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.

The First Person Journey

Our human energy is invested with our time, our minds and our skills. What we create, participate in, emote and consume are part of our journey, which we all make as individuals, each so intensely our own. As we traverse life's road, slaying or giving into our own personal demons, imps and trolls that block or thwart us from greater goals we read of the Hero’s Journey, staple of literature. The human race, across religion, nation and racial differences identifies with the heroes, wants them to overcome obstacles and outsmart danger because that is what we want to do in our own lives too.

Recently I read a review of Maria Tatar’s book, "The Heroine With a 1,000 Faces", and this is a reference, naturally, to Joseph Campbell’s "Hero With a Thousand Faces."  And I thought as "men" and "women'' we are born and the journey we all  make in life is on the 3D platform known as Earth.

However Earth is not the only platform now for one’s journey as there are virtual worlds, environments and realities created within the past 20 years whose servers and virtual destinations have logged millions of miles in avatar mouse clicks. Neither the Hero’s nor Heroine’s journey per se, but what of those who are playing video games?  In a classic First Person Shooter video game, one enters the game, becomes an avatar and then accumulates points killing things, zombies, bad guys, etc and collecting digital resources. First Person Shooters have their own journeys, also YouTube/twitch/etc channels and social networks.

Now what of those who are not in games such as those, but have taken on avatars in massive multiplayer online worlds? In these places, I believe we as avatars are on The First Person Journey. It’s who you are, what you become that matters, there are opportunities for heroism, good deeds and kindness because you are dealing with other people. Though the player behind the avatar is ourselves, we can represent as anyone and/or anything. What we look like in the physical world doesn’t matter, so what we craft out of the places we go within that virtual environment, what we say and whom we meet transcends that. Anyone who has been an avatar for over a decade has a FPJ within a metaverse containing people you know, places to go, things you are making and more.

My FPJ began in 2002 in 2.5D and then in 2008 in Second Life, being an avatar has profoundly influenced my first person life, not in name only. It has also inspired much content, and recently I completed a work begun in 2006, Mambo Motel the Metaverse Musical!

It is the story of a Prince who wants to escape the hounding of the media, and find a place where he can just be himself, he finds Mambo Motel, where all log-in equally and begins his FPJ. It is the first musical set within a virtual world, it will have machinima and live actors. I wanted to share the introduction because of this line from the protagonist in the play,

"...it’s very hard to pretend to be anyone but yourself, when all you have are words."

Which is what we avatars have in our First Person Journeys to represent ourselves and hopefully make it a hero's journey too.

No. 1 in the series:

Introduction to Mambo Motel

PS:

In thinking about what games can do and the concept of heroism, The 1984 game Raid on Bungeling Bay, where players fly over islands while dropping bombs came to mind. It was there Will Wright found that he had more fun creating the islands, saw there were those who wanted to rebuild after the bombs dropped, and the seeds of The Sims were born to feed the desire to heal, and human need to be productive rather than destructive.

Some questions:

Is it possible to find a game that rewards character building?

In your Quest to free the villagers let’s say, what if the clue involved seeing something from another person's point of view?

Level up after deciding to benefit the character you encounter, not just yourself?

Is there a game where winning means honor, valor and being kind?

Diamonds for stopping the bullies for the good of all? And a bonus for helping them work things out

Can traits be combined, like for a Pokémon but they’re positive social behavior ones?

Can you get tokens for making a long term well thought out decision? 

Please drop your answers below:

Machinima Saves Lives

In April of 2012 PookyMedia finished a video for the San Gabriel Vector & Control District which would be presented at schools in the San Gabriel Valley grades K-8, in conjunction with a scientific study. They needed to find out the scope of Asian Tiger Mosquito infiltration in the Valley, and they needed school kids to collect samples of trapped water around their homes for research.  PookyMedia created this gem of a Call to Action, which was SO successful that almost a decade later, not only is the film still being shown, but we just had to update the film, as new invasive species have been identified.

So once again the Vector Inspectors will help eradicate mosquitos and the diseases they transfer, by getting rid of standing water around homes and giving samples for this ongoing study. The film has been shown to tens of thousands of schoolchildren, and it works! Even if one person avoided getting Dengue Fever, Zika or any of the other viruses these species of Aedes mosquitos carry it will be a triumph, but this has helped thousands of children and their families stay safe. And this new film will help thousands more!  

Machinima Can save lives!  It's a great video and we encourage you to take a look at the newer version here with an introduction by real professionals!

The 1st Question > Virtual World Television < Proof of Concept

*Tinies Prance*

*Music swells*

The Grande Finale Edition of the 1st Question!

Our Tribute to Paradox Olbers and the Era of The Scilands in Second Life

Paradox Olbers / Spike McPhee to whom this show is dedicated offered me the SpinDome in a special area of Second Life in which to produce The 1st Question in March 2008. In 2020 after 8 years off the air we came back to honor him in his passing. Paradox was a guru, friend, inspiration and is sorely missed, though there is comfort in knowing his ashes were scattered amongst the stars...

The show which ran weekly 2008/2010 and monthly 20011/2012 produced over 150 episodes of incredibly fun, rich content of humor and invention. The panelists were incredible people from around the world's science and tech communities who were there for business, universities and commerce. It was a show highlighting human innovation, one that made rock stars of smarts with questions about the past, present and future of discovery. The live audience logged in and texted along in real time, playing the game as it went along for some real immersive entertainment.  

Great thanks to everyone who were part of the shows, the crew who filmed, did sound checks, ran the game boards and provided security when needed. Also the tiny furries who opened with dynamic props and flair, riding tiny helicopters through burning hoops of fire among other mayhem.  And of course to the magnificent panel, a stunning array of visually and mentally brilliant avatars. Thank you for being game enough to play! And to our audience, smart and funny as the panel! It was great to be in this pioneering era of virtual entertainment, with The 1st Question being the only game show broadcast live over treet.tv.

The Guru Edition

And because this is a great example (imho) of what user created virtual tv looks like, attached is a paper I co - authored on the subject, with the very estimable CarrieLynn D. Reinhard.

If you want to talk about the Future of Game Show TV or Multi - Person User Television, I can be reached at info@pookymedia.com.  I have over a decade of experience in this field.

(originally published on December 16, 2012 by CarrieLynn D. Reinhard in Scholarly Reporting.)

Virtual World Television Products and Practices:Comparing Television Production in Second Life With Traditional Television Production was presented at the Midwest Popular Culture Association conference in the fall of 2012, and will be presented at the Central States Communication Association conference in the spring of 2013.

This paper represents the first academic research produced from the study of virtual world television, and thus it is posted as the first of an ongoing research communication series that will include in-depth narratives of the producers’ experiences creating television programming in Second Life.

Abstract: Virtual worlds are persistent digital environments populated by people, engaging with each other and the world’s designers to produce the content of the media product. In some virtual worlds, the worlds’ users have been experimenting with how to produce informative and/or entertaining content that is analogous to traditional television content. In a series of interviews, the producers of such virtual world television programming in Second Life discuss how they perceive the role of the virtual world in their production endeavors.

From these discussions, three themes appear to be integral to their ability to produce: issues of;

• connectivity,
• creativity,
• and community.

These themes are also used to compare virtual world television to the traditional television spaces and practices that exist in the physical world, in which the virtual world is embedded. While these producers may be replicating some aspects of traditional television, it is their act of producing that transgresses tradition.

On Second Life…..and Death

(picture taken after 100th Show by PB Recreant)

On June 28th at 12 NOON SL time You are invited to the SpinDome for 

The Guru Edition Of The 1st Question!

Tribute to Paradox Olbers

On the Panel:

Troy McLuhan. Korii Tiger and Jimbo Perhaps

PLUS our special Guest panelist

EBBE LINDEN!!!!

The show will be streamed Live Too, so can watch from the web!

(Watch this space for updates and links)

The Quiz Show To The Stars! If You have an Answer, We have a Question!

Once Upon A Time in a land both far away and in the next room, begins a journey that would take me into the future, Once Upon A time that was in 2008, clearly 12 years ago. And I entered this strange land where water isn’t wet, where I could fly, where I could change the time of day or landscape with a click of a mouse, yet unsure about things like how to sit to learn something.  I had entered the world of Second Life for a marketing conference but by the end of the three day event  had met some people who would go on to change my life forever. None of us are who we are without the people we meet in our lifetimes. Here I met people from all over the world and all over the country, on a 19 inch screen, which through its 360 degree view, extends for virtual miles...

Memory works like a small film, and we can “roll” that film before our minds eye by pressing play on that moment. If I have a visual of what is going on, a scene from a film as well as real life, I can replay that. 

My memory of the day I met Paradox Olbers runs like that too. There he was standing outside the large virtual conference auditorium with some other people I had seen texting and whom I interacted with. Arthur C. Clarke had just died and we both spoke of being affected by his writings and sad he was gone. He was standing with his tie Dye shirt on, blue jeans, greying ponytail and a smile. He asked me if I wanted to see something cool, and I said yes, so he disappeared in a cloud of orange smoke and soon a prompt to take a teleport to him appeared on my screen. And with an instinctual trust, I took it.

Then we were in a large dome shaped building, and a large man creature elf was playing the most illusory sounds with electronics and flutes, that was how I was introduced to Cypress Rosewood. We sit and watch and Paradox messages me (IM) “I wish I could get more people in here’ having just come from 5 years on another virtual platform albeit a 2.5D one where I regularly staged productions I texted back….”Well, I have an idea….” and put forth the concept of a weekly show, a science/tech quiz show which would celebrate smarts and make rock stars out of scientists. Paradox loved this, and with only knowing me for less than a week said yes, and the weekly edition of The 1st Question was born. 

Paradox had helped set up the region known as The Scilands in Second Life which would be a protected place for educators, scientists and science related places. It had no sex, no gambling and no real stores. It was a safe space where universities and government agencies could set up shop, and they did so in great numbers. Businesses such as IBM followed too. Paradox, and the others who did this, helped establish Second Life as a great place and resource for those of us who think. Intelligence of the human mind, curiosity and mental challenge are all things we can embrace, and moving forward I hope the pendulum will swing back to a celebration of smarts and the sacredness fo thought. Hearing of his passing only recently, I must make the steps back to Second Life to remember and embrace Paradox’s memory here. Second Life also gives Second Death, no less a loss for those who remain.

We remember our heroes - the people who gave us a chance, who understood us, who touched our hearts and minds with songs, words or solace. We all have our Personal Hall of Fame, those who walked with us down any time period path in our lives, holding our hands figuratively if not literally. We do not live in easy times, we live in times where we must honor those who have stepped forward to guide us , so we may step into those shoes too and guide others. Paradox was my Guru because he had a vision of a better and smarter world, and strove to make that a reality. And while the physical limitations of anyone's life can prevent much, Second Life allowed Paradox a freedom to be who he was, to build and look at what he wanted and even more to craft together an area which would focus on some of humanity’s greatest achievements. And then he helped me and so many others get to where we needed to be, in our lives, no matter if the platform is based on earthly gravity or virtual reality where gravity doesn't really exist. 

And the memory of meeting him, of our cherished moments together are in my mind's eye and will be, until I leave this mortal platform which has launched us all. I am forever in his debt, he is forever in my heart. Whether I met Paradox Olbers in Second Life or Spike MacPhee in Boston, he was the same human being inside, and the tesseract of Second Life which bridges distance in the snap of a log in, made it possible for me to find a real friend, mentor and yes Guru. And because we live in times where we must embrace our heroes, the news of his passing made me realize I had to do something for him.

Please join us, wear tie dye and have a ton of fun!

And here for the record is the Interview Paradox granted me so early in my Second Life.

https://www.pookyamsterdam.com/2008/11/guru-interview-with-paradox-olbers.html

Great people make an impression on one’s life, and thank you Paradox for being par tof mine!

See you in Spindrift on the 28th! Wear tie dye if you will too!

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Spindrift/66/237/701

With Love-

-Pooky

If You Have An Answer, We Have A Question!

If You Have An Answer, We Have A Question!

It’s been almost 7 years since I last said those lines live in the StudioDome on Second Life. The show which was The 1st Question is something worth seeing again entering a new era of Virtual Reality. This could be you in a few years as an avatar in a virtual game show.

After 11 years since the show started, I wanted to revisit them, and looking back, re-watching I am filled with awe for what we pulled off every week for years. The shows are funny but also very informative and presaged today. So here are both the questions, and the answers from these 14 shows, I’ve included the tie breakers which weren’t always used, as they were too good not to include. Matching those up are part of the new interactivity. Some of the stuff is really out of this world!

How many The 1st Questions were there?  In all, around 150, as it ran once a week for 3 years and the last year, once a month. The format changed from an hour to 30 minutes as well over time.

If you watch more than a few episodes, you’ll see segments change, avatars evolve, and the set get redesigned. In the 4 years everyone really delivered a great show, Hydra & the crew were amazing, I thank everyone involved for the love and dedication.  It was done with wonder that we were pulling off a live show in the metaverse, and no matter what, the show must go on!  We saw action in the Dome not on camera, like being bombarded with inappropriate pictures, forced to a secret alternate location through DOS’s, and other attacks by griefers. I also want to thank the folks who stepped in when there where last-minute cancellations, I was always so grateful for you all.

It was a Pre-Golden Age of Virtual Entertainment, and ahead of its time. It predicts a future where people gear up and join a game show already in progress. First Person Thinking games will prove to be an important VR market. * If you have an Inner, or Outer Geek, this show is for you.

Welcome to the 1st Question!

April 2008 – July 2012
(The 2nd Question till March 2009)

*Very similar to what people already do online now, these are the categories I see flourishing over the next decade for the Virtual Realist.

FPS – First person Shooter –People who get a thrill from shooting zombies, bad guys, opposing forces, etc.

MPS – Multi person Shooter – People who get a thrill killing zombies, bad guys, opposing forces, etc. together, or on teams

FPB – First Person Builder – Person who gets a thrill, or has an educational requirement to fill making stuff

MPS – Multi Person Builder – People who get a thrill, or have an educational requirement to fill making stuff together, or on teams

FPT – First Person Thinker – People who get a thrill solving puzzles / playing games

MPT – Multi Person Thinker – People who get a thrill solving puzzles / playing games together or on teams

FPS – First Person Sports – Person who gets a thrill playing sports

MPS – First Person Sports - People who get a thrill playing sports together or on teams

FPC – First Person Consumer – Person who gets a thrill out of shopping

MPC – Multi Person Consumer – People who get a thrill out of shopping together

FPP – First Person Performer – Person who gets a thrill out of performing

MPP – Multi Person Performer – People who get a thrill out of performing together

FPX – Person who gets a thrill from virtual sex

MPX – People who get a thrill from virtual sex together