There is over. For some reason I can’t resist that pun, but it’s actually grave news for the Metaverse. There.com was launched in 2003, about the same time as Second Life. Both had similar concepts and shared common traits, such as an in-world economy and user-created content. Unlike SL however, There was aimed to be PG-13 rated and therefore open for everyone (where SL is basically an adult world with an attached Teen-Grid). When I joined SL, I had tried various other virtual worlds as well, including There (and I again did so after getting banned from SL). Personally, to me There had some really bad graphics (which were way worse than Second Life) and that put me off before I even got to know how the community was like, or understood that adult content was disallowed there. In hindsight, of course I’m glad I didn’t move there, as I would need to move again now.

However, I still have mixed feelings about this. Mike Wilson, CEO of Makena Technologies (the providers of There.com) wrote in the statement that announced the closing the very true and revealing sentence: “There is a business, and a business that can’t support itself doesn’t work.” The people who created content in There, or even had their own businesses based on There’s in-world economy, will lose their creations forever. There, like Second Life, is a walled garden, yet unlike SL there is no open sourced community that is working on a compatible virtual world. In short: Everything will be gone. And while There.com will try to reimburse recently converted Therebucks (There’s in-world currency), everything else will sleep the long sleep of cables.

This, once more, gives me opportunity to think about the concepts of virtual worlds, and which is the best route to follow. As long as your virtual world depends on business, it will rise and fall with the economy. It is nice to think it won’t happen to SL, as it is too big and economically strong, but the current crisis has brought even bigger giants down. I’m not saying I have reason to believe SL will close. I guess my point is just that, as long as it is in the hands of an economic business, its fate is doubtful. (Would the internet ever have grown to what it is today, if it would have been backed by a capitalist venture?) The new black is Blue Mars, which just launched its Beta a few months ago. Many people are putting a lot of effort and creativity into it now. Will it work? Will it survive and honour those that contributed? I would hate to put my heart into creating things there, only to see it close because of economic reasons. I wish it all the best, but it’s still the same fear as with Second Life, and every other business virtual world.

Many players of There will probably switch over to Second Life, and I welcome them with all my heart, and hope they will find a place that is just as great, or even greater, than There was. However, I would even more like to see them in OSGrid or in another non-commercial open simulator grid. Not just because every new face there is refreshing, but also, because I believe these are the foundations built to last. From what I have come to learn is that: If you don’t NEED to make business, don’t try. It removes a lot of pressure from you, and gives you more room to breathe. Also, only the things you share can never be lost. Because they can be shared back with you at any time. If you keep them to yourself, they are vulnerable to loss due to unforeseen circumstances.

THERE for: Welcome Therians. We salute you.