Lively launched sometime yesterday and from all I’ve read pre-launch it was supposed to be Google’s version of Second Life. I virtual world where players could explore real world environments and interact with other people. This thing was supposed to redefine how people view and use the internet.
So far, bzzzzzzzzzzz. That’s my buzzer sound. I know it’s way to early to tell given that all massive projects such as this generally have a rocky start, but I was expecting Google to be a little different. I figured with their financial backing the powerhouse would be launching something like this perfect right out of the gate. Unfortunately it doesn’t look anything like I imagined.
Basically, you have to register for a Google account, fortunately I already have one. Then you have to download and install Lively, which actually is pretty painless. After that, the fun begins. You create a room, no not a world or a city - just a room. This is your personal chat room where other people out on the net can join and interact with you and eachother. You can pick a room from a wide variety of shells that are predesigned, no you can’t design them yourself - at least not yet.
You decorate the room with furniture and items you ’shop’ for out of what has been designed so far. In much the same way you can configure your avatar from pre-designed choices. Not exactly the best experience so far, but better than just a plain chat room. Which seems to be all this really is. You can go from room to room by a browser menu but you can’t really walk from room to room or explore in any traditional sense. Even moving around in your own room is not really walking as much as it is double clicking on a place you want your avatar to be and it appears there.
That said, I’m in the mind numbingly slow process of setting up a GameZig Lounge type room, in the probably going to be over-used shell of the underwater super hero base - which I just had to have. But I’m going to give it a rest for a day or two and let Google smooth out the bumps because trying to shop for items in Lively is going to make me pull my hair out. For now, if you have lively installed feel free to visit the GameZig headquarters - for the meantime I have it setup where guests can help me by moving and placing items. I would love some inspired artistic help here haha.
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