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Mar 29, 2004, 5:20am

<rant>I wish AW had some good "PR" and was featured in some mainstream
computer magazines. I feel that if AW 4.x doesn't live up to its
expectations that other VR programs will eat it up and spit it out. I
feel that 4.x will be the "make or break" point of AW.

There used to be so many more users in the past (up to 400 or more each
day) and that has since about halved in number. I talked to a lot of
cits a few months ago that have now left AW, I haven't seen any posts
from the AW staff in quite a while in these groups, and TechTalk has
long since been stopped.

I keep hearing about There and Second Life and other "AW clones" or VR
programs and I think to myself, "Why can't AW get some press like these
others, it has been around a lot longer?" Does anyone else feel the same
way, or is it just me?</rant>

Builderz
http://www.3dhost.net

Mar 29, 2004, 7:19pm

Okay, look at this *recent* article:

"My Avatar, My Self"
http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/print_version/kushner0404.asp

I see There, Second Life, The Sims, and even EverQuest mentioned in it.
But *gasp*...no AW!

It seems like AW doesn't exist to publishers, magazine editors, and
online authors. Please, someone prove me wrong. AW is missing the "gravy
train" of the press when they these sorts of "VR round ups."

Builderz
http://www.3dhost.net

Mar 29, 2004, 9:36pm

You are soooo right, Builderz. The powers-that-be should (imho) be spending a goodly portion of their time contacting the computer magazines (and writers about 3D virtual stuff in general), trying to get *free* publicity about Active Worlds. That kind of groundwork might have resulted in getting Active Worlds included, instead of ignored, in the article you mentioned later.

Lara

[View Quote]

Mar 29, 2004, 10:02pm

I've been ranting about this since the end of the 90's...AWI's never
listened to me.

--
Brock,
IceFlare Network
Founder/Administrator
http://www.iceflare.net

[View Quote]

Mar 30, 2004, 6:12am

I completely agree with the builderz is saying. But also, we NEED more
people who can realize this, we need more people ranting about this. It
seems that AWI doesn't really care to listen to a small number of peons
anway. What ever happened to those times when protagonist would hang out in
AWGZ and answer people's questions? AW is going downhill, and AWI hasn't
shown us that everything will be fine.
[View Quote]

Mar 30, 2004, 7:59am

I used to like it when Roland and factor used to have their "Tech Talks" you
know then that there was some contact with the membership, plus you got
snippets of what AW.INC was trying to achieve, you got answers to questions,
saw eep get ejected and above all you felt the owners of aw.inc had time to
meet some of the membership, and any of the membership not just a few that
seem to know where they are in aw universe.

Although staff has been reduced over the years which could explain the
demise of membership contact and now its all done by email which is some
contact. But a passing Hi, how are you, are you enjoying yourself in aw
never comes amiss and for a newbie makes there day that a member of aw.inc
staff spoke to them.

If I may give one example in comparison, and not wishing to promote any
other VR community.

I visited "there" just to see what it was all about after reading about it.
I was greeted and I was approached by a "greeter" saying she was my mentor
while I was finding my way around, and if I ever got stuck or any questions
just telegram her.
One to one communications never comes bad and promotes interaction.

I was at the gate once and I saw a newbie member asking about possible
purchasing a world. He/she never got any response from gatekeepers, this
newbie member asked about meshes, same response.
All that was typed was HUGGERS and hugs

Promote the product by communications and interaction.

AW needs more friendly interaction and not the usual flamming in newsgroups
and Pixel power people. It was suggested to me a new award scheme in aw

" The Pixel Power Awards" I wonder how many would qualify eh! nominations in
the newsgroups please lol




Share and Enjoy


[View Quote]

Mar 30, 2004, 8:28pm

Totally Agree with that one there, Wiz.

--

Signed,
TheMask

:: Owner of Delusional-Minds Hosting ::
Free world hosting.. Just a T-Gram will do it.

http://www.delusional-minds.com

Apr 2, 2004, 1:08am

Well, while I'd like to think that this will change sometime soon, I highly
doubt it. As to the user count, I don't think there's been that many fewer
visitors - in fact, I'd say that there are many MORE visitors than there
were immediately after the pricing fiasco in January 2002.

AW's problem right now is that it doesn't have a "killer app." In 1999,
that killer app was AWBingo, which always ran out of cards, and had hundreds
of people playing in several worlds simultaneously. Then, WildAW was the
big thing, and the world quickly filled up with property (and obscene
material). Later, AWTeen had 60-70 simultaneous users.

But recently, AW has fragmented into a loosely connected collection of
individual worlds as the company places more emphasis on worldbuilding with
browser and server features, and neglects AlphaWorld and other AW-owned
worlds.

You know what's interesting though, as I'm writing this I was telegramming
Poseidon about AWRPG, which has 51 users in it right now. It will be
interesting to see if that's just a passing fad, or if perhaps something HAS
been found to rejuvenate that energy....

Comments?

[View Quote]

Apr 2, 2004, 1:37am

Im trying, im trying :-) heh I took on this awpromo thing, and have been
learning some publicity techniques at school, using those and what I already
know, im going to send letters to every computer/game magazine, as well as
E-Zines. :-)
[View Quote]

Apr 2, 2004, 12:47pm

Well, just make sure that you don't end up geting sued because you
misrepresented yourself as an AW employee. I've found that there's a lot of
risks in advertising like this.

-Brant

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Apr 2, 2004, 6:38pm

How is college going, Brant?

I agree that AWRPG is very popular, but that the amount of users online
at the same time is down a bit from what it was a few years ago and
could be higher.

To get new paying customers (citizens) into AW, you need to think about
a tourist's user experience. If AW allowed a tourist to at least
customize their avatar to a certain degree on the fly (such as changing
shirt color, hair type, etc. like in There) and added voice chat
(hopefully this will happen in 4.x), I think it would help to ease new
users into the program and could stand a better chance against There and
Second Life.

Voice chat or customizable avatars might be that "killer app" or "killer
feature" AW needs to get itself more noticed by the press and other
"outsiders" who never heard of or used it before.

I also think AW needs to start thinking about a first person shooter
type of system (like the ability to have an inventory or hold and fire a
weapon without using a bot) and drivable vehicles.

But you brought up a good point about community. I don't hang around AW
that much nowadays, but I know there are tons of cities, towns, and
personal builds there.

You can add all of the features you want into a program like AW, but
without a community, it will most likely fail. Either there has to be
more citizens that start their own large public worlds (such as A!!CT or
other gaming worlds) or AWI staff needs to work at this themselves.
Maybe AWI could finally open that beta world (the one where you could
build your own houses and it had a currency system, I forget its name at
the moment) or work on other projects.

Builderz
http://www.3dhost.net

[View Quote] > Well, while I'd like to think that this will change sometime soon, I highly
> doubt it. As to the user count, I don't think there's been that many fewer
> visitors - in fact, I'd say that there are many MORE visitors than there
> were immediately after the pricing fiasco in January 2002.
>
> AW's problem right now is that it doesn't have a "killer app." In 1999,
> that killer app was AWBingo, which always ran out of cards, and had hundreds
> of people playing in several worlds simultaneously. Then, WildAW was the
> big thing, and the world quickly filled up with property (and obscene
> material). Later, AWTeen had 60-70 simultaneous users.
>
> But recently, AW has fragmented into a loosely connected collection of
> individual worlds as the company places more emphasis on worldbuilding with
> browser and server features, and neglects AlphaWorld and other AW-owned
> worlds.
>
> You know what's interesting though, as I'm writing this I was telegramming
> Poseidon about AWRPG, which has 51 users in it right now. It will be
> interesting to see if that's just a passing fad, or if perhaps something HAS
> been found to rejuvenate that energy....
>
> Comments?

Apr 2, 2004, 6:44pm

What types of risks have you found in this type of advertising?

If you e-mail the editor or another person at a magazine and say that
you are just a fan or a happy user of the company's product, I don't see
the problem. You are basically just requesting or asking for a review.

There is always the chance that someone could misidentify or mistake you
for someone else, including an employee (especially if you used a
at myactiveworlds.com e-mail address for example). However, a simple
sentence up front such as "I am not an employee of AWI, but..." should
work fine in my opinion.

Builderz
http://www.3dhost.net

[View Quote] > Well, just make sure that you don't end up geting sued because you
> misrepresented yourself as an AW employee. I've found that there's a lot of
> risks in advertising like this.
>
> -Brant

Apr 3, 2004, 12:02am

I've been a cit in AW since early 1998 and in my opinion, the number one
reason that keeps established cits (and tourists) coming back here, no
matter how much they complain about other issues, is the ease of use as far
as 3D environment construction is concerned. I believe AWI understands that
as well and it will take a MAJOR change in some aspect of the program to
influence any kind of other issue related to citizenship in AW. Until that
happens, no matter how much people complain, building will be the primary
draw to repeat visitors and citzens. To put it more simply, AW's lifeblood
is, and has always been, it's relative ease of use as far as building is
concerned. What AWI needs to do is exploit this issue and drive that fact
home that if you want to create your own 3D environment, AW is the place to
be and no amount of hype about other factors involved even come close.

[View Quote]

Apr 3, 2004, 1:18am

Speaking of PR, it looks like yet another article was released just like you
were describing.

Take a look at
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/fun.games/04/02/two.virtual.worlds.ap/index.html

-Brant

[View Quote]

Apr 3, 2004, 4:17am

I suggest that those who are interested, go to
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/ and write to CNN and suggest they do a
story on AW.

While one person may not be able to do much, if several of us contact
them, it will make a much larger difference.

MSNBC, Fox News, local TV stations, smaller online tech new and review
sites, PC Gamer, and other computer print magazines are other places to
contact.

Builderz
http://www.3dhost.net

[View Quote] > Speaking of PR, it looks like yet another article was released just like you
> were describing.
>
> Take a look at
> http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/fun.games/04/02/two.virtual.worlds.ap/index.html
>
> -Brant

Apr 4, 2004, 3:42pm

i agree Voice Chat would be awesome :D I would defiantley be sad if AWI went
under and got shutdown :(
[View Quote]

Apr 11, 2004, 10:54am

Errrrrrrmmmmmm...... what are the legalities of doing that though? Word of
mouth is one thing. However, doesn't AWI have to be the ones to initiate
something like this?



[View Quote]

Apr 12, 2004, 7:24pm

Lioness, what exactly is it that are you concerned about? What would
make this idea different than recommending AW to a good personal friend?

Are you worried your comments might be shown on TV or in a print
publication? That would depend on the company's terms and conditions or
privacy policy.

Are you worried that a reporter or editor would call your house at
dinnertime asking tons of questions about AW?

Are you worried that AWI would sue you or something for mentioning their
product?

Just trying to see what your little Lion brain is thinking... :)

Builderz
http://www.3dhost.net

[View Quote] > Errrrrrrmmmmmm...... what are the legalities of doing that though? Word of
> mouth is one thing. However, doesn't AWI have to be the ones to initiate
> something like this?

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