IMVU Virtual World

Back


http://imvu.com/catalog/web_invitation.php?userId=26089508&from=power-email I felt more like I was creating a character in a videogame more than creating an avatar for chat. Usually all you need is a screen name and password for your typical chat programs, but with IMVU, you need to create a total embodiment of what you want your online self to look like. You start off by choosing your avatar's appearance, then a skin tone and beard (if you'd like), hair style and color, along with eye color and dress attire before you even get to chatting. After selecting your looks, you then go through the normal process of getting a username and password. You also get to input a little short greeting. How creatively do I say hello? Well that's up to you, I just hope "Alright Meow where were we?" is good enough. It was originally going to be "Hey, are those space pants you're wearing?" But I thought that was a bit much. You're then taken through a quick tutorial on how to manipulate your avatar and everything from what you're wearing to the background scene you're in. You're shown how to display expressions like "yes", "laugh", "no", and "what". You're even shown how to make your character do some cool moves, from breakdancing to back flips, your online character can do the things you'd be too embarrassed or too clumsy to do in real life. You get to experience the typical emoticons (called modicons) and you're able to set your current "mood" as well. I forgot to mention that IMVU is all based on a sort of currency system. The more points you have, the more items you can purchase (items include everything from clothes to hairstyles and background scenes). Not unlike your typical chat programs, you get a main window with all the commands you're going to want. This is the IMVU Launcher. The window includes the following: Chat now!, New 3D window, New IM, Who's Online, Contact List, My home page, Inventory, Go Shopping, and Add Contact. The whole system set in place by IMVU relies around the users. Basically the users will either make or break this program since it's so intricately connected. There are rankings and stats with the amount of visitors you get, or the amount of friends you have, there's even one for the amount of gifts you receive. The chatting itself is interesting at the beginning because you're randomly matched up. I started off chatting in "Buck Stars Coffee" where I met a random dude with a gas mask on his head. What I found to be very common was the fact that everyone and anyone can act/do/say whatever they can't in real life. I somehow felt that I was back in my teenage years trying to figure out if the person I was talking to was in fact a 46yo fat ugly dude from Montana who's trying to get a date by pretending he's a woman dressed in leather. I was then matched up with Terra, a 15 year old female from the U.S. She went ahead and told me that she's actually convinced her friends to use the program. She enjoyed the fact that it's so interactive, "it's just fun you get to do a lot of kool stuff like change scenes and buy stuff. She then went ahead and told me that if you don't care that you have a "Guest" in front of your username, you can take advantage by earning points and using them to go shopping for your avatar. That's until I bored her to death with random questions about the program until she randomly left... Thanks anyway Terra. The best answer I got was from a 15 year old Canadian girl, "I'm not a cow farmer, I'm just interested in the process of cow killing." Ah Canadians, so many jokes, so little time. I kid I kid, I like Canada, it's got good ski places. But honestly, what are they teaching their kids over there? I didn't know if it was just me or what, but I felt a little weird constantly getting connected to 15 year olds. Finally my age had made me realize I was no longer the young adolescent I'd always wanted to grow out of being. So I guess it's a good thing. The chat program itself can get pretty choppy if you haven't gotten the actual window selected. The chat control options are a joke, where's the cut/copy/paste options? I need something that's easily accessible. When it comes to pure chatting functionality, IMVU's definitely lacking. In a "bubble chat window" I was only able to fill about 59 or so characters before it opened a new one. I don't know how I feel about IMVU, every time I was paired up with someone, I felt like I was on an episode of "Blind Date." The only things missing were the little Editor's notes that showed up at the bottom of the screen (I already had the little thought bubbles since that's how your chat window appears). I was constantly being paired up with whoever was online at the time, but I wish I had more say in the types of people I could select.

Category: Games
Uploaded: June 20th, 2008 @ 8:00 pm
Author: xspawn2

Length: 01:29
Rating: Whole StarWhole StarWhole StarWhole StarHalf Star
Views: 2,246

Tags: 3d animation avatar chat cloths computer credits download games imvu online rooms virtual world

Related Video Links:


» View Video Comments For IMVU Virtual World
» View xspawn2's Other Uploaded Videos

Video Thumbnails:


Thumbnail #1 Video Thumbnail #1:
Thumbnail #2 Video Thumbnail #2:
Thumbnail #3 Video Thumbnail #3:


Video Embedding Code:


Video Url:


Embed Code:

* Embed this video on your website, social bookmark, myspace, or blog.