About two years ago now I read in the NYT about an on line environment in which you can interact with other people, join groups and clubs, fly, ride, go on adventures and generally have a pretty good time. I was rather curious but not curious enough to actually join and see what it was like. I thought that I was not really my thing. I had seen (what I thought was) similar things and they did not really take my fancy.
However, what I did not know was that my son was actually a member of this thing. Soon after he started telling me that I should check it out. Yea yea….. whatever.
Well as was my son’s want, he joined under yet another user on January the first last year. He already had 2 accounts but he is funny like that. He decided to reactivate his other accounts and told me that I could have his new account. After about a week of pestering I took it just to shut him up. The environment I am talking about is called There. Or in the There parlance “There and not There”.
Well I have to admit when I first went into There I was completely lost. I was knocked about, I found platforms I could not get onto, I did not know how to navigate this world, in short I was a regular noob (newbie). Not to worry. I met some great people who showed me the ropes and told me how to get around. They showed me how to get some clothes, gave me some stuff to get on with, helped me get into some cool activities, but it did take some time to find the activities that I enjoyed. I also met some people who were not so nice. But There is big enough that you do not need to put up with that and there are plenty of great people.
Well – after a few weeks of this I was hooked. Three of the first people I met and buddied in There are still my closest friends in there and have proven to be truly great friends. I meet more people in There all the time but as with real life there is a small circle of people that you tend to spend most of your time with. The funny thing is that I thought that the majority of There would be 16 to 22 but I have met many people in the 45+ age range and many people even older than me! I have friends who are 13 and I have friends who are over 70 – go figure.
What There is Not
There is not a game. You can play games in There but it does not come under the heading MMPRPG. There is not for children. It is PG 13 and anybody 18 or under must be signed up by their parents. This does not always work but the There staff do take seriously the PG 13 status. There are limits on designs that can be submitted, and there is a swear filter. There is not a charity. There offers free membership but to be honest you really have to pay the US$9.95 for premium membership to get the full advantage from There. In addition many of the activities cost.
What There is
There is an on line 3d environment. People can;
Play cards (only spades at this time). Two teams of two people each pit their skill against each other and the first team to 500 wins.
Chat using text or voice. You need to be a premium member for voice chat. You also need to have a broadband connection otherwise the voice is problematic.
Listen to music. The music systems can pick up any shoutcast stations which include any genre of music you can imagine… as well as some other stations which are not strictly classified as music.
Quest, race – aginst the clock, other people or cross country. There are a number of forms of transport which IMHO are extremely well thought out and well designed.
Join clubs of like minded people. Some of the clubs are racing clubs, cards, music, religous groups, clubs of like minded friends.
Or you can just sit around and shoot the breeze with your mates.
There is also a skills system whereby engaging in various activities results in an increase in various skill categories. Gifts are awarded when you move up in skill from one level to the next. There are 5 levels in all and any number of different skills. Some examples are cards, socialiser, merchant, dog handler and buggy driving. There are many more. There has been much criticism of the gifts given for skills, and admittedly some of the gifts are rather naf but many are quite good, and especially in the early days when you do not have much they are generally appreciated.
Romance and There
It happens ok? Obviously some people like to hide their identity, and it becomes apparent very quickly who is a fake, who is genuine and who is genuinely hiding. The fakes get no brook from me. Those who feel uncomfortable revealing too much on the other hand, I can well understand. I have a number of friends in There who are shy about their identity. But romance in There is fraught with danger. I have seen many people come to grief over broken romances with all of the angst and the upset from broken commitments. Online romance can work but its success is very limited. Don’t go into There with an eye to meeting the one, because you will get your heart broken; almost guaranteed.
Conclusion
There is a great way to meet people of diverse backgrounds from all over the world. It can cost quite a lot but does not have to. You get grief – especially if you are looking for it, but all in all you can meet a great group of people. Give it a try.