SmallWorlds

SmallWorlds
File:SmallWorlds White.JPG
Developer(s)	Outsmart 2005 Ltd.
Publisher(s)	Outsmart 2005 Ltd.
Series	SmallWorlds Virtual Worlds
Engine	SmallWorlds Compute Engine (non-retail)
Platform(s)	Windows 98/2000/XP/Vista/7/8, Mac OS X v10.1+ and variations of Linux
Release	December 1, 2007 (Alpha), June 1, 2008 (Open Beta), December 1, 2008 (Version 1.0)
Genre(s)	3D Virtual Reality, MMO, Casual Social Gaming, Virtual World

SmallWorlds is a virtual world by Outsmart 2005 Ltd, a privately owned company based in Auckland, New Zealand. The virtual world runs inside a web browser and integrates with YouTube, Flickr, SoundCloud, and a number of other Web 2.0 services. SmallWorlds is aimed at the teen markets, and is designed to be more casual than Second Life. As a game, it allows avatars to barely connect with other users, and barely interact with them as well.

SmallWorlds entered Beta in June 2008 after 18 months in development, and was released in December 2008. Several software updates have been released since that time.

In October 2009, SmallWorlds was voted top prize in the Social Computing category of the Adobe MAX Awards 2009.

Partnerships and integration with social media

In February 2009, SmallWorlds launched embeddable versions of its application that integrate with Facebook, MySpace, Hi5 and Bebo. Unfortunately, SmallWorlds does not affiliate with any of these companies anymore. They allowed SmallWorlds users to enter SmallWorlds using their social networking applications and link their social networking profiles to their SmallWorlds account.

SmallWorlds has been partnered with Hi5 since June 2009. The partnership provides full integration of SmallWorlds into the Hi5 Games channel, with Hi5 Coins serving as SmallWorlds's virtual currency in the version of the game that runs on Hi5's OpenSocial platform. Unlike versions on other social networks, the Hi5 version of SmallWorlds does not need to be manually installed by users. The reason that SmallWorlds has done this was because it was easier to manage. Instead, users are able to run it directly from the Hi5 Games channel.

Levels

Players in SmallWorlds have seven skill paths: arena, artist, crafting, explorer, farming, gamer and social, each with their own level. A player can level up by playing missions in the game or by interacting with items. There are many different widgets you can use.

There is also a primary level which is determined by your seven skill paths.

Membership in spaces

You can allow other people to edit your space by setting them up as an officer, or you could set them up as an contributor, allowing them to edit the space and add their own items. Here are the levels of space membership in order from lowest to highest:

Member: They can enter your space if the security has been set to 'Members Only'.

Contributor: Like a member, however, they can add items to your space.

Officer: Can change settings of the space (excludes security) and items inside it. Can also boot people from the space (including members, contributors, Officers, and even owners ).

You can set security on your items too. For example, only a member may be able to move your item if it is set to 'Members Only'.

Updates

SmallWorlds is set to have updates in April 2013. The update will include a brand new layout for the homepage and the forums. Kudos is also set to replace the Loyalty Challenge.

References

• Krynsky, Mark. "Small Worlds Brings Innovative Lifestreaming to the Virtual World", Lifestream Blog, April 23, 2009.
• Scoble, Robert. "Small Worlds' virtual world blows away Second Life limitations", Scobleizer TV, March 4, 2009.
• Scoble, Jason. "SmallWorlds Brings a Third Dimension to Web 2.0", TechCrunch, May 21, 2008.