Figure 8.23: wa2b.jpg
We
walk around the hustle and bustle of Cypress Street in Kymerís
Phantasus City.
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Entering Kymer: All Ashore Whoís Going Ashore!
Figure 8.23: wa2b.jpg
We
walk around the hustle and bustle of Cypress Street in Kymerís
Phantasus City.
Alighting on the magic soil of Kymer, we walk out into the hustle
and bustle of Cypress Street. But wait, where are the people;
where are we? Phantasus is a sizable port town, so we have to
walk around a bit to find the hot spots. Because you have this
book, you have this great map! Oh, you are a well-prepared tourist!
Actually, the map can be found under the Help menu in Worlds Away,
and on the WorldsAway Web site at http://www.worldsaway.com.
Figure 8.24: wa5b.jpg
A
great overview map of Phantasus City on Kymer Island.
Wandering through the dolmens of Cypress Street, I arrive at the
central fountain where, lo and behold, there are some people (or
at least their avatars)! These are real people, not bots, and
they all greet me as I come in. You can see me on the right, and
that the world is telling me I am entering the west fountain.
They see me come in (the world tells them something like DigiGardener
is here), and they start saying, ìHi Digi,î (my nickname).
Figure 8.25: wa2c.jpg
I
found some folks at the fountain!
Jabberwocky all day
I have so many questions for these folks…but how do I talk?
Well, it turns out to be a very simple procedure.
Figure 8.26: wa4k.jpg
Talking
normally, just type, and press Enter.
Figure 8.27: wa4l.jpg
Put
out a few thought balloons.
Figure 8.28: wa4n.jpg
Insert
emoticons into your speech.
At the bottom of the WorldsAway screen is an area for typing in
text. If you put something in there and hit Enter, it will be
displayed in a cartoon bubble over your head for all to see. On
the right-hand side of the text entry area are three little icons
(as you can see from the preceding figures). The first means speak
normally (which we just did). The second allows you to cast your
words out there as a cartoon-style thought balloon. The third
button allows you to ESP (short for extra sensory perception),
which is a kind of walkie-talkie radio system within the Dreamscape.
Using ESP, you can send a private message to only one person or
to a group of your friends. We will see an example of
ESP-ing soon.
Figure 8.29: wa4h.jpg
The
Edit menu options.
The Edit menu allows you to switch between these different modes
of communication. It also allows you to insert gestures, called
emoticons (emotional icons look like the old ë70s happy face)
like in the Happy Days example in the preceding figure.
Figure 8.30: wa2db.jpg
Avatars
join in the confetti toss at the WorldsAway Dreamscape first-year
anniversary party.
Avatars just kept striding in, and one curious fellow, a duck
in a cowboy hat, started tossing around wonderful streams of confetti.
Everyone wanted to know where it came from, and he said it was
from the recent Dreamscape New Yearís party, which celebrated
the Dreamscapeís first year online. It turns out he was
from the Duckolytes, an informal Dreamscape welcoming association
modeled on the official Dreamscape helpers, called ëAcolytesí,
Dreamscapeís formal helpers. He said that you could not
buy confetti-you just had to be at the New Yearís celebrations
to get some. Boy, I have been here only five minutes and already
I have learned so much. The people here are really helpful, and
this place is hopping!
There are lots of in-world groups dedicated to helping new members.
One group, the SunRays, even has charity events to raise tokens
for ìVictims of Crimes and Crashesî. The existence
of all these helper groups really demonstrates both the generous
character of the Dreamscape and the complexity of the society.
Digi discovers the virtual economy
I am starting to get excited; I can really talk to people here
and do things! For better or for worse, like in the real world,
it seems you need money here (called tokens). As mentioned before,
you can earn tokens just by staying in the Dreamscape (note that
you may be paying real CompuServe or Internet Service Provider
on-line charges while you do this). You can also earn tokens by
selling things. But what have I to sell? I just got off the boat!
Figure 8.31: wa2e.jpg
What
can I sell for quick cash? How about that newbie head?
Well, Kymerians to the rescue. A beautiful avatar named Daira
tells me that I am probably carrying around my newbie head (the
one I substituted with my beautiful head), and that I can sell
it to a pawnbroker next to the V-Mart. Boy, everyone knows I just
got off the boat! I click on me, get the menu, and remove this
old head from my pocket.
Figure 8.32: wa2g.jpg
Sell,
sell, sell. The pawnbrokers are outside of the V-Mart.
Daira kindly agrees to take me over to the V-Mart. ìBut
how do I follow you,î I ask? She says, ìjust click
on me and select Follow.î I do this, and then she walks
off stage left. Magically, I follow along, like I am tied to her
by one of those toddler cords! We arrive a couple of screens later
at the V-Mart (on the corner of Orchid and Cypress), and there
is the pawnbrokerís window. A lot of people (well, their
avatars at least) are going up to the window and leaving with
smiles on their faces. I click on the window, pick Approach, then
click on Appraise to find out that this head is worth 80T (tokens).
What a deal for a useless head; I quickly pick Sell Item and pocket
this small fortune. I find out later in the V-Mart that 80T doesnít
buy much!
Figure 8.33: wa2h.jpg
Daira
teaches me how to ESP.
Daira says she has to go, but teaches me how to reach her in the
future by using ESP, the radio system within
the Dreamscape that lets people communicate privately with each
other. ìJust click on the third button on the bottom
left,î she says, ìand then put in my name, Daira,
where it says To. Then you can put in any message you want and
send it to me anywhere in Kymer when you press Enter.î I
try this and it is sooo easy! Thank you, Daira. I hope you meet
someone like Daira when you first start using WorldsAway.
Attention all V-Mart shoppers!
Figure 8.34: wa2i.jpg
Love
that basket…oops! But not the boutique price!
OK, got tokens, will travel to the V-Mart. Through the doors I
find a vendo with what looks like a set of cool baskets and bags.
Rolling through the selections, my eyes roll at the price, 250T!
I suppose I could sell my new head…but no, I saw people walking
around the Dreamscape headless, and it is not conducive to good
conversation. Actually, someone told me later that those unfortunate
newbies were talked out of their heads. Warning: do not give
your head to anyone, no matter what they say it is for! Many
newbies are really shocked when they are targeted by thieves,
and donít know that there are lots of support organizations
set up to help them.
I love that basket, but I just cannot afford it, and there are
no credit cards here. Virtual worlds encourage good money management
and balanced budgets (I wonder how long that will last?).
Figure 8.36: wa2k.jpg
Can
you afford this? Click on yourself and find out.
Another vendo is more in my price range: a key to your heart,
only 15T! I didnít know I was such a cheap date! I clicked
on myself to get my own status menu and found that I had 55 tokens
to my name. Well, that would be enough to be able to brag to friends
that I had shopped at the V-Mart.
This V-Mart is expensiveómore like
a Harrods than a K-Mart, so I pocketed my cheap souvenir key and
left in search of my fortune. New immigrants often can be easily
taken in, so you will probably believe what happened next.
Make a quick token in the virtual Vegas
Figure 8.37: wa2n.jpg
Vegas
lives in the virtual world…my fortunes are made!
Down to one thin 40T, I was kicking at old confetti litter when
I moseyed right into the middle of a sort of virtual Vegas! Gambling,
the chance at fast fortune, yes, Iím going to own this
town one day! But wait, where did I go? ìThis game is full,î
said the dealer, and besides, you have been ghosted! True, my
avatar was not in the room at all, but hiding in the small eye-cloud
in the right corner. It turns out that everyone goes into Ghost
mode when a room is too full. As a ghost, you can hear everything,
communicate only by ESP, and actually travel much faster through
the world (your avatar is spared all that walking). Being a ghost
is like being a lurker in a chat room or mailing list…just
reading everything, but never speaking up to the whole group.
If you click on the cloud, you can try to un-ghost (if someone
has just left the room). You can also see how many people are
ghosted along with you in that little cloud…22 in this one.
Please move over!
Tycoon not! Back to having fun!
Figure 8.38: wa2o.jpg
What
is life about? How about flying!
Hopes for fortune dashed. What is life really about, anyway? How
about flying! These virtual worlds are good because you can do
things here that you canít in real life. Itís like
being in your own theater. I spooked around Kymer for awhile as
a ghost and decided to materialize in an empty spot. Right then
and there, another avatar walked in who was me, or at least looked
like me. I said to her, ìwait a minute, you are me, I mean,
I am you!î She laughed and then flew like a bird. ìHow
did you do that,î I asked. She said that I just had to double-click
on myself, and I too, could fly; what fun!
Express yourself!
Figure 8.39: wa2p.jpg
Try
out different gestures and expressions.
Another citizen was watching us too. The flighty twins and told
me about other gestures I could make by pressing special keys
on the keyboard or selecting them from the Communicate (arrow)
Gesture menu, as shown in the following figure. She also told
me about turning your avatarís back to the screen if you
are doing something somewhere else, or not paying attention to
the computer. She said this is polite to the other citizens who
otherwise might try to talk to you.
Figure 8.40: wa4b.jpg
Choose
your expressions by picking Communicate
(arrow) Gesture
Get creative with your choice of clothing and heads at the Nu
Yu, and body sprays to change your body and skin color. The couple
in the following figure got very spooky for Halloween and stayed
that way!
Figure 8.41: wa6a.jpg
What
a wild and crazy couple!