Who is there?

I tried There, and my first thought is that the target audience is entirely different than that of Second Life. I think they are looking at less tech-savvy users. My mother might like this for example because it gives you the immersive digital world feel without the pressure to create the world you're stepping into.

The video intro is great for people who have never tried to interact through an avatar, but might drive tactile/experiential learners such as myself bonkers. The training island in There is a lot more hand-holding than Second Life as well...again, great for novice users, bad for experienced tech users. The activities and interactions I had were basically one long day at the spa (I had a hard time getting screen captures for this post because I had to switch computers to get There at all). Now I love the spa in real life, but if you can create anything in your imagination would you really create the dressing room at Barney's? I guess so, and There is proof of that. Again, I think this is a game my mother would love, it is very friendly to novice users, and I am given to understand that content is limited to a PG-13 rating and all uploads have to be approved before appearing in world. Could it be they have a significant user base in the bible belt?

Second life -- fresh off the boat

My online persona is a punk-rock chick. She is friendly when she's in a good mood, but can be a snarky bitch to keep people from getting too close. A large part of the inspiration for this was the avatar. I didn't want to spend a lot of time perfecting my look so I went with a ready-made. The clothes, hair, and general style of the avatar I picked said finicky musician girl to me, so I played up that attitude.



Interacting with other avatars has been interesting. Most have been really nice, though sometimes I walk into a conversation in the middle and I can't figure out how I walked into it or what it's about (this is done with local chat). I have a general feeling of being a just off the boat immigrant from a small rural place suddenly dumped in a large, bustling port town. I'm not sure how to introduce myself, who to talk to and whom to avoid, how to make deals with people, and what the social mores are. Basically this is virtual culture shock, which I find amazing. How will virtual worlds combined with globalization to change how people interact across timezones and cultures?



I also visited a shopping mall, but it seemed abandoned, and I wasn't sure how to buy things. I was surprised to find it too...I was flying around just looking at what's there when it popped up on the horizon.

Task communication

5. How are various tasks and goals communicated to you at the start of the game? How and why does this evolve as you gain more experience?



When you start the game you get a training task which is explained in a lot of detail, and very hard to fail (I've tried to play poorly and only lost two happiness points despite taking several blows from the cog). The start task does not require a lot of travel or navigation. Some tasks are communicated in textboxes that don't seem connected to other characters which breaks the game for me, but gives useful information.

In-game information

3. What other ways – other than text – are used to inform you about the world, how objects work, and your avatar's status?



Toon Town provides a lot of visual cues including the happiness meter, and arrows that point to specific locations as well as other toons. The most successful visual cue in my opinion has to do with emotions. When my toon loses a game I'm informed by it's dropping head. When I defeat a cog I know he's angry by the fact that he jumps up and down before exploding. This conveys information on an emotional level, which keeps me engaged in game. Reminders are frequently given at the beginning of the game and tips are also inserted at transition points but those go by too fast.

Which features break that immersive feeling?

The biggest problem I have in this area is the perspective. Having my avitar's head in the middle of my field of vision distracts me from the virtual world. I also got distracted when many toons were present in a space because the space became cluttered and navigating through the environment became difficult and frustrating.

escape in Mac?

The first issue I've found in playing Toon Town is that I can't get out!  Maybe this is because I've recently switched from PC to Mac, but I expect a full screen application to go away when I hit escape.  Toon Town doesn't, and I've had to click the "purchase" button to get it out of full screen mode.  Is there a better way to do this?

What happens if I want to pause the game, check email, and start right back up where I was?  Well I don't know, because this game doesn't make that possible.