this post was submitted on 27 Apr 2024
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Because the metaverse is a stupid idea. Reminds me of that 3d web browser protocol that came out in the 90s. where you had to naviagte 3d paths to go to the next link, like walking to street signs.
The metaverse already exists, imo. It just isn't called that and doesn't belong to zuck. It's all the multi-user VR experiences that exist today.
Indeed, that is what is so baffling for me. It is called, marketed and perceived as something very different. It is Second Life, World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV and others. You have a certain core in which the audience is interested in and then social constructs form around them. These modern Metaverse things try to skip the entire core part, but then it just becomes a chat app.
I think there's also a problem of trying to make the online space "for everyone". These virtual worlds have existed for decades now, even back in the 90s with stuff like Worlds. Gaia Online had player homes and a town square type chat space back in the mid 2000s and definitely wasn't the only one. Apparently Garrys Mod had a similar space with GM Tower in the late 2000s. Every MMORPG has had this to some extent.
You can argue that the tech wasn't and still isn't there yet for non-stylized online spaces, but at the end of the day, people who want these spaces will use the ones that already exist. There's not some huge barrier to entry that Meta (or any of the modern chat focused ones) are somehow eliminating, and hard focusing on VR creates even more of a barrier to adoption.
I don't think there's many people out there going "oh, if only it was more like this" or "if the graphics were better then I'd use it". That's not how digital social settings seem to work. In the real world looks can matter for purposes of safety. Online, as long as you're comfortable at your computer or in your house you're set.
The only thing that seems to matter is the core draw (as you said), and the communication methods offered (text chat of different forms, voice chat, 2d or 3d graphical ability to "emote").