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More Browser-Based Virtual Worlds: The Electric Sheep Company Releases WebFlock


Sibley Verbeck is moving past Second Life. The CEO of the Electric Sheep Company has made a lot of money creating virtual islands in Second Life for big brands such as CBS, Showtime, and Intel. But now he is ready to bring those virtual worlds to the Web in regular browsers. Today, he is releasing WebFlock, a Flash-based 3-D virtual world application he is offering as a hosted software service.

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Verbeck is offering WebFlock as a hosted service to the same types of big brands he creates virtual islands for on Second Life. For instance, his first customer is Showtime’s The L-Word, which already has one of the most popular Second Life islands (created by Electric Sheep). By bringing that same virtual environment to the browser, Showtime thinks it can reach a much bigger portion of its audience.

Verbeck took the same underlying technology Electric Sheep uses to create other virtual environments, called Aspen, and is now applying it to browser-based worlds. He envisions these 3-D worlds as standalone places integrated into different Websites. Connecting them together would make them more interesting.

WebFlock does not come cheap. A ‘basic implementation,” which includes a 3-D space, avatars, and basic features, will cost “under $100,000″ for 12 months. And he is not abandoning his Second Life business entirely, but this new emphasis shows that he sees that the writing is on the wall for virtual worlds that are closed off (or at least hard to get to) from the rest of the Web.

Lucifer Baphomet

looks like insipid corporate bullshit to me.

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FlipperPA Peregrine

It looks damn good to me, especially for Flash - I'm impressed, but want to see it "in the flesh" so to speak, rather than just screen shots. I wonder where they got the trivia idea!

I don't think it'll be a competitor to SL though - no UGC.

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Persephone Milk

Looks like nothing more than a branded 3D chat room - and an expensive one at that. It provides a sense of place, but nothing more. Without a persistent and permanent identity that transcends one company's corporate presence, people will not invest themselves (emotionally, intellectually, financially, or spiritually) in these places. Cute stuff, but hardly the next step.

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Khamon

I doubt we'll ever see a direct competitor to SL, what would be the point?

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Ten

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Macphisto Angelus

I dunno.. I have a feeling it is just these kind of programs that will catch the lion's share of Corporations as a home base.

These kinds of things are way easier to use.

I would find it much more enticing to click on an "L Word" (just as an example) link to take me to their area then go through the search, TP, Crash, Lag and possible isolation offered by most SL corporation/entertainment Islands.

EC knows how to get those corps behind them. They were a big part of the draw for all those big islands not that long ago. Seeing them Islands slowly poof off the map makes me wonder if they are heading this way.

Just like Lively, I won't count it out before it has a chance to come into it's own.

And Edit to add:

No, there is no UGC.. but I don't think Corps care about that. LL has it's focus fixated on Corps and away from the casual user base now. This is the kind of thing that will bite them in the butt eventually for putting all their apples in one wheelbarrow.

Verkin Raven

Wow. Really makes me want to dive in and explore the vast realms of people's personal creativity.

Wait. Nevermind, it's just more

Joshua Nightshade

Bitter, party of one, your table is ready.

Bitter, Bitter, yes, yes, party of one, just this way please.

Ordinal Malaprop

It's ESC saying "hello, you want a 3D thing that doesn't need people to download anything, you're very rich, hey, let's talk".

It makes perfect sense from their perspective. I have no idea how well it works, but they're not building a "world" or trying to with this. They are competing with There, who offer that sort of thing already (except with a download requirement).

Macphisto Angelus

I predict it will do well for what they are trying.

Ordinal just reminded me I haven't taken my dogs out of invo in There in about 8 months. And she also reminded me I haven't took another look at There for about 8 months.

Joshua Nightshade

I never played There. When I got involved in SL for srsly I had some notecard geared towards people from There, looked at the website and logos and thought There was LL's first company or something. It was years before I learned they were separate programs by separate groups.

LoganBauer

You know, this is all way, way, too tough. Sure, we can agree that "downloading" and "installing" programs is tough and only super-advanced genius types should be doing it, but I'm still worried about this whole "web rowser" thing. Where do I buy one of these webrowsers?!? Is it like the myspaces??? Can I find it in my AOL? Also I forgot me AOL password, if I post my creditcard here will you tell me what my password is???!?

All these "virtual worlds" are real interesting but I just stuck my hand in a toaster and can't use it to type for another week or two, and also typing is a lot of tough complicated work, so I've created this fantastic new communication interface that anyone can use! I also put captions under all of the communication options so that it's not too confusing...

Attached Images

future UI.jpg (133.3 KB, 186 views)

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Cocoanut Koala

Damn straight about that! It just strikes me as LUNACY to throw over the resident base for the corporations, etc.

And I for one welcome ESC to make whole other places for our corporate overlords to go to instead of SL.

In fact, it's always seemed to me kind of insane to build this one whole type of world, full of regular people, doing their regular people things (read: not PG things and not corporate things), then somehow hope to scoot them over to one side in order to graft on these corporations and educational institutions.

Particularly when something like this that ESC is now doing seems so MUCH more appropriate to those institutions, who don't particularly want to be in a contiguous world with regular residents, and never particularly have, except to advertise their real-world product to, and THAT doesn't even work very well in SL.

I mean, the LAST thing I would ever try to seriously do would be to go try to grab a bunch of corporations and talk them into joining SL, of all things! Why didn't LL just simply create a whole new grid for them? Like I said they should. Well, they didn't, so now ESC is busy doing it. haha.

Plus it amuses me that LL seems to have pissed off ESC somehow, because they (LL) always seem to be biting the hand that feeds them, so I sort of get a kick out of it when it ends up biting them in the butt.

But - what is a UGC?

coco

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Macphisto Angelus

User Generated Content


Bumping pixels is still yet to be seen.

Macphisto Angelus

My often told story.

There came out around the same time as SL (give or take a little). I beta tested both while playing The Sims Online at the same time. There offered a lifetime account program. Second Life sent the email for their lifetime account. I decided then that There was the horse to back and went with it.

If ONLY I could turn back time..

Joannah Cramer

I'm noting a kid AV in that sample screenshot. Just sayin'

On more serious note that seems like reasonable product for corporate client who is interested in providing their customers with some ''virtual world" experience that's easier than throwing them in the middle of that strange "Second Life" thing filled with people sporting plywood cocks and whatnot.

Dnate Mars

Except, I never gave TSO a chance.

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Cocoanut Koala

Where there are pixels, there WILL be bumping. It is the First Law of the Metaverse.

(Even if has to be pure cyber.)

coco

Macphisto Angelus

The beta days were the best there. The bugs actually made for a better and funnier experience over all. Having tons of zombies (ghost avies in SL) piling up in a house.. all doing the have to go to the bathroom motions, etc was hillarious!

Very true! Thinking back to people on weight benches and someone hovering over them doing the throw up emote in TSO and equating it to a BJ comes to mind.

Joannah Cramer

There's a pair already kissing in the emotes on that second screenshot. So, yeah

Macphisto Angelus

In my opinion I will always find the "hot kiss" emote in TSO to be one of the sexiest moves ever.

Macphisto Angelus

Oh, and read the chat log in the second screenshot.. Heather says "You're going down, Joe".

Cyber FTW

Brenda Connolly

Electric Sheep has never had a warm and wooly place in my heart since the Sheepbot Scandal last year.

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CrystalShard

You know what.

I was about to invoke my usual gag reflex, say this thing is a piece of crap and that this kind of shit belongs to the 90's when 3D chats were still new and novel. But after reading this thread i've realized something that could be rather important and relevant to my interests: This is, infact, awesome. Because its so stupid.

But its only stupid for us.

I dont want Corporations to realize that this is stupid. Infact, i'd love it if they go ahead and pay $8333 USD a month for a basic looking 3D flash room.

For the last couple of years, corporations have tried to take over the whole "user created & ran virtual worlds" concept and appropriate it into marketing purposes. Soon enough, they've realized that allowing users to be creative may actually tarnish the perfect image they're trying to give to their products. Its like trying to run Sony.com on a blog with unmoderated, unfiltered comments where anyone may say that your product sucks. The result: They've adopted the attitude of trying to transform these open, creative spaces into locked down, moderated spaces. And that sucked. Alot.

So I say, good riddance. Go ahead and leave our nasty chaotic spaces in favor of your moderated little 3D chat rooms. It'll probably be the best thing you've done for us and our worlds in a long time.