> In most fiction where a "metaverse" or equivalent is popular, the world is in shambles. I mean, the trajectory of the world isn't great right now... I could

> In most fiction where a "metaverse" or equivalent is popular, the world is in shambles. I mean, the trajectory of the world isn't great right now... I could easily imagine a VR "game" in the near future that is just "walk around a virtual zoo that has leopards, rhinos, orangutans, gorillas and giraffes" because the real world no longer has them. > When you think about it, of course this would be the case. Why would people reject the real world for the internet? This is a good observation, but it's important to remember that quality of real world life is very fucking far from uniformly distributed now. There are already many people across the world whose personal life is in shambles enough that they spend every free moment escaping it in media consumption and video games. Sure, if you have a good life, the metaverse pales in comparison. But what if you're stuck in a shithole town with no jobs and no prospects? At some point, frame rate and vertex count becomes less of an issue than "not watching yet another friend get addicted to opioids". Maybe that's the real end-stage-capitalism opportunity for a soulless corporation: Everyone working on the metaverse is so focused on making it a primo experience that appeals to people already living well. Instead, maybe the audience to target is people whose real life already sucks. Sell virtual water in the desert, not the oasis. Heck, it would just a one letter change for Facebook to go from Meta to Meth.