- There (virtual world)
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There Developer(s) Makena Technologies Publisher(s) Makena Technologies Distributor(s) Makena Technologies Version v2.45 (v14,136) Platform(s) Windows 2000
Windows XP
Windows Vista
Windows 7
Mac OS X (Private Alpha) ThereIMRelease date(s) January 9th, 2003 Genre(s) Multiplayer Social Mode(s) Multiplayer Rating(s) 18 Media/distribution Download System requirements 256MB RAM
56k modem (Broadband is highly recommended)
500MB free hard disk space
Approx. another 500MB as disk cache for in-world content
Internet Explorer (XML supported)There is a 3D online virtual world created by Will Harvey and Jeffrey Ventrella. There Inc. was founded in the spring of 1998. Closed beta began in July 2001, with various stages of beta following, and ending with an October 2003 launch date. On March 9, 2010 - one week after the announcement of its closure on March 2, 2010 - There.com shut its doors to the public.
On May 18, 2011, Michael Wilson announced that There.com will be re-opening, on the There.com homepage. All previous members will have access to their old avatars. [1]
Contents
Corporate history
In June 2004, There Inc. went through a restructuring and announced major layoffs. In April 2005, There Inc. announced that the commercial side of the company would be branching out to form two companies: Forterra Systems (the government-contracted client) and Makena Technologies (the commercial client).
In 2006, Makena Technologies announced a partnership with MTV Networks to provide the technology platform for their virtual worlds which include Virtual Laguna Beach, The Virtual Hills, Virtual Pimp My Ride, Virtual Real World, Virtual Newport Harbor, Virtual VMAs (Video Music Awards), Virtual Kaya, Virtual Rob and Big and Virtual Life of Ryan. Makena Technologies also has a partnership with Trilogy Studios.
Corporate brands that had a presence in There.com included Coca-Cola, CosmoGIRL!, Humane Society of the U.S., Capital Music Group, Paramount Studios, bebe, NaCo USA, K-SWISS, Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Nike, Levi's, and Scion.
In 2008, Makena Technologies launched ThereConnect, allowing There.com members to showcase their in-world profiles, skills, groups and upcoming events on their Facebook pages. They also announced ThereIM, a lightweight instant messaging client where users can communicate with other members’ avatars, whether or not they are signed into the virtual world.
On March 9, 2010 at 11:59 PM Pacific Standard Time, There.com shut down its virtual world for the final time. The CEO of There, inc., has stated very clearly (both privately and publicly) that Makena has no plans of re-opening There.com. There.com offered refunds for all "Therebucks" purchased between February 1, 2010 and March 9, 2010. As of April 1, refunds are no longer available.
On May 18, 2011, Michael Wilson announced that There.com will be re-opening.
On October 14, 2011, Michael Wilson announced that the There.com virtual world became available for members to test. A limit of 50 members at a time was imposed.
Competitors
There was a competitor with many internet virtual worlds such as Onverse, Second Life, Moove, Active Worlds, Kaneva, vSide and IMVU.
Details
There was a venue for socializing with less role-playing than is typically found in MMORPGs. Billed on its homepage as "...an online getaway where you can hang out with your friends and meet new ones...", There defines itself as a service providing a shared experience that allows people to interact in an online society. The virtual world offers a PG-13 environment with built-in filters to block profanity and abusive users.
Each new member entered the community by choosing a unique name and a male or female avatar. The avatar's name and gender were permanently set, but various attributes such as hair color and style, head and body shapes, skin and eye color, clothing, etc. could be changed as desired. Through their avatars, members communicated in real-time using emotions, body language, text chat and voice to express themselves.
In addition to customizing their avatars, members could create their own items, such as clothing, vehicles, buildings and furniture, and sell them to others for use in the world. Each object created underwent a rigorous submission procedure to ensure its accuracy as well as compliance with international copyright laws. Detailed instruction was available at the developer site provided by Makena and in world classes were offered for the novice as well as experienced graphic artist. All classes were without charge and open to all.
Most items such as furniture were designed to be used within houses or zones, although some items such as vehicles and dogs were not, due to their mobile nature. Monetary transactions in There's economy were done using Therebucks (T$), virtual currency with real world value. Therebucks could be purchased directly from There, from other members, or from any of the third party online "banks" which usually offered competitive exchange rates. 1 USD = 1,800 Tbux.
Members of There.com could participate in activities such as racing vehicles, playing cards, flying, designing homes, playing paintball, hoverboarding and training virtual pets. There was also access to special interest groups devoted to topics including recreation, business, the environment, education and the arts.
In September 2007, all members of There Philippines were moved to the original version. They were forced to change usernames (if necessary), and could not bring anything with them but tbux during the change.
Life in There
Each new member entered the community by choosing a unique name and a male or female avatar. The avatar's name and gender were permanently set, but various attributes such as hair color and style, head and body shapes, skin and eye color, clothing, etc. could be changed as desired. Unrestricted by hoverboat(aircraft), and hoverpack.
Arranging content within houses or zones to create living quarters, meeting places, game rooms, movie sets, race tracks, mazes, yard sales—in short, whatever the member could imagine using available materials. In addition to houses, "fun zones", and "frontier zones" which maintain a fixed presence and location in the world, There also featured "porta-zones", portable zones that could be relocated or removed from the world when not in use. Porta-zones (or "PAZs") do not incur rental fees when not in the world. Houses and zones were rented from There on a monthly basis. Neighborhoods and neighborhood lots were the most recent additions to There's suite of porta-zones. Designing custom content using There-provided tools and templates, Gmax, and a graphics editor such as Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro or The Gimp. These led to buying, selling, and trading of member-created items, as well as items created by There. Most items such as furniture were designed to be used within houses or zones, although some items such as vehicles and dogs were not due to their mobile nature. Monetary transactions in There's economy were done using Therebucks, virtual currency with real world value. Therebucks could be purchased directly from There, from other members, or from any one of the 3rd party online "banks" which usually offered competitive exchange rates. Members could also sell their Therebucks to banks in exchange for real world currency, usually USD.
Size
As at March 2009 There contained 14 major islands, dozens of smaller islands, over 1 million members and many community places including businesses.
Island Names
- Caldera
- Nada
- Ootay
- Kiani (Tropical Adventures)
- New Kansas
- Egypt
- Cangrejo
- Motu Motu
- Malihini
- Aurora
- Coke Island
- Comet
- Frosty Island
- Tyr
Popular places in There
- Zephyr
- Duda Beach
- CosmoGIRL! Village
- Fisher Island
- Paiz Island
- Zona Island
- CC Metro
Screenshots
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Activities include hoverboarding, with the ability to perform stunts such as dropping down from space
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A wide pan over a seaside thatched-roof village
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Zona Island, a place where new members first log in
See also
External links
- Official sites
- Online There newspapers
- There Fun Times - "Promotional" news site
- There videos
- Other
- Thumdar.com - Forums, downloads, social network for 3d virtual worlds
- So There - Forum
- Karille.com - There Videos, Links, Emotes and More
- "Just Crazy Talk" Show - Talk Radio
- Google Search on Makena Technologies
- "I Am So There" blog There re-opening announcement
References
Categories:- Lua-scripted video games
- Virtual economy
- Virtual reality communities
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