There Fun Times

Location for 2013 Real-Life Gathering Announced!

We are pleased to announce that our next Official There Real-Life Gathering will be on the mysterious island from LOST. This lush tropical paradise offers a great number of amenities including exotic animals, plenty of beaches and friendly locals. On the island we will learn how to find our own food, shoot various weapons and journey within ourselves to make our greatest fears come to life. A fun time will be had by all!

Our original plan to host the gathering this summer was unfortunately derailed when Locke (a regular cast member from the hit show) dislodged the island in time. We THINK we have successfully charted the island's trajectory and that the gathering will be held in the August/September time frame of 2013, somewhere near the Australian Reef (we can't say for sure until we find Desmond). Be sure to stay tuned for more information as it becomes available.

Spending Michael’s Money

After years of begging to be trusted with a company credit card, I finally got my wish when Michael handed me his platinum card to make a coffee run for the team. On my way to the local Starbucks, I drove past the local swap meet and had an epiphany. What could I get for the staff that would improve productivity more than a cup of java? Stuff, that's what. Join me on my exciting adventure of ...

Mactivizzard Announces Bold New Direction for There.com

In 2003 we opened our 3D virtual world where you could hang out and play games with your friends, all in a lush 3D virtual world. We are very, very excited to let you know that we have decided to go in a bold new direction and take the next big step for our virtual world: a giant step backwards! Today we are thrilled to announce that There.com will be moving to 2D!

The new 2D version of There will be browser-based and will allow you to build a 2D avatar, get your own 2D home and explore a new 2D virtual world. "In order to move forward" said Michael Wilson, CEO of the newly-formed Mactivizzard, "we must move back".

Our hope is that this will result in features being released more quickly. "It's easier to test things, 'cause I only have to look at one side," said Kirzten from QA. To get this process started, we will need all members to report to the Avatar Smasher to make the transition from 3D to 2D. If at any point you have trouble smashing your avatar, please click here to file a report. Thanks for choosing There.com and we hope (like, really hope) to see you in our new world! Thanks and enjoy, There.com Staff

There.com's Innovative New Registration Path Revealed

As many of you know, we started a major internal effort last fall to overhaul the experience for new visitors to our site. The goal of this "funnel" project has been to improve the path by which people register for the service, install the software, log into the 3D world and arrive on the Welcome Walkway for their first visit. All of this is very complicated and was a transitional step while we continued our work internally on the next iteration. Today, we are proud to present THE FUNNEL, PHASE 2. Effective with the 4/01/09 client release, you will notice a massive overhaul to the process by which we bring new members into our virtual world. An actual giant funnel has been placed directly over the Welcome Walkway. Based on answers to a few simple questions when they first land at the There.com site (e.g. Blackberry or iPhone?, Chocolate or vanilla?, Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie?), all new avatars are now whisked into the funnel and deposited at an appropriate location, where Greeters and Island Guides are standing by to welcome them. Please let us know if you have any suggestions or feedback.

“There: The Motion Picture” Rides into Theaters in 2010

(Los Angeles, CA, April 1, 2009) Makena Technologies, a privately held corporation headquartered in San Mateo, CA, has partnered with New Line Cinema to produce a movie based on their 3D online virtual world, There.com.

The screenplay, written by Andrew Niccol (The Truman Show, Gattaca), is complete and has been described as a cross between "He's Just Not That Into You", "Die Hard 4: Live Free or Die Hard", and some lame excerpts from PixelVixen's diary. Principal photography will start in Cancun on April 30, 2009. Award-winning director Michael Bay has been tapped to ensure gripping, slow-motion action sequences and highly explosive "Bacio" scooters. Richard Hallock has been named as the second unit director.

The major roles have already been cast, and the movie will feature Philip Seymour Hoffman as entrepreneur-by-day, ninja assassin-by-night Michael Wilson, who founded Makena in 2005.  Pauly Shore will play Vash_Community, the evil community manager who attempts to moderate the entire world.  Nicole Kidman has been cast as Mackie, the community manager who teams up with a legion of newbies to stop him.  Filming will be done on location in Tahiti, Cancun, and New Zealand, and will also feature a largely disappointing final showdown battle to be shot in Elaur's back yard.  Please post your casting ideas in the Official Forums as to which actor or actress should play your avatar. The deadline for Makena to submit casting requests is 11:59pm PDT on April 1, 2009. Daniel Craig is already under consideration for the role of Rick_Slick.  RavenTresses will play herself, because she is so pretty.

New Island Opening in There.com

We are very excited to announce the addition of a new island in There.com. Over the years, we have received repeated requests from the community to introduce an “adult” area in our virtual world. We have heard your feedback and are thrilled to be able to bring this to our members.

The new island, called Adulti Isola Virtuale (or “AIV” for short) is located approximately 300 kilometers from the western coast of Egypt. You will be able to reach the island when today’s client release is complete, although no structures have been put into place. We will ask for the community’s help with beta testing the final functionality when we are further along. In the meantime, consider this an “open house” period for the entire community to explore the new area, and then the island will be closed off and accessible only to premium members who are 18 years of age and older. Residents of Adulti Isola Virtuale will spend their T$ on home repair, taxes, and mortgage payments, as well as for tuition to send their junior avatars to the University of There. The island will also include a built-in alarm clock feature that generates an automated text message each day at 6am to remind you to get up and go to work. We hope you will enjoy the adult island experience.

Extra Release Notes for 04/01/2009 Release

Release Notes for 04/01/2009 Client and Server Release The following new features and improvements will be included in today's software update: Vehicle Repairs As of today's release, all of your vehicles including buggies, cars, hoverboats, hoverpacks and hoverboards will now be more representative of real life, and if you don't take care of them, they will fall apart. As in real life, maintenance on a 'fancy' designer buggy will cost more to repair than your basic 3-cylinder Kong buggy. If your vehicle isn't repaired or "tuned up" often, it might die on you when you least expect it (more than likely when you're on your way to that big event you've been waiting for all year). We will be installing tune-up stations all over There, so be sure to read the There Fun Times for more information about the locations of our Repair-O-Matics.

Makena Technologies to Acquire Activision-Blizzard

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif., April 01, 2009  — Makena Technologies today announced at a special Member Advisory Board meeting that it made an offer which was approved to purchase and merge with Activision Blizzard Inc. for $789 billion Therebucks (or $438,333,333 US Dollars and 33 cents). This merger will combine Activision Blizzard, an interactive entertainment business, with Makena Technologies.

Activision Blizzard and Makena Technologies will combine their businesses through the merger of a newly formed, wholly-owned subsidiary of Makena Activision Blizzard, or Mactivizzard. As a result of the merger, the virtual worlds owned by both Makena Technologies and Activision Blizzard will become completely merged communities.

Avatars from Makena's groundbreaking virtual world There.com will be able to travel to Azeroth to "hang out" on the streets of Stormwind, the sewers of Undercity or the caves of the lovable dragon, Onyxia. Taurens, Gnomes, Elves and Orcs will be welcomed with open arms into the vast community of There.com and can enjoy hoverboarding, playing cards and participating in fashion shows. The merging of the two worlds is only the beginning as Mactivizzard plans new strategies to merge more of their incredible properties with There.com. Some titles under discussion are Guitar Hero: Tiki Travel Tour, Crash Bandicoot: Hoverpack Racer and Spider-Man vs Vash_Community. No release dates have been announced, however.

About Activision Blizzard, Inc. Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision Blizzard, Inc. is a worldwide pure-play online and console game publisher with leading market positions across all categories of the rapidly growing interactive entertainment software industry. About Makena Technologies, Inc. Makena Technologies is the parent company of There.com, a fully interactive, 3D online virtual world where members can customize and create their own 3D character, meet and hang out with friends in real-time using voice and text chat, and build their own virtual homes. Makena Technologies has offices in San Mateo, CA and Laguna Beach, CA. For more information, visit http://www.there.com.

There.com Becomes “No Fault” Divorce State

SAN MATEO, Calif., April 01, 2009 - Makena Technologies, creator of the popular 3D social virtual world There.com, today announced that they have officially received “no fault” status from the state of California. Members who marry within the virtual world and then file for divorce will be subject to the same asset allocation and division of property laws that affect divorced couples in the so-called “real” world.

To facilitate a fair and painless allocation of assets, as well as to ensure that no further communication is required between the injured parties, Makena will introduce exciting new functionality with today’s software update. CEO Michael Wilson explains, “When a couple divorces in There.com, they won’t have to worry about the messy business of deciding who gets to keep that collection of rare garden gnomes. Instead, they will be flagged by the system, which will take over and automatically auction off all the possessions of both parties and then grant each person an equal share of the proceeds.” He added, “We couldn’t be more excited about this new feature, and we predict that it will have the added benefit of reducing our call volume to Customer Support.” Gartner predicts that 80% of US Internet users will enter a virtual world by 2012. However, a common complaint echoed by users of all virtual worlds is that there is no fair way to deal with the messy business of dividing assets when a relationship turns sour, and this is often a barrier when deciding whether or not to enter into a virtual marriage. "Marriage continues to be an important societal institution, and in order for virtual worlds to continue to grow, we, as site operators, have to make it as easy as possible for consumers to meet their needs," said Michael Wilson. “These enhancements to our auction system will enable us to attract more consumers to our platform and take virtual marriage to a whole new level." Stefan Lieberman, attorney at McKenzie, Brackman, Chaney and Kuzak, remarked, “What Makena Technologies is doing is truly revolutionary. They remain on the cutting edge of virtual technology and are forging a bold new direction in the area of virtual law.”

Notice About Upcoming Change to Official Forums

Members, On April 1, 2009, we will be making an important change to our system. Effective immediately with today’s release, we will begin charging for posts made in our official forums. We have updated our software to enable communication between the forums and our commerce system.

The cost will be 20T per word, per post, including subject lines. Please be careful to budget accordingly. You will be able to view a record of all charges in your transaction history (accessible from your member profile page). Note: all posts made in the club forums will remain free of charge. We know this represents a significant departure from how we have operated in the past. However, as President & COO Steve Victorino has noted, it is important in this tough economic climate to make sure we leverage all potential revenue streams that are available to us. We appreciate your patience and understanding as we make the changes necessary to improve our service.