Corporate history
From 1998 - 2003, Tom Melcher served as chief executive of There Inc. and There.com Melcher was previously an Executive Vice President for CNET. Mr. Melcher once described There.com's archetypal user as "the woman who is in her 30s, single, really overweight, lives in a small town." In 2003, Melcher stepped down as CEO. In June 2004, There Inc. went through a restructuring and announced major layoffs. In April 2005, There Inc. announced that the commercial side of the company would be branching out to form two companies: Forterra Systems (the government-contracted client) and Makena Technologies (the commercial client). In 2006, Makena Technologies announced a partnership withDetails
There is a venue for socializing with less role-playing than is typically found in MMORPGs. Billed on its homepage as "...an online getaway where you can hang out with your friends and meet new ones...", There defines itself as a service providing a shared experience that allows people to interact in an online society. As of There's reopening in May, 2012, the virtual world is only open to ages 18 and older. Each new member can enter the community by choosing a unique name and a male or female avatar. The avatar's name and gender are permanently set, but various attributes such as hair color and style, head and body shapes, skin and eye color, clothing, etc. can be changed as desired. Through their avatars, members can communicate in real-time using emotions, body language, text chat and voice to express themselves. In addition to customizing their avatars, members can create their own items, such as clothing, vehicles, buildings and furniture, and sell them to others for use in the world. Each object created undergoes a community based submission procedure to ensure its accuracy as well as compliance with international copyright laws. Detailed instructions are available at the developer site provided by Makena, and in world classes are offered for the novice as well as experienced graphic artist. All classes are without charge and open to all. Most items such as furniture are designed to be used within houses or zones, although some items such as vehicles and dogs are not, due to their mobile nature. Monetary transactions in There's economy are done using Therebucks (T$), virtual currency. Therebucks can be purchased directly from There at 1,800 Tbux to US$1. Members of There.com can participate in activities such as racing vehicles, playing cards, flying, designing homes, playing paintball, hoverboarding and training virtual pets. There is also access to special interest groups devoted to topics including recreation, business, the environment, education and the arts. In September 2007, all members of There Philippines were moved to the original version. They were required to change usernames (if necessary), and could not bring anything with them but during the change.Life in There
Each new member can enter the community by choosing a unique name and a male or female avatar. The avatar's name and gender are permanently set, but various attributes such as hair color and style, head and body shapes, skin and eye color, clothing, etc. can be changed as desired. Arranging content within houses or zones to create living quarters, meeting places, game rooms, movie sets, race tracks, mazes, yard sales—in short, whatever the member can imagine using available materials. In addition to houses, "fun zones", and "frontier zones" which maintain a fixed presence and location in the world, There also features "porta-zones", portable zones that can be relocated or removed from the world when not in use. Porta-zones (or "PAZs") do not incur rental fees when not in the world. Houses and zones are rented from There on a monthly basis. Neighborhoods and neighborhood lots are the most recent additions to There's suite of porta-zones. Members are able to design custom content using There-provided tools and templates, Gmax, and a graphics editor such as Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro or The Gimp. These can then be bought, sold, and traded in the There world. Most items such as furniture were designed to be used within houses or zones, although some items such as vehicles and dogs are not due to their mobile nature. Monetary transactions in There's economy are done using a form of virtual currency called Therebucks. Therebucks can be purchased directly from There.Size
As of March 2009, ''There'' contained 14 major islands, dozens of smaller islands, over 1 million members, and many community places including businesses.See also
* Active Worlds * CC Metro * Kaneva * PlayStation Home * Second Life *References
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