Remember "1867", the Second Life roleplay community which moved to Sansar and then set up a presence in Roblox? Longtime reader and SLer Pulsar, who's familiar with both the original SL version and the Sansar variation, visited this new version in Roblox, and came away pretty impressed:
Very interesting. It even rains! 1867 was fascinating in SL, even if the traffic wasn't high. In Sansar it felt kind of bare to me.
With Roblox you can visit 1867 on your iPad too (or other mobile devices) and it works well. The Roblox version strongly reminds the previous iterations aesthetically. It's still a work in progress, but it looks like it's going to be fun and interactive.
Click here to visit yourself in Roblox. I know among virtual world fans, there's often an "it's just for kids" bias against Roblox (I can be guilty of it too). But as Pulsar adds, citing this analysis from HackerNoon, Roblox and to a certain extent Fortnite, are not just virtual worlds, but essential social spaces for a new generation as they come of age:
Kids under 13 spend more time in Roblox than on YouTube, Netflix and Facebook combined. Let that sink in for a moment. Fortnite entered the scene and blasted to 250M monthly active users in under two years. It’s become a cultural phenomenon. It took Roblox longer to reach the scale, but the numbers from 2016 onwards are astounding. The latest reported numbers were 100M active users in Q2 2019...
Roblox and Fortnite are true virtual worlds. More like physical places to hang out than traditional games. In a typical shooter, the entire experience is intense, fast-paced and focused on a single goal — kill as many opponents as possible. The maps are small and focused, maximizing contact between teams. In other words — not a good place to hang out with your friends. Fortnite takes place on a beautiful-looking island. There players can explore and take part in any kinds of virtual experiences they like.Roblox is a platform and doesn't create any of the games themselves. Games, worlds, and experiences are created by the community itself. Unlike in traditional shooters, in Roblox and Fortnite there's a lot of idle time between the game. Most of the time is spent on exploring the world, collecting weapons and supplies, etc. This creates plenty of empty space for a casual chat.
Comments