An up-close account from the world’s first metaverse-embedded reporter
In Making a Metaverse That Matters: From Snow Crash & Second Life to A Virtual World Worth Fighting For, the celebrated author of The Making of Second Life and Game Design Secrets, Wagner James Au, delivers an engrossing exploration of how nascent metaverse platforms have already captured the imagination of millions. Featuring powerful stories and dozens of incisive interviews with insiders including Metaverse creator Neal Stephenson himself, the author uses his unique, grassroots-level perspective as the first reporter embedded in a metaverse platform. Readers will learn about:
How to understand and define the Metaverse and cut through the many myths and misconceptions around it. A behind-the-scenes account of launching Second Life, the first metaverse platform to achieve mainstream awareness, and what its many controversies teach us. Where current platforms Meta, Roblox, Fortnite, VRChat, and Lamina1, Neal Stephenson’s own metaverse startup, fit in the ecosystem. How to address the many dangers inherent in the Metaverse before it becomes central to the Internet.
Perfect for XR industry members and indie creatives, Making a Metaverse That Matters is also for tech professionals, virtual world communities, and anyone interested in the future of culture and commerce.
By:
Wagner James Au
Imprint: John Wiley & Sons Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 155mm,
Spine: 31mm
Weight: 544g
ISBN: 9781394155811
ISBN 10: 1394155816
Pages: 384
Publication Date: 14 July 2023
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Preface xiii Introduction: Five Stories about Five Core Metaverse Concepts xix Part I Conception 1 Chapter 1 Crash Course—A Simple History of a Complex Idea 3 Creating the Metaverse Immediately after Snow Crash 7 Reclaiming the Metaverse’s Definition Taken from Its Source 11 Chapter 2 Second Life and the Mystery of the First Metaverse Platform 23 Chapter 3 How Facebook Became Meta (But Lost the Metaverse on the Way) 77 Part II Realization 101 Chapter 4 Kid Stuff: Minecraft, and the Rise of Roblox 103 Chapter 5 Battle Royale for the Fortnite Metaverse 127 Chapter 6 Neal Stephenson Enters the Metaverse— Lamina1, Blockchain, and the Utopia of Ownership 141 Chapter 7 VRChat and Finding Furry Anime Utopia 161 Part III Promises and Perils 185 Chapter 8 VR, Interoperability, Web3, and Other Metaverse Myths 187 Chapter 9 Sex, Abuse, and the Eternal Content Moderation Challenge 205 Chapter 10 Metaverse Real-World Use Cases—Separating Substance from Hype 225 Chapter 11 Overcoming the Metaverse Age Cliff and the Immersion Funnel 249 Part IV A Metaverse Worth Fighting For 263 Chapter 12 Future Paths 265 Chapter 13 Future Pitfalls—Manipulation, Takedowns, and the Experience Machine 279 Chapter 14 Metaverse Lessons for the Next 30 Years 295 Glossary 319 Appendix A: Rules for Avatar Radicals and Reformers 323 Appendix B: Advice for Metaverse Reporters 329 Acknowledgments 331 About the Author 333 Index 335
WAGNER JAMES AU is the author of The Making of Second Life (HarperCollins, 2008), based on his experiences as the first journalist officially embedded in a metaverse platform, and Game Design Secrets (Wiley, 2012). His writing about virtual worlds has been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Wired, and Polygon, among many other publications. His blog New World Notes (nwn.blogs.com) is the longest-running news site devoted to the Metaverse.
