03/02/2010

No Longer There

This is sad news. Inevitably virtual worlds come and go, but I thought this particular platform would be a survivor. It was a fun place, with paint ball games places you could drive dune buggys and ride air boards. There were good groups to belong to and it wasn't too hard on your machine to use. But There.com is going away.

"There.com is closing on March 9th,
2010

In 2003, There.com was
launched as a 3D Immersive Virtual World for everyone.

Unlike other products, There was designed from the beginning to be a
welcoming and comfortable place for everyone - not just gamers, not just
people over 18, not just people with high end computers, and not just
people on broadband. This principle extended far beyond just the
technology: for example it led to our submissions review system, which
ensured that user generated content didn't infringe on existing brands,
or even other member's content. To that, we added socialization tools
including 3D avatar chat, clubs, events, activity flags, card games,
quests, virtual commerce, kinetic games such as paintball, buggies, and,
of course, hoverboards. While many of these things sound commonplace
today, in 2003 we were arguably one of the first places to "put it all
together" in one package.

But all of that was just a big stack of technology and hardware. It
was when we added people - our members - to There.com that it actually
came to life. Through you, There has been known as a vibrant, welcoming
place for people to come and meet other people, have fun, create, or
just hang out. Over the years, millions of folks have passed through our
doors, each of you bringing something new and different to There.com,
and, hopefully, taking a little bit of the fun with you back into your
"real life".

By adding developers to There, we made it possible for the world to
becomes millions of time more interesting and creative than it possibly
could have been otherwise. Of course, the talented artists and modelers
at There created an amazing world to start with, but it was your content
- clothes, vehicles, accessories, buildings, lawn furniture, gnomes,
snowmen, etc, etc, etc - which really helped bring the world to life,
and make There the special place it is today".

I hope this isn't a sign, but it stands to reason that with the economy going the way it has/had, virtual platforms, like any other businesses, are going to fail.