SL v. World of Kaneva: Compare and Contrast

Am I missing something, or is this world completely silent? Update: I went to a nightclub, and heard music, and saw fat guys "wrasslin" on the tv. Its the only noise I've heard so far. No footsteps, laughter or crying.

The dudes run just like the girls (Whats everyone looking at? Nothing!). Gotta agree with earlier posters. These avatars are kinda fugly.

Exactly three points of view: first person, 3rd person behind and 3rd person in front.

Rampant "raving".

Dynamic lighting ain't half bad, and the world runs smooth. Very little lag. Then again, I guess the minimum system specs are low. You can get in with a mere GeForce 5200.

I just ducked into "Paul Edwards" hairstylist shop. Paul had no haircuts in stock.

The guys have an odd animation. From behind, it looks like he's adjusting his unit.

I bought some furniture to place in my studio apartment. Placing objects is very awkward. I managed to place a desk next to the wall after 3 tries. Gotta remember to hit the green checkmark.



My opinion: Kaneva is no threat to SL. It seems like a very early version of a 3D world. If they can make the user interface a bit less awkward, I would say the folks over at There might worry just a tiny bit.

There's another virtual world applicaton starting up with a different focus than the 3D social networks, a serious work oriented virtual world application, called Qwaq, from the folks that that produce the Croquet virtual world software.

This world is made to allow people to do real world work in a shared persistent 3D space.

The url is at http://www.qwaq.com/qwaq_forums.html .

You have to request a demo in order to get to see it, so maybe if enough SLers request a demo someone can make a report based on actual use.

It has drag and drop support for text files and pdf files , 2D formats like jpg and png, mpeg-2 video, and for 3D drag and drop it supports ASA and the Google Sketchup format.

You can share screens between users, do spatial voice chat, and collaborate on spreadsheets and rich text using Open Office.

The website is rather sparse. There's a pdf file at http://www.qwaq.com/content/Qwaq%20Forums%20v1.0.pdf .

I wonder if Microsoft might add a 3D virtual environment collaboration space to Office or Groove or Microsoft Networking?

I am absolutely with Beebo here. It's what grabbed me by the collar back in October and hasn't let me go.

I'm not a furry but I'd sure as hell miss the little cuties if they were driven into a niche market. My alt would miss her BDSM GF a lot too if they went (she isn't into it herself but they meet on common terms - evidently the GF enjoys the freedom of range too).

I think a lot of people may not realise (or have forgotten) that SL is what it is today by evolving. Nobody could start something even of a scaled down version of what we have now. How could a competitor attract creators without a customer base? How could they attract mere customers without really appealing content?

Providing our present diversity doesn't get over-censured and over-censored I can't imagine anything else coming even close to competing.

That's a good point to bring up SuezanneC! I think if Microsoft starts to get involved with the 3D virtual world market, SL has something to worry about. Why? Because then you'll see Apple competing for the top spot as well.

At least there might be some customer service then LOL.

"Griefer on your land....."
"Cancel or Allow"?

Variety really is the spice of (second) life.

Hey, that's great, I'm producing for a niche market!

Thus said, it really is the content creation (prims, textures, scripting... you name it!) that keeps me in SL. I'd be bored rather quickly in a glorified chat-room.

Only if MS had some way of cleverly integrating it with Windows. You don't see Apple making games, do you?

AFAIK, Rockwell, it is, although I believe Multiverse is working on a Mac client.

I decided to build a kaneva profile, however the virtual world portion of it doesn't please me at all. It paves no room for creativity, and has very limited abilities to manipulate your avatar. So i can't be a furry there. IMO it's just a glorified THERE.com with no voice chat, or outside zones, and a little bit of youtube mixed in with it. I do like the rest of their services and decided to make a profile just to utilize them. The Multiverse project on the other hand seams like it will be a very welcomed to us developers. It offers quite a lot of tools and client/server software all free. I've downloaded it all, and hope to utilize it sometime in the near future.

Fluency in French would be helpful for the virtual environment offered at http://www.mylife3d.com . MyLife3D has a really clunky old fashioned look to it - but for free it can't hurt to try it. Those who, like me, don't speak French can give it a try the same way I did: click on the buttons based on size, position, and what looks like cognates to you.

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I just looked at the demo of what looks like an interesting product, AliceStreet Conference Center, at http://www.alicestreet.com . There's a 30 day free trial but it requires a server to install the server on and the clients run on separate machines, maybe some server savvy group in SL would find it amusing to give the free trial a whirl and report back. From what I saw in the demo I guess you'd call this a video conferencing system built into a 3d virtual environment.

There's a story about AliceStreet at http://www.kolabora.com/news/2004/02/20/threedimensional_virtual_conferencing_rooms_become.htm .

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The site www.kolabora.com is a good site for info on online collaboration in general , including but not limited to or specifically focused on 3d collaboration.

MultiVerse looks great if you want to create your own virtual world.

I spent some time lokking into multiverse. Multiverse is just... so not there... at all.

It DOES allow uploading mesh objects, I think that is about it for pluses over SL. Otherwise it does very very very little for you.

There isn't even any water. It came across as being extremely primitve Maybe in another 5 years it would be where SL is now in terms of ease of use and features (but hopefully not bugs but where will SL be in 5 years assuming it survives?

For a few moments diversion, try http://www.aptalkarga.com/en/index.html .


And Marian's World at http://www.maidmarian.com/MariansWorld.htm . It has nice cars, and movement is smooth when walking.

cute. I do like how you can right click on a griefer and poof never see them again. Oh how I would love that in SL. LOL

There's also http://www.3dee.com/ .

The avatars are a hoot.

For those that speak German or are willing to try it anyway, there's http://www.reddog-galaxy.com/index.php?id=brdownload which is for Reddog Galaxy.

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Ah, those are both Activeworlds, apparently.

From what I understand. SL used to have taxes and the virtual economy wasn't the thing it is today. It too had failings but who here wouldn't give every linden they own to go back in time and get in on it in beta? Someone will create a comperable game. Just a matter of time.

Sue how are you finding all of these? XD

I have seen a few of them like the maidmarian one, but i have google'd for virtual worlds a lot and only found a handful. GJ.

Can you have cub furry sex or is it PG only?

Brianna said in the video it's a social networking place. So I don't think it's designed to compete with SL directly.

Kaneva is a stripped down Second Life that is aimed at at attracting users who are pre-teen through early 20's, primarily. From playing the game a few hours I noted that the population online was very young. This group is not very sophisticated yet and they will be happy to play Keneva for free just as it is for a time, not longing for the ability to change the game world, create stuff, engage in mature activities, etc. But, unless Keneva offers some things that allow users to gain a lot of fame and fortune even the youngest layer of users will stop logging in after a short time because there really isn't anything to do there except chat and form social cliques.

Blizzard's World of Warcraft (WoW) captured millions of pc gamer's imagination because 1) even the dumbest of them could figure out how to play, and 2) after a year online, the game began to offer large fame rewards for player vs. player fights won. Keneva has number one but not number 2. At least not yet. I kind of think Kenea never will but I have no idea what is planned. At this time the game is boring to me and cannot compare to Second Life.

If I was running Second Life I'd be pleases by the arrival of Keneva because it really doesn't pose a threat to SL's market who want a sophisticated game. If anything, Keneva will help to promote SL to players who try Keneva and go "ugg---this sucks, so boring."

I don't think Hipihi had an English language page when I looked at a while back. Either way, it does now.

http://www.hipihi.com/index_english.html


Above, Heineken advertising in the Hipihi virtual world.

Here's one I've only just discovered:

http://dance.acclaim.com/

Essentially, it's SL clubbing integrated with licensed music streams and a dancing arcade game. No, you can't make your own things, you have to buy them with real money; but as with most competitors so far, they're targetting the 75%? of the userbase who are in that position on SL.

(Edit: Whoops - of course the Koreans have to have a version as well. http://audition.nexon.net/ )

QUOTE FROM WEBSITE:

The Kaneva Elite Developer Program provides:

1. Free, exclusive access to Kaneva Game Platform
   
2. Full Kaneva Game Platform documentation
   
3. Exclusive membership to a private Elite Developer web site
   
4. Open collaboration with Kaneva onsite developers
   
5. Continuous access to updated content
   
6. Simplified licensing for commercial use of game content
   
7. Ability to gain worldwide recognition for game content
   
8. Access to commercial and non-commercial licenses
   

Looking at current 'content' providers list, it is all RL corporate companies.. another spoon fed community with money to burn on VR nothingness, fed by the 'invited' corporates, to the white mice in the maze.

Its a very limited version of SL.. financed by users to outside companies (third party creators). Permutations of avatar uniqeness 1000:1 at best. You have to pay to be allowed to join in paying to a corportate machine. No real freedom.. noted the 'request' of casino/gambling' type content providers (sooo all the SL casinos will be there).
Good point: 'Can support 100's of thousands of simultainous users' (yeah right). You can use your own name(s) rather than predeterimed ones... wonder if anyone has used AWM Mars yet?

System requirements are two standards:
http://www.kaneva.com/channel/channelPage.aspx?communityId=85697&pageId=89934
They have children on the only grid... see PonyBoy (ranked 12)
http://www.kaneva.com/people/people.kaneva

Most of the 'coming soon' avatars look like something out of a crime video fit programme .
Can't quite get my head round the statement 'upload and share your favourite mp3 collections' LOL.. this programme run by LimeWire??

I'll write this off as a 'Yuppies hangout'.

WOW the avatars don't look half bad there, wonder how many members and is it just a log on and dance in competitions or is there other things to do in that world? Looks worth checking out tho