sociotown
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Give uninvited guests the boot in SocioTown
SocioTown, a newcomer to the browser-based MMO scene, has an interesting take on letting users control who can play in their spaces. Outside the Box Software, the developers of SocioTown, are placing the ban hammer firmly in the grasp of players who can actually boot uninvited guests from their virtual homes. That's right: Ban hammers for everyone! Players can choose between ways of kicking people to the curb: 'toss out', 'punch out', or even 'bat out'. This video shows what it looks like, as obnoxious couch tourists and close talkers are booted one after another. If you've ever had a houseguest who just wouldn't take the hint to leave, you'll know what this is all about... it might even be cathartic.
SocioTown enters open beta
SocioTown? Seriously, didn't anyone in the marketing department realize the potential implications of an ironic name like that? Despite the fact that SocioTown is not a new title by Rockstar Games, as the name would suggest, it is still creating a buzz. Who knows, maybe the out-of-context name will be a bonus for the game's sales. Heck, it worked for the Wii.So besides the name, how is this new browser-based social-networking MMO any different from the others currently working their way through open beta? According to the website, SocioTown is "the biggest and most sophisticated browser-based 3D virtual world to date". Your friend network is automatically based on who you talk to the most, which is an interesting feature. You can even perform your own music within the game, to be rated by the other players in real time. If they love it, you're on the fast track to rehab, but if they hate it, you could end up with a temporary music ban! Now we just need one of those in real life.
Cinemassively: SocioTown gameplay
Yesterday, Outside the Box released a gameplay footage video of their virtual world, SocioTown, which recently entered open beta. Described as a cross between The Sims and Animal Crossing, players are able to experience this social space right from their browser. As a member, you can socialize, level up, play games with other players, take missions, own an apartment, and even get a job!Being a machinimator, this blogger was interested in the cinematic abilities of Sociotown, so we put it to the test. While the camera isn't as easy to manipulate as is Second Life, you can use the up and down arrow keys to change your views from front to back, or use the left and right arrow keys to move the camera horizontally in increments. However, it doesn't look like you can turn off the user interface. For a closer look at the gameplay, check out the high quality version of the video![Thanks, Chris!]If you have machinima or movie suggestions from any MMO, please send them to machinima AT massively DOT com, along with any information you might have about them.
SocioTown hits open beta
SocioTown, first mentioned last December, has now gone into open beta, and if you liked the look and sound of it when we first talked about it, then you're likely to want to join right up, as it seems all of those features have remained intact.SocioTown's aesthetic has a kid-friendly, cereal commercial sheen to it that some will find appealing, and others, off-putting. The website makes much of the burgeoning social networking that can be had, as well as ways to graph and quantify that experience, which leads us to ask exactly to whom this game is targeted -- pre-adolescents, or professors? Visit the above link for more of SocioTown's features, as well as our initial take on it all.
New MMOSG: Sociotown
A new MMOSG (that's Massively Multiplayer Online Social Game, which I don't recall seeing before, but sure, why not?) has sprung up, and it's called Sociotown. Now, not to knock something before it's even been released, but when I hear 'socio-' anything, I immediately think sociopath. And that's not the image you want to send across for a virtual world.Regardless, from looking at the latest footage, there are a few things I need to comment on. Won't you follow along with me? First of all, point-and-click movement is awkward. I've never liked it, despite the fun to be had in Diablo and Mythos, and prefer WASD movement. Second of all, the look of this world is similar to a lot of other similar social spaces, so no innovation there. Third, there is some interest in not being able to immediately see another person's name, forcing you to introduce yourself to him/her. Fourth, 'Socio dollars' is just more awkwardness -- why not SoBucks?
