Xivio is the first REAL 3D MMOC game out. The idea was slaved over by the developers and eventually was built using a custom designed 3D-rendering engine to run in Flash. This makes it accessible to users who have Flash installed. Which automatically sets it ahead of places such as Zwinky which require software downloads before you even begin.
Xivio is a feature rich game. You can chat in the virtual 3D world, there are video conferencing capabilities, 'hompy`s' which are homepages to you and I, picture and video uploading and MP3 streaming between friends. Xivio is definitely one of the more feature intensive virtual worlds around, but at what cost?
Although hugely impressive with the achievements the development team have created by building a real-time vector-based 3D rendering system I feel the graphics let the site down. It is all well and good being to first to do something and to set yourselves ahead of others by doing so, but if the end product doesn't look that visually appealing I can't see it being hugely successful. 99% of the users of this site won't care that polygons are drawn in real-time, they are there to have a good time in a nice looking environment. At times this place looks like an acid trip, with outrageous colours over basic shapes.
It wouldn't be fair to base an review entirely upon the graphics because this site does have a lot to offer. This site has massive potential, it really does. But the execution at the moment seems a little lazy. I could walk into the middle of a fountain and half my avatar would be obscured so there was just a head floating around. Also, the speech bubbles never seem to disappear even if you move rooms, which is really quite frustrating. I found it hard to know what to do, where to go, how to do anything to be honest, it wasn't the most intuitive thing I have ever used. I also feel when you click on a fellow Xivio users avatar the 'hompy' option seems far to close to a less sanitary past-time, strange choice of word really!
Overall, great idea, brilliant accomplishment, but lacking a decent finishing touch.
Wednesday, 20 February 2008
Moshi Monsters
Moshi Monsters is a visually lovely virtual world where you can adopt an animal and customise them as you wish. You can modify not only their appearance, but also their personality by the way you treat them.
This site is obviously aimed at the younger audience, but in my opinion is a superior environment to Club Penguin. It is educational, very pretty and great fun! There are games to play which teach you about mathematics and other relevant school subjects. You can meet up with your friends and form groups.
You can also buy accessories for your chosen monster, all of which make your Moshi Monster a very happy monster indeed!
I think the most important aspect of this virtual world (from having experienced the Beta test) is that it creates some great values for the younger audience, whilst keeping it fun and exciting.
Definitely, my pick of the bunch so far! Very childlike, so for those of you who don't like that sort of thing this may not be for you, but I look forward to the proper release!
This site is obviously aimed at the younger audience, but in my opinion is a superior environment to Club Penguin. It is educational, very pretty and great fun! There are games to play which teach you about mathematics and other relevant school subjects. You can meet up with your friends and form groups.
You can also buy accessories for your chosen monster, all of which make your Moshi Monster a very happy monster indeed!
I think the most important aspect of this virtual world (from having experienced the Beta test) is that it creates some great values for the younger audience, whilst keeping it fun and exciting.
Definitely, my pick of the bunch so far! Very childlike, so for those of you who don't like that sort of thing this may not be for you, but I look forward to the proper release!
Habbo Hotel
Habbo Hotel is another giant in the massive multiplayer online chatting games industry. Habbo Hotel is a world where you can chat with many different people in the comfort of your own designed Hotel room. You can furnish your room with 'furni'. You can then invite other Habbos (avatars to you and me) to come stay in your designed and decorated room.
As a Habbo you have the option to visit public rooms in the hotel, many of which have been designed to look like bars or clubs. In these rooms the majority of people gather to meet other Habbos, most of whom they will not know. There are also private rooms (which like furniture, costs you money) where people tend to gather with their friends and talk outside of the public scope.
The interaction between users is via comments appearing in speech bubbles and a user has the choice to 'shout' their comment to the whole room or 'whisper' it to those standing close to them. There is a strict 'no-swearing' policy whereby all swearwords are replaced by the word bobba. Why? Who knows?
The main drawback on this site is payment. You have to pay (yes, real money) for a room and for furniture. So all you can really do as a nonpaying customer is talk to random people in ready made rooms, making this site a glorified chat room with pixle graphics. For me, this is too much of a drawback to consider making Habbo Hotel my MMOCC place on the internet.
As a Habbo you have the option to visit public rooms in the hotel, many of which have been designed to look like bars or clubs. In these rooms the majority of people gather to meet other Habbos, most of whom they will not know. There are also private rooms (which like furniture, costs you money) where people tend to gather with their friends and talk outside of the public scope.
The interaction between users is via comments appearing in speech bubbles and a user has the choice to 'shout' their comment to the whole room or 'whisper' it to those standing close to them. There is a strict 'no-swearing' policy whereby all swearwords are replaced by the word bobba. Why? Who knows?
The main drawback on this site is payment. You have to pay (yes, real money) for a room and for furniture. So all you can really do as a nonpaying customer is talk to random people in ready made rooms, making this site a glorified chat room with pixle graphics. For me, this is too much of a drawback to consider making Habbo Hotel my MMOCC place on the internet.
Thursday, 14 February 2008
Club Penguin
Well, starting with Club Penguin... after its staggering buy-out by Disney for an impressive $700m, it has shot to the headlines. Over 12 million users waddle around the site as penguins, talking to each other, playing games and chilling out.
Club Penguin is free to register, although requires parental consent to do so. For that added security measure, parents are allowed to select what type of 'chats' their child is able to use. There are two modes:
It is important to note that bullying and profanity are automatically filtered where possible on Club Penguin.
Club Penguin has hired people to act as monitors, and children can report incidents to them by clicking on the M icon at any time, making play safe for them!
Club Penguin also offers games for those children who would rather play than talk with strangers, although these games are rarely easy to spot. I found as I was using Club Penguin that I had to merely stumble across games rather than the developers making it blatantly obvious where they were. Playing games earns characters virtual coins which can be spent on new clothes and the like. Although, for those non-paying customers the options are very limited.
Overall, Club Penguin for me was entertaining but too child-like. This may due to my age and while I am sure that the younger children will love it, I can't say that I will be going back for some more waddling.
Club Penguin is free to register, although requires parental consent to do so. For that added security measure, parents are allowed to select what type of 'chats' their child is able to use. There are two modes:
- "Ultimate Safe-Chat" - a limited safe chat where children are forced to speak only using a list of standard greetings or responses
- "Standard Safe-Chat" - children can type freely to one another.
It is important to note that bullying and profanity are automatically filtered where possible on Club Penguin.
Club Penguin has hired people to act as monitors, and children can report incidents to them by clicking on the M icon at any time, making play safe for them!
Club Penguin also offers games for those children who would rather play than talk with strangers, although these games are rarely easy to spot. I found as I was using Club Penguin that I had to merely stumble across games rather than the developers making it blatantly obvious where they were. Playing games earns characters virtual coins which can be spent on new clothes and the like. Although, for those non-paying customers the options are very limited.
Overall, Club Penguin for me was entertaining but too child-like. This may due to my age and while I am sure that the younger children will love it, I can't say that I will be going back for some more waddling.
Wednesday, 13 February 2008
Comprehensive List of Current MMOCG
The current market of Massive Multiplayer Online Chatting Games is rather saturated nowadays, although there are a few which sit up tall amongst the bunch. I plan in the near future to blog about as many of these sites as possible, giving pros and cons for each, enabling newbies to better make an informed decision on which is the best choice for them.
Obviously there are the giants of the game: Second life for the older people out there and Club Penguin for the little'uns.
There are always more MMOCC/MMOCGs being made all around the globe and where possible I will add more to this list as soon as they become known to myself.
Obviously there are the giants of the game: Second life for the older people out there and Club Penguin for the little'uns.
- Bitty bay
- Club Penguin
- Coke Music
- Dubit
- Fake Town
- Habbo Hotel
- Hydro Island
- Keko City
- Kynto
- Lime City
- Mokitown
- Moshi Monsters
- Second Life
- Soku City
- There
- Virtual Magic Kingdom
- Visionire
- Vizwoz
- Xivio
There are always more MMOCC/MMOCGs being made all around the globe and where possible I will add more to this list as soon as they become known to myself.
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