Goodbye, There

The last day, 9 March 2010, of the virtual world There, was sad for regular users of the service. Even long lost Therians like me (I started at the tail end of beta testing in 2003 and left mid 2004) gathered inworld to see it out. I felt sad that Osprey will live no more, but grateful that I had the gentle and playful world of There to distract me in 2003, a terribly difficult year for me as both my parents died.

With Voice/lip sync from its inception, ai dogs, exceptional vehicle physics, a shopping website, user-made content (but it wasn't easy), fluid avatar movement, and - due to the controlled avatar sizes - the ability for avatars to interact (kiss, etc.), There was cutting edge when it began and steadfastly remained accessible to even users with dial-up. A whole raft of There hacks added gps and other features. It had been so long since I'd been in that I hardly remembered how to work things, yet I remember vividly when I decamped for Second Life, which felt like L.A in contrast to Hawaii.

Labels: there.com, yootoob