Most of the time when I have to go to a panel, conference, or meeting in SL for example, I hide the 3D (for performance reasons) and maximize the chat window and turn up the volume to hear the voice. Wait, Skype anyone? There's a HUGE issue of context. Same basic theory, but different implementations. Lively is no different in that regard. - Eric Rice

Avatar personalization is not odd, we have icons here, Twitter, buddy lists all over-- but it's this passive thing. Most games naturally have this as it might be used to identify you or 'express' you. - Eric Rice

Behaviors also can vary. Dancing in SL or Lively vs. Dancing in World of Warcraft--- there's a big contextual difference (as WoW players would know) between the two by INTENT. - Eric Rice

Part of the reason I think Twitter had such a weird rep is that we went from a passive 'status awareness' by way of status messages on ichat or AIM, where we didn't need to converse or be social-- we just knew you were 'in a meeting' or 'at the airport' and didn't need to talk unless it was relevant. Twitter required the behavior to be a bit more public and eventually, interactive. - Eric Rice

By that regard, it made sense how people could not 'get' the initial use of Twitter (until emergent user behavior took over and we chat-roomed the thing to death). - Eric Rice

One thing Lively will not escape, is the same stigma of Second Life, by fault of the LONG TAIL. Remember, all that Linden Lab provides users is land, water and sky; some basic building blocks and a scripting language. What you 'don't get' is more realistically not something you can't comprehend, but something that you don't like. And it's made by the users. You and me. We have no big media to blame. - Eric Rice

Is this a conversation or a monologue -- I guess since I posted it becomes a conversation? - Brian Sullivan

I think Lively shows a lot of potential, for me it wasn't that I didn't get it just that I couldn't find where to customise! - Joe Dawson

This is where I throw around Andrew Keen's name and run. ;) Does he possibly have a point? What are going to be the rooms created on Lively and is the extra layer required to communicate (movement and such) totally necessary? And could Sony's Home be different because we have a reason to exist and communicate in that manner? - Eric Rice

"more after the jump" - lol, a blogging convention that still applies to friendfeed, nice. - Phil G

In closing, most of the coverage of Lively has made me shudder. I don't think people a) have paid attention to Google over the years, b) they aren't informed about this space at all, c) have come to live a life of headline-driven media (140 chars or less lol) I dunno, it bugs. So that's my .04 cents worth of potatoes. - Eric Rice

@brian I know there is a limit in comments so I break up a monologue-- I wish i could group my traditional 5-part ramble at the beginning, or move comments down a bit so it's easier to read. But meh, we're smart kids, we can deal. :) - Eric Rice

Posted in jest. I wish ff posts could be long, formatted and include media. I think it would be a blogging substitute for many people - Brian Sullivan

The 3D part is eye candy. I'm sure lots of people will have fun customizing their avatars and rooms. However, it does nothing for the conversation and it's terribly slow in busy rooms. - Morton Fox

The demographic that's going to pick this up is A) teens that are socially awkward in person, but feel at home on line and B) people who physically can't get out of their homes as often as they would like (whether disability or profession). Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom, while a game, was essentially a huge chat room with customizable rooms. I think it was a big mistake on Disney's part to close VMK when they could have been in front of the game for Lively. - John Frost

I tried it out.. just navigating your avatar around was a challenge. Not very intuitive, very slow, and the chat display they're using is a bit hard to follow and looks cluttered. If they can address those issues quickly I think they may be on to something. - Omar Egan