OurWorld

Last updated
ourWorld
Developer(s) FlowPlay
Platform(s)
ReleaseApril 2008 (discontinued October 24, 2021)
Genre(s) Virtual world
Mode(s) Multiplayer

ourWorld was a virtual world containing a range of online games and activities. It is developed by FlowPlay, and is aimed at the teen and tween demographic.

Contents

Gameplay

ourWorld combined an online virtual world with a range of casual gaming activities. [1] Each player had an avatar and a condo which could be decorated.

An in-game currency, "Flow", was earned by talking, dancing, eating and drinking, and playing games. Flow could be exchanged for experience points and coins. ourWorld operated on a microtransaction business model which allowed players to purchase in-game "gems". Coins and gems were used to buy items for their avatar such as clothing, accessories or furniture. As players earned experience, they leveled up. This earned them prizes such as dance moves, access to new areas, vehicles, and privileges.

Players could also talk to each other, request friendship, gift items, create groups, send and receive mail, participate in contests and give "hearts". In 2013, Popularity, marriage and adoption were among the new features added, allowing wedding-rings to be exchanged and a player to become a child of another. Residents were people who had purchased one of several levels of residency cards, or paid money for monthly gems and special places.

There were "special" items in ourWorld. These included vehicles, tattoos, mystery boxes, sprites, inventories, residency passes, potions, wings, and ears/horns. Vehicles included skates, hoverboards, cars, skateboards, and jet-packs and the most recent to be added, dragons. These could sometimes be earned by leveling up. Others could be earned any level by gems. Sprites were animals that followed players' avatars around. Inventories increased the number of items players could keep in their inventory and photo album. Residency passes allow players to gain residency without buying a residency card. Potions allow players to change their avatar's appearance in ways they couldn't usually do (some kinds of food also did that). Mystery boxes (such as the Zodiac Mystery Box and the Bronco Mystery Box) contained random items that belonged in a certain theme. Previously, players could only visibly reach level 100 (players would continued to level up after that but it would not show on their profiles); however, in October 2012[ citation needed ], the visible cap was lifted to 150, and it was lifted to 200.

Reception

Joystiq questioned FlowPlay's business model, as many of the games in ourWorld are available on other casual gaming sites such as Newgrounds. [1] Reviewer Stephen Greenwell of Gamezebo felt detached from the social aspect of ourWorld. He found conversation to be "dominated by netspeak and txtspeak" with all the depth "of a kiddie pool." However, the presentation was deemed to be "hip and edgy." with "Flash and Java used to create a gorgeous futuristic world." Overall, ourWorld was recommended for teens. [2]

History

Development on ourWorld began in January 2007 with a public Beta launch in April 2008. Since then, the product has received over 600,000 registrations. [3] The company built the world with a team of 40 employees and contractors in Seattle, Shanghai, and India. [4] In March 2007, Derrick Morton, the CEO of FlowPlay, raised about $500,000 in angel financing for the new company, with about one-quarter of that coming from the founders. [5]

In June 2009, FlowPlay announced a partnership with PopCap Games resulting in the launch of a PopCap Arcade and Bejeweled Jewelry Store in its 1.7 million user ourWorld.com virtual world. [6]

On February 10, 2009, FlowPlay announced that it had completed a long-term distribution agreement with Miniclip, LTD. FlowPlay's ourWorld was integrated into the Miniclip.com website – the largest online game destination in the world. [7]

In March 2009, Tagged.com, the third-largest social networking site in the US, announced the integration of FlowPlay's ourWorld.com. The partnership advances Tagged's movement into online social gaming and expands their portfolio of innovative products for Tagged's 80 million worldwide registered members. [8]

In October 19, 2020, the team of ourWorld.com made a downloadable client version of the game, because the site couldn't work anymore with Adobe Player, because of the expiring of Adobe. In November 16, 2020, all purchases inside the game were disabled which meant that the users could no longer buy or earn gems. The islands in the game were changed as they removed in-game games such as 'PopCap', 'Dance Planet', Critter Derby' etc. The gem codes are no longer working. Everyone who was a Resident or Zoe's Club Member remains as Zoe's Club Member and the membership was extended for a lifetime. [9]

In October 24, 2021, at 11:59 EST the game shut down [10] due to "bad acting in the game" [11] [12] which made it impossible for the company to support it any longer. They sent this news via messages in the game. The company also said that someday they may be back with a new version of the game and to keep checking the URL address to the site.

ourWorld Blogs

ourWorld has generated strong support from its community of users, spawning thousands of player-run blogs with a strong concentration hosted on WordPress.com. The player blogs generally publish news and information on events in the game along with secrets and cheats for advancing faster within the game. Although blogs are a significant part of the site, their forums play a huge part in the blogging process. Users sometimes post updates on the forums before the actual blogs.

Related Research Articles

A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game.

A virtual economy is an emergent economy existing in a virtual world, usually exchanging virtual goods in the context of an online game, particularly in massively multiplayer online games (MMOs). People enter these virtual economies for recreation and entertainment rather than necessity, which means that virtual economies lack the aspects of a real economy that are not considered to be "fun". However, some people do interact with virtual economies for "real" economic benefit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaia Online</span> Anime-centered social media and forum website

Gaia Online is an English-language, anime-themed social networking and forums-based website with Chibi-style animations. It was founded as go-gaia on February 18, 2003, by Derek Liu, Long Vo, Josh Gainsbrugh, and the name was changed to GaiaOnline.com in 2004 by its owner, Gaia Interactive. Gaia originally began as an anime linklist and eventually developed a small community, but following a statement by founder Derek Liu, the website moved towards social gaming and eventually became forum-based.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avatar (computing)</span> Graphical representation of a user or a users alter ego or character

In computing, an avatar is a graphical representation of a user, the user's character, or persona. Avatars can be two-dimensional icons in Internet forums and other online communities, where they are also known as profile pictures, userpics, or formerly picons. Alternatively, an avatar can take the form of a three-dimensional model, as used in online worlds and video games, or an imaginary character with no graphical appearance, as in text-based games or worlds such as MUDs.

A casual game is a video game targeted at a mass market audience, as opposed to a hardcore game, which is targeted at hobbyist gamers. Casual games may exhibit any type of gameplay and genre. They generally involve simpler rules, shorter sessions, and require less learned skill. They do not expect familiarity with a standard set of mechanics, controls, and tropes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Webkinz</span> Stuffed animal brand and video game series

Webkinz is a stuffed animal and video game franchise by the Canadian toy company Ganz. Webkinz stuffed animals have online counterparts in the video games Webkinz Classic and Webkinz Next. It was originally released by Ganz on April 15, 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PlayStation Home</span> Social gaming platform developed by London Studio

PlayStation Home was a virtual 3D social gaming platform developed by Sony Computer Entertainment's London Studio for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) on the PlayStation Network (PSN). It was accessible from the PS3's XrossMediaBar (XMB). Membership was free but required a PSN account. Upon installation, users could choose how much hard disk space they wished to reserve for Home. Development of the service began in early 2005 and it launched as an open beta on 11 December 2008. Home remained as a perpetual beta until its closure on 31 March 2015.

Free Realms was a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) developed by Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) set in a fantasy-themed world called Sacred Grove. The game was first released on April 28, 2009 for Microsoft Windows. Versions for Mac OS X and PlayStation 3 followed in subsequent years. The game was free-to-play up to level 4, with access to additional content available through a membership fee. The game allowed the player to fight, interact with other players, take up jobs, and more.

Mystery Case Files is a video game series originally developed by the internal studios of Big Fish Games. Sequels were then developed by Elephant Games between 2013 and 2014 and Eipix Entertainment between 2015 and 2019. The newest installments are developed by GrandMA Studios since 2020. The Mystery Case Files series is known for its hidden object puzzles where, in order to progress through a game, the player plays the role of a Master Detective and must find a certain number of items hidden somewhere on a painted scene.

<i>Pet Society</i> Playfish/Electronic Arts game on Facebook

Pet Society was a social-network game developed by Playfish that could be played on Facebook. The game ranked as one of the most popular Facebook applications. Players could design their pets by choosing genders, names, colors and altering appearances. The user interacted with their pets through washing, brushing, petting and feeding.

<i>Bejeweled Twist</i> 2008 puzzle video game

Bejeweled Twist is a tile-matching puzzle video game developed and published by PopCap Games. It is the third game overall and first spin-off game in the Bejeweled series, as well as being the first PopCap title to be released in high definition and feature widescreen support.

<i>Dream Chronicles</i> (video game) 2007 video game

Dream Chronicles is a 2007 adventure, hidden object, and puzzle casual game developed by KatGames and published by PlayFirst. It is the first installment in the series.

<i>FarmVille</i> 2009 video game

FarmVille is a series of agriculture-simulation social network games developed and published by Zynga in 2009. It is similar to Happy Farm and Farm Town. Its gameplay involves various aspects of farmland management, such as plowing land, planting, growing, and harvesting crops, harvesting trees and raising livestock. The sequels FarmVille 2 and FarmVille 3 were released in September 2012 and November 2021, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boomzap Entertainment</span> Video game developer

Boomzap Entertainment is a casual games developer registered in Singapore with a virtual office environment. It was formed in 2005 and has released 50 games to date that are ported on various platforms. Boomzap has developed for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Nintendo DS, Wii, iOS, and Android. Its games are available on games portals such as Big Fish Games, Yahoo!, WildTangent, GameHouse, Google Play, Amazon, iTunes, Steam and others.

<i>Dream Chronicles 2: The Eternal Maze</i> 2008 video game

Dream Chronicles 2: The Eternal Maze is a 2008 adventure, hidden object, and puzzle casual game developed by KatGames and originally published by PlayFirst. It is the first sequel to 2007's award-winning game Dream Chronicles, also the second installment in the Dream Chronicles series, plus the middle part of the first trilogy called Faye's Journey.

<i>Fantage</i> 2008 video game

Fantage was a MMORPG involving a virtual world containing a range of online games and activities, developed by Fantage Inc. The game featured a customizable cartoon avatar, called a "Fantagian", that users can customize with items ranging from hair to clothing and accessories. Fantage was released to the general public on March 17, 2008, and had since expanded into a large online community— the game had over 16 million registered users by January 2012 and over 30 million by December 2014.

MiniMonos was a virtual world for children six and above. Players created a monkey avatar on MiniMonos, socialized with other monkeys, and played mini games. The game incorporated themes of environmentalism and encouraged "green" activities among its players, both online and offline. The game was popular with children around the world, particularly in the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand, where the game was invented. The game closed on 12 May 2013.

<i>Bin Weevils</i> Multiplayer online video game

Bin Weevils was a British MMORPG involving a virtual world containing a range of online games and activities.

<i>Party Place</i> 2012 video game

Party Place was a virtual party simulation and social game developed by Zynga. It is the company's first 3D mobile game. Party Place launched globally December 6, 2012 for iOS and Android devices.

<i>Animal Jam Classic</i> Online educational game

Animal Jam Classic, formerly known as Animal Jam, is a massively multiplayer online game that is developed by WildWorks and recommended for kids up to the age of 12. It was launched in 2010, in collaboration with the National Geographic Society. As of late 2020, there were 3.3 million monthly active users and a lifetime total of 130 million registered players in 200 countries across both Animal Jam Classic and Animal Jam.

References

  1. 1 2 Brennan, Seraphina (2008-05-08). "OurWorld wants casual gamers to pay and play". Massively. AOL. Archived from the original on 2011-02-09. Retrieved 2011-03-13.
  2. ↑ Greenwell, Stephen (2009-12-31). "ourWorld Review". Gamezebo. Archived from the original on 2013-01-23. Retrieved 2011-03-13.
  3. ↑ Morton, Derrick. "FlowPlay lands distribution agreement with MiniClip, the world's largest online destination". FlowPlay. Archived from the original on 20 August 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  4. ↑ Dean, Takashi (6 April 2008). "FlowPlay launches ourWorld, virtual world for Kids". Venture Beat. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  5. ↑ Cook, John. "FlowPlay: a Second Life for Casual Gamers". SeattlePI. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  6. ↑ "FlowPlay to Integrate Popcap Games". Virtual Goods News. Archived from the original on October 7, 2010. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  7. ↑ "FlowPlay lands distribution agreement with miniClip". Archived from the original on 2013-08-20.
  8. ↑ "Tagged.com Partners with Social". Find Articles. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  9. ↑ "Last Chance! Gems & Lifetime Membership".
  10. ↑ "Why OurWorld shutdown and will it ever come back? - TECHFORNERD". www.techfornerd.com. 2023-04-05. Retrieved 2023-04-05.
  11. ↑ xDøvah (2024-10-20). "The End of ourWorld". ourWorld Support. Retrieved 2024-04-26.
  12. ↑ Firm-Atmosphere-6835 (2024-04-16). "Why OW really shut down". r/OurWorld. Retrieved 2024-04-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.