I want a Metaplace!

My interest in Metaplace has really taken off lately. I’m hoping it’s not because I’m currently in a lull and bored out of my mind waiting for ‘the next big mmo’. I’m hoping it’s genuine interest in creating my very own ‘place’ in the WWW. Remarkably it’s not that I want to make a game (I do, just not by myself) with it but rather I want to make an actual place to hang out and lounge while I’m not currently playing a game. I lack the programming and graphical skills to really do anything game’ish by myself. I have the ideas in the noggin but in order to see them to fruition I need the handy skills of, well, one of you that has skills.

So instead of a game of leveling and advancement I’m wanting to make a kingdom type place with a castle and a village. The castle would be mine, of course, and the village would be the place to hang out and do stuff. In the castle I would have my room that I could decorate and other various rooms all needing my personal decorating and attention. In the village is where my metaplace would really shine. There would be several buildings all with alternative things to do. In one building you might find an arcade and in another you might find some sort of archery game or something. The entire village would be a renaissance fair of sorts. There would be a square to just ‘hang out’ and an Inn where others visiting my place could actually acquire a ‘place’ or their own. Actually, if it’s at all possible I want to make it so that others can have houses of their own in my village.

This wouldn’t be a 3d first person capable place. It would be more like The Realm was where you go screen to screen in a third person birds-eye view but on a more grand scale. When in the village you can choose to view it from more of a map type angle and simply click the building you want to go in to or you can walk your avatar screen to screen and enter the buildings by clicking on the door. The purpose of this entire place is not to feel like you’re playing a game but to provide an interesting hang out for myself and anyone who happens to come upon my blog.

That’s the key right there. I want my metaplace to be an extension of my blog where readers can enter through a door on my blog and be taken to this ‘Keen’sPlace’. I could take it a step further and hold events in my metaplace that center around the blog. If we’re having a giveaway we could require that our visitors step into our metaplace. Our podcast can be streaming from one of the buildings – perhaps the tavern. Rooms in the castle can be dedicated to various games we play(ed). We could have a ‘theater’ of sorts in the village that would be streaming movies we have taken; in-game footage, trailers, etc.

As you can see I’ve put some thought in to it and I have this vision in my head of what I want it to look like. It would be cartoony and slightly ‘cute’ looking to maintain the believability of mixing modern things with a medieval setting. In all to me it sounds like it could work. The details of it all though are still out of my reach. I don’t know how far Areae is going with the basics right now. If it requires pages of code the entire dream will probably be crushed. If I can piece together this town on my own or with minimal help then I foresee this being a very entertaining and long lasting means of expression.

Keep your eyes open for Keen’sPlace!