There.com has arrived

January 8, 2003 8:02 PM

Can't wait for The Sims Online? Try There.com.An online, avatar based metaverse game, not involving orcs, elves, or, for that matter, much out of the ordinary of our suburban lives. Is this the future of online gaming, or the flavor of the month?
posted by jonson (13 comments total)

I can't believe I'm saying this, but finally, compared to the other options, a game of this genre I don't feel fruity about playing!
posted by shepd at 8:49 PM on January 8, 2003

Shepd, agreed - truly, is there any geekier saying than "click here to meet my everquest character?"


Note: quote & link borrowed from rushmc's homepage. Seriously.
posted by jonson at 9:03 PM on January 8, 2003

Who's waiting for the Sims Online? It's out.
posted by McBain at 10:02 PM on January 8, 2003

Hmmm... well... looks like I might be stonewalled on the current machine:

In order to run There you need:
800 MHz Pentium III CPU, 256 MB RAM, nVIDIA GeForce or nForce or ATI Radeon
(except for VE or 7000), ATI Radeon Mobility 7500, DirectX compatible sound
card, 56K modem, 400 MB free HD space, Windows 98 SE/2000 SP1.

Doesn't that seem like overkill for this sort of game? 800 Mhz PIII? High-end video card? Wow... Must be something in this game I'm really missing out on! :-)

[ We'll see if there feels that my Athlon 700 will cut the mustard ]
posted by shepd at 10:27 PM on January 8, 2003

One question: Will it always be free?

Because that would be pretty key to keeping up usage numbers if it wants to be like the actual Metaverse Stephenson wrote about.
posted by Darke at 10:45 PM on January 8, 2003

I bet it won't... If there's one thing I learned in 11th grade Econ, There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch. That Metaverse was, after all, set in a science fiction novel. Oh, an McBain? You're right. D'oh. I'm dumb.
posted by jonson at 11:01 PM on January 8, 2003

Doesn't that seem like overkill for this sort of game? 800 Mhz PIII? High-end video card? Wow... Must be something in this game I'm really missing out on! :-)

Don’t let the cel-shading fool you, the graphics aren’t too shabby for what looks like facial animation and such. Has anyone here actually tried it yet? I signed up for the beta test but have to wait around for the official invitation to play.
posted by Gary at 11:49 PM on January 8, 2003

It doesn't look like it will be free for long -- they're calling the free version the "public beta", so that suggests that eventually, the game would go live and be subscription based.

After playing The Sims Online in its public beta, I decided not to purchase the game -- despite being a pretty devoted Maxis fan in general and owning all of the expansion packs for the Sims. It just seemed like too much of a glorified chat room, and the things I really love about The Sims were missing -- the ability to customize just about everything, the ability to "play god", etc. Granted, there are a lot of world features, and upcoming features, that were not implemented in the beta version, so maybe it's more interesting and game oriented now. But if I want to find myself in a chat room full of 12 year olds, I can probably do it for cheaper than $50 software charge and $10 a month. (Or, I could just do it on EQ, where I can also fight things.)
posted by dryad at 4:56 AM on January 9, 2003

I'm playing The Sims Online. I find it really fun, and a lot of the customizing options are upcoming. I am disappointed that a lot of things weren't activated before the release of the game.

I was in the public beta, and I had considered not getting it, but then I recvd a x-mas gift that I already had, and when I went to exchange it, I saw the box that day, and grabbed it.

Would I have bought it myself at the time of the beta level? Not sure. But I do enjoy it now. While there are some boring parts, the plans Maxis has made just for the 1st quarter of 2003 are really cool. Some include new clothing, new items, custom objects, gaming objects.

There is a certain social aspect to the game, which sometimes leads to it being a chat room. But a lot of it is discussing the game itself. Some properties have makeshift games such as movie trivia, and fighting over answering first can be fun.

I didn't like Everquest when I tried it. But the Sims Online I really like.
posted by benjh at 5:06 AM on January 9, 2003

Also, check out this fellow mefi user's interesting MMRPG, The Game Neverending.
posted by Pinwheel at 6:33 AM on January 9, 2003

Game Neverending is excellent. And as a mac user, the only one of these I can play right now. "There" looks neat, but no mac support, and it doesn't look there is any planned. :(
posted by luriete at 8:56 AM on January 9, 2003

I read an interview with the founder who said that final pricing will be approx $10/month.
posted by alms at 6:49 PM on January 9, 2003

Just a nitpicky gamer here, but, stylistically simple graphics do not equal cel shading. That being said, even for a gung-ho game enthisast, I find the concept of going online to pretend you're not online to be sort of ludicrous. As silly as the orcs and trolls are, at least you can't find them by going outside. Who likes shopping so much they want to pay to PRETEND to do it?
posted by kevspace at 8:58 PM on January 10, 2003