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I saw your other comment after I posted that. I didn't realize the content was so easily copied. Makes sense that creators would be reluctant to adopt it. The l

by zargon 3y ago

I saw your other comment after I posted that. I didn't realize the content was so easily copied. Makes sense that creators would be reluctant to adopt it. The less commercially motivated creators were likely affected by the chicken-and-egg problem. I have much respect for Rosedale for working to create a virtual world based on free software principles. He has said he was expecting the VR headset market to grow sooner. Perhaps he was waiting for that before putting effort into offering commercial services. (Poor timing... if I recall correctly, Quest 2 launched and/or got popular soon after HF closed?)

dale_glass 3y ago
High Fidelity announced they were changing tracks to a corporate targeted product in May 2019, and entirely shut down in Jan 2020. The Quest 2 came out in May 2019, and Covid19 became a big problem just a bit after HiFi shut down! Talk about some bad timing. But anyway, in my opinion HiFi's problem wasn't so much that as bad management. To me it seems like they tried to combine an architecture and a business model that didn't make any sense. The way I see it, there were roughly 3 meaningful business plans, none of which they used: 1. Imitate SL. This would have meant having a grid, a mandatory login screen, and probably a closed server codebase. Keep people inside the walled garden and milk them. 2. Run an open source consulting company. Basically they make this software for custom events, like virtual conventions, concerts, meetings, maybe even a game engine. They'll customize whatever needs be for you. And then there's the source on Github under some commercially unpalatable license like the AGPL, for whoever wants to play with it, to advertise the tech and get contributions. 3. Embrace the community. Run a kickstarter/patreon, talk constantly to the community, sell swag, and basically act like a big youtuber that takes donations from their fanbase. I think they were probably way too big for that to work. I think #2 had the most potential, especially once Covid19 started. #1 would have required deep architectural changes and would have greatly angered the existing users. I'm part of a non-profit that develops the code so we're doing #3.

by zargon 3y ago

dale_glass 3y ago

High Fidelity announced they were changing tracks to a corporate targeted product in May 2019, and entirely shut down in Jan 2020. The Quest 2 came out in May 2019, and Covid19 became a big problem just a bit after HiFi shut down! Talk about some bad timing. But anyway, in my opinion HiFi's problem wasn't so much that as bad management. To me it seems like they tried to combine an architecture and a business model that didn't make any sense. The way I see it, there were roughly 3 meaningful business plans, none of which they used: 1. Imitate SL. This would have meant having a grid, a mandatory login screen, and probably a closed server codebase. Keep people inside the walled garden and milk them. 2. Run an open source consulting company. Basically they make this software for custom events, like virtual conventions, concerts, meetings, maybe even a game engine. They'll customize whatever needs be for you. And then there's the source on Github under some commercially unpalatable license like the AGPL, for whoever wants to play with it, to advertise the tech and get contributions. 3. Embrace the community. Run a kickstarter/patreon, talk constantly to the community, sell swag, and basically act like a big youtuber that takes donations from their fanbase. I think they were probably way too big for that to work. I think #2 had the most potential, especially once Covid19 started. #1 would have required deep architectural changes and would have greatly angered the existing users. I'm part of a non-profit that develops the code so we're doing #3.