@ct_bergstrom What's bad about this characterization is that it is only a fail for Zuckerberg's attempt to perversely redefine the original Metaverse as his own version based entirely on proprietary profits. He suckered many GenXYZ into this fallacy who collectively as tech bros introduced even more perverse redefinitions touting it as a new thing they were inventing driven by crypto and web3. The corruptness in unregulated crypto was the driver behind the failure - forever tainting the word Metaverse as a bad thing which is unfortunate.

The one and only true Metaverse is something we began building 30 years ago as technology was advancing from simulations run on mini-frame and mainframe clusters to PC LANs alongside the evolution from Arpanet to the Internet. Today, it encompasses all online 3D social virtual world platforms with immutable assets, and in some cases, virtual economies. The key features I consider criteria to be part of the Metaverse are 3D, social, virtual worlds (VR headgear optional), immutable assets. Games without a a social component (not just multi-user) are not a part of the Metaverse IMO. While some 3D MMO games were designed using VRML/X3D engines, most games today use Unity3D, Cry, GODOT, or Unreal engines which cannot compete with real-time user generated content in 3D social virtual worlds (akin to comparing apples and oranges).

Many 3D social virtual world platforms still exist today having been improved over time via open source efforts. Second Life (SL), conceived by Philip Rosedale, was not the first with a virtual economy though and is only partly open source. The first multi-user 3D virtual world platform with a virtual economy was Cube3 conceived by Larry Rosenthal during the rise of VRML before SL even existed.

But both of these were centralized "closed grids" or "walled gardens" like many others before and after them. Then came OpenSimulator and its Hypergrid protocol which created a decentralized network of 3D social virtual world grids with local and "global" virtual economies. Avatars communicate and travel with content between regions and between grids that have this protocol enabled. The concept is actually similar to the Fediverse.

Anyone who wants to understand the real history need only use authoritative sources rather than social media. Some key founding orgs include NIST, NASA, Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), and Dassault of France. Don Brutzman of NPS is considered the father of X3D which is an extensible version of VRML and this format is still in use today by industry.

Every 3D modeling application can import/export this format and it is the only ISO approved standard for 3D despite the evolution of pseudostandard formats at the time like 3ds, obj, and collada. This was before VR was a tainted term renamed as virtual worlds. Some key OGs still around today include Larry Rosenthal and Tony Parisi. Some keywords: web3d consortium, vrml, x3d, active worlds, moove, blaxxun, black sun, cybertown, blue mars, cube3.

Fast-forward to today, there are efforts to merge Unity3D rendering with SL/OS viewer software but so far have failed. However, when successful, this could provide an opening for the evolution of a more modern decentralized protocol pushing us towards an Infinite Metaverse based on open source that I envisioned some years ago.

For OpenSimulator, interns have done some preliminary R&D with GODOT and the viewer source code and seek volunteer devs to continue the work. If successful, an API could be developed to use other engines. Anyone interested needs to have in-depth knowledge analyzing and coding C# and C++ and Blender rigged 3D models.