Facebook/Meta Quietly Leaving Virtual Worlds Behind

 

Last year, Facebook/Meta was really harping itself as the future of virtual worlds. It was touting it's Horizons as the up and coming brand new virtual landscape that the masses would want to join and experience. This year, they've been quiet about it. CEO and owner Mark Zuckerburg has gone from repeatedly promoting Horizons as the must be-in place online, to having stopped.

 

So what happened? Well, Horizons turned out to be a big money loser. Zuckerburg invested billions in his company's virtual world, only to get very little return for it in comparison. 

 

The number of people signing up was far short than the half million expected, and most didn't stay after their first month. It seems the "lack of realism" on the avatars, notably having no legs, was one of the big reasons. Of it's virtual worlds, only a handful were visited by more than 50, most not visited by anyone but it's creator. And unlike Second Life, which continued to do very well, Facebook/Meta workers didn't enjoy using the place on their free time "because it's riddled with bugs and other quality issues."

For all the money invested, Horizon's returns are small in comparison. It brought in 727 million USD in 2022, 17% less than in 2021. The result has been huge loses, losing nearly 24 BILLION dollars in 2021 and 2022, 13.7 billion in 2022 alone. Considering their overall income was 32.1 billion, the company had been continuing to spend and invest heavily after initial small returns, and was getting even less. So no wonder Facebook/Meta is cutting its losses.

Fortunately for Zuckerberg, technology tends have allowed him to quietly leave virtual reality behind: AI, which in recent months has gotten more attention thanks to programs like Chat GPT. An article on "The Street" stated in an announcement, he announced, "We're creating a new top-level product group at Meta focused on generative AI to turbocharge our work in this area. We're starting by pulling together a lot of the teams working on generative AI across the company into one group focused on building delightful experiences around this technology. ... In the short term, we'll focus on building creative and expressive tools. Over the longer term, we'll focus on developing AI personas that can help people in a variety of ways."

So it seems Horizon is being left behind, joining the ranks of the virtual worlds such as There and Blue Mars that had gotten plenty of talk but ended up falling short, while Second Life and to a smaller extent VRChat, continue to flourish.

 

Sources: The Street, Kotaku, PC Gamer

Bixyl Shuftan

When A Friend Passes Away

Deaflegacy recently experienced a personal tragedy when one of her closest friends in real life died. Saying goodbye to someone you care about is never easy. It's even harder when that someone departs to the hereafter. Deaflegacy wrote a few words about her friend, mentioning she's not alone in having lost someone they care about.

Read Deaflegacy's story in People.

Stagg Island 9/11 Memorial Offline

As Second Life gets ready to remember those who perished in the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Arlington Virginia (and Pennsylvania), one of the most detailed memorials to them in Second Life has apparently vanished. The Stagg Island memorial is no longer online.

The memorial, part of the Stagg Island sim, was made by Geena Zackerly-Magic (Geena Zackerly) and Fazz (Fazio Magic. The names of those murdered were carved into a wall of stone, and the floor had two square holes of which water flowed down the side, and when viewed at Midnight beams of light went up, representing the Trade Center's twin towers. To the side, there were a number of national flags, representing those countries which had lost people in the attack. On September 11, there were ceremonies held to honor those who were killed, with recordings of news broadcasts and releasing of lanterns into the sky.

Over the years, there have been a number of memorials built to remember those who fell, from the large structure built in the dAlliez Land Headquarters sim, to Cheri Bing's New York City Block's World Trade Center memorial, and a number of others. There are still smaller memorials, such as the skybox one at Tenerife (118/143/1343, and the one at Sacred Ground at Urban Style (36/105/1695). But the loss of the Stagg Island memorial means the loss of one of the largest and most detailed, certainly the largest and most detailed in recent years.

Bixyl Shuftan

"I May Be Done" The Husband of A Warcraft Couple Talks about His Wife's Passing

We often think of computer gamers as immature loners, and when they do find someone and get married, what comes to mind is the game being a source of friction between a computer-free wife and game-addicted husband. But there are couples whom happily game together. Recently however, one such gamer has had to deal with the grief and lost as his wife, whom played "World of Warcraft" with him for years, had passed away. Feeling some of her friends would wonder why she was gone, he posted his feelings on the Blizzard forums. He didn't expect the outpouring of sympathy that followed.

Read more in "Other Grids, MMOs, and Games."

Grendel's Owner's Computer Lost in Fire

Almost a year after being suspended by Linden Lab for technicalities, Flea Bussy, the owner of the noted Grendles' Children store, has found himself in trouble again. This time, the problem was a real-life one when the apartment complex he lived in caught fire. Thankfully no one was killed, and the damage to Flea's apartment was from smoke and not heat. But the smoke was enough to render his computer damaged beyond repair.

"The old one is toast," Toady Nakamura, Flea's partner and co-owner of Grendle's told the Newser. "He has an off-the-shelf one at the moment, which isn't truly his. But it's not enough to run well or fast in SL, and we're hoping to change that as soon as possible." Today thought that Flea could get a new computer in about a week, maybe less, if people bought more at the store, "we have some really great new avis, all mesh ... The Wing Chairs, which let you ride your friends along sitting in them. Really neat." Unlike the crisis last year, there is no real danger to the store this time, "We're fine on business. We have so much fun stuff that people keep coming to get it. The only request was to bring friends, buy stuff, take freebies, find the secret passage in the library which leads to the sleeping dragon, have fun."

Flea had been absent for four days before he had a chance to explain what happened through a phone call. His apartment complex is not a small one, but a "U-shaped" structure three stories high on one side and more on the other, with more than two hundred people. "He went upstairs to get someone out," Toady informed, "Way beyond what he needed to do to save himself. And got himself and the other down all the stairs and outside, then tried to persuade a pile of people who were plugging up the entry, because it was minus 20 degrees outside and snow, to exit before the smoke flared up into full flame. I think people who don't just save themselves are special. Especially how he described it, and of course everyone was sick with worry for not hearing from him for the four days he was in the Red Cross shelter before being let back in. Some people were rescued by the fire department off the balconies by the long ladders. It was one of those freezing cold fire events. ... Many of the building residents are elderly and so there was more than the usual pressure for rehousing and saving things."

Toady went on to say about half the apartments are occupied again. The other half will need repairs first, "everyone else is going to need to wait or move to a different apartment. ... I think they're moving as fast as they can given all the circumstances. Up where I live, that would be a huge disaster and people would be sleeping in RVs and barns because we couldn't rehouse 100 people overnight. But perhaps in a metro area, that is not much; it's all perspective."

Before going about her way, Toady reminded that she has been giving out building lessons at Grendle's, the times of which can be found in the store's blog: https://grendelschildren.wordpress.com/.

Grendle's is at Avaria Tor (133/135/302)

Bixyl Shuftan

October is PAIL Awareness

By Tiddily Winks

 Everyone knows that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month but very few know it is also Pregnancy and Infant Loss (PAIL) Remembrance.  October 15th of every year is a special day for everyone who has lost a child, either due to miscarriage or something else.  At 7pm on the 15th everyone will light a candle for their loss and for any loved one’s losses and let the candle or candles burn for one hour.  It is called Worldwide Candle Lighting.  This creates a wave of light around the world.  This can be done by anybody.  I do it for my daughter and for several friends who have also lost their babies for different reasons. 


    If you know someone who has lost a child for any reason, talk to them let them know you care for them.  And take it from someone who has lost a child herself, talk about the child. If you knew him or her tell the parent(s) what you remember about their child.  They may not show it right away but it will make them happy that someone else remembers their “baby.” 

    Also, you can find help for your loss and a friend’s loss.  Most people do not know that children are lost to some sort of death.  We need to get it out there more, show people that is does happen.  Let them know what can be done to help the parents of any children who pass away.  There is a wonderful group known as The Compassionate Friends that is very good at helping with loss.  They cover all sorts of loss and even have online support groups you can go to.  Their website is www.compassionatefriends.org.  I go to this group when I need help dealing with my loss even though it has been 5 years now.  Some cities have a local chapter of The Compassionate Friends as well.  One would just need to go on their website and it will tell them if there is one in their area.
   
Tiddily Winks

Biggest Battle in Eve Online's Ten Year History, Over $300,000 USD Worth of Virtual Weaponry Lost

People can put some serious money in virtual goods sometimes. For instance, sims in Second Life cost a thousand dollars for a normal one that can handle more than a few people, and about $300 a month to maintain. Have several sims, and that's some serious money invested. But could one imagine the equivalent of these sims invested in a single battle, and possibly lost forever? With this in mind, in the game of Eve Online on Monday January 27, a battle took place that was truly massive in the numbers of players taking part and the value of the ships involved. And the amount the participants lost in terms of real-life cash was nothing short of massive as well.

Read more on the story in Other Grids and MMOs.