Adele Caelia takes a look at Meta Place, a new online community created by game developer Raph Koster.
What is Meta Place?
MetaPlace is the latest creation by video game guru Raph Koster. Notice the term creation and not video game. It is not accurate to title MetaPlace into a single term. While MetaPlace can quite easily be a video game, it is so much more. To be precise, MetaPlace is a universe, a universe full of thousands of worlds, each as unique as it’s creator. Each world in MetaPlace is built by the community, and upon visiting the worlds; it is easy to see that the imagination of the community is quite extraordinary. While there are a handful of MMO type games, there are also platform games, puzzles, stores, and a compilation of communities where people hang out and chat.
| Community | Rating  |
The community is perhaps the most helpful online community that I have ever come across. A large number of players are more than happy to help a newcomer through any obstacle, including building new objects and animations. In fact, I had a player offer to create an object specifically for me that wasn’t in the game. He didn’t expect anything in return, and was just happy to help. That, my friends, is a rarity, and is one of the core reasons that make MetaPlace a grand place in the vast expanse of the Internet.Top that with community events and contests and you have pure social success. One of the most recent events held in MetaPlace was the MetaPride event. This was an all day event to celebrate diversity. It included guest speakers and music events. It is quite amazing to see an online world dedicated to unity and peace amongst it's members. For a list of future events please visit the MetaPlace Calendar.
| Graphics | Rating  |
The graphics in MetaPlace are not next generation. You will not need to go out and buy a new video card. However, they are cute and fun, and that is exactly what they are meant to be. After all the game is opened and played in a web browser, which in it’s self is pretty amazing. The characters are anime meets bobble head; yet, they still manage to be appealing and flow with the overall style and design. Those who do not like the style can simply create new avatars for their world; after all, custom creation is what MetaPlace is all about.