The Key to Online Worlds
I've been thinking about this a lot, off and on throughout the years. And don't ask me why it floated into my brain this morning, as I was playing with my kitty, and contemplating breakfast.
I've been known far and wide as being one of those strange creatures that actually LIVES online lives with a fierceness and thoroughness unmatched by many. I would have to agree, although in more recent years, I've moderated that "other-living", scaled down to something a bit more healthy.
Because in truth, anything done to excess isn't very healthy. Be it physical, mental or spiritual health, or a mix and match of any of the three. However I think I've earned the right to comment on online worlds - living spaces if you will - due to my vast experience of doing just that. Living lives (sometimes to excess) elsewhere than the "normal" reality all of us must inhabit from time to time.
In order for an online world to work, its my opinion that it must have something that I feel is key and actually quite vital. There must be a way to integrate the internet - that is the web - within the space. So that the user/liver/gamer can access that reality without having to leave the world/space they are currently in.
You may be asking why I think this is so vital. Well it is. People have become so used to hopping back and forth from window to window, having to use two to three different computers to get different things done, that they have all but given up on the idea that you can do so much right where you are.
For those people out there developing new online worlds and 3D spaces, and for those out there looking around and participating in those worlds and communities, it bears taking a few moments to sit and actually think about this. In both the of the games I'm currently playing, I've heard this being said quite often:
"Oh hang on, I'll brb. I have to log out in order to pull the internet." or "ty for the link, I'll save it on my notepad and look at it later. pulling up webpages is so slow while I'm playing." or "hang on a few, going afk to check out that (url/link/email/wiki)"
You know exactly what I'm talking about, having heard that same things yourself, and even said them too. I don't see why everything has to be separated. I'm going to say that in the future - or well, I feel that the future should be - seamlessness between the game and the tool we use every day for everything - our internet browsers.
Active Worlds way back in the 90's already understood this, and had a web browser option built into their User Interface. As most games and 3D spaces have a forum, wiki, blog, classifieds, guild pages, guides, info etc - it would behoove creators to learn from AW and find a way to similarly give players net access.
The internet isn't going to go away, and how we use it in terms of our games and how we play them isn't going to go away either. There will always be a relationship between the 2D webpage and the 3D online space. The winner in all of this will be who understands this best of all, and who implements with ease of use and seamlessness.
Linden Lab finally half way realised how key having an internal browser is. It took them months and months and months after the Electric Sheep showed them how to do it on their Baa Baa Browser for their CSI:NY promotion. But LL flopped on the PR. They apparantly didn't think it was all THAT important enough to announce it somewhere and let people know about it.
I found out from my hubby, when he handed me a link one day, and I accidentally CLICKED IT - something I rarely do - usually I copy and save it for viewing later - and an internal browser came up. After I came to I had to ask how long THAT had been going on. Not very. But at least finally. I think Teppy should consider having an internal browser option for ATITD installed for next Telling. It IS the future, and as dependent as we are on the Tale wiki, it can only be to everyone's advantage.
That's my two cents on the subject. What say you?
-BC
