Share your There.com Experience

[Jeff]

There.com isn't really a game, per se, but it's not really IM either. It is an immersive, 3D chat environment that has to be seen to be understood.

Check out our review of There, then share your opinion. I'm especially interested in hearing from those of you who have tried it.

If you haven't tried it, you can get a two-week free trial, too.

[AnimeUSA]

I've tried it, and I've been a member for a while. It's pretty great, and you don't see many idiots ruining the experience for others either.


-AnimeUSA

[Jeff]

I've checked out There... its a surreal experience. First off, it seems big. There are lots of wide open spaces and if you wander off the beaten path, you'll quickly find yourself completely alone.

Most of the people seem to congregate around specific areas in There... hot spots. So there are extremes; either quiet and near solitude, or packed with people.

Speaking of the people, they are very friendly. Within minutes of signing in the first time, I had a couple of people offer to answer questions, show me around. I checked, and they were just "regular people" and not There.com staffers or bots. On a side note, my persona was male, but to help a female friend test her account (she was having trouble signing on), I signed in as her, and had 2-3 times as many offers of "help" (from male personas, of course).

There.com really has a robust world system. It includes it's own instant messaging system with buddy lists, so you can quickly connect with friends online. Unfortunately, it doesn't let you connect while you're not "in There."

There.com also has it's own economy. If you're artistic, you can create new designs; clothing, vehicles, houses, games and more. Then you can let your left brain take over and make some "Therebucks;" the coin of the realm. You can buy and sell items between other players, or auction items. If you create your own items, you can choose whether it's going to be a one-of-a-kind or a mass-produced item, which of course will impact the price you can extract for it.

The primarly purpose of There is socialization. The idea is that people are online, instant messaging or in a chat room, and limited mainly to exchanging text messages. There.com takes that interaction that's already occuring, but adds a 3-dimensional world where you can interact a lot like you might in the real world.

Which brings me to another point. There is a lot of "peer pressure" in There. When you first arrive, you have an alottment of ThereBucks and standard issue Gap clothes (khaki pants and a white t-shirt). Immediately people recognize you from your newbie uniform, and the pressure to buy some cool clothes begins. Newbie? Me? No way!

If you haven't checked it out, they offer a 2 week free trial (follow the link in the initial topic). It's worth checking out.