Comments on Other World Notes: Why Lively Died So FastTypePad2009-02-16T08:47:00ZSLHamlethttps://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/tag:typepad.com,2003:https://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2009/02/other-world-notes-1/comments/atom.xml/Gwyneth Llewelyn commented on 'Other World Notes: Why Lively Died So Fast'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef01116886caf4970c2009-02-19T12:29:06Z2009-02-19T12:29:06ZGwyneth Llewelynhttp://profile.typepad.com/GwynethLlewelynGoogle often does projects that fail spectacularly :) This is definitely not the only one, and will not be the...<p>Google often does projects that fail spectacularly :) This is definitely not the only one, and will not be the last.</p>
<p>An internal source I've got (which I won't name :) ) told me that internally this project was hated by most employees anyway (excluding, of course, the 3D group). Google's got a very democratic internal corporate culture, and the project was voted down by its employees to be shut down.</p>
<p>Then again, this was clearly a case where "Google did all wrong". There is absolutely not a single redeeming quality of Lively beyond having the brand Google behind its name. The avatars were ugly; it was painstakingly slow; to follow up in-world chat bubbles were a nightmare, so you had to open the chat history window which would cover 2/3 of the viewport (so, in effect, you'd be in a text-based chatroom and pretty much ignore the 3D virtual world aspect of it); it was hard to find friends; and everything else was insanely difficult to do (even moving). It's quite hard to imagine a *worse* virtual world, and I cannot possibly imagine what crossed Google's mind to even launch it that way, when an obvious choice would have been a "Google Earth With Avatars And SketchUp Models" (they had everything except the avatars to launch it).</p>
<p>Dedric, IMVU, by contrast, has 20+ million users, over 100,000 content creators offering 2 million or so items for sale :)</p>Dedric Mauriac commented on 'Other World Notes: Why Lively Died So Fast'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef0111686affa9970c2009-02-17T17:47:08Z2009-02-17T17:47:08ZDedric Mauriachttp://dedricmauriac.wordpress.com/Lively reminded me of IMVU. It was just disconnected 3D chat rooms. It did not give the feeling of being...<p>Lively reminded me of IMVU. It was just disconnected 3D chat rooms. It did not give the feeling of being in a virtual world at all. There wasn't much else you could really do other than move furniture around and chat.</p>Nexii Malthus commented on 'Other World Notes: Why Lively Died So Fast'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef011278df122928a42009-02-17T06:53:14Z2009-02-17T06:53:14ZNexii Malthushttp://nexii.infoLively was a failure from the start, because it wasn't even a virtual 'world' to begin worth, just a virtual...<p>Lively was a failure from the start, because it wasn't even a virtual 'world' to begin worth, just a virtual room, kind of like IMVU. Making content for it wasn't even a possibility, just modifying the existing a little bit. It wasn't really much of an independant program as a virtual world should be either.</p>
<p>If it was going to be a virtual world then it was such an extremely premature release. As well as being badly programmed and not well thought out.</p>derrick commented on 'Other World Notes: Why Lively Died So Fast'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef0111686936a6970c2009-02-17T02:06:12Z2009-02-17T02:06:12Zderrickhttp://avro.com"but they continue to stay alive. I think to Vivaty, Twinity, Kaneva, Vside, etc..." VC burn......<p>"but they continue to stay alive. I think to Vivaty, Twinity, Kaneva, Vside, etc..."</p>
<p><br />
VC burn...... </p>Koinup Burt commented on 'Other World Notes: Why Lively Died So Fast'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef011278dd604b28a42009-02-16T15:37:29Z2009-02-16T15:37:29ZKoinup Burthttp://www.koinup.comIt seems that Google is deleting several projects that were deployed or bought to expand the business of the big...<p>It seems that Google is deleting several projects that were deployed or bought to expand the business of the big G in a sort speculative/futuristic way. </p>
<p>Virtual Worlds weren't exactly the core business of Google, but it looked to many that Google was giving them a try...</p>
<p>Probably because of the the worlds economic recession, the board decided to focus on the more direct-well known and well proven business models, as search, advertising, open social applications, etc...</p>
<p>There are many virtual worlds that don't have yet the numbers of SL, but they continue to stay alive. I think to Vivaty, Twinity, Kaneva, Vside, etc...</p>
<p>I think that probably along with the not-so-good numbers, Google deleted Lively because it wanted to give a sign of austherity to its shareholders</p>Harper Ganesvoort commented on 'Other World Notes: Why Lively Died So Fast'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef01116867d829970c2009-02-16T15:33:39Z2009-02-16T15:33:39ZHarper Ganesvoorthttp://harperganesvoort.wordpress.comNo; not...Bob...NOOOOOOO!<p>No; not...<i>Bob</i>...<b><i>NOOOOOOO!</i></b></p>Zillow Dejavu commented on 'Other World Notes: Why Lively Died So Fast'tag:typepad.com,2003:6a00d8341bf74053ef01116867c8e3970c2009-02-16T15:02:59Z2009-02-16T15:02:59ZZillow Dejavuhttp://secondchick.comI was going through a rough spot this past summer and missed the launch altogether. Sounds like I didn't miss...<p>I was going through a rough spot this past summer and missed the launch altogether. Sounds like I didn't miss much. But I'm sill puzzled as to why Google folded Lively so quickly. Anyone who launches a new venture knows (or should) that it takes time. With all their resources it seems that with determination and patience Google could have found a winning formula.</p>
<p>Then again, Google has so much going on that Lively maybe wasn't a big priority. Second Life was a priority for Linden Labs and they stuck with it, luckily for all of us. Anyone know what SL's numbers were like during the first few months?</p>