Hacker News Reader

Comment by shortrounddev2 | Hacker News Reader

> people still highly active on metaverse platforms including Roblox, Fortnite, Rec Room, VRChat, and Second Life

Does any massively multiplayer game count as "the metaverse" now?

It's more correct to say that Zuck tried to appropriate "metaverse" for his product, Meta. The metaverse, coined in 1992, has existed, in primitive form, at least since the days of MUDs. <https://www.technologyreview.com/2023/02/17/1068027/ultima-o...>

Those are all walled garden universes, to me. "Meta" I thought meant "above", in a self-referential/pomo way. If the different platforms allowed linking together while retaining a consistent user profile, a directory of those worlds (even in something like VRML) would be "meta". That is what Lamina1 sounds like: basically, a consistent API that all platforms use.

Yes, though the Metaverse in "Snow Crash" very much looks and acts like a (mostly) walled garden. With Lamina1 I suspect NS is trying to connect what he envisioned with SC with the crypto/blockchain movement that was inspired by "Cryptonomicon". (Which hasn't proven to be a good fit.)

Wow, interesting point. Read Cryptonomicon so long ago, didn't clue in to the connection with crypto/blockchain.

I think my take on it was more just that he called the virtualverse "metaverse", where 10 years before the idea behind it was in "True Names" by Vinge, as the "Other Plane", and Gibson's "Neuromancer" with "matrix"

Also, been reading your blog for years. Great stuff, and thanks for all the content!

Thanks much for reading!

No. But Roblox, Fortnite, Rec Room, VRChat, and Second Life in particular all have the key features described as comprising the Metaverse in "Snow Crash". Also Roblox, Fortnite, VRChat, and Second Life were directly inspired (the founders have said/told me/I've personally seen it referenced in design talks) by the novel.

If they're trying to get metaverse investors' money, then it's a metaverse company.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com