oh yeah/

well maybe it wasnt a good business idea.?
sometimes a virtual cigar is just.
if they wrap up the code and package it as a flash plugin for 99 dollars… ill pick up a copy if a cleint wants a 2d flash “habbo hotel” clone…or if it can be used to with one of the upcoming( beta- not real) 3d web engines from firefox or google.

beta or obsolete. that way the tech press can call you “legendary” and you really dont have to ever make a business work.

and again,. cause you seem to need the repetition, there is NO LONG TAIL on tech based media…. never was, never will be.

ask TED TURNER how much was the bill for “colorization”

Dusan–have you been wandering through my head mining some of my thoughts? Once again you manage to eloquently express that which I have trouble vocalizing, namely “Where are we headed and why?” and “What will become of us?”

It is sad to hear about yet another loss in the virtual realm, as inevitable as it may be. Loss and change seem to be requisite constants in the metaverse.

I think of my Second Life experience, which is pushing on towards four years now, and ruminate on the above questions often. Much of my virtual time has been devoted to creating artifacts that reflect a newfound digital interest. Kinetic sculptures, illustrations, photos, textures, fractals, basic sculpties, and rudimentary scripts–all are evidence of my learning along the way, the acquisition of skills and knowledge that required countless hours of practice, tutorials, and wikis.

Why do I forge these artifacts, so vulnerable to being washed away? Why do I continue to pursue this madness, when it is so tentative and uncertain? Why do I toil at my computer, wrapped mainly in obscurity, sitting on the edge of forgottenness? Is it all for naught?

“To create!” I say … but I know that is foolishness. “To belong…” comes the honest murmur from the whispered recesses of my mind.

As the tail gets longer, the middle of the curve fades farther into the distance, diminishing toward oblivion. It is far too easy to forget about those whose respectable lives are spent in the middle of the curve, those whose ways are neither long-lived blockbuster nor micro-entertainment du jour. Yet they are there, eking out an existence, wanting to be remembered, anxious about becoming irrelevant, and scared of being forgotten.

He mentions something along the lines of “It just didn’t gain traction” and “there are many reasons why…”

My point here is: When will the technology geniuses learn to team up with the social media, new media, marketing, event, and entertainment experts in order to make their technology a success? It’s saddens me when a uber-tech-geek (and I mean that as a compliment), cannot see past their technology in order to hire people to make their invention a mainstream success.

Most inventors, developers, creators are so technologically savvy to create the world, but it takes “social media marketing street smarts” in order to make their product a success.

Once again: I encourage genius developers to come to the conclusion that it takes new media marketing experts, and entertainment project management specialists, as a combination, to make a virtual world a success. If the creator of the world only has their world, developed, and in place, that’s only a percentage of the final goal completed. Many uber-tech-geeks fail to understand what it takes to create a social community… which is why they need to hire outside the box creative thinkers and social happenstance coordinators.

http://www.raphkoster.com/2009/12/21/metaplace-com-closing/

“We’re providing a way for users to grab the data that makes up their worlds. We’ll be opening a website for the community so that you don’t lose touch with your Metaplace friends. And we’ll have a big party on the last day – because Metaplace.com will not go quietly, but with the sound of meeps and music and laughter.”

(If the italics come though – that is my own emphasis.)

I dabbled over there, but it really didn;t strike my fancy (neither does Blue Mars by the way.) I guess it’s maybe something about the “feel” of the platform. I don’t know.