the adventures people are having, the kinds of changes you mention don't change the base experience enough to overcome the familiarity of the existing platform. (And anyway, for the chunk of people on the Java version, such changes are only a mod away.)
I think it's telling that the 2 apps that are commonly espoused as examples of the nascent metaverse (Minecraft and Roblox) are decidedly low-res. In addition to being low-res, both are highly...
I think it's telling that the 2 apps that are commonly espoused as examples of the nascent metaverse (Minecraft and Roblox) are decidedly low-res. In addition to being low-res, both are highly customizable. Minecraft has mods to do nearly anything you can think if the basic game doesn't, and Roblox was designed to be user-modified from the get-go.
Facebook's major screwup is thinking that any one person or organization will build the metaverse. Just like the internet before it, the teeming masses will build it. In a gold rush, you don't want to be a gold miner, you want to be the one selling pickaxes. Build the tools and provide some general guardrails, people will figure out the rest just fine.
Honestly, we've already had several platforms that could have been considered to be a metaverse in some way or another. You just reminded me of Second Life, and the absolute pornographic mess of a...
Facebook's major screwup is thinking that any one person or organization will build the metaverse. Just like the internet before it, the teeming masses will build it. In a gold rush, you don't want to be a gold miner, you want to be the one selling pickaxes. Build the tools and provide some general guardrails, people will figure out the rest just fine.
Honestly, we've already had several platforms that could have been considered to be a metaverse in some way or another. You just reminded me of Second Life, and the absolute pornographic mess of a world that people built there.
At some point I had mentally written off Second Life and assumed that it had long ago joined the piles of failed MMOs from the early 2000's in the digital trashbin. Nope, turns out it's actually...
At some point I had mentally written off Second Life and assumed that it had long ago joined the piles of failed MMOs from the early 2000's in the digital trashbin. Nope, turns out it's actually still running, the they're still updating and maintaining it. I'm trying to decide if it's worth digging in any further to try and find out what it's really become almost 20 years after release.
I revisited it a while back. There has been enough churning that the landmarks you remember are likely gone now. And it still runs terrible on modern systems somehow. Also there are a lot of mmos...
I revisited it a while back. There has been enough churning that the landmarks you remember are likely gone now. And it still runs terrible on modern systems somehow.
Also there are a lot of mmos from that time period still in existence.
This is not a screwup - it's fundamental to their identity as a company. I doubt they actually believe this, but they intend to make it true by force of numbers, because if it's not true their...
Facebook's major screwup is thinking that any one person or organization will build the metaverse.
This is not a screwup - it's fundamental to their identity as a company. I doubt they actually believe this, but they intend to make it true by force of numbers, because if it's not true their whole raison d'etre is dust in the wind.
That's pretty much what John Carmack has been telling them all along. Meanwhile I feel like Penny Arcade hit the nail on the head when they suggested what Zuck wants to build is a combination of...
Facebook's major screwup is thinking that any one person or organization will build the metaverse.
For an example of improved physics, I would like to build a castle or a town and see how it reacts to a flood. Have you seen any mods that add realistic water physics? It seems a bit much for a...
For an example of improved physics, I would like to build a castle or a town and see how it reacts to a flood. Have you seen any mods that add realistic water physics? It seems a bit much for a mod.
By "realistic water physics" do you mean water that wears down other blocks? Because, yeah, there's a mod for that. Or do you mean rivers that actually flow as opposed to just being narrow bands...
By "realistic water physics" do you mean water that wears down other blocks? Because, yeah, there's a mod for that.
Or do you mean rivers that actually flow as opposed to just being narrow bands of sea level water? Because there's that one too.
There are limitations, but they're further out than you think. Also, I got those by googling "minecraft water erosion" and "minecraft flowing rivers", so it's not like this is hidden knowledge.
Oh, man. You're really missing out. There are extensive modpacks that change the gameplay extensively in a variety of ways. Ones that are all combat and exploring, some that have no combat at all,...
Oh, man. You're really missing out. There are extensive modpacks that change the gameplay extensively in a variety of ways. Ones that are all combat and exploring, some that have no combat at all, ones where you fight dragons, others where you explore other planets or other dimensions... There's a huge variety.
In that frame, it absolutely is. That's Zuck's trying to force an existing social interaction through his personal lens.
I think of it more like activity-specific attire. When you go to a water park, you put on a swim suit. When you go to a sports game, you put on a jersey or some other bit of team paraphernalia. When you play Minecraft, you put on a blocky avatar. The form follows the function. This is putting the form before the function. Some kinds of meetings are better in VR, like the one I had last week with the architect designing our new office space. We could easily walk around and point at things we liked and didn't like, and get a sense of scale. But we hold our daily morning "standup" meeting in Zoom, because it makes more sense.
I don't really get it either. Facebook seems like it's just trying to reinvent the Internet, but more limited and centralized.
I feel like we already have all of the elements that make up a "metaverse" as described in sci-fi with Minecraft, Discord, Google Earth, and/or alternatives and others. What is anyone pining for a new "metaverse" after?
Metaverse really just seems like "It's the internet, but even more lock-in."
And frankly, post-COVID, I kinda want to spend less time in front of screen in my house. Not more.
We only get glimpses of other people's Minecraft setups from their screenshots and videos. It might be nice if it were easier to casually go places and look around, like using Google Maps or Google Earth.
I also wonder why we haven't seen an improvement over Minecraft that's as popular. Couldn't the physics be improved? Maybe it would still be low res, but people are four blocks high instead of two? I'm sure there have been attempts.
I definitely agree with wanting the ability to more easily find public worlds, but if you have the address you can drop in without significant difficulty.
As far as improvements to Minecraft's formula, I'm not sure what those changes would really provide? There are hundreds of games modifying and playing around with the basic formula, but when Minecraft is a perfectly solid platform for the adventures people are having, the kinds of changes you mention don't change the base experience enough to overcome the familiarity of the existing platform. (And anyway, for the chunk of people on the Java version, such changes are only a mod away.)
I think it's telling that the 2 apps that are commonly espoused as examples of the nascent metaverse (Minecraft and Roblox) are decidedly low-res. In addition to being low-res, both are highly customizable. Minecraft has mods to do nearly anything you can think if the basic game doesn't, and Roblox was designed to be user-modified from the get-go.
Facebook's major screwup is thinking that any one person or organization will build the metaverse. Just like the internet before it, the teeming masses will build it. In a gold rush, you don't want to be a gold miner, you want to be the one selling pickaxes. Build the tools and provide some general guardrails, people will figure out the rest just fine.
Honestly, we've already had several platforms that could have been considered to be a metaverse in some way or another. You just reminded me of Second Life, and the absolute pornographic mess of a world that people built there.
At some point I had mentally written off Second Life and assumed that it had long ago joined the piles of failed MMOs from the early 2000's in the digital trashbin. Nope, turns out it's actually still running, the they're still updating and maintaining it. I'm trying to decide if it's worth digging in any further to try and find out what it's really become almost 20 years after release.
I revisited it a while back. There has been enough churning that the landmarks you remember are likely gone now. And it still runs terrible on modern systems somehow.
Also there are a lot of mmos from that time period still in existence.
This is not a screwup - it's fundamental to their identity as a company. I doubt they actually believe this, but they intend to make it true by force of numbers, because if it's not true their whole raison d'etre is dust in the wind.
That's pretty much what John Carmack has been telling them all along. Meanwhile I feel like Penny Arcade hit the nail on the head when they suggested what Zuck wants to build is a combination of hell, work and the mall
For an example of improved physics, I would like to build a castle or a town and see how it reacts to a flood. Have you seen any mods that add realistic water physics? It seems a bit much for a mod.
It's a fun platform but it has its limitations.
By "realistic water physics" do you mean water that wears down other blocks? Because, yeah, there's a mod for that.
Or do you mean rivers that actually flow as opposed to just being narrow bands of sea level water? Because there's that one too.
There are limitations, but they're further out than you think. Also, I got those by googling "minecraft water erosion" and "minecraft flowing rivers", so it's not like this is hidden knowledge.
Interesting. Yeah, I haven’t looked at mods. I’ve only played vanilla.
Oh, man. You're really missing out. There are extensive modpacks that change the gameplay extensively in a variety of ways. Ones that are all combat and exploring, some that have no combat at all, ones where you fight dragons, others where you explore other planets or other dimensions... There's a huge variety.
Viewers like BlueMap exist but aren't terribly popular (unfortunately).