5 Misconceptions about Metaverse

Despite sounding complicated to imagine when applied to our everyday lives, the concept of Metaverse — an alternative reality enabled by high technology — is familiar through entertainment, films, and books.

You might have seen “Ready Player One,” where the entire planet is addicted to playing the same game in VR; “Altered Carbon,” where you can download your consciousness into a new body; and of course, the “Matrix.” One common thing about these (and more others) novels and movies is the dystopian angle that shows the dark reality and future of people exploring the different worlds.

Even though we like these films, there is much more to the concept of Metaverse and the benefits (yes, there are many of them!) it offers in our everyday lives. In this article, we are breaking down the most common misconceptions about this phenomenon.

It’s not one world — it’s multiple worlds!

The concept of Metaverse doesn’t imply that there is one alternative reality created by a big tech corporation with a goal to control every aspect of people’s lives. Quite the opposite, a robust set of technologies like 3D graphics, AI, VR, MR, and blockchain that connects it to the real world economy enables anybody to create a world of their own, with its own rules and opportunities. Today the experts highlight 4 main Metaverses: Decentraland, The Sandbox, Cryptovoxels, and Somnium Space (VR-backed reality).

Innovative teams of developers from both famous and unknown game studios create alternative realities characterized by detailed maps, thoughtful game lores, and well-designed characters. It’s entirely your choice which world you want to become a part of (if any — that’s also your choice!).

Metaverse is not an invention of Facebook

To say more on the previous point, it is essential to clarify that Metaverse wasn’t created and controlled by Facebook. It’s true that the majority of people first heard about this term when Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook’s rebranding to “Meta” in October 2021 — but he was only following the trend that has been gaining momentum for several years.

They say the conception of Metaverse was coined in 1992 by sci-fi writer Neal Stephenson when he published his novel “Snow Crash.”

«A speech with magical force. Nowadays, people don’t believe in these kinds of things. Except in the Metaverse, that is, where magic is possible. The Metaverse is a fictional structure made out of code. And code is just a form of speech — the form that computers understand. The Metaverse in its entirety could be considered a single vast nam-shub, enacting itself on L. Bob Rife’s fiber-optic network.» — says Neal Stephenson.

To cut a long story short, while we can expect some major projects and innovations from the corporation in this field, Metaverse will never be controlled or determined by Facebook.

It’s not just about gaming

It is pretty evident that gaming is the first use case for alternative realities and how they touch many people. Today Metaverse has become a main stage for the entertainment industry with its fests. Decentraland tries to make its thousands of virtual spectators feel the unique concerts’ atmosphere when organizing 4-days Metaverse Festival with DEADMAU5, 3LAU, Paris Hilton as headliners.

But as millions of people play their favorite games, something significant is happening: right in front of our eyes, play-to-earn game communities practice real democracy and freedom of speech and governance through decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). Through governance tokens, everyone can take control of projects’ future development as a key decision-maker. Once mastered in the gaming industry, imagine what impact this technology can have when expanded on our everyday lives!

In the meantime, gaming guilds, which unite thousands of gamers, will have a chance to build the economy they would like to earn in, while considering their members’ interests. Guilds analyze all the proposals advanced by the developers’ team — and advise the most suitable way to meet the majority’s interests.

It’s designed for you to make money rather than drain your budget

It’s easy to imagine spending all your money on virtual objects in a world that’s not real. As in reality, you can actually make a living in the Metaverse. The new reality creates jobs that were non-existed before — and it’s time to try out for something new. For example, personal advisors in the field of NFT assets or Art may earn a fortune by being in touch with the latest trends. You’ll never know what types of hard skills will be necessary for Metaverse reality — even an avatar stylist may get a job if a player needs to customize his look. You haven’t come up with the idea to add such a gorgeous hat to the gorilla’s avatar, have you?

By winning in-game leaderboards and tournaments, you earn tokens that can be exchanged for crypto or fiat. Metaverse coins completely new market conception — play-to-earn. Gaming guilds like Metaguild provide the opportunity to start earning without any initial investment or knowledge. Find out how in our previous article.

Metaverse is either a bad or dangerous

Yet there are some risks for the vulnerability of Metaverse — as a potential aim for hacks. Although the alternative reality gives us endless opportunities, it also has significant risks for pieces of assets that can be stolen. Besides, there is still a global power grid problem which became critical in terms of usage of blockchain technologies.

Returning to the popular dystopian cliches from science fiction, we hope that the several points we brought up in this article are enough to convince you — or at least to start the conversation! — Metaverse is something that we create together to positively impact millions of people’s lives.

Have you also had some misconceptions about Metaverse that you managed to overcome?

About Metaguild

Metaguild is the first and largest self-funded hardcore gaming guild. We invest in games to secure guild positions and facilitate our players’ success. At Metaguild, we take the best from traditional gaming and speedrunning to the next level: games with open economies backed by blockchain.

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