Field Notes from the Metaverse

“Field Notes from the Metaverse” will be a book that documents the history, perspectives, and narratives of the metaverse and virtual worlds.

  • Field Log #15: Vacation Time!

    This is a weekly update on my progress to document the history, perspectives, and narratives of the metaverse.Current book word count: 96,848 Summer vacation is over. Back to writing! ✍️🗣️⌨️💪🙌

  • Interview with Catalin Alexandru: Web3 and the Challenges of Creating Open Virtual Economies

    Interview with Catalin Alexandru: Web3 and the Challenges of Creating Open Virtual Economies

    Catalin Alexandru is a behavioural game economist with over 16 years of experience designing economies and ecosystems. He has worked as a game designer, analyst and advisor across every business model for the biggest global game companies and brands. His focus is building sustainable economies based around user generated content (UGC), which he thinks will…

  • Field Log #14: Structural Editing & Immersionism

    The last week or so I have been working on the overall structure of the book. I read through everything to see if there are gaps anywhere, or if some sections feel too padded.

  • Interview with Jon “NEVERDIE” Jacobs: The Economic Opportunities in Virtual Worlds

    Interview with Jon “NEVERDIE” Jacobs: The Economic Opportunities in Virtual Worlds

    Jon “NEVERDIE” Jacobs has been at the frontline of pioneering virtual worlds for over two decades. In 2005, he was entered in the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest price ever paid for a virtual item, acquiring the “Asteroid Space Resort” in Project Entropia. Jacobs developed the property into a stadium, shopping center,…

  • Field Log #13: Crypto Casinos

    I wanted to work on other things, but somehow I felt like doing the chapter around the crypto casino. And I’m glad I did because it really helped me draw a clear line between the casino side of crypto, and the original aspirations and visions around cryptocurrencies, NFT’s, and Web3. It now feels like they…

  • Field Log #12: The Web 2.0 Area

    I wrote a lot about the Web 2.0 / Webified Metaverse era, which really are feel-good chapters for me. I think back fondly at this time, remembering the good vibes, the positive outlook on the Web, the collaboration, the barcamps and so on. And it’s interesting to look back where we were right about things,…

  • Field Log #11: Bitcoin & Ethereum

    I really need to clean up this blog. I want to do a new about page with the updated pitch & abstract for the book. The structure-page also needs an update. Maybe I should create a dedicated page for both, not just a post.

  • Work in Progress: The Emergence of Virtual Worlds

    Work in Progress: The Emergence of Virtual Worlds

    The following chapters are lifted from the section “The Emergence of Virtual Worlds”, which offers a look at the earliest virtual worlds, from MUD (the game), to MUDs (the genre). It also describes how players realized that the experiences they had in these virtual worlds were not virtual at all. “The Emergence of Virtual Worlds”…

  • Field Log #10: Web3 Things

    I am still hacking away at the Web3-related chapters. I want to talk about Bitcoin as the first digital currency without a central authority, born out of the cypherpunk movement and an ideological view of economics. Ethereum built on that to apply similar concepts to cloud computing. And Web3 was the effort to apply these…

  • Field Log #9: Ideologies & Narratives

    I am currently working on capturing the more ideological aspects of the Metaverse. Since the early days of the home computer revolution in the 1980s, there has always been a vocal group that shared an unwavering belief in the ability of computers to empower individuals and communities, to the point where they would usher in…

“Field Notes from the Metaverse” will be a book that documents the history, perspectives, and narratives of the metaverse. This blog documents the writing of the book, provides additional context & materials