VSide
Encyclopedia
vSide is an Internet
based 3D
virtual world
launched on May 15, 2006. The game is currently in its public Beta phase. Initially developed by Doppelganger, Inc., a studio founded in 2004, the game was acquired in June 2009 by ExitReality, Inc., which is the current owner
and developer. Inside the game's universe, users are called "vSiders" and can interact with each other through social network
ing, celebrity entertainment, boutique shopping and self-expression. Membership is free.
ExitReality provides “next generation social entertainment
" with vSide, where in-world activities and engagement focus on music, entertainment and fashion. vSide is designed to be an online social environment
where teenagers can hang out in real-time with their friends in public and personal spaces. It is based both on professional and user-generated content
or design. A major part of its concept is users hosting their own events for others to participate in. It has won the “2007 Top 100 Private Companies to Watch” award from the 2007 On Hollywood Conference and the “CNET
Top Five Selection” from the Under The Radar Conference 2007.
In addition to encouraging teenagers to express themselves through personal spaces or "apartments", vSide also encourages users to express themselves though social gestures and connections, including who they hang out with, where they’re “seen”, where they base their personal space, and the activities that they engage in. Also vSide offers an extensive character customization
system with over five million different clothing combinations available for free. Avatars can be additionally personalized through the purchase of virtual apparel.
As with all communities, social status is important in vSide community. Users can earn in-world status and climb a social ladder based on the number of friends they have, the number of new friends that they bring into the world and the activities they host or take part in. High social status
in the world is visually represented through points so that users can immediately tell a new member of the community
compared to a veteran user. High social status will gain entrance to VIP events, confer preferential access to personal spaces and allow for the acquisition of virtual goods not available to the average user.
list were invited to try out the preview. At the end of March, a "Preview Refresh" was released with bug fixes and on May 15, 2006, "The Lounge" Beta officially launched. It was introduced as "the first virtual nightclub for teens" featuring the Pussycat Dolls
and Interscope Records
. In the beginning of The Lounge, the main revenue was "generated from music download sales and other merchandise, as well as billboard
advertising
space inside the virtual club" and "Credits" (short "Creds") to buy virtual clothing items were introduced. The virtual game was later renamed to "The Music Lounge".
The Music Lounge became a success, grew, and was re-branded as vSide in the summer of 2007. At this point many of things had changed from the original game. The online world was composed now of 3 cities, the old social status system called "respekt" was replaced with the current vPoint rank status and apartments, which could only be rented in The Music Lounge, could now be bought. More sponsors were added overtime like Tyra Banks
, DJ AM
and Degrassi and real-life brands such as Kitson, Rocawear, StarStyle & EDOC Laundry. One year after the launch of vSide, in August 2008, Doppelganger, Inc. was acquired for $ by Hip Digital Media but continued to run without noticeable changes for the users.
vSide ran stable for a year and a half with the addition of vHD, a store in which clothes made by users were sold, and some other additions to the game like the Sumo arena and tetris-like machines. Unfortunately, in the beginning of 2009, Doppelganger was forced to lay-off a great deal of their staff due to financial problems and a few months after, they informed their community of the game's shutdown. Starting June, both vSide and vSide's forum were left un-moderated due to all of the staff no longer working for Doppelganger, Inc. Surprisingly, an unknown moderator appeared once in a while to clean up the messes that users caused. A few days before expected server
shutdown, two community staff held a featured event called T.G.I.F. (Thank God It's Friday). This would be the last event held under Doppleganger ownership, but did not go that well thanks to some technical problems with offline systems in Doppelganger' headquarters. The virtual game's servers went offline first and a few days later, the game's forum and Doppelganger's official website went offline. Everything up to this period is considered by some as "vSide's Golden Age
".
On July 31, 2009, ExitReality announced that it had acquired vSide for an undisclosed amount and the vSide forum comes back online. The game itself was not immediately revived, instead the game's servers were moved from their existing location in the Doppelganger headquarters to a new host run by SoftLayer
Technologies in Texas. After the servers were setup, a hidden section in the game's forum called "vSide Renaissance" appeared to selected users, for instance, Guides and Tech Experts before vSide's servers had been shutdown. This section and the users in it worked together with the new ExitReality staff to test the server before opening it to the public. Later that year, vSide was opened to the public with a few changes to the vSide left by Doppelganger. The most notable change was that vSide no longer played its own music. The areas in the game with staff-broadcasted music were replaced with shoutcast radio stations, which Doppelganger had already integrated into the game. Moderators and Promo Team members, were now users picked by the new staff.
During between vSide was re-opened to the public and the present time, ExitReality has updated vSide with 2 more apartments, has added more items for users to purchase like more clothing in the vHD Store and more furniture and decorations for the apartments. ExitReality is often responding to requests on the forums, for example, the Dot Dorm A re-release and make-up were often demanded by the user base even before vSide's shutdown.
, Maroon 5
or The All-American Rejects
have visited vSide. ExitReality tries to continue this by inviting newcomers to vSide. Real-life clothing brands such as Rocawear
and Kitson have virtual shops in vSide.
partnering with Doppelganger, known artists under these labels promoted themselves within vSide by holding events. For Instance, DJ AM has his own club in vSide based on the LAX nightclub
in Los Angeles
, which stays in one of vSide's districts even after his passing. Not being limited to the club, Goldstein also performed in NewVenezia's main venue, the Interscope Lounge. On the other hand, the talk show
host Tyra Banks has had her own studio built after the real set named "Tyra's Virtual Studio" in vSide. At this venue, weekly The Tyra Banks Show
after show parties were held. In 2008, a set of the TV show Degrassi: The Next Generation
was integrated to a vSide district. During the "Degrassi Spirit Week", main characters as well as producers visited vSide to interact with fans by giving interviews and chatting at events. Degrassi: The Next Generation has become the first Canadian television
series to launch a presence in vSide.
was sold.
/Japan
themed RaiJuku).
control, chatting
, shopping
, clubbing
, safety features, apartments as well as friends
. 3 "secret" shirts spread around the Gateway shall animate new players to find more vSide Secrets at the 3 main districts. The completion of the Gateway is optional.
is inspired by Harajuku
and Shinjuku in Tokyo
. The most popular game called "Sumo" is situated there (added in vSide Beta 6) as well as vSide's Halloween
Maze, which opens its official doors around Halloween. Celebrities as Kenna
held their events in RaiJuku as well as vSide's ex-goth DJ used to reside there. The apartment lobby of the Islands was recently added to RaiJuku as it is the city with the fewest apartment lobbies.
and its buildings are mostly natural-coloured. According to a Terry Redfield's portfolio, "LaGenoa Aires was created based on reference from Italy, Spain and South America". In one of the in-game trivia questions it is referenced as modeled after Buenos Aires
and Genoa
. The first and only store with only user designed clothes called vSide Houses of Designs (vHD) is located in LGA. It was announced in July 2008 and opened in Beta 6c. The Dot Grill from Degrassi: The Next Generation modeled after the set of the TV show is situated at LaGenoaAires.
, giving tours and answering FAQ
s. These users wear a special yellow Guide shirt and have a Guide badge in-world, which they can easily equip in their inventory and automatically go in "Guide Mode" by doing that. Guides have the ability to see help calls of users on their server. Members of the Guide team also have a badge on vSide's Forum. They were introduced in The Music Lounge Beta 9/10 between February and April 2007. At the beginning of the Guide program in the Music Lounge days, there was no official and public applications process for Guides. vSiders got hand-selected by maturity and knowledge about the game by Doppelganger staff and had to write an essay to apply for the position. In winter 2007, former Guides were selected to become Senior Guides. The purpose of them was to assist and help (new) Guides as well as helping community team members at events by having the ability to fly attached to their role. Senior Guides also took part in reviewing Guide applications. The Senior Guide program was did away in June 2008. vSiders can become a Guide by an application process that opens at different times.
which can be use to buy clothes, items for private spaces, and other things that make vSide life more fun. It can be purchased with a Credit Card
, PayPal
, and by Mail
. vBux can only be purchased or given by other users. vBux or virtual goods or services from the Environment cannot be sold in the real world.
.
elements such as custom profiles, forums
and a blog. Corresponding to their virtual appearance, users are encouraged to things fill out their profiles with personal interests, taking pictures in-game for their image gallery and interacting by making comments on other user's web profiles. The vSide Forums are the game's main information platform. Staff announcements, for instance, maintenances, updates or issues with the client are being published mainly on the forums. While they are rather uninteresting for new users except for their help section, "veteran users" often post on the discussion boards.
, which is connected to MySQL
via the Hibernate
Java library. vSide was initially built for Windows
, the experimental Mac OS X
Alpha client was released as of The Music Lounge Beta 6 in November 2006. The buildings were built and lighted with 3D World Studio
and GarageGames
's Torque Constructor. vSide's DTS objects which are likely smaller objets have been built with Autodesk
's 3ds Max. vSide uses cel-shading for rendering.
. The world servers (except the Gateway which has a limit of 25 users per server) have a capacity of each 350 users a server. Its worlds are running on 14 servers, if there's a heavy demand servers can be added dynamically.
called vURL. It is mostly used for teleporting processes as teleporting to a user or teleporting to a certain spawn point in a public district or apartment, further for music. There is both for Windows and Mac a program called "Location Switcher" made by vSide users that has the ability to perform simple vURL teleporting actions.
in the public districts. As apartments were sold introduced for sale, users were able to watch YouTube videos on screens that come in every apartment in their private spaces. YouTube videos in the main districts can only be controlled by vSide Staff and are currently rarely used. Not all YouTube videos will work in vSide, some videos that have age, country or copyright restrictions will not load in vSide. As of May 2009 embedding SHOUTcast
streams into user apartments was established. Links from iTunes' Internet radio can be used for the users' apartment media by copying them to the vSide client via Drag-and-Drop.
is integrated to vSide using the Open AIM API integration since the Music Lounge was released. vSide displays AIM as a second friend list other than the internal friend-list of vSide. It features basic chat as well as a function to invite AIM buddies.
Since the "vSide Event Calendar" was introduced in 2008, vSiders are able to share their events on Facebook
. Users have the ability to post in-game screenshots to a Facebook account directly from the client. This feature was added in addition to sharing buttons on the game's website. As alternative to the manual sharing of pictures introduced in Beta 10, connecting vSide accounts to Facebook was established in March 2010 (vSide Beta 12b). This way, every taken vSide pictures will be posted on the connected user's wall. Other than that, "the ability to easily add vSide events to facebook and invite all your facebook friends" is being suggested by the vSide website. Further, vSiders are able to embed Facebook photo links in frames in their apartments.
vSide Tickers, which are messages by vSiders scrolling at the bottom of the application window, can be optionally published via Twitter
. The tweet will be directly published from the vSide application. vSide events may be published on the vSide website.
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
based 3D
Three-dimensional space
Three-dimensional space is a geometric 3-parameters model of the physical universe in which we live. These three dimensions are commonly called length, width, and depth , although any three directions can be chosen, provided that they do not lie in the same plane.In physics and mathematics, a...
virtual world
Virtual world
A virtual world is an online community that takes the form of a computer-based simulated environment through which users can interact with one another and use and create objects. The term has become largely synonymous with interactive 3D virtual environments, where the users take the form of...
launched on May 15, 2006. The game is currently in its public Beta phase. Initially developed by Doppelganger, Inc., a studio founded in 2004, the game was acquired in June 2009 by ExitReality, Inc., which is the current owner
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
and developer. Inside the game's universe, users are called "vSiders" and can interact with each other through social network
Social network
A social network is a social structure made up of individuals called "nodes", which are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.Social...
ing, celebrity entertainment, boutique shopping and self-expression. Membership is free.
ExitReality provides “next generation social entertainment
Online social entertainment
Online social entertainment blends entertaining interactive functionality and content including live video streaming, video chat communications, multi-player gaming, music and videos streaming, with social networking service such as social graph management, forums, reviews, ratings, and...
" with vSide, where in-world activities and engagement focus on music, entertainment and fashion. vSide is designed to be an online social environment
Social environment
The social environment of an individual, also called social context or milieu, is the culture that s/he was educated or lives in, and the people and institutions with whom the person interacts....
where teenagers can hang out in real-time with their friends in public and personal spaces. It is based both on professional and user-generated content
User-generated content
User generated content covers a range of media content available in a range of modern communications technologies. It entered mainstream usage during 2005 having arisen in web publishing and new media content production circles...
or design. A major part of its concept is users hosting their own events for others to participate in. It has won the “2007 Top 100 Private Companies to Watch” award from the 2007 On Hollywood Conference and the “CNET
CNET
CNET is a tech media website that publishes news articles, blogs, and podcasts on technology and consumer electronics. Originally founded in 1994 by Halsey Minor and Shelby Bonnie, it was the flagship brand of CNET Networks and became a brand of CBS Interactive through CNET Networks' acquisition...
Top Five Selection” from the Under The Radar Conference 2007.
In addition to encouraging teenagers to express themselves through personal spaces or "apartments", vSide also encourages users to express themselves though social gestures and connections, including who they hang out with, where they’re “seen”, where they base their personal space, and the activities that they engage in. Also vSide offers an extensive character customization
Personalization
Personalization involves using technology to accommodate the differences between individuals. Once confined mainly to the Web, it is increasingly becoming a factor in education, health care Personalization involves using technology to accommodate the differences between individuals. Once confined...
system with over five million different clothing combinations available for free. Avatars can be additionally personalized through the purchase of virtual apparel.
As with all communities, social status is important in vSide community. Users can earn in-world status and climb a social ladder based on the number of friends they have, the number of new friends that they bring into the world and the activities they host or take part in. High social status
Social status
In sociology or anthropology, social status is the honor or prestige attached to one's position in society . It may also refer to a rank or position that one holds in a group, for example son or daughter, playmate, pupil, etc....
in the world is visually represented through points so that users can immediately tell a new member of the community
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
compared to a veteran user. High social status will gain entrance to VIP events, confer preferential access to personal spaces and allow for the acquisition of virtual goods not available to the average user.
History
In March 2006 Doppelganger, Inc. released a "Preview" of a new virtual game called "The PCD Lounge" after a development phase of "about ten months". Only a few people from the PCD Fan ClubFan club
A fan club is a group that is dedicated to a well-known person, group, idea or sometimes even an inanimate object . Most fan clubs are run by fans who devote considerable time and resources to supporting them. There are also "official" fan clubs that are run by someone associated with the person...
list were invited to try out the preview. At the end of March, a "Preview Refresh" was released with bug fixes and on May 15, 2006, "The Lounge" Beta officially launched. It was introduced as "the first virtual nightclub for teens" featuring the Pussycat Dolls
Pussycat Dolls
The Pussycat Dolls are an American pop girl group and dance ensemble based in Los Angeles; currently consisting of Lauren Bennett, Vanessa Curry, Kristal "Lyndriette" Smith, Tiffany "Taz" Zavala, Kia Hampton and Paula Van Oppen. The Pussycat Dolls were founded by choreographer Robin Antin in 1995...
and Interscope Records
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...
. In the beginning of The Lounge, the main revenue was "generated from music download sales and other merchandise, as well as billboard
Billboard
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
space inside the virtual club" and "Credits" (short "Creds") to buy virtual clothing items were introduced. The virtual game was later renamed to "The Music Lounge".
The Music Lounge became a success, grew, and was re-branded as vSide in the summer of 2007. At this point many of things had changed from the original game. The online world was composed now of 3 cities, the old social status system called "respekt" was replaced with the current vPoint rank status and apartments, which could only be rented in The Music Lounge, could now be bought. More sponsors were added overtime like Tyra Banks
Tyra Banks
Tyra Lynne Banks is an American model, media personality, actress, occasional singer, author and businesswoman. She first became famous as a model, but television appearances were her commercial breakthrough...
, DJ AM
Adam Goldstein
Adam Michael Goldstein was an American DJ, remixer, record producer and musician better known as DJ AM. Goldstein was a member of the rock band Crazy Town, co-owner of a management company called Deckstar and worked on albums for Papa Roach, Madonna and Will Smith, among others...
and Degrassi and real-life brands such as Kitson, Rocawear, StarStyle & EDOC Laundry. One year after the launch of vSide, in August 2008, Doppelganger, Inc. was acquired for $ by Hip Digital Media but continued to run without noticeable changes for the users.
vSide ran stable for a year and a half with the addition of vHD, a store in which clothes made by users were sold, and some other additions to the game like the Sumo arena and tetris-like machines. Unfortunately, in the beginning of 2009, Doppelganger was forced to lay-off a great deal of their staff due to financial problems and a few months after, they informed their community of the game's shutdown. Starting June, both vSide and vSide's forum were left un-moderated due to all of the staff no longer working for Doppelganger, Inc. Surprisingly, an unknown moderator appeared once in a while to clean up the messes that users caused. A few days before expected server
Game server
A game server is a remotely or locally run server used by game clients to play multiplayer video games. Most video games played over the Internet operate via a connection to a game server...
shutdown, two community staff held a featured event called T.G.I.F. (Thank God It's Friday). This would be the last event held under Doppleganger ownership, but did not go that well thanks to some technical problems with offline systems in Doppelganger' headquarters. The virtual game's servers went offline first and a few days later, the game's forum and Doppelganger's official website went offline. Everything up to this period is considered by some as "vSide's Golden Age
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology and legend and refers to the first in a sequence of four or five Ages of Man, in which the Golden Age is first, followed in sequence, by the Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and then the present, a period of decline...
".
On July 31, 2009, ExitReality announced that it had acquired vSide for an undisclosed amount and the vSide forum comes back online. The game itself was not immediately revived, instead the game's servers were moved from their existing location in the Doppelganger headquarters to a new host run by SoftLayer
SoftLayer
Founded in 2005, SoftLayer Technologies, Inc. is a dedicated server, managed hosting and cloud computing provider.-History:GI Partners acquired all of the equity in SoftLayer in August 2010....
Technologies in Texas. After the servers were setup, a hidden section in the game's forum called "vSide Renaissance" appeared to selected users, for instance, Guides and Tech Experts before vSide's servers had been shutdown. This section and the users in it worked together with the new ExitReality staff to test the server before opening it to the public. Later that year, vSide was opened to the public with a few changes to the vSide left by Doppelganger. The most notable change was that vSide no longer played its own music. The areas in the game with staff-broadcasted music were replaced with shoutcast radio stations, which Doppelganger had already integrated into the game. Moderators and Promo Team members, were now users picked by the new staff.
During between vSide was re-opened to the public and the present time, ExitReality has updated vSide with 2 more apartments, has added more items for users to purchase like more clothing in the vHD Store and more furniture and decorations for the apartments. ExitReality is often responding to requests on the forums, for example, the Dot Dorm A re-release and make-up were often demanded by the user base even before vSide's shutdown.
Celebrities and Brands
Doppelganger's strategy included inviting brands as well as celebrities to vSide for promotional purposes. Known artists as the Plain White T'sPlain White T's
Plain White T's is an American Pop rock band from Chicago, Illinois. Formed in 1997 by high school friends Tom Higgenson and Ken Fletcher, the group had a mostly underground following in Chicago basements, clubs, and bars in its early years, and underwent numerous personnel changes.The band is best...
, Maroon 5
Maroon 5
Maroon 5 is an American pop rock band from Los Angeles, California. While they were in high school, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist Adam Levine, keyboardist Jesse Carmichael, bass guitarist Mickey Madden, and drummer Ryan Dusick formed a garage band called Kara's Flowers and released one album...
or The All-American Rejects
The All-American Rejects
The All-American Rejects are an American rock band formed in Stillwater, Oklahoma in 1999. The band consists of lead vocalist and bass guitarist Tyson Ritter, lead guitarist, Nick Wheeler, rhythm guitarist, Mike Kennerty, and drummer Chris Gaylor....
have visited vSide. ExitReality tries to continue this by inviting newcomers to vSide. Real-life clothing brands such as Rocawear
Rocawear
Created in 1999 by Roc-A-Fella Records co-founders Damon Dash and Jay Z,Rocawear has annual sales of $700 million. Rocawear expanded its brand through licensing pacts to develop lines for children and juniors; socks and sandals; leather, suede, and fur outerwear; handbags and belts; lounge wear;...
and Kitson have virtual shops in vSide.
Celebrities
Since the appearance of bands members of The Pussy Cat Dolls in the early versions of the application, bands and solo artists, TV casts and other media personalities have made an appearance in vSide. Due to Interscope Records and Downtown RecordsDowntown Records
Downtown Records is a record label owned and operated by Downtown Music LLC. Music on the Downtown label is distributed by Universal Music's Fontana Distribution and, for certain releases, as a joint venture with Atlantic Records and also for select releases, by Alternative Distribution Alliance...
partnering with Doppelganger, known artists under these labels promoted themselves within vSide by holding events. For Instance, DJ AM has his own club in vSide based on the LAX nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, which stays in one of vSide's districts even after his passing. Not being limited to the club, Goldstein also performed in NewVenezia's main venue, the Interscope Lounge. On the other hand, the talk show
Talk show
A talk show or chat show is a television program or radio program where one person discuss various topics put forth by a talk show host....
host Tyra Banks has had her own studio built after the real set named "Tyra's Virtual Studio" in vSide. At this venue, weekly The Tyra Banks Show
The Tyra Banks Show
The Tyra Banks Show, also known as and shortened to Tyra or The Tyra Show, is an American talk show hosted by Tyra Banks. The last new episode aired on Friday, May 28, 2010.-2005-2009: Syndication:...
after show parties were held. In 2008, a set of the TV show Degrassi: The Next Generation
Degrassi: The Next Generation
Degrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian teen drama television series set in the Degrassi universe, which was created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood in 1979. Degrassi is the fourth fictional series in the Degrassi franchise, and follows The Kids of Degrassi Street, Degrassi Junior High, and...
was integrated to a vSide district. During the "Degrassi Spirit Week", main characters as well as producers visited vSide to interact with fans by giving interviews and chatting at events. Degrassi: The Next Generation has become the first Canadian television
Television in Canada
Television in Canada officially began with the opening of the nation's first television stations in Montreal and Toronto in 1952. As with most media in Canada, the television industry, and the television programming available in that country, are strongly influenced by the American media, perhaps...
series to launch a presence in vSide.
Brands
As of the last version of The Music Lounge, users are able to buy virtual apparel from Kitson and Rocawear. The sold items are textured after real-life clothing by the brands. As The Music Lounge was renamed to vSide, other Brands such as StarStyle and EDOC Laundry were added and now have a virtual appearance in the world. Downtown Records had its own venue in vSide as well, in which virtual merchandisingMerchandising
Merchandising is the methods, practices, and operations used to promote and sustain certain categories of commercial activity. In the broadest sense, merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer...
was sold.
World
vSide has 3 main "cities" or "districts". These districts are monitored by vSide Moderators, often abbreviated as MODs. Unlike the apartments, the cities can not be directly decorated or changed by users. The cities are the main clubbing and shopping areas as well as public events with artists are often held there. The 3 districts have different themes (e.g. the AnimeAnime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
/Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
themed RaiJuku).
Gateway
The Gateway is the first location vSide automatically takes the user after their first login. It contains tutorials about basic vSide features. The tutorials include information about basic avatarAvatar
In Hinduism, an avatar is a deliberate descent of a deity to earth, or a descent of the Supreme Being and is mostly translated into English as "incarnation," but more accurately as "appearance" or "manifestation"....
control, chatting
Online chat
Online chat may refer to any kind of communication over the Internet, that offers an instantaneous transmission of text-based messages from sender to receiver, hence the delay for visual access to the sent message shall not hamper the flow of communications in any of the directions...
, shopping
Shopping
Shopping is the examining of goods or services from retailers with the intent to purchase at that time. Shopping is an activity of selection and/or purchase. In some contexts it is considered a leisure activity as well as an economic one....
, clubbing
Clubbing (subculture)
Clubbing is custom of visiting and gathering socially at nightclubs . That includes music listening, dancing, drinking alcohol and sometimes using recreational drugs. In most cases it is done for socializing and meeting new people...
, safety features, apartments as well as friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
. 3 "secret" shirts spread around the Gateway shall animate new players to find more vSide Secrets at the 3 main districts. The completion of the Gateway is optional.
NewVenezia (NV)
NewVenezia is the first ever built vSide city. It used to be called San Francisco (Doppelganger, Inc. had its headquarters in San Francisco). vSiders often abbreviate NewVenezia and call it "NV". Its main venue is the Interscope Lounge, formerly PCD Lounge, where events are often held. The most recent ebent was held by Eli Lieb in September 2011. A box with former Pussycat Dolls members, which only the first hundreds of PCD Lounge users were granted access to, is on top of the club. A Store selling virtual Pussycat Doll merchandising is situated next to the Interscope Lounge as of the first PCD Lounge build. NewVenezia is the vSide district that has changed the most since 2006. It has been undergoing small and large changes and redesigns, also new venues, shops and secrets were added until the current state.RaiJuku (RJ)
RaiJuku is one of the two new cities introduced in vSide Beta 1. Its architecture and urban planningUrban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
is inspired by Harajuku
Harajuku
Harajuku is the common name for the area around Harajuku Station on the Yamanote Line in the Shibuya ward of Tokyo, Japan....
and Shinjuku in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
. The most popular game called "Sumo" is situated there (added in vSide Beta 6) as well as vSide's Halloween
Halloween
Hallowe'en , also known as Halloween or All Hallows' Eve, is a yearly holiday observed around the world on October 31, the night before All Saints' Day...
Maze, which opens its official doors around Halloween. Celebrities as Kenna
Kenna
Kenna Zemedkun, known professionally as simply Kenna, is an Ethiopian-born American musician. His track "Say Goodbye To Love" was nominated for Best Urban/Alternative Performance in the 2009 Grammy Awards.-Personal life:...
held their events in RaiJuku as well as vSide's ex-goth DJ used to reside there. The apartment lobby of the Islands was recently added to RaiJuku as it is the city with the fewest apartment lobbies.
LaGenoaAires (LGA)
LaGenoaAires is the second new city introduced in vSide Beta 1. It is mainly affected by waterWater
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
and its buildings are mostly natural-coloured. According to a Terry Redfield's portfolio, "LaGenoa Aires was created based on reference from Italy, Spain and South America". In one of the in-game trivia questions it is referenced as modeled after Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
and Genoa
Genoa
Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....
. The first and only store with only user designed clothes called vSide Houses of Designs (vHD) is located in LGA. It was announced in July 2008 and opened in Beta 6c. The Dot Grill from Degrassi: The Next Generation modeled after the set of the TV show is situated at LaGenoaAires.
Personal Spaces
The personal spaces for users, also called "apartments", play an important role in the game. Users are able to buy and customize apartments for vPoints and/or vBux. There are currently 9 apartments for sale, an additional one is still existing and accessible but not for sale anymore. Every vSider starts with a free basic apartment, the NV255 Loft. Every apartment is focussed on a unique type of vSider with unique needs. All apartments except the Islands are pre-built. The themes and purposes of the vSide apartments go from a Club ("Club Rage") to an empty building space ("The Islands") for creative users who want to build their own apartments. According to Josh Michaels, the idea of apartment slots (before apartment ownership was introduced) was borrowed from an IRC chat room. As of vSide Beta 2 the games was slowly going to apartment ownership as customizing rooms was enabled.Moderation
vSide is moderated by a selected group of people that supervise users' chats in-world in realtime. Moderators are able to suspend or ban users for inappropriate behavior. Abuse reports sent by vSiders get reviewed by moderators to take the necessary actions. During their moderating shifts, anonymous names, for example moderator1, are used. Moderators appear with a red staff username.Guides
Guides are long-time vSiders who expressed interest in helping new users with first user experienceUser experience
User experience is the way a person feels about using a product, system or service. User experience highlights the experiential, affective, meaningful and valuable aspects of human-computer interaction and product ownership, but it also includes a person’s perceptions of the practical aspects such...
, giving tours and answering FAQ
FAQ
Frequently asked questions are listed questions and answers, all supposed to be commonly asked in some context, and pertaining to a particular topic. "FAQ" is usually pronounced as an initialism rather than an acronym, but an acronym form does exist. Since the acronym FAQ originated in textual...
s. These users wear a special yellow Guide shirt and have a Guide badge in-world, which they can easily equip in their inventory and automatically go in "Guide Mode" by doing that. Guides have the ability to see help calls of users on their server. Members of the Guide team also have a badge on vSide's Forum. They were introduced in The Music Lounge Beta 9/10 between February and April 2007. At the beginning of the Guide program in the Music Lounge days, there was no official and public applications process for Guides. vSiders got hand-selected by maturity and knowledge about the game by Doppelganger staff and had to write an essay to apply for the position. In winter 2007, former Guides were selected to become Senior Guides. The purpose of them was to assist and help (new) Guides as well as helping community team members at events by having the ability to fly attached to their role. Senior Guides also took part in reviewing Guide applications. The Senior Guide program was did away in June 2008. vSiders can become a Guide by an application process that opens at different times.
Tech Experts
Tech Experts, just like Guides, consist of a team that answer frequently asked questions, but unlike the Guides, the questions are more "tech oriented". They were introduced on 5 September 2008. The team members have a badge on vSide's Forum and are able to wear a special shirt in-world.Promotional Team
The vSide Promotional Team, originally founded in spring 2010, is currently undergoing a revamp. New "promo" positions will be available through an application process. Further details are going to be announced.Virtual Currency and Subscriptions
There are two different types of cash in vSide, which are available in different ways: vPoints and vBux. Unlike vBux, vPoints can be earned by "being an active vSider" and by participating in the community. Most things in vSide can be bought using either vPoints or vBux, but a few special items require one or the other. The current virtual currency system has been introduced in 2008. There is no official exchange rate although in common exchanges between vSiders 100 vPoints equal 1 vBuck.vPoints
vPoints are rewarded for being an active vSider by a "vPoints drip", exploring new areas or trying out new features. Experimenting to discover all the different ways vPoints can be earned is considered part of the fun. All vPoints earned in a user's virtual life add up to the "All-time vPoints", which determine a certain rank/level in vSide.vBux
vBux is virtual currencyVirtual currency
Virtual currency is used to purchase virtual goods within a variety of online communities; which include social networking websites, virtual worlds and online gaming sites....
which can be use to buy clothes, items for private spaces, and other things that make vSide life more fun. It can be purchased with a Credit Card
Credit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
, PayPal
PayPal
PayPal is an American-based global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. Online money transfers serve as electronic alternatives to paying with traditional paper methods, such as checks and money orders....
, and by Mail
Mail
Mail, or post, is a system for transporting letters and other tangible objects: written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes, and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal service...
. vBux can only be purchased or given by other users. vBux or virtual goods or services from the Environment cannot be sold in the real world.
Subscriptions
In July 2010, an optional subscription called vSub became available in vSide. This subscription consists of 1,050 vBux a month, 10% off clothes in vSide, exclusive clothes, a vSub headphone badge in-world and other member only items. This subscription costs a month and can only be paid through PayPalPayPal
PayPal is an American-based global e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet. Online money transfers serve as electronic alternatives to paying with traditional paper methods, such as checks and money orders....
.
Social Networking and Social Media Features
As the most virtual worlds, vSide includes social networking and social mediaSocial media
The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...
elements such as custom profiles, forums
Internet forum
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are at least temporarily archived...
and a blog. Corresponding to their virtual appearance, users are encouraged to things fill out their profiles with personal interests, taking pictures in-game for their image gallery and interacting by making comments on other user's web profiles. The vSide Forums are the game's main information platform. Staff announcements, for instance, maintenances, updates or issues with the client are being published mainly on the forums. While they are rather uninteresting for new users except for their help section, "veteran users" often post on the discussion boards.
Technology
vSide is build on a heavily modified Version of the Torque Game Engine based on TGE 1.3.5. Its backend is written in JavaJava (programming language)
Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
, which is connected to MySQL
MySQL
MySQL officially, but also commonly "My Sequel") is a relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. It is named after developer Michael Widenius' daughter, My...
via the Hibernate
Hibernate (Java)
Hibernate is an object-relational mapping library for the Java language, providing a framework for mapping an object-oriented domain model to a traditional relational database...
Java library. vSide was initially built for Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, the experimental Mac OS X
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
Alpha client was released as of The Music Lounge Beta 6 in November 2006. The buildings were built and lighted with 3D World Studio
3D World Studio
3D World Studio is a map/level editor for use with Torque Game Engine, DarkBasic Pro, Leadwerks Engine and Blitz3D. The program is developed by Leadwerks Software and is distributed by both Leadwerks Software and The Game Creators in a Standard Edition and a Builder Edition.Both editions include...
and GarageGames
GarageGames
GarageGames is located in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, where it was moved after being acquired by IAC in 2007. As the makers of Torque game development technology, they have provided cross-platform technology and tools since 2000...
's Torque Constructor. vSide's DTS objects which are likely smaller objets have been built with Autodesk
Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that focuses on 3D design software for use in the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media and entertainment industries. The company was founded in 1982 by John Walker, a coauthor of the first versions of the company's...
's 3ds Max. vSide uses cel-shading for rendering.
Servers
The vSide servers are located in Dallas, TexasDallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
. The world servers (except the Gateway which has a limit of 25 users per server) have a capacity of each 350 users a server. Its worlds are running on 14 servers, if there's a heavy demand servers can be added dynamically.
vURLs
vSide has its own URIUniform Resource Identifier
In computing, a uniform resource identifier is a string of characters used to identify a name or a resource on the Internet. Such identification enables interaction with representations of the resource over a network using specific protocols...
called vURL. It is mostly used for teleporting processes as teleporting to a user or teleporting to a certain spawn point in a public district or apartment, further for music. There is both for Windows and Mac a program called "Location Switcher" made by vSide users that has the ability to perform simple vURL teleporting actions.
External Media Services
vSide has currently integrated three external media services. Ever since vSide's release as The Music Lounge, it has had integration with YouTubeYouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
in the public districts. As apartments were sold introduced for sale, users were able to watch YouTube videos on screens that come in every apartment in their private spaces. YouTube videos in the main districts can only be controlled by vSide Staff and are currently rarely used. Not all YouTube videos will work in vSide, some videos that have age, country or copyright restrictions will not load in vSide. As of May 2009 embedding SHOUTcast
SHOUTcast
SHOUTcast is cross-platform proprietary software for streaming media over the Internet. The software, developed by Nullsoft , allows digital audio content, primarily in MP3 or HE-AAC format, to be broadcast to and from media player software, enabling the creation of Internet radio "stations"...
streams into user apartments was established. Links from iTunes' Internet radio can be used for the users' apartment media by copying them to the vSide client via Drag-and-Drop.
External Social Media Services
AIMAOL Instant Messenger
AOL Instant Messenger is an instant messaging and presence computer program which uses the proprietary OSCAR instant messaging protocol and the TOC protocol to allow registered users to communicate in real time. It was released by AOL in May 1997...
is integrated to vSide using the Open AIM API integration since the Music Lounge was released. vSide displays AIM as a second friend list other than the internal friend-list of vSide. It features basic chat as well as a function to invite AIM buddies.
Since the "vSide Event Calendar" was introduced in 2008, vSiders are able to share their events on Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
. Users have the ability to post in-game screenshots to a Facebook account directly from the client. This feature was added in addition to sharing buttons on the game's website. As alternative to the manual sharing of pictures introduced in Beta 10, connecting vSide accounts to Facebook was established in March 2010 (vSide Beta 12b). This way, every taken vSide pictures will be posted on the connected user's wall. Other than that, "the ability to easily add vSide events to facebook and invite all your facebook friends" is being suggested by the vSide website. Further, vSiders are able to embed Facebook photo links in frames in their apartments.
vSide Tickers, which are messages by vSiders scrolling at the bottom of the application window, can be optionally published via Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
. The tweet will be directly published from the vSide application. vSide events may be published on the vSide website.