Where do kids go when they graduate?
Found this Habbo's New Virtual World quite interesting. It appears Sulake is building a 3D virtual world. Although it doesn’t specifically state what their plans are, it kind of makes sense for them to create an environment into which older Habbos can graduate. Is this the beginning of virtual world interoperability? Habbo may not have plans to transfer the currency/status earned by millions of kids in Habbo to WoW, but this may allow a Habbo to retain and transfer his blood, sweat and tears as he gets older.
November 21st, 2008 at 8:40 am
Hey Jeff - here’s some thoughts on migration between virtual worlds based on graduation and interoperability.
http://www.kzero.co.uk/blog/?p=2077
November 21st, 2008 at 8:52 am
Hey Nic. Great article you sent. Thanks. The point I find key here is really the who’s asking question. There’s a lot of talk about interoperability, but good point that it is largely by corporations rather than consumers. I do think, though, that kids will start asking once it becomes more clear that their money and time spent isn’t easily transferable. There is somewhat of an age limit to worlds like Habbo (real or perceived). Starting over from scratch in a new world isn’t ideal, and clearly there is incentive for older worlds to provide some sort of subsidy to new users, but a seamless transition from one world to another by the same owner seems like an attractive offer for a kid.