Why does Zuckerburg's Metaverse suck so much?

GM from Decentra Daily, bringing you the alpha, while Zuckerburg just brings the beta.

Estimated read time: 3 minutes

Today's stories:

• Meta's Horizon Worlds - the future? or failure?

• Ethereum core devs meeting

• ai art pieces for today's stories - want these as NFTs?

Why does Horizon Worlds Zuck so much?

Every time Zuckerberg posts about Meta’s Horizon Worlds, the internet reacts with an intense mix of confusion and cringe.

Here’s his latest screenshot – a virtual selfie celebrating the game’s release in France and Spain:

What is Horizon Worlds?

It’s the VR social app in Meta’s metaverse project. Now out of Beta and releasing in more territories, Horizon Worlds is a free sandbox that lets you meet with friends and world-build in a virtual universe.

You can play mini-games, sight-see, and attend Horizon Venues for digital events like Post Malone shows. Soon, you’ll probably be able to shop and sell digital goods, too.

There’s also Horizon Workrooms, a similar app designed for meetings and presentations.

Ok – so what’s this screenshot?

I know, it doesn’t add up. There’s a Bay Area-sized ocean between the way Meta describes Horizon Worlds and what it’s actually like to use (play? experience?) it.

To be fair, there are more impressive creator-built worlds than those that Zuckerberg chooses (why?!) to promote.

But the disconnect gets more real when you realize this is the result of a $10 billion spend in 2021, with more heavy investment to come.

More mystifying screenshots - 

Here's another man teaching alien Zuck how to use his hands like a real human:

What Mark sees as a fun party, the rest of us see as torture:

This is our reaction to all the teasers from Horizon Worlds:

So what and who is Horizon Worlds actually for?

Good questions. I haven’t tried Horizon Worlds, so can’t fully comment, but the internet is overflowing with confusion about Meta’s intended market.

• The success of Fortnite, GTA V, etc. should tell you that lots of people like to socialize virtually by playing games.

But Horizon Worlds doesn’t seem optimized for that.

• The visuals and world-building give off Minecraft/Wii vibes, which could make you think Meta is targeting kids.

However, Horizon Worlds users are all currently 18+.

• It also seems like Meta wants Horizon to be a place for everything – gaming, working, shopping, hanging out – which does live up to the metaverse ideal.

But if they can’t nail even one of those functions, why would users spend so much time on the platform?

More than vague use cases and bad graphics, Horizon Worlds looks totally aimless – and joyless. I can feel the forced excitement through the screen, and it makes me sad.

So what’s happening?

Here are 5 guesses why Horizon Worlds looks like this:

1. The real work is somewhere else – probably in the hardware

…but then why lead with the VR world?

2. We’re still super early

During Meta’s annual meeting, Zuck said some products wouldn't be ready for 15 years …but Horizon Worlds already seems far behind.

3. They’ve encountered serious tech limitations

Horizon Worlds runs on Quest headsets without needing an external computer – which is great…but maybe this is all you get from the tech?

4. They’re banking on creators to build the experience

Maybe Meta expects artists to make the platform come alive …but they still need the right tools – and won’t be able to make anything that looks like other Quest experiences.

5. The Winklevoss twins aren’t involved this time

LOL.

Ethereum Core Developers meeting a success!

If you want to watch/listen to the whole thing you're a special kind of nerd, here is the key info you should know:

• A final mainnet Terminal Total Difficulty (TTD) 58750000000000000000000 was confirmed. Meaning when this number is hit the merge will go live.

• You can track the current total difficulty and merge countdown here: https://www.totaldifficulty.com/

• The merge is estimated to occur on September 14th or 15th 

Will you remember where you were on the day of the Ethereum merge? This will be something you'll tell your kids and grandkids about.....and they probably won't care, and just tell you that "you should have bought more ETH, you paperhand."

Today's stories in AI

Here is how we picture Mark Zuckerburg in the true metaverse....screw his Nickelodeon version, we want dystopian:

Here are a bunch of Ethereum devs at their meeting, agreeing it's time to merge TF out of ETH:

We'd love to see your AI take on our stories! Post your pieces on our Twitter posts!

Headlines of the day

• Dapper Labs Opens NFL Version of NBA Top Shot NFTs to the Public

• Why Fox Is Investing Millions in NFTs and Blockchain Technology

• Anthony Hopkins transcends human consciousness as an NFT

Disclaimer: Nothing in this article/newsletter should be considered financial advice. The purpose is to inform readers of the current trends and news in the web3 space. We encourage every reader to do their own research and not act upon information put forth by Decentra Daily.