New World Notes

Thick as Thieves: Lead Devs Warren Spector, David McDonough & Greg LoPiccolo on the Upcoming Immersive Simulation's Heritage With the Groundbreaking OG Thief

I’m seriously psyched to play Thick as Thieves, an upcoming PC/console game first teased at the Game Awards a few weeks ago. It has a direct heritage to the original Thief games from the early 2000s, milestones in immersive simulation. (And as a young gamer, got me personally ebullient about interactive immersion as an emergent art form.) By putting the player in the role of a stealthy cat burglar in a steampunk city, Thief made you so keenly aware of the virtual environment (light/shadow, the ambient noisemaking potential of different materials, bored/agitated guards), you felt truly part of the 3D world around you. The original Deus Ex games soon expanded on those ideas in a cyberpunk context.

And now, developers on those games are making immersive simulation a multiplayer experience. If that’s even possible?

While Thick as Thieves' trailer bills it as a game "from" revered designer Warren Spector, lead creator of the original Deus Ex games (who also did some work on the original Thief franchise), the brunt of everyday development is actually led by veteran designers David McDonough and Greg LoPiccolo -- the latter who was project leader on the original Thief game. 

In recent weeks I’ve been messaging all three -- on Thick as Thieves’ heritage to Thief/Deus Ex, on the challenge of making an immersive world multiplayer, and much more:

Watch Next Week: "Reality of Hope", Sundance Documentary About Two Friends From VRChat's Voluminous Furry Community

Premiering online and at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah next week, Reality of Hope is a short documentary depicting two friends who first meet in VRChat's large furry community --- and after a medical crisis emerges, the friendship deepens into real life in a surprising and powerful way. It's directed by Joe Hunting, whose last VRChat-based documentary was picked up by HBO in 2022.

You can watch the movie online here between January 30 and February 5 here and/or if you're at Sundance, reserve a ticket.  

Watch: Grand Theft Hamlet, Madcap Machinima Documentary About Trying to Stage Shakespeare's Play Live in GTA Online

I have no choice but to blog Grand Theft Hamlet, an acclaimed all-machinima documentary about two out-of-work actors who during the pandemic, log into Grand Theft Auto Online to try and stage a live production of Shakespeare's most famous play.  Watch the trailer above!

Now playing in the UK and debuting in the US this weekend (check local listings), more from the official site:

Watch: In Love Me, Two Sentient AIs Played By Kristen Stewart & Steven Yeun Become Human Avatars After Civilization's End (January 31)

Coming January 31 (at least in the US) in the acclaimed indie movie Love Me, Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun are a sentient buoy and satellite (respectively) who meet, fall in love, and re-create themselves as human avatars who live out the end of humanity together. The trailer at least looks pretty powerful, though I'm avoiding reviews so I can watch it fresh.

More about the movie soon-ish, I hope: I recently reached out to the movie's writer/director team, Sam and Andy Zuchero, themselves married in real life, who put me in touch with the studio's publicist about an interview. 

Then again, the very next day, all parties involved (including me) likely fled Los Angeles at the coming of a raging, city-consuming firestorm. So our interview about a movie about the end of civilization may be indefinitely delayed. Which is an extra layer of tragic irony none of us needed right now or ever.

Virtual Worlds Museum Updates: Award Nomination, Spatial Video Tour, and Upcoming Crowdfunder Details!

It's been a few months since we checked in on the Virtual Worlds Museum™, the largest online info/community resource for virtual worlds, past and present -- so I just had a chat with founder/CEO Julian Reyes, to get the latest updates. Turns out, there's quite a lot! For one, it's now officially trademarked (a milestone in itself), and the project just earned its first contest recognition:

The Museum is a finalist for the prestigious AUREA Award, hosted by Germany's Europa-Park, one of the biggest theme parks in Europe. (Replete with a roller coaster ride integrated with VR headsets.)

"I'm thrilled to be nominated along with some other innovative projects alongside XR community friends," Julian tells me. "I'm looking forward to presenting our project January 22nd at Europa Park in Germany. A big shout-out to our team for helping us create our first exhibit which is one of six." (The one that's nominated is hosted in Arrival.Space, with the next exhibit expected to launch in Meta's Horizon Worlds next month.) Fellow AUREA finalists, by the way, include GroKit Core by 3lbXR, pioneering ways to build in VR, and Blockade Labs, innovating AI prompt-based VR experiences.

The Museum also expanded its Spotlight Videos tour page, with the latest video (above) featuring In Kenzo and AI archivist SEHU teleporting into Spatial, a new-ish web based virtual world:

I'm Seeing a Strong Shift to Bluesky by SLers --- Including Cajsa, Who Just Closed Her Huge Twitter/X Account

New World Notes columnist Cajsa Lilliehook just locked up her fairly large X/Twitter account (with nearly 20,000 followers) and opened up shop in Bluesky here.

I wasn't surprised when she told me this last night (for reasons I'll explain below), but it's actually part of a larger trend:

In the last couple weeks, my mostly dormant Bluesky account suddenly exploded with hundreds of new followers, most of them SL/virtual world-themed. (OK, maybe "exploded" is a bit hyperbolic, but certainly a fierce fucking puff of activity.) And there's more:

Philip Rosedale just joined Bluesky.

The official Second Life account too.

Plus here's a large Bluesky thread of SLers to announce yourself and meet others there! 

Also other metaverse platforms including Rec Room and VRChat are active on Bluesky.

This is part of an even larger trend, as Bluesky recently hit 20 million active users, in great part in an exile move from Twitter/X in the wake of the US election. That was the thing which pushed Cajsa herself over the blue edge:

Connect With Me on Bluesky & Threads! Plus Thoughts on Continuing to Tweet on X.

Last week my little-used Threads and Bluesky accounts gained a trove of new followers for Totally Mysterious Reasons. So if you're looking to follow me on either platform:

On Threads, I'm "wjamesau"

On Bluesky, I'm "SLHamlet" 

Advice wanted: Is there a good service for quickly cross-posting to and from these platforms, or also to/from Twitter/X?

As for Twitter/X itself, I'll keep posting there for the foreseeable future, if only to share new posts and chat with followers. Not to pull rank, but I've been on Twitter since 2007, three years longer than the current owner. I'm also very well aware of what's been happening to the social network since its acquisition, but in my experience, the virtual world/metaverse/Second Life ecosystem there is largely free from the service's worst levels of toxicity. What's more, I'd estimate 30% of them are not even based in the United States.

None of this is ideal, but then again, continuing to keep New World Notes operating basically means continuing to run every social media channel it's associated with. Speaking of which, also please consider following/subscribing to my Patreon!

Avatars for Kamala: Why US Players of Fortnite, Second Life, VRChat & Other Metaverse Platforms Should Vote for Harris/Walz

SL image by Alsatian Kidd, who also has thoughts on the election

When I briefly noted that Philip Rosedale had endorsed Harris/Walz during a recent YouTube livestream (watch below), some reader comments were somewhat surprising:

Like Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner with family, politics really should not be discussed, and it really has no place in SL

Rule #1 about all video games. Keep. Politics. Out. Of. Games.

But Second Life is not even a traditional game: It’s a metaverse platform, which by definition, is integrated with the real world economy -- and is therefore subject to government regulations formulated by elected politicians. Second Life content creators regularly receive bills from the IRS, which even has a written policy about taxing Linden Dollars; SL content must adhere to US laws banning online gambling, and so on.  

There are hundreds of very good reasons to vote for Kamala Harris and vote against Donald Trump. But even if you are only thinking about the future well-being of your favorite virtual world/metaverse platform, and the user communities in them -- be it Second Life, Fortnite, VRChat, or many others --  here are a couple core reasons to cast your vote for Kamala:

Retaining Lina Khan to Protect Metaverse Companies & Consumers

Lina Khan, appointed by Biden/Harris as Chair of the Federal Trade Commission, has been a fierce defender of both metaverse platform users and players against powerful interests. 

Last year, her FTC won a $245 million refund for Fortnite players targeted by “dark patterns to trick players into making unwanted purchases and let children rack up unauthorized charges”. 

And then this year, her FTC filed an amicus brief in support of Epic’s bid to require Google to open up in-app payment options apart from Google Play. As Tim Sweeney has often said, both Apple and Google’s control of mobile payment systems and their 30% commission fees threaten the future of the Metaverse. Just this week, Linden Lab’s Brad Oberwager mentioned to me how this IAP 30% charge is a serious challenge for fully bringing Second Life to mobile.

There’s a huge number of other outstanding challenges for metaverse platforms. If Harris/Walz win, Lina Khan will in all likelihood remain head of the FTC.* If Trump wins, Khan -- already a target of GOP animus and powerful donors -- will be gone. Leaving metaverse consumers and creators to fend for ourselves. And whoever Trump/Vance appoints when Khan is gone, I wouldn't expect a full SL mobile app during their reign.

There’s an even more important metaverse-centric reason to support Harris/Walz:

Gamers for Harris: Sign Up to Join Philip Rosedale, Seamus Blackley, Chet Faliszek & Many Others for This Voting Drive Livestream -- This Wednesday at 5pm PT / 8pm ET!

Tomorrow at 5pm ET: 3 legendary VR/game developers join the Gamers for Harris live stream!

Father of the @Xbox: @SeamusBlackley

Founder of @SecondLife @philiprosedale

And @chetfaliszek, writer for Team Fortress 2 and Portal 1 & 2!

RSVP to join:https://t.co/AMYhwtOPvo pic.twitter.com/MTKQHh3gEQ

— Geeks for Harris (@GeeksForHarris) October 15, 2024

RSVP here to join this livestream, launching this Wednesday!  Excited to help put this Harris/Walz get out the vote event together, featuring acclaimed game/VR developers including Philip Rosedale, Seamus Blackley (often called "father of the Xbox"), and Chet Faliszek, writer of multiple hit games including Team Fortress 2 and Portal 1 & 2 -- plus Star Trek:TNG star Wil Wheaton and a host of video game performers from dozens of beloved games. (Full list and official announcement below.)

Read an Excerpt of The Hivemind Swarmed: A New Oral History of Gamergate, the 2014 Online Harassment Campaign That Changed Everything (Plus Get a Special NWN Discount Code!)

It's impossible to understand US politics or Internet/gaming/virtual world culture without knowing about Gamergate, the numerically small but highly coordinated online harassment campaign unleashed almost exactly 10 years ago. Fortunately there's a new oral history on the topic: The Hivemind Swarmed by David Wolinsky, and the book's summary puts it well:

Gamergate holds the grim distinction of being the first modern online harassment campaign. It arguably served as a model for the alt-right movement that would help propel Donald Trump to the White House. And it highlighted a toxic media culture—not just in gaming, but in film, TV, journalism, and more—in which leaders, through their passivity, took the side of the oppressor. Now, 10 years later—in the wake of #MeToo, Charlottesville, the Trump years, and the January 6 insurrection—the questions discussed here are more important than ever.

I was honored to be one of the many people David interviewed for the book, a highly readable and engrossing first-person account of that period, and what we've (hopefully) learned since then. Thanks to him and his publisher, New World Notes is featuring a lengthy excerpt (below) and a special discount code:

Click here to order the book from Beacon Press and used SCHOLAR25 as the code for 25% off the list price, along with free shipping.

Here's the excerpt, featuring indy pop star Jonathan Coulton, journalist Clive Thompson, virtual world pioneer Richard Bartle, and others (including, well, me, very briefly piping up here):