
Oculus CEO envisions billion-person MMO - evo_9
http://www.joystiq.com/2014/05/06/oculus-ceo-envisions-billion-person-mmo/
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strozykowski
Will he leave his last will and testament in the form of an Easter egg hidden
inside the game, protected by a series of 80s pop culture-fueled puzzles?

If so, I'm in.

~~~
JonLim
I've already started memorizing War Games for this very moment.

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meemoo
The Metaverse should be built like the web: distributed, and every server /
space / community can be built with different physics / rules / aesthetics.
Iribe's lowest-common-denominator vision is uninspiring. A centralized,
controlled, monetized space sounds like the mall.

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DanAndersen
I agree that a distributed Web-like Metaverse is more likely to be interesting
and more likely to succeed. The problem of a concept like the Metaverse is
that certain elements of it work great as part of a science fiction story --
like the presence of "physical constraints" where property exists in some
absolute place on a virtual grid, and users have to actually move their
avatars along that terrain to get from point A to point B. This is fun for a
story where the hero must quickly get to some point but time is of the
essence, but as a real-world concept it's absurd. I think part of what makes
the Web so successful is the concept of the hyperlink and the URL, being able
to jump so quickly from place to place.

I consider imposed physical limitations on a meta-VR space to be like DRM.
It's an attempt to slap existing limitations of reality (scarcity, in the case
of DRM) onto a medium that no longer needs it. Why should I have to take a
virtual train to get from one VR space to another? Why should there be "lots"
where people have to pay to get the best "locations" to put their VR space? It
reminds me of the old GeoCities sites and the short-lived concept of
neighborhoods, which failed to realize that people don't browse the Web by
metaphorically walking linearly along a sidewalk, staring at each storefront
in turn. We jump, we "teleport," and that's the strength of the Web.

You might be interested in the Janus VR (formerly known as Firebox) project:
[http://www.dgp.toronto.edu/~mccrae/projects/firebox/](http://www.dgp.toronto.edu/~mccrae/projects/firebox/)
It's an attempt at a sort of VRML-like markup for defining webpages with VR
content. I've played around with it a bit in my Rift, and it's neat to have
the discoverability of virtual browsing but without the constraints of
physicality: links are just doors you can open into virtual spaces, and you
can always pop open an address bar to go somewhere new.

In short: VR lets us transcend limitations in where we can go, but the Web let
us transcend limitations in how we interact with the world. Individual VR
experiences can be whatever people want, but a meta-VR system must take into
account the simple fact that humans can now "teleport."

Here's a nice video that shows what Janus VR is like:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jva-855nLvM](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jva-855nLvM)

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ColinDabritz
I don't think MMO is really the right characterization. It's probably the
closest thing were used to today. It makes less sense as a "segregated game
oriented world", and much more sense as a shared virtual space, as in the
cyberspace with avatars from science fiction. We have some of those today of
course, notably second life, but an always-on persistent virtual world shared
with everyone is a very different vision. It may have game-like elements, but
to me that's not the interesting part.

"I want a billion people to live partially in a virtual world in the future"
seems plausible.

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sirkneeland
Please call it the Matrix, please call it the Matrix, please call it the
Matrix...

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sergiotapia
Neal Stephenson envisioned it first - and yes, sweet lord I'm excited!

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaverse](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaverse)

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theg2
If you've seen Gamer, this is eerily similar, but it'll look more like Second
Life...and be awful.

~~~
josephschmoe
The Oasis

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paul_f
I can also envision a 7-billion person MMO that doesn't need special glasses.
It's called life.

~~~
coldcode
But you only get one apparent life. Bummer.

~~~
rmc
And you have to pay for in-game items with in-game currency. Not to mention
the incredible long grind at the start.

~~~
freehunter
And no fast-travel.

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carlosdp
Reminds me a lot of the "holoband"[1] from Caprica.

[1][http://caprica.wikia.com/wiki/Holoband](http://caprica.wikia.com/wiki/Holoband)

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troymc
Iribe also said that Valve is working with them on the (MMO) software, but
they have nothing to announce yet.

Valve already has many of the pieces. For example, independent 3D artists can
make virtual goods for games like Dota 2. If the goods get approved, players
can buy those goods (with real money), and the 3D artist gets a cut of the
revenue. See Steam Community Market:

[http://steamcommunity.com/market/](http://steamcommunity.com/market/)

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Tiktaalik
I'm enthusiastic with Oculus technology as a games platform (I've tried it),
but skeptical about "the metaverse."

The games industry has had a mixed reaction to the Oculus purchase, but people
are still cautiously optimistic due to Carmack and other gaming heavyweights
being at the company. Looking toward the upcoming E3 and beyond to next years
GDC it'll be interesting to see where Oculus' focus is.

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donohoe
This is just a rehashed version of a slightly longer but more in-depth article
originally written at The Verge:

[http://www.theverge.com/2014/5/5/5684236/oculus-wants-to-
bui...](http://www.theverge.com/2014/5/5/5684236/oculus-wants-to-build-a-
billion-person-mmo-with-facebook)

Any chance the powers-that-be could weigh-in and update the URL to properly
direct traffic?

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j_s
This was the discouraging part about the Facebook acquisition to me: the
possibility of cooperation with the people who already have decades of
experience creating virtual worlds has gone out the window. It's like the
possibility of seeing EA's or Blizzard's games on Steam - that would make my
life so much easier as a PC gamer, but will never happen 'cause: money!

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Osmium
I really like the idea of a virtual world that runs in parallel to our own:
millions of camera-containing devices out there, all hooked up to the
internet, continually building and refining a virtual facsimile of the real
world. Then you could hold up your phone on a street and see, augmented
reality style, the virtual people who inhabit it in parallel to you. Kind of a
cool concept.

~~~
sgrove
There was a similar idea in the book, Daemon. Seems more feasible now with
CV/ubiquitous sensors.

[http://www.amazon.com/Daemon-Daniel-
Suarez/dp/0451228731](http://www.amazon.com/Daemon-Daniel-
Suarez/dp/0451228731)

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heterogenic
Ready, player one?

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djim
this book is amazing. everyone who is interested in where this could go should
read it.

edit: [http://readyplayerone.com/](http://readyplayerone.com/)

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DanAndersen
At the risk of sounding overly negative, I think RPO gets a lot of praise that
it really doesn't deserve. The concept of the OASIS is neat, and the segments
dealing with the nature of VR in society (education in VR, logging in to
escape the reality of life in the "stacks", the lengths to which the main
character goes when dedicating his life and daily habits entirely toward the
Quest). But it's all wrapped up in a bunch of shallow 80's references that
made me feel like the author was insecure about the strength of his own ideas
and needed a bunch of Family-Guy-esque name-dropping so the nerd demographic
reading it could say "Oh, I know that reference!" When I read a book taking
place in the future, I sort of hope that there's something there about the
future to explore rather than getting the sense that all culture and media
just stopped in the end of the 20th century and the only thing that happened
since was VR getting developed. Strikes me as reader/author wish fulfillment.
The protagonists weren't likable, the villainous evil corporate anti-open-
source drones were stunningly one-dimensional, the two Japanese brother
characters felt like walking MY SAMURAI HONOR stereotypes, and the romance
with Art3mis felt like getting the princess at the end of a game as a prize
(which would be a neat parallel with the video game references were it not
played straight). If I was younger when reading it I would have been more
forgiving, but it all felt like a "kids rule, grown-ups drool" sort of plot.

It seems like, despite the protagonist's fears about IOI turning the OASIS
into a soul-less amusement park, that's kind of what the OASIS already was in
the story. There wasn't much talk about players generating new worlds and new
experiences -- most of the time characters were enjoying the pre-packaged
"Lord of the Rings", "Star Trek", or "Dungeons and Dragons" VR worlds,
reliving existing ideas again and again. The gunter protagonists weren't off
creating fantastic new landscapes or generating culture, they were poring
through the ruins of the old trying to find some arcane clue -- and I didn't
get the sense that they would be doing that if they didn't have the Hunt to
focus on. These are interesting things to think about -- and definitely a
worrisome part of dystopian visions of VR that turn the ultimate
communication/creation tool into a trough full of pre-packaged feed for
consumers -- but I don't think that RPO's author was attempting to focus on
that. Rather, the sterile emptiness I felt from the OASIS seemed more a result
of the author just not describing much that wasn't necessarily "just so" for
the plot.

There are a lot of neat VR ideas in it that I hope get more exposure, but it's
despite the nature of the book rather than because of it.

~~~
Marcus316
I don't disagree with your assessment of the book and its ideas. The book is
not very deep on any level, technical or emotional.

For me, it doesn't have to be. It's a light, fun read that I can scramble
through and smile about when I need an escape from my own reality.

That's not to say there aren't some solid ideas that should be explored in
greater depth. I just don't think this particular story is the right place to
dig deep.

Someone in this thread suggested that they might enjoy a sequel. I partially
agree ... I think that the technology ideas, the dystopian future, and the
OASIS itself lend themselves greatly to deeper exploration as a setting. I
just don't really think most of the characters are worth exploring any deeper.
The story is good, maybe even great (I like it a lot, but I'm weird), but it
feels complete. Let's move on and play a little with the RPO fictional world
itself.

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wil421
I think the movie Lawnmower Man 2 had something like this.

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untog
Yeah, we tried that with Second Life.

~~~
ljak
Most successful products were already tried in the past. Conditions change,
and execution is more important than the idea itself.

~~~
VLM
Unfortunately there were no obvious errors in the execution of SL.

Could swing off in another direction, although everyone who wants a virtual
online world always aims directly toward SL.

A virtual online world seems to have no useful purpose other than acting as
"moth to flame"

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indrax
Maybe not obvious errors, but we have learned things since SL. Minecraft hit a
sweet spot of getting ordinary people to actually build stuff, it that aspect
Minecraft is a better preview of the metaverse.

In retrospect the learning curve for SL's content creation was too hard or
intimidating. (and Minecraft has obvious limitations.)

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eli_gottlieb
It's appalling how well reality conforms to near-future scifi, sometimes.

~~~
samstave
"You can do whatever you put your mind to"

Its no coincidence that most of the people building out the tech future were
raised with fictional tech future of cyberpunk and cyberpunk-esque fantasies
in their youth and have been steadily building those fantasies into reality -
consciously or not...

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greesil
When the fuck did bad sci-fi books become people's technology roadmaps?

