Virtual World - Virtual World Concepts

Virtual World Concepts

Most accepted definitions of virtual worlds require that it be persistent; in other words, the world must continue to exist even after a user exits the world, and user-made changes to the world should be preserved. As defined by Mark W. Bell at Indiana University, a virtual world is a "synchronous, persistent network of people, represented as avatars, facilitated by networked computers." While the interaction with other participants is done in real-time, time consistency is not always maintained in online virtual worlds. For example, EverQuest time passes faster than real-time despite using the same calendar and time units to present game time.

As virtual world is a fairly vague and inclusive term, the above can generally be divided along a spectrum ranging from:

• massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), also called virtual game worlds, where the user playing a specific character is a main feature of the game (Vanguard for example).
• massively multiplayer online real-life games (MMORLGs), also called virtual social worlds, where the user can edit and alter their avatar at will, allowing them to play a more dynamic role, or multiple roles.

Some would argue that the MMO versions of RTS and FPS games are also virtual worlds if the world editors allow for open editing of the terrains if the "source file" for the terrain is shared. Emerging concepts include basing the terrain of such games on real satellite photos, such as those available through the Google Maps API or through a simple virtual geocaching of "easter eggs" on WikiMapia or similar mashups, where permitted.