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Comment by GauntletWizard | Hacker News Reader

The metaverse exists right now. It's called Fortnite. It's got a ton of distractions and an amazing variety of art in a somewhat-consistent art style and handles a ton of interactions and options.

Most people ignore it because it's a terrible interface once you go beyond the games it was built for, as can be seen by their "Imposter" mini game (an ape of Among Us, and skewed by dunkey[1]... By simply giving an accurate representation of how it plays)

The portability and (ironically) fungibility of assets between games is going to increase as games become parts of a platform and maintenance of engine and servers continue to be commoditized but consolidated.

What won't happen is that you'll never file your taxes on Fortnite, because it's stupid.

[1] https://youtu.be/82oJt2enz8A

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Based on an article that was shared here a little while ago[1] I like to think that Minecraft is one of the metaverses that already exist.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29083271

I think the Minecraft Beta might be my favorite experience with gaming. I feel almost as if I'm "chasing the dragon" trying to find something to emulate it. Even if I were to spin up my own server of the Java version, it wouldn't be quite the same as it was then.

I had the same kind of feeling when Garry's Mod was new. Every day you could browse servers and find new interesting experiences. A roleplaying map like an elaborate small town, populated with other players. A competitive bridge-making minigame. A minimalist flat plane to build in. It crashed constantly. Structures would glitch out at random. Most servers were crawling with trolls and misanthropes. Still, from time to time you'd luck upon a few moments of nirvana. Easy to forget and forgive all the jank, and remember those feelings of endless possibilities.

> The metaverse exists right now. It's called Fortnite

This is such a ridiculous take. Sure, it’s what the CEO of Epic want people to repeat. But to actually believe that? That’s another story.

Fortnite is a video game. Period. It isn’t what people mean when they talk about the metaverse. The only way you can claim otherwise is to completely ignore peoples intent when they say “metaverse” and instead substitute in your own definition. A definition that apparently means “fairly popular video game with in game currency”

Please grace us with your superior definition.

- Is a metaverse a VR replacement for the entire online experience? This is most likely unattainable and unrealistic. Full immersion is undesirable and impractical for many, if not most, of the things people do today on the web.

- Is a metaverse "less gamey" than a game? Not a useful distinction to draw. You can hang out with friends in Minecraft and ignore any aspect of the game you don't care for, if you wish. Having mechanics is usually a benefit and not a hazard. Take most of the features of a game away and leave only a first-person chat room, and the result is anemic. VRChat already exists and handles that niche well, anyway.

- Is a metaverse an "open market" with many federated members? Facebook isn't trying to do this. Everyone shilling metaverses wants lock-in and exclusivity.

- Is a metaverse a "closed market" in which smaller economic players can participate, like the iOS store? How is this fundamentally unlike e.g. Steam, with a social network and chat features that span games in an ecosystem that includes third party vendors?

Metaverses are just a buzzword dreamed up by people who don't play video games, but have a strong opinion for what would be the "best ever" multiplayer experience. As a consequence, all the focus is on things that have nothing to do with a game or an experience; just monetization models, restrictions, marketing.

Let me Google that for you...

>A metaverse is a network of 3D virtual worlds focused on social connection. In futurism and science fiction, it is often described as a hypothetical iteration of the Internet as a single, universal virtual world that is facilitated by the use of virtual and augmented reality headsets.

The term was coined by Neal Stephenson in Snow Crash, so if you haven't read that yet, you should.

What part of Fortnite doesn't fit that definition? It's definitely focused on Social Connection - It's multiplayer only, and while you can drop solo, all of the features are around interacting with your friends or bragging to your opponents. It is not just one 3d world, there are many game modes that are accessible through a virtual lobby.

Is it lacking VR integration? It's already playable on many VR headsets as a cinema experience, but that is truthfully no the primary experience. It seems only a matter of time, though, as Epic has already teased and announced a number of VR projects and tooling for their engine.

It's... not focused on social connection? It's a fucking third person shooter.

https://youtu.be/JSxNW5dDYEY

https://www.destroyallsoftware.com/talks/wat

What's the definition of "metaverse?"

As popularized by Snow Crash:

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