WorldsAway

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WorldsAway
Developed by Fujitsu, LucasArts
Initial release September 1995[1]
Written in  ?
OS Microsoft Windows, Apple
Available in  ?
Genre Virtual Communities
Website archived worldsaway.com

WorldsAway was an online graphical "virtual chat"[2] environment in which users designed their own two dimensionally represented avatars.[3][4] It was one of the first visual virtual worlds.[2] In 1996 it was one of the top 20 most popular forums on Compuserve.[5]

Contents

[edit] History

WorldsAway was an English version of Fujitsu and LucasArts' Habitat II for the Commodore 64. Habitat II was launched in 1985 and was the first online virtual world. WorldsAway was originally launched through QLink and later in 1995 through CompuServe[6] as a free service for members. The world was called Kymer[1] and moved to the public Internet in 1997 back under the operation of Fujitsu.

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As CompuServe morphed into AOL's "value brand," Worldsaway was cancelled but as of 2008 Kymer has survived independently as Dreamscape - one of the Vzones.com worlds - owned by Stratagem Corporation. Other WorldsAway-like worlds using the same server software have since been launched by Stratagem: newhorizone, Enter the Night, and Seducity.[7]

[edit] Gameplay

Worldsaway users would login, first only via dial-up Compuserve accounts, later via the public internet. First-time users would choose their gender, name, head and body style on a virtual ship before entering the world proper to meet other online users (these could be changed later by paying a quantity of tokens).[8]

Each subscriber would view and manipulate their own avatar which was displayed in a limited set of poses and profiles.[4] A user would walk their avatar around a virtual city (named Kymer), enter shops and teleporter cabins, gesture or chat to other avatars (cartoon like text bubbles would appear), and carry out various in-game actions.[4][2] Ty Burr's 1996 review of the three graphical chat worlds then available (the others were Worlds Chat and Time Warner's The Palace) rated WorldsAway the lowest at C+, criticizing the slowness and lack of flexibilty.[2]

Unlike some modern virtual worlds, WorldsAway did not boast 3D graphics or any combat system.[9] Most time spent in the world by users was spent on economic endeavors.[citation needed] Other popular past-times were playing Bingo[2] and other simple games. These games were not a part of the original software; however, were made by third party developers as plug-ins.[9]

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Rossney
  2. ^ a b c d e Ty Burr
  3. ^ Bruce Damer
  4. ^ a b c Steve Homer
  5. ^ Business Week
  6. ^ Remembering 1.x, Lizard Man, November 3rd, 1998
  7. ^ Stratagem Corporation
  8. ^ Voyage on the Argo: Joining the Dreamscape Community, Bruce Damer
  9. ^ a b Gullible's Travels: Through the Dreamscape, Bruce Damer, Avatars!, "This is not a shoot-em-up world"

[edit] External links