For those who don't know it Activeworlds is the first and longest running virtual world in history, with 14 years of experience under her belt, Activeworlds became the benchmark for a 'second life' so to speak.
In 2003 Second Life was released, and it was at the time designed to be a major competitor for Activeworlds, although the guys down at AWI (Activeworlds Inc) didn't take Second Life as a serious threat, and in as little as two years the two systems had an equal amount of active users and Activeworlds had banned people saying 'Second Life' as it was considered a form of advertising.
Today as it stands, Activeworlds is popular with over 30,000 users but Second Life boasts a huge 65,000 active user count. Why is this? what's all the fuss about anyway?
ROUND 1: System Requirments
Activeworlds (Est 1996):
Windows 98,2000,XP,Vista,7
300Mhz Processor
128mb RAM
64mb VRAM
Second Life (Est 2003):
Windows XP,Vista,7
Mac OS X
Linux (BETA)
800 Mhz Processor
512mb RAM
128mb VRAM
The 3 categories are as follows, Universal Compatibility, System Usage and Graphics.
Universal Compatibility: The obvious winner here is Second Life, despite being only compatible with 3 versions of windows, it is also compatible with Mac OS X and Linux, making it more widely available than Activeworlds
System Usage: Activeworlds wins this one by a mile, the Activeworlds browser isn't as needy as the Second Life viewer and can be run by computers alot older, obviously a target towards the low end of the market
Graphics: The hands down winner here is Second Life, the Havoc 3 game engine is far more superior when it comes to performance, detail and physics (which Renderware lacks)
Activeworlds: 0 Second Life: 1
300Mhz Processor
128mb RAM
64mb VRAM
Second Life (Est 2003):
Windows XP,Vista,7
Mac OS X
Linux (BETA)
800 Mhz Processor
512mb RAM
128mb VRAM
The 3 categories are as follows, Universal Compatibility, System Usage and Graphics.
Universal Compatibility: The obvious winner here is Second Life, despite being only compatible with 3 versions of windows, it is also compatible with Mac OS X and Linux, making it more widely available than Activeworlds
System Usage: Activeworlds wins this one by a mile, the Activeworlds browser isn't as needy as the Second Life viewer and can be run by computers alot older, obviously a target towards the low end of the market
Graphics: The hands down winner here is Second Life, the Havoc 3 game engine is far more superior when it comes to performance, detail and physics (which Renderware lacks)
Activeworlds: 0 Second Life: 1
Round 2: Features
Tourists (FREE)
Do Not get an ID (they all get #0)
Their names can be used by anyone
The choice of two Avatars
Tourists typing is grey coloured
Tourists cannot enter all worlds
Tourists builds can be deleted
Citizens ($6.95 a month/$69.95 a Year)
Citizens get their own user name
Citizens builds cannot be deleted
Citizens can telegram each other
Add other citizens to contacts to know when on
The choice of all avatars
Citizens typing is black
Citizens can have a custom avatar
Basic Membership (FREE)
All features except
Cannot buy land
Cannot build
Only Human Avatars
Premium ($9.95mo,$22.95Q,$72yr)
Can buy land
Can build
May sell items
The 3 categories in this round are Free Membership, Paid Membership and Overall Features.
Free Membership: This one goes to Second Life, as a free member you can earn money, talk to people, get access to everywhere and buy clothes, customize your avatar etc, and the free membership in Second Life definatly comes with more perks than the Tourist option on Activeworlds.
Paid Membership: I have awarded this to Activeworlds, AW is slightly cheaper and offers alot more in the membership package, (such as avatars etc) although the Second Life Premium Membership is great, it is too costly for its lack of extra features of the Basic Membership.
Overall Features: This was a tough one, but i have to say that Second Life has the overall better features, with the Linden Dollars, self made objects, clothes and even the opportunity to get nasty (hehehe you know what i'm talking about) the overall features in Second Life is superior to those on AW.
Activeworlds: 0 Second Life: 2
FINAL ROUND: User Experience
The last Categories are Ease of use, Community and World Moderation
Ease of Use: I used Activeworlds from 2005-2009 and in that time i still hadn't learn't everything, for four years i studied the Renderware system, but it was just to ancient, complex and down right annoying. I give this one to Second Life, because since i migrated here in November of 09 (i lost my account recently because i forgot the password, hence the new account) within 1 week i knew pretty much everything, and even now 7 months on, i can safely say i only need to learn when a new feature is released.
Community: Again this goes to Second Life, in AW it takes a while for people (especially Citizens) to actually notice your existence, in Second Life, i have been friends with Basic and Premium members from day 1.
World Moderation: This one goes to Activeworlds, there is no room for mistakes there, they barely allow nudity and profanity, and it's nearly impossible to bend the rules, in Second Life, its just like real life, the rules get broken, and the ppl up top don't do anything.
So with a total score of 6-3 Second Life is the better Virtual World, these are the reasons why it has double the members Activeworlds has.
Regards, Darkmaster Topaz
Do Not get an ID (they all get #0)
Their names can be used by anyone
The choice of two Avatars
Tourists typing is grey coloured
Tourists cannot enter all worlds
Tourists builds can be deleted
Citizens ($6.95 a month/$69.95 a Year)
Citizens get their own user name
Citizens builds cannot be deleted
Citizens can telegram each other
Add other citizens to contacts to know when on
The choice of all avatars
Citizens typing is black
Citizens can have a custom avatar
Basic Membership (FREE)
All features except
Cannot buy land
Cannot build
Only Human Avatars
Premium ($9.95mo,$22.95Q,$72yr)
Can buy land
Can build
May sell items
The 3 categories in this round are Free Membership, Paid Membership and Overall Features.
Free Membership: This one goes to Second Life, as a free member you can earn money, talk to people, get access to everywhere and buy clothes, customize your avatar etc, and the free membership in Second Life definatly comes with more perks than the Tourist option on Activeworlds.
Paid Membership: I have awarded this to Activeworlds, AW is slightly cheaper and offers alot more in the membership package, (such as avatars etc) although the Second Life Premium Membership is great, it is too costly for its lack of extra features of the Basic Membership.
Overall Features: This was a tough one, but i have to say that Second Life has the overall better features, with the Linden Dollars, self made objects, clothes and even the opportunity to get nasty (hehehe you know what i'm talking about) the overall features in Second Life is superior to those on AW.
Activeworlds: 0 Second Life: 2
FINAL ROUND: User Experience
The last Categories are Ease of use, Community and World Moderation
Ease of Use: I used Activeworlds from 2005-2009 and in that time i still hadn't learn't everything, for four years i studied the Renderware system, but it was just to ancient, complex and down right annoying. I give this one to Second Life, because since i migrated here in November of 09 (i lost my account recently because i forgot the password, hence the new account) within 1 week i knew pretty much everything, and even now 7 months on, i can safely say i only need to learn when a new feature is released.
Community: Again this goes to Second Life, in AW it takes a while for people (especially Citizens) to actually notice your existence, in Second Life, i have been friends with Basic and Premium members from day 1.
World Moderation: This one goes to Activeworlds, there is no room for mistakes there, they barely allow nudity and profanity, and it's nearly impossible to bend the rules, in Second Life, its just like real life, the rules get broken, and the ppl up top don't do anything.
So with a total score of 6-3 Second Life is the better Virtual World, these are the reasons why it has double the members Activeworlds has.
Regards, Darkmaster Topaz
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