Okay, I’ve tried.
I signed up for a Kaneva account several months ago. May 3rd to be exact. I stumbled around within the environment as all noobs do. I was attempting to do things that I had already been well accustomed to in Second Life. This was a big mistake. These environments are NOTHING alike, so you can’t really come in with an expectation of beating the learning curve.
After the very tiresome download process, I was able to finally get into the simulator. I was greeted by — well — no one. There were people around me, but they completely and positively ignored me. I attempted to introduce myself and engage in some conversation. I was apparently invisible and inaudible. So, I stumbled about the one place I could see while experimenting with controls, settings, etc. I tried to sit down on a chair. You apparently can’t do that in Kaneva. Chairs exist, you just can’t sit there. I asked one person how to sit. She said, “oh, you can’t do that here, but you can kneel if you like.” Kneel. Okay, sure. I’ll kneel down. But, why?
So I found the “emote” key so that I could possibly figure out some gestures and expressions. There are several buttons. You can only use a few, though. The rest are apparently “in development.”
Anyway, graphic shortcomings aside, I thought I could at least engage in some community focus. I searched for someplace to go hangout with possible like minded people. I found a few clubs. They were populated with more people that apparently could not see me and could not hear me. I was again completely ignored.
I decided to go find something different to wear to express my Rich Desoto-ness. I found THE mall. Yes, the ONE place to shop. It had exactly TWO shops where I could buy guy stuff. One was jeans and hoodies, with some t-shirt type options. The other was a goth shop with pants for men… but NO shirts or other wearables. I did find a shoe store. They were “adequate” shoes. They were certainly better than what I came in wearing. So, I bought some of the same jeans that most other guys seemed to be wearing, a striped hoodie shirt that also seemed to be quite popular… oh, wait, that’s because there’s NOTHING else to buy, and the tennis shoes. There… I was no longer my pristine noob self. I now looked like an individual among other individuals that were dressed just like me. Ha. Fortunately I went in with a fairly decent looking avatar that had somewhat stylish – though stiff – hair and facial features.
I quickly bored of my lack of ability to integrate myself into any conversation and logged off. I figured I’d try again later.
A few days later I attempted to log in and was greeted with a 17 minute wait as the software updated. To top that off, it froze my Firefox browser so that I could do absolutely nothing else while waiting for the software to update. I finally logged on after the long wait, found that I could somewhat customize my apartment with some video and audio, add a few pics on my wall, and that I could move my lamp and TV around.
I could not, however, leave my apartment and roam around in my neighborhood because, well, there isn’t one. I was effectively confined indoors in the small space until I decided to choose one of the few locations that appeared to have anyone in them. It would then load the new locale, with me in it. (It is called teleporting in SL, but I can’t remember if it has a name in Kaneva.)
I again logged off because there is absolutely NO interaction taking place.
I am told that the web features available to Kaneva are what make it the key social community. People that hype it state that integrating the (quite MySpace like, in my opinion, and perhaps as tacky and glutted) browser based community with the 3D community enhances the experience.
Here’s what I’ve found. I can visit profiles, rummage through the profiles to find “friends”, I can “rave” other people (basically building karma or personality points, I guess) and listen to their audio selections, watch their videos, etc. (MySpace?) I can upload my own media to the site (this is indeed a perk and the main reason I want to get involved in social communities — so that I can share my music with others), join groups, and send messages to others.
So… after many months I finally decided to visit Kaneva’s 3D world again to give it another chance. I attempted to log on to my account, but was greeted once again by the software update screen, a locked-out Firefox browser, and this time… a 23 minute wait for the software to update. I went and fixed a pot of coffee, decided to make it iced, added my milk and sugar (pure cane, not the refined nasty stuff), listened to a podcast, and finally sat back down to the PC when it asked me if I wanted to log on. I thought, “why the heck would I NOT log on now? I just waited for 23 minutes for this delightful experience to begin!”
I found myself again in my sparsely decorated apartment while I listened to the songs from my web profile break my eardrums! They automatically started playing and were so loud that I about broke the plaster on my ceiling when I jumped. I fumbled around in all the settings boxes – only to find that I could either adjust my keyboard configuration or I could set the privacy of my apartment to allow others in or keep them out. Finally I figured out that by clicking on my virtual TV I would be given the option to turn it up or down. At least that somewhat emulates the process of dealing with a real TV, as well. It took me about 10 minutes to finally figure out how to silence the audio or at least reduce the volume.
One thing that distressed me, though, was that all the clothing that I had recently purchased was gone from inventory. My avatar was different — the hair that I had was gone, I was wearing a white t-shirt with Kaneva logo, some newbie jeans and newbie shoes. Once again I’m generic. I searched the places directories for clothing options. Guess what, there is ONE place to go: MALL. I went there, found the exact same shops, exact same clothing options and crowd of people. I attempted to interact with them. I heard quick little one-line nonsensical phrases and plenty of people saying, “Rave me please, I raved you!” But, not one person or persons was carrying on an intellectual or even engaging thread of conversation. Nobody was talking about anything. Just asking for raves and saying silly little phrases. I tried to ask about some of their interests, asked if any other musicians were in attendance, if any of them were scripters, builders, artists, or anything… The reply? “Rave me, I raved you!”
I decided to try to find Eric Rice‘s (Spin Martin) Saijo City and perhaps his recently transplanted “TUNE” environment. I couldn’t find the TUNE setup (KSSX now, I guess), but was able to find Saijo City… well at least the box that represents the interior of a building that might be found in Saijo City. There was no one there, which I already knew after bringing up the places search box, but I did take a walk around. I found a very impressive conference room setup with video screen in place. There were plenty of executive chairs (none of which can be sat upon, of course).
So… I went to a club to try to find someone worth talking to. I was essentially ignored again for the better part of ten to fifteen minutes until two girls “raved” me (it didn’t even tickle). I tried to strike up conversation, but as soon as I had returned their raves they disappeared. Hmmm… society speaks in so many ways.
So, I logged off yet again. Today I tried to log on. I was just on yesterday, yet I was greeted with — yes, a 12 minute update. My browser was frozen in place as I waited. I decided to be productive so I (gasp) opened MSIE and began this blog post.
My impressions of Kaneva have not been favorable. If the web site is the main benefit… I am not interested. There are so many socnets out there that provide both the ability to interact in almost real time with others, to promote my projects, to share my interests, and to market my music. This one is a lot of waiting — with no — at least until now — perceived benefits for the time that I’ve invested.
