News And Commentary: Questions Raised About Horizon Following Zuckerburg's Comments, Announcement of Creator Fees

 
By Bixyl Shuftan

Facebook/Meta's virtual world of "Horizon" has gotten it's share of criticism (and jokes) over time. But two recent developments have added to it. There was an inworld meeting not long ago in which Mark Zuckerberg met with several online creators. That the owner of Facebook goes online to meet the people there is certainly a positive development. But among the things he had to say was something at one point when they were discussing the ability of people to build things within Horizon using existing tools there, rather than building them outside the game and importing them. Just after the six minute mark in the video of the meeting, Zuckerburg makes this comment:

"...one of the things that we've just tried to do differently is the whole co-developing experience, the fact that everything that you're building is in Horizon itself. I think that is really just different from all of the other experiences out there."

Anyone even remotely familiar with Second Life knows this is not true at all. Since the begining, it's residents have had the ability to build items. Among the first things yours truly did was make a new shirt and jacket. So surely Zuckerburg would know this? Probably, though it's not outside the realm of possibility that he's been so disinterested in Second Life, he hasn't bothered to learn much more about it than it exists (If he's spoken anything about our virtual world, I haven't heard it).

Another possibility is that he is aware that Second Life, and other virtual worlds, do allow inworld building. So why would he just up and tell a mistruth? Maybe he sees that as part of a "spin" to promote his virtual world, pretending that there's no one else that can match him. Or maybe he doesn't want to acknowledge Second Life's existence and feels he doesn't have to.

So either he's unaware of basic details of other virtual worlds, perhaps unaware of them entirely, or he's not telling the truth. Neither one looks good.

Facebook/Meta was criticized over another detail of Horizons: how much of a cut do the owners of the virtual world take from content creators? An article in Business Insider stated that they would charge content creators 47.5% in fees, almost half. "We think it's a pretty competitive rate in the market," Facebook/Meta's Vice President would say of it. But in the past, Zuckerberg had been critical of Apple charging 30% for developers to sell in it's App Store. Naturally, Apple was quick to point this out. A spokesman would say the "announcement lays bare Meta’s hypocrisy. It goes to show that while they seek to use Apple’s platform for free, they happily take from the creators and small businesses that use their own."

PC Gamer suggested a better comparison was Second Life in which fees to "move money into or out ... range from 3.5% to 7.5%" Executive Chairman Brad Oberwager would say, "I can't imagine that Meta's nearly 50% take will be that motivating to creators," pointing out that the Lab had paid 86 million USD to content creators last year. Philip Rosedale, the founder of Linden Lab, would tell PC Gamer, Facebook/Meta's fee "seems like a great way to dissuade creators from actually participating in its economy, but, frankly I would expect nothing less from them. They need to find some way to fill the coffers as their surveillance model loses steam."

Meta/Facebook seems rather untruthful and greedy, which will not help it's reputation, or that of it's virtual world Horizons, and will discourage people, regular users and content creators alike, from using it.

Hat tip: Hamlet Au, Mattie Carlton

Sources: Vidyuu Nights, PC Gamer, Marketwatch, Buisiness Insider

Bixyl Shuftan
 

What’s Happening In High Fidelity?

By DrFran Babcock

   If you haven’t yet heard, High Fidelity, or HiFi, is a virtual world that was started a little over a year ago by Philip Rosedale, creator of Second Life and Linden Lab. I have been an Alpha tester since about a month into the opening for Alpha, and in this time there has been a lot of change.

Why Another Virtual World?

There is an answer, in case you were asking yourself this very question. HiFi is Philip’s dream for creating a world that has few of the main problems that dogged SL. The first of these is scaling. I can recall, back in 2006, when SL was the darling of the media. I remember getting my Nissan car in world, and being courted by IBM. Coke, etc. Why aren’t all these companies still in SL? It seems as if it would be a good place to market. However, consider that one video of a cat singing gets more hits than SL could ever muster. You see, each sim in SL can only hold about 50 maximum before performance starts to dip, and that’s not the kind of numbers that attract business. With High Fidelity, each resident can manage their own domain—essentially, a server (it can be your own computer) that runs a world. The size of this world is enormous, and it doesn’t put a stress on any central space that is going to have to bear the stress. Each of us can be the masters of our own worlds, and the scaling is infinite.

   The second issue that has always been a goal for Philip Rosedale is to reduce latency. In SL, performers always have to deal with a lag if they are playing together, so that group work suffers timing problems. The goal of HiFi is to create a place where a resident in California can jam live with a resident in the UK…without any delay in the sound reaching the listener. 

   I have been to concerts in HiFi where this is happening, and it’s a completely jaw-dropping experience. In addition, the sound is spatial. As you move around the level changes based on where you are—just like in first life. There have been times when a few people jammed, and I felt as if I was in a concert hall.

But, Can I Look Pretty?

   When I try to “recruit” people for HiFi, my girlfriends often ask: “When can I look pretty?” The avatars at this point, are still quite primitive, as you can see in the picture of me here. However, what’s amazing, is that everything that is coming is being built to accommodate immersive movement. Facial expressions and body and hand movements all add to the feeling that “you are there.” As HiFi Alpha Tester @Judas says: “You haven’t experienced a virtual world until you have reached out and touched someone and they smiled back at you. It really, for me, is a game changer.” 

   The pretty is coming. It’s important to remember that this is still alpha.

Interested In Joining?

Come see what’s happening in High Fidelity Alpha. The sign up page can be found here: https://highfidelity.com/
 
  Some basic info:
·  There is no money system yet.
·  There is a marketplace, and everything is free.
·  The scripting is done in JavaScript.
·  It’s Alpha; it’s going to be crude.

·  I will keep letting you know about High Fidelity, and you can join when you are ready.

See you there.

  --
Fran

High Fidelity Alpha

By DrFran Babcock

Philip Rosedale is a genius and a visionary. Every day in Second Life™ is a wonder to me. Even more, there has been nothing to rival this virtual world in over ten years! I am so grateful to Second Life™, because it has brought me friends around the world, the wonder of creativity, and even the chance to do other things I love such as writing. I still marvel daily at the gift of this world of miracles, big and small. Have I gushed enough for you? If not, hold on while I tell you about my experience with High Fidelity.

What is High Fidelity?

High Fidelity, or HiFi is the newest brainchild of Philip Rosedale, and represents his plans for a new virtual world that is meant to improve upon and fix those things in SL that were problems for him, and many residents. If you go to the website (https://highfidelity.io ) the big quote on the home page is: “If it doesn’t hurt to think about it, we’re not going to try it.” Some of the things that will be addressed are latency, which relates to speed and lag. By speeding up the communications and musical interactions between avatars interactions will become more lifelike. If you have ever dealt with the pause between a performer finishing a song and your clapping in appreciation, you will like this. I remember Grace McDunnough (SL live performer) telling me how she had to wait a few beats after she finished a song before she responded to the audience, because they might still be hearing and seeing the end of the song. If the High Fidelity interface can make that response immediate, people will feel as if a true human connection has been made. 

Builders will be happy to hear that user-created content will be a feature. The unit of building is called a voxel, and it is a cube that can be scaled to any size to create a whole that will be capable of being complex and edited by others. Philip also wants avatars to be able to make facial expressions, and connect with other avatars. I know that most folks thought he was crazy when he envisioned Second Life™, so I bet he can pull this all off with his team.

My Experience in High Fidelity

I was thrilled when I found I had been accepted for the alpha opening of High Fidelity. I am not a coder, not a super content builder, and not a geek, but I told the team in my application, that they needed ordinary folks like me to assess the learning curve, and see what the new-user experience was like. I had a lot of trouble creating an account, but the team were very patient with me. I logged in finally when all of the meet-ups had concluded, and most of the content was missing. My huge “aha” moment came when I looked at the cute little robot that represented my brand new, un-customized avatar, and I smiled. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the avatar smile back at me! What I was really looking at was me, as viewed through the camera on my Mac. I hadn’t noticed that the red light on the camera was lit, and that my facial expressions were being recorded.

So, this is alpha, and it’s pretty primitive, but I am a fan, and I am in for the ride. I will take you all along with me.

Phil recently addressed the Silicon Valley Virtual Reality Meetup, and demonstrated the current progress with his huge and ambitious project. Jo Yardley, of Berlin 1920s fame covered the meeting on her blog (Philip’s presentation starts at about 42 minutes into the video): (http://joyardley.wordpress.com/2014/04/07/hifiprogress/). Watch this video, because  you may be amazed.

DrFran Babcock