Bacio

Although There, Inc. has been clear about not doing new development for the There consumer service, they have made the decision to put some of the things that were already “done” into the live world. The Tyr housing is starting to appear in auctions, and both the PortaHome units and the new Bacio vehicle type we’ve we’ve been hearing about for ages will soon be released into the There shop.

I’m sure the major practical effect of these changes will be to soak up a lot of the surplus There currency that is sloshing around. This is probably good for the community, because the currency market is frankly nuts right now. It will be good for the long term survival of the world, too, as the sooner the “panic selling” overhang is removed the sooner people will go back to buying currency from There, Inc. and the sooner, therefore, that they will be able to judge the true revenue potential of the world in its “no development” phase.

In the short term, though, having some new toys to play with will cheer everyone up, and the Bacio is definitely a fun new toy. I got a chance to play with a very indirect loaner today: as you can see, it is basically a two-person hoverbike but with a more upright posture for the riders and different sound effects. The avatar animations are excellent, particularly in turns and jumps; the main limitation seems to be that as the passenger’s hands are gripping a bar at the back of the vehicle, they can’t hold a paintball gun or a drink.

Yes, they do come in more “manly” colours.