3pointD.com

Raph Koster, revered designer of massively multiplayer online games like Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies (as well as being handy with a guitar and a line of verse) has announced his long-awaited startup. Known as Areae (the pronunciation is up to you), the company is dedicated to “taking the tired old virtual world and making it into something fresh and new,” according to the site. While few — make that practically no — details have been forthcoming, the site gives some tantalizing hints. “We’re working on some new tech that will literally change how virtual worlds are made,” it says. From now on, if Areae has its way, it sounds like virtual worlds will be “Something anyone can jump into. Something where anyone can find something fun to do or a game to play. Something where anyone can build their own place on the virtual frontier.” So what are we getting here? An easy way (a la Multiverse) to build your own game-world? A tool for putting together a smaller, more stand-alone 3D space (something like a distributed Second Life)? Something in between, or maybe completely outside? Who cares, it’s exciting, and anyway, only the Areae team (of two so far, but they’re looking for more) and its advisory board (peppered with veterans like Richard Bartle and people you may have heard less about but who are doing some really interesting thinking these days like Amy Jo Kim) know for sure. I’ll bring you more news as soon as I can cadge it out of Raph — or come down to South by Southwest, where I’m hoping to have both Raph and Multiverse’s Corey Bridges on a panel I’m moderating on user-generated content (though no one’s confirmed for it yet, to be sure). More news on that as it develops as well.