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Image:Emotes01.jpg|Avatars can display over 100 emotes Image:Emotes01.jpg|Avatars can display over 100 emotes
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Image:Zona.jpg|Zona Island, a place where new members first log in. Image:Zona.jpg|Zona Island,.
Image:Hoverboat01.jpg|A member made vehicle. As an avatar users can paint and build a variety of items. Image:Hoverboat01.jpg|A member made vehicle. As an avatar users can paint and build a variety of items.
Image:|Zona Island, a place where new members first log in Image:|Zona Island, a place where new members first log in

Revision as of 17:29, 15 July 2009

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2003 video game
There
Developer(s)Makena Technologies
Publisher(s)Makena Technologies
Platform(s)Windows 2000

Windows XP
Windows Vista
Mac OS X (Private Alpha)

ThereIM
ReleaseJanuary 9th, 2003
Genre(s)Multiplayer Social
Mode(s)Multiplayer

There is a 3D online virtual world created by Will Harvey and Jeffrey Ventrella. There Inc. was founded in the spring of 1998. Closed beta began in July 2001, with various stages of beta following, and ending with an October 2003 launch date.

Corporate history

In June 2004, There Inc. went through a restructuring and announced major layoffs. In April 2005, There Inc. announced that the commercial side of the company would be branching out to form two companies Forterra Systems (the government contracted client), and Makena Technologies (the commercial client).

In 2006, Makena Technologies announced a partnership with MTV Networks to provide the technology platform for their virtual worlds which include: Virtual Laguna Beach, The Virtual Hills, Virtual Pimp My Ride, Virtual Real World, Virtual Newport Harbor, Virtual VMAs (Video Music Awards), Virtual Kaya, Virtual Rob and Big and Virtual Life of Ryan. Makena Technologies also has a partnership with Trilogy Studios.

Corporate brands that currently have a presence in There.com include Coca-Cola, CosmoGIRL!, Humane Society of the U.S., Scion, Capital Music Group, Paramount Studios, bebe, NaCo USA, K-SWISS and Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

In 2008, Makena Technologies launched ThereConnect, allowing There.com members to showcase their in-world profiles, skills, groups and upcoming events on their Facebook pages. They also announced ThereIM, a lightweight instant messaging client where users can communicate with other members’ avatars, whether or not they are signed into the virtual world.

Competitors

There competes with Second Life, Moove, Active Worlds, Kaneva, and more virtual worlds that exist on the web.

Details

There is a venue for socializing with less role-playing than is typically found in MMORPGs. Billed on its homepage as "...an online getaway where you can hang out with your friends and meet new ones...", There defines itself as a service providing a shared experience that allows people to interact in an online society. The virtual world offers a PG-13 environment with built-in filters to block profanity, nudity, pornography and virtual bloodshed.

Each new member enters the community by choosing a unique name and a male or female avatar. The avatar's name and gender are permanently set, but various attributes such as hair color and style, head and body shapes, skin and eye color, clothing, etc. can be changed as desired. Through their avatars, members can communicate in real-time using emotions, body language, text chat and voice to express themselves.

In addition to customizing their avatars, members can create their own items, such as clothing, vehicles, buildings and furniture, and sell them to others for use in the world. Each object created goes through a rigorous submission procedure to insure its accuracy as well as compliance with international copyright laws. Detailed instruction is available at the developer site provided by Makena and in world classes are offered for the novice as well as experienced graphic artist. All classes are without charge and open to all.

Most items such as furniture are designed to be used within houses or zones, although some items such as vehicles and dogs are not due to their mobile nature. Monetary transactions in There's economy are done using Therebucks, virtual currency with real world value. Therebucks can be purchased directly from There, from other members, or from any of the third party online "banks" which usually offer competitive exchange rates. 1 USD = 1,800 Tbux.

Members of There.com can participate in activities such as racing vehicles, playing cards, flying, designing homes, playing paintball, hoverboarding and training virtual pets. There is also access to special interest groups devoted to topics including recreation, business, the environment, education and the arts.

In September 2007, all members of There Philippines were moved to the original version. They were forced to change usernames (if necessary), and could not bring anything with them but tbux during the change.

Life in There

Each new member enters the community by choosing a unique name and a male or female avatar. The avatar's name and gender are permanently set, but various attributes such as hair color and style, head and body shapes, skin and eye color, clothing, etc. can be changed as desired. Unrestricted by set goals or required activities, members can avail themselves of There's many features, including:

sophisticated chat via text or voice with other nearby members or remotely via instant messaging. Avatars display body language, verbal articulation, and gestures that are triggered by various textual keywords, emotes, and even vocal inflection. uniquely There-style sports such as avatar hockey and Sumo buggy bashing, as well as the more conventional soccer and racing Spades, contests, and other game venues dancing and devising animation combinations through the use of a keyboard macro program such as Giggles listening to music and talk shows on SHOUTcast stations, often operated by other members story-based events such as questing, movie-making, and creative writing member-created groups for like interests virtual pets, currently limited to dogs which are available in two breeds, Labrador and Dachshund. Dogs respond to commonly used commands, such as "heel", "sit", etc., when they aren't busy playing or obeying other members' commands.

A wide pan over an exotic village in There, one of the things lending There its charm...exploration of There's immense and tremendously varied cyber-landscape; either on foot or by vehicle. There's vehicle classes currently include the Bacio (a two seated scooter that resembles a Vespa), buggy, hoverbike, hoverboard, hoverboat(aircraft), and hoverpack.

arranging content within houses or zones to create living quarters, meeting places, game rooms, movie sets, race tracks, mazes, yard sales--in short, whatever the member can imagine using available materials. In addition to houses, "fun zones", and "frontier zones" which maintain a fixed presence and location in the world, There also features "porta-zones", portable zones that can be relocated or removed from the world when not in use. Porta-zones (or "PAZs") do not incur rental fees when not in the world. Houses and zones are rented from There on a monthly basis. Neighborhoods and neighborhood lots are the most recent additions to There's suite of porta-zones. designing custom content using There-provided tools and templates, Gmax, and a graphics editor such as Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro or The Gimp. buying, selling, and trading of member-created items, as well as items created by There. Most items such as furniture are designed to be used within houses or zones, although some items such as vehicles and dogs are not due to their mobile nature. Monetary transactions in There's economy are done using Therebucks, virtual currency with real world value. Therebucks can be purchased directly from There, from other members, or from any one of the 3rd party online "banks" which usually offer competitive exchange rates. Members can also sell their Therebucks to banks in exchange for real world currency, usually USD.

As There continues to grow in membership and content, this list will continue to grow as well.

Popular Locations in There

- CosmoGirl! Village - Duda Beach - Fisher Island - Zona Island - CC Metro

Island Names

- Caldera - Nada - Ootay - Tropical Adventures - New Kansas - Egypt - Congrejo - Motu Motu - Malihini - Aurora - Coke Island - Comet - Frosty Island - Tyr

Size

As at March 2009 There contains 14 major islands, dozens smaller islands, 1 million members and many community places including businesses.

Screenshots

See also

References

External links

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Official sites
Maps
Online There newspapers
Other on-line worlds using the There engine
There videos
There history
Other
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