Should cyberspace be free or paid?

Both
Choice is always good,
It will cost money to run any sort of system using electricity so you will need one of the following
a) Generous Benifactor (good luck)
b) Paid service
c) Advertising

But look at the web and web based services, most are free to use and open to all, google, youtube, facebook, twitter to name a few of the many web based services/systems that are free to use.

On the flip side there has been a massive change to mobile games from P2P to F2P.

And all of these technologies piggyback on internet/telecommunication services the machines that make the internet work.

As will any 3D view of a cyberspace's be it a download or streamed experience.

On the one hand I think we need the backbone of cyberspace to be a 3d version of the web, a set of linked spaces that anyone can traverse and build.

Ideally this free and open "Oasis" would provide the VR pioneers to learn/develop and grow their skills.

The current trend to the walled gardens of app stores, locks in and may limit that freedom of expression.

For instance there have been many cases of games and apps that have been rejected by Apple for being too political or in poor taste, e.g. Smuggle Truck had to be rebranded to Snuggle Truck.

Or if you take the concept of cyberspace and just have a single street, will there be only one store the cyberspace equivalent of Amazon and one almighty search demon to summon like google.

Actually you might have missed a fourth option, the data a system gathers on it's users, these open and free systems are ideal systems to gather this marketing or big brother data set. And that kind of information can be worth millions to companies and governments.

i think it should be like second life (but better)

free but have options where you can buy things and such.... :-)

Cyberspace becomes a massive MMO, but why second life, why not go with a sci-fi or fantasy theme. For that matter the theme could be selected by the viewer, then everyone and everything could just change/morph to fit.

I think there are some good elements to second life, the chat, the ability to create things within the world, but what are it's limitations?

Well, the internet is free, but access to it is paid. I believe for vr, access to the "road" should be free (aside from whatever you pay you isp that is), and whether to you enter the "buildings" on said road should be up to the content provides. To give a real life analogy, you can use a road for free and enter a clothes shop for free, but the clothes cost money, and you can use the road for free but have to pay to enter a movie theater, etc. I believe in the end vr will follow the same conventions we are used to in rl (at least at the beginning, who knows what bizarre/unexpected interactions will arise later).

In answer to the question: IMHO, it depends on the provider, whoever provides the best content at the best price (ie if they update constantly, content is free, but you pay monthly), that's the one who will win. I'd rather have a pay-as-you-go than a steam-style or xbox-live tiered style.. Full access to all content with a monthly fee.

That's just my opinion.


as a side note:
Arowx, it's great to have lively posters and those who are extremely excited for the rift (I visit these forums every day to see if cybereality updates the shipping thread or not), however if you'd kindly tone down the number of threads you create, there are many rifters who are extremely excited for this technology as well.

So we could end up with a Steam, Xbox, Playstation, Google and other Cyberspace Hubs e.g. Playstations Home 'Space'

But I thought we would want an open and free cyberspace, a 3D representation of the web, not a single or small set of owned shopping malls.

@dwood15 you can click on the subscription tick box on the thread you wish to watch and you get an e-mail when it is updated :D

And this is the lounge space where you can talk about anything, so I should not be getting in the way of any Oculus Specific information. And I need a space to air my thoughts otherwise they just rattle about my brain distracting me from working on my games. ;)

"Arowx" wrote:
Simple question but as we could be on the brink of creating a new space for humans to exist within, should that cyberspace be free and open like the web or paid for like a game or service?

PS This topic is bound to be covered elsewhere so if you know of any videos, podcasts or links that discuss this issue please share?

"Cyberspace" is an ill-defined term. If you mean "virtual reality", there is no "should" about it: every creator of content that can be experienced as virtual reality decides on the available terms of service. Suggesting otherwise is denying people ownership of their creations.

Having said that, information wants to be free. 8-)

What if you got paid to be in cyberspace?

For example, if you were the shopkeeper of a virtual store that sold virtual goods for real money.

"cybereality" wrote:
What if you got paid to be in cyberspace?

For example, if you were the shopkeeper of a virtual store that sold virtual goods for real money.

Kind of like those Second Life dance floors that give out linden cash the longer you stay dancing.