Virtual World News: Twinity is in Beta But Is It Worth Waiting For?

By Avarie Parker

I have been following the buzz surrounding the new virtual world, Twinity, http://www.twinity.com/en. Their website describes the virtual world as “a 3D online world that mashes up the real with the virtual world.”

The list of features include:

* create your virtual self
* create your own apartment anywhere in the world
* meet real people & make new friends
* drop in on your friends and go out and have fun!

I was eager to get in and take a look so I attempted to jump on board as a beta tester. They were nice enough to put me on the waiting list saying that as soon as more space became available I would be contacted. However after reading the latest post ( http://www.metaversejournal.com/2008/06/30/twinity-%E2%80%93-what-is-it-good-for/) by one of their current users, I am not quite as excited. The article lists out some of the cons of the new virtual world among them:

No content creation tools, WHAT?!!!

No Geography, just rooms connected by a teleport

Windows only client, MAC and Linux users not supported

I will still give it try if I ever clear the waiting list. There appear to be tools that allow for collaboration which could be a useful, however more research is needed.

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