Metaquette #VirtualRealEstate Q4

 

Weekly QA with the Doyenne of the Metaverse....Pooky Amsterdam

Virtual worlds allow for people to own, trade and build upon their virtual land. And within Virtuality, prices are often a fraction of what they can be in the physical world. When a server sets up the grid for one metaverse or another, they create a place where your virtual feet will land. And this land, if you want a home in that metaverse is usually available to rent, or own. 

While many folks only want an outpost of some sort, just as most of us only want an apartment, or a house for ourselves / our loved ones, some will aspire to own and trade Meta Real Estate. The press is fond of reporting big numbers, and in this we have seen some really big ones.

Q: I've heard so much about buying land in some of the new metaverses. it seems like a great real estate empire is going on and I have FOMO! Any tips?

It depends if you are a long term or short term player in this market. Short term fluctuations mean you need the cohones of a day trader, so longer term investment might be a safer bet. With so many virtual currencies which buy different properties it is a challenge to know which one(s) you are going to back.

There are premium virtual NFT real estate properties in major blockchain Metaverses including Decentraland, Somnium Space, The Sandbox, Cryptovoxels and Upland. Parcels here do have resale value now, and possibly for some foreseeable future, supported by The Metaverse Group (see below) in what seems an attempt to protect investment with diversification in their real estate portfolio.  Blockchain currency is tied intimately with virtual land sales, as we have recently seen with losses in the crypto market, caution is advised.

There is an excellent model in Second Life for virtual real estate ownership then subsequent subdivision of parcel for rentals, which have been going on for over 15 years. It was in 2006 that Anshe Chung made a million USD in Second Life real estate, which continues to be a vibrant part of the Metaverse building on micro-payments of $7 - 30$ a week for rentals. Becoming a virtual landlord is more than buying low and selling high, it requires tenant management, monthly payment systems, a longer term investment and one you must have a few organizational skills for.

Some really big deals have been in Decentraland, which has its own currency called MANA, and where parcels next to major spawning areas can go for $36,000. That is all about monetization of the space, selling advertising, developing brand recognition and of course NFTs. The high price reflects proximity to n00b spawning grounds which means prime space in front of new flush wallets too and first purchase aroma in the ether. What really makes Decentraland so expensive is the hard cap on the amount of land which creates the digital scarcity. Prices have been high. An example? A nice piece of land there sold for $2.4 Million towards the end of last year. Fashion Street went for $3.5M one week in January, yet dropped more than $2M the following week, speculation much?

On the outermost sections of Decentralands main civilization of 6 months ago, one could find a parcel for a mere $6K. The market for land and MANA is strong, as you can see on CoinmarketCap, which shows the price of just about every coin based blockchain currency. There are a LOT of them.  

There is SAND in The Sandbox, where it cost 71,000 SAND or $450,000 to live in the parcel next to the famous Snoop Dogg. other locations away from the Snoop go for less, but there is great fluctuation in prices. Look for scarcity of land, activity and proximity to popular hub destinations as these factors can affect a better chance of increasing value. You do NOT have to look for a good school district.

Investing heavily in virtual real estate is The Metaverse Group, the same one that tokens.com just bought a 50% stake in and which launched a REIT (Real Estate Investment Trust) based on virtual property. it is one of the first NFT based real estate companies to own a portfolio of properties mentioned at the top of this blog.  Will they return astounding profits? No one can can be certain at this point.

The best piece of real estate advice I ever heard came from a man named Bob Hope, who made a fortune in it. Asked for advice, he said, "See the city limits kid? Buy there." What this means is find the outer edge of the most popular places in your metaverse and plunk your chunk down there, people will be expanding into the hinterlands around "the city." 

Metaquette #VirtualFashionista Q3

Weekly QA with the Doyenne of the Metaverse…Pooky Amsterdam

So you want to be a virtual star, here are some proven techniques and insights that have worked for me, my friends, and my clients. They'll help you show off your personal style in the Metaverse, and make the impression you want. Everyone seems to wear the same low key uniform of jeans, sneakers, t-shirts and hoodies these days. Man, woman and child are indistinguishable from one another in terms of outfits. We wear what is easiest to throw on. It takes effort, understandable, shopping for the physical self comes with limitations, yet dressing ones virtual presence allows us to do so much more clickety-click.

Sitting there in yoga pants? Get into some crazy high style without having to open a real closet, then show it off without leaving your domicile.

 Q: What to virtually wear? 

In the Metaverse, how you look says everything about you, or nothing at all,  since your virtual body feels no restrictions, age nor weight gain your choice to dress with the click of a button is easy-peasy. It’s one of the most fun things to do as an expression of moods, feelings, whims, an attitude du jour. But of course I think that….I have over a 100 folders named Outfit Nirvana in my inventory and an NFT collection of my virtual fashion on OpenSea at

https://opensea.io/collection/fashionnirvana

One of the greatest things I think about having an avatar we can dress is the ability to load up on what I call “aspirational” clothing. I’ll give you an example. In my physical closet I have high heels which I will never wear again, however if you think for one second that I would throw them out you would be wrong. I love those shoes, and though I will never wear them on my actual feet again for longer than 15 minutes, they represent something of a time in life I'll always connect with. While I can’t really wear them, I aspire to them and they are part of who I am.  In the metaverse, aspirational wear is something to be celebrated as I can wear 5-inch stilettos all day long and feel no pain from clicking my heels, so to speak over thousands of virtual miles. In the metaverse I can wear what I want to see myself in, living a form of “the dream” if you will.

The benefit of this kind of wardrobe is no storage or laundry problems. Plus it is persistent, will last as long as electricity and never get moth holes. It’s your virtual life, the one you have by choice not by chance! You do not have to go with the default avatar you log in with, here "at birth" you can start expressing yourself in many ways pronto, so think of your style. It's more than, "Which Spice Girl RU?" When you find the place to establish a virtual outpost in, you’re probably going to have to buy some of the coin of the realm and/or fill your wallet to suit up a bit, but perhaps not initially as most metaverses allow you to choose from their catalog.

Find a jacket that speaks to you, find a shoe and work your way up from there.  Are there any accessories? Do you want to play a role? You can always change it at any time. To start, take a full trip through the free offerings and find something colorful, cool or close to the dream you!  For the full dream, you’ll probably have to pay, usually pennies on the dollar. But in some places, with the rise of NFT Avatars like in The Sandbox, you can buy a look for $13K, luckily it has resale value. Spend some time on yourself and get out there to show off your handiwork and see what is going on! 

Branded clothing is one of the ways that companies are establishing themselves in the metaverse and they are presenting varied content. Gucci and Forever21 in Roblox, Adidas teaming with Bored Ape, Honor of Kings a fabulous short CGI has a silver deer (which looks like a Patronus from Harry Potter) shape shifting into an anime-like redheaded beauty wearing Burberry’s latest design, Prada uses a CGI avatar named Candy to sell clothes, Nike has a line of NFT avatars it is using to promote its sporty clothes line. Balenciaga will collaborate with Epic Games, the developer of Fortnite, to bring their signature clothing and apparel in.

These companies want you to be their virtual spokesperson and carry their name across the metaverse on your back. Is it worth it to wear someone else’s label? We do it all the time; as in reality so in virtuality.  We are human whatever the platform, so when you look in the virtual mirror which is your avatar, what does it “say” to you? When you get dressed you are not constructing a narrative, you’re putting your pants on,  when you dress your “dolly” (and yes the avatar, the other the cartoon self can be seen as a doll version of your being) how do you want to look? 

Do you need to be familiar to yourself, better than yourself or just different somehow? This is the easiest way to take chances which you might not otherwise risk. Purple might be your favorite secret color but wearing it in public calls a bit too much attention to yourself. In a virtual world, you do have more flexibility in that no one you know (most likely) will comment on your choice of outfit. Wear purple from head to toe if the mood strikes. Yes you can always change it later.

Calvin Klein used a virtual avatar named Daisy, Prada has a virtual model named Candy, Louis Vuitton created Vivienne for the brands 200th birthday so as an avatar you can experience LV through her. Daisy’s features were designed utilizing an Italian clothing line named Yoox’s data and client preferences to hit the target where it counts - right in their identity. And the comment was made that Daisy costs far less than genuine influencers, are 100% controllable, can appear in many locations simultaneously and can promote corporate opinion when needed. Virtual avatars wearing company clothing might be attractive to end users who want to look like Daisy or candy or have access to their wardrobes. And if people wear the clothes they wear the label. 

Yes, all of these figures are female, and one thing I have often heard from men in the virtual world is that they often choose female avatars because the clothing choices are just so much better. Something to think about if you are Eddie Bauer or Hugo Boss.

If we can wear a virtual Chanel or Prada for a fraction of its cost in the physical world, aren’t we tempted as those brands do have high luxury value. I do hesitate to say "in the real world", because what we believe or imbue ourselves in, is real. Our presence and transference of self and ego onto our avatars makes those characters real to us. We care what we look like, we care how others look at us, and if the way we look, our outfit tells others about ourselves in an instant within a metaverse, don’t we want to represent ourselves in the most beautiful and / or awesome way?

We have choices in the Metaverse about how we want to look, and that speaks to an idealization of ourselves which we can put forth much more easily. It takes a different effort to improve or enhance the way we look in the physical world. And to this end I own bestdressedavatar.com which is under construction, because we will all soon want to upload a great selfie of ourselves taken in whichever virtual world we come to love. All dressed up and no one to appreciate it? That won’t be the case when you can put your image  here and have people vote you as the Best Dressed Avatar of 2023!

If you have a question, send an email to info@pookymedia.com with Metaquette in the subject and it will be addressed!

Metaquette #Metaverseday

Weekly QA with the Doyenne of The Metaverse...Pooky Amsterdam

It’s here!

On #MetaverseDay will everything suddenly become pixelated and colorful? Will there be huge neon colored buildings and small talking bugs in the pub? Will there be NFTs on the road and all you have to do is pick up your phone and take a picture? But you are in a virtual world and you don’t know how to take a picture! Do you decide to cross the street but can’t stop running in place?

Welcome to the Metaverse. Water is not wet, the world is flat and teleportation exists. Is this what today is going to be like? Because when you enter the Metaverse *dun dun dun* constructs of physics, movement and identity have their own rules.

It’s fun, there is much to do and see, it’s a miniature carnival for your mind, profitable in many ways plus it tests how you feel about strangers. A broadening experience with brands and business, your own or others can give you some instant feels about what you are interacting with. Do you look and move on, or does that pulsating poster or bursting balloon catch your eye? Instinct counts for a lot, so be alert to yours.

#MetaverseDay go log in to a metaverse platform, spawn with other noobies, start your adventure as an avatar, and experience what it’s all about!

Q: Which Metaverse is right for me?

You’ve decided you want to go to a virtual world, be the star of your own adventures, create endless experiences and stories to share with others. As you enter the Metaverse, which one out of a burgeoning field of old and new platforms will you choose?

There is a lot of competition for users so the decision where to hang your virtual hat is very important to the companies behind them as every metaverse will want and need a dedicated user base.

Trying out allllll the different ones can take a lot of downloads & time, so a few things to keep in mind are: Where do you feel comfy and what do you want to do? User Interface is a factor, how easily you can manoeuvre your avatar, to sit stand, walk, turn, hold objects and sometimes fly will be a turn on or a turn off.

Where you feel visually, vibrantly at home in your new world depends a lot on what graphics style appeals to you and what you like to see.

Do you respond to lego-like figures? If so, Minecraft, Roblox, The Sandbox, Rec Room are good. Something cartoon-like? Horizons, IMVU, Decentraland. Cartoons with guns? Fortnight. Do you want a smooth avatar? Astra, Somnium Space, Second Life. A Furry? VRChat. Luxury brands? NFT collectables? Decentraland, The Sandbox, Roblox. Music? Second Life, Roblox, where Spotify just opened a virtual island.

Every new world is going for the one-stop metaverse route - where everything you might want is there: shopping, gaming, socializing, leveraging crypto and NFTs. The blockchain part is Web 3.0 so there’s push with this term and why you hear it everywhere.

What you want to do will come next as you interact with all the virtual assets in that world, and realize you are free to do anything.

Make Avatars? Try the Avatar creator in The Sandbox, mint and sell them on the marketplace too.

Build? Apply for metaverse grants in Astra, horizons and Rec Room. Second Life has some awesome user created content, check it out.

Trade? Habbo has a vigorous trading community of 20 years.

Shop? Second Life’s behemoth marketplace is a testimony to User Created Content.

Play games? Microsoft’s $68.7 billion deal to buy game publisher Activision Blizzard is a sign that gaming will be a key part of the metaverse.

Create Games? The Sandbox.

Have a Gallery? Decentraland.

A Comedy Club? Somnium Space has open mic night.

A lot of the Metaverses have all these options and are in no way exclusive in their ability to host any of the above, it’s where you want to go.

There are metaverses that require ETH or BTC to enter or as is the case of some like Enjin, an Enjin wallet. But the kick is, when you make something on one of those platforms you own it, and on many you can sell, trade or give it away if you want to.

Remember this is your elective choice of participatory entertainment. The question might become what do you want your legacy to be as you establish yourself anew within a virtual world.

To be honest most of the time it comes down to if you have a friend, or idol who already has a Metaverse to go to, so you meet them there and get started. Because basically a place's stickiness will come down to where you find friends and where you want to hang out in your downtime, close to home but not alone. There are an additional 20 new metaverses outside of the ones mentioned here in beta and on the way! A crowded field, so you are already a Very important Player!

Metaquette - Weekly QA with the Doyenne of The Metaverse...Pooky Amsterdam

Putting your humanity into an avatar, to navigate one, or many of the Metaverses in operation now or in the near future, require both leaps of faith and a landing point to get the most out of the experience whether commerce or leisure oriented.

Though one might enter a Metaverse for many reasons ranging from curiosity to business, what often keeps you there is the collective; people you meet and the community. This is the same in any virtual world as your avatar interacts with others. If you wanted to be alone, you’d play a game of Resident Evil.  You go because there is something happening in that cool pixelated atmosphere you can just log into and become immersed in. Because if you travel to one, there are going to be other people there and not from one place, but many.

How does one hobnob with new and old social rules as they apply in any Metaverse?

You will have questions about what, who and where you are, as well as what to wear, and Mz Pooky is ready to help with this weekly column. Twenty years in virtual worlds, as a pioneer, creator of shows, series and events, means there’s nothing she hasn't seen or done.

Introducing Metaquette ~ Tips & Tricks for the Metaverse.

Q: I have just materialized in the Metaverse, and would like to have a conversation with another avatar, but when I say / type “hello” I’m ignored. I think I need a better opening line, any clues?

It is both easier and harder to make friends in the Metaverse, and when you spawn or appear for the first time in the new world, it can be even harder. On the one hand you might never see the stranger you are standing next to again, so you risk nothing but your initiating convo. Then again you might have nothing in common except you’re both human on one side of the screen, and on the same game engine platform. Then again you are both there, and somehow fate has conspired to put you within dance range of each other. Be relaxed, as they might be just as relieved as you to strike up a conversation to avoid that wasteland feeling.

However with the rise of very clever AI, you might want to check you are not chatting up a bot, unless you need “chatting up” practice then that’s exactly what you want to do.

Beyond trying to game your opener to out trick a robot, here are some lines, or ice-breakers designed to get you going in your new reality. Remember anyone could be from anywhere wearing anything on the other side of their screen, you don’t really know who you are standing next to (in the spawning space), and they probably spawned very recently too, though some oldies hang out sometimes to help, or take advantage of the newbies. You might be in some pixel paradise while really sitting at your favorite spot in your PJs at home, but just think of yourself as standing on any street corner in a new town finding some company.

>”Wow, this looks interesting, what do you think happens next?”

If they respond with something you want to go with, it’s an opener.

>“HiHi and help if you can please? Do you know how to….(fill in the blank - move, sit, walk, get to the NFT giveaway etc.)?”

Asking for help is a great way to connect as every n00b needs guidance and someone who will be helpful to a newcomer is probably not that awful a person. And being polite will get you much farther in the Metaverse as no one seems to have remembered their manners in real life. Be refreshing, grateful and different. And please try not to get closer to another avatar than you would someone at a cocktail party.

>“You look familiar, haven’t we met in some other metaverse?”

A sense of humor is one of the greatest unlockers of human interaction on any plane. If you get someone to smile on their side of the screen, you have potentially made a friend.

>“We have to stop meeting like this…Oh, I’m sorry I thought you were my ex”

You have no idea who the person is you are standing next to, humor pays off, just don't be crude, unless you want to hang out with other crude types, water seeks its own level even when it's pixelated and not even wet.

>“Your hair is on fire”

-Cute compliments are generally accepted everyverse, unless their hair really is on fire, then help them!

>“Excuse me, I missed The Banana Fools (or w/e) do you know anything else going on?”

You might use this if you have moved along some from the landing point, as the person next to you also knows nothing.

It is NOT recommended IF you want to find a social group, to beg for coin of the realm; though some people might help you out with the equivalent of under a $1.00, and you might get some satisfaction from building up your coin purse, however unless you find these people to return the “loan” to, you probably won’t bond with them. Unless you ask them to adopt you, and then you might get more than you bargained for, but then you can always log out and start all over again in a brand new & wiser avatar.

If you have a question, send an email to info@pookymedia.com with Metaquette in the subject and it will be addressed.