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You may have noticed this ad on 1389 Blog…
By CzechRebel
A cartoon likeness of a young man, standing with an indoor pool in the background accompanies the ad. This author does not look like that in real life, but, yes, he is the same CzechRebel who writes this column.
Normally, we on the 1389 Blog team speak of serious political issues that may affect us all, and we share technical tips to help out in this ever-changing age of innovation. However, diversion is an important part of life too, and some of us on the 1389 Blog team like to slip over into the cartoon land of IMVU for a nice little vacation from reality.
Well, you can speak to a young college student from the People’s Republic of China, visit a middle-aged friend in New Zealand, exchange ideas with an elderly person in Germany, all in the same hour that you spend on IMVU. You will be the form of a cartoon character and look 25 again! (Or, if you are a little younger, get a taste of being about 25.) You can travel the world in seconds. Or fly somewhere slowly on a private jet.
You can have romance, even hugs and kisses. If you are looking for anything more, I am sorry, it is PG at most. On the other hand, you can even have a fistfight with someone and it won’t hurt a bit. You can swim even if you have never swum before and come out of the water bone dry. You can dance beautifully, even if you have two left feet. Heck, you can dance if you are laid up in bed with casts on both feet.
You can hang out in large mansion or a small cabin in the autumn woods. You can even take a visit to fairyland. Sound like too much? Well, all you need is a PC. (Sorry, Mac, old PC has got you beat on this one.)
Beyond Chat Rooms and Instant Messaging
- and It Is Free
IMVU provides the traditional features of a chat room with the added bonus of cute cartoon characters that speak in actual cartoon bubbles. There are realistic people, like my CzechRebel character, and fantasy features such as fairies. Some dress in period costumes. Others are furry creatures that are partly human and partly animal.
The basic chat scene is pretty simple: You hit the icon that asks if you want to chat now and you and another character meet in a room. Or you can visit cyber clubs and restaurants. You can chat one-on-one. You can invite friends whom you have met to chat.
Getting Started – Really, it is free
To get started, just click on our IMVU ad. If you use the one with the CzechRebel picture, be sure to click right on the character’s photo.
The first thing you do is to design your character, which is called an “avatar.” You can pick a male or female character, and, trust me on this one: it is a really good idea to make sure you and your avatar have the same sex. This character will become your alter ego.
It is very simple. You select your character’s features and an initial wardrobe of clothing. You also pick a screen name. Next, you select a place where your character will be living. Finally, when you have your character selected and place to live, you set up the account and away you go.
Chatting
IMVU really encourages you to meet new people. You can meet people at random. If you like your visitor, you can add him (or her) to your “buddy list.” If not, feel free to leave at anytime. Each character has an IMVU homepage, so it is possible to see other person’s homepage data to get a better idea of who you are talking to. Most people who play this game list their age and the country they are from. In the US, specific states are specified, but no other personal information is generally available to the public, unless you choose to give it.
Your Buddy List
It does not take long to have a few people who you would not mind speaking to, at least one more time. Whenever you visit IMVU, it is simple to invite a buddy to join you. Or they may invite you.
The Cartoon World of IMVU Even Has Email
Just as in real life, you’ll need to check your email, but you don’t need a separate program. You just display your own homepage, and there it is.
Private and Public Email
When you email a friend, you can make it private or public. Anyone who visits your homepage can see your public email, unless you decide otherwise. However, it is fun to see your friends’ friends’ little messages. If it is a private message, send it as one. If not, share the fun with your friends’ homepage visitors.
Gift Package via Email
Modern science has not yet found a way to email us our Christmas and birthday gifts. However, not so at IMVU! Check your homepage and you may find that an admirer, secret or otherwise, may have sent you a gift.
Some really sweet avatars have even given my avatar a gift or two. And, other people’s generosity does help tend to make us generous with others.
Chat and Email At Once
While you are chatting with one friend, you can still use the IMVU email as an instant messenger system with others. It saves you the trouble of doing an invite to say, “I have to leave in 5 minutes, but will you be on tomorrow after work?”
All Avatars Are Single
It is important to remember that IMVU is only a game.
As with any other chat room, it is extremely unlikely that any online friendship will work out into a real life relationship. Also, the characters do tend to gravitate to avatars of the opposite sex. Regardless of your marital status, your buddy list will most likely reflect this. So, please don’t play if you have a real-life spouse who would get jealous of your cartoon character’s adventures.
You may have someone in real life, but your avatar does not. That does not meant that your real-life special someone cannot join you in cartoon land, but it would be a little silly to join IMVU to chat only with your own mate. So, expect to be “seeing other people.” The avatars don’t come with X-rated features; thus IMVU does not lend itself to infidelity. For all intents and purposes, your avatar is not you, and your avatar will always be single.
Personal Information
IMVU does allow you to post certain other data, such as marital status. However, you do not need to show it, as it can be a lose-lose situation when people make hasty and often unwarranted assumptions. For example, “He (she) is married; must be here to find some on the side.” “She is divorced; must be easy to take to bed.” “He is widowed; must have some insurance money at least.” “She is 33 and single; wonder if she is so ugly that in real life no one would think of marrying her.”
So, it is probably best to leave your marital status blank in your profile. However, there are true romantics who hope that disclosing their available stats, or single, widowed or divorced status, might lead to finding a cyber mate who could be promoted to real-life spouse. More power to them!
For a woman, disclosing the status of being married is also pretty safe. The boys will still play with you, but the chances of their trying to get too fresh with you will be much lower.
Paid Upgrades
You can play with IMVU for free for an unlimited period of time, but if you really love your new hobby, there are some paid upgrade features. One is called an AP pass; it allows the avatar to hug and kiss in a little more romantic fashion. It is not really all that dirty, but only paying adults can use it. IMVU does a good job of keeping their game relatively wholesome. Anything too risqué for the 1950s world of Beaver Cleaver is unavailable without an AP pass. Even with the AP pass, it is still a fairly respectable fantasyland, at least as far as I have seen. And, even if you do add some of the slightly more racy characteristics to your avatar, only those with their own AP pass can ever see the results.
You can have your age verified, so that others will know that you are old enough to play this game, or too old to play with them. Right now, age verification is free with the AP pass.
You can also official join, own your own screen name, and be able to have more prompts and features than those who do not pay. However, most of the players are playing for free, so you really don’t miss that much if you never invest a dime in this hobby.
If this is the right hobby for you, and you are going to spend some quality time in cartoon land, you may want to consider VIP membership. It will allow your character to make certain moves that regular avatar cannot. You are also invited to participate in special activities. This includes ownership of your screen name as well. But play for a while first and see whether you like it enough.
Credits, the Fantasy Currency of IMVU
Just like in real life, IMVU has an economy. It provides a certain amount of “credits” just for showing up and playing the game each day when you start out. If you do want to spend real money on this hobby, you can also buy more credits.
What Are Those Credits For?
The basic avatar and his or her dwelling are OK. You also get some places to take your guests, such as a virtual Starbucks-like coffee bar. However, you may want a nice house or apartment to meet your guest. Your basic clothing is fine, but you might like more of a wardrobe. You can even have a vacation spot, a car, a motorcycle or even a jet plane. You may also want to play music for both yourself and your guests, or show your creativity and style by putting decorations on your IMVU homepage.
All these things and more can be obtained for IMVU credits. You may get some for free, or you may buy more if you like.
Making the Most of Free Credits
IMVU is very generous with provide initial credits. We highly recommend that you join when you are in a position to visit IMVU on four consecutive days. You don’t have to chat long, but each of four days earns progressively more credits. You get 200 for day one, 400 for day two, 800 hundred for day three, and a whooping 3,600 for the fourth day. So, if you join knowing that you won’t be able to chat on the fourth day, it will cost you 3,600 credits.
Once that period of generosity has passed, you will still be able to earn credits here and there. You can get some credits by chatting with new people. You can get 50 credits for seeing what is new in the catalog. There are other free promotional credits too, but noting is as good as those first four days.
Buying Credits
Credits are not too expensive when purchased direct from IMVU. However, people who make and sell things to be used on IMVU generally sell them at a discounted rate. Those people are called “developers.” Also, joining IMVU as an official member of their VIP club includes 5,000 credits per month at no extra charge.
Giving and Receiving Gifts
Many IMVU people love to give and receive gifts. Only credits that you pay for can be used to provide gifts. However, many players give gifts to their friends who would not be in a position to purchase credits.
Shopping and Wish Lists
You can use both your free credits, and any that you purchase, to buy your props form the IMVU catalog. It takes seconds, and your avatar can have a new house, a coat, or even a jet plane right on the spot.
However, IMVU allows you to create a wish list. This will allow you to shop, compare, and contemplate, just like in real life. What is even better is that your friends will know what you are thinking about buying. So, something from your wish list may appear as a gift.
The Downside to IMVU – Problems and What to Do
The worst thing that I can say about IMVU is that it very easy to spend too much time there. However, you need to be aware of a few other things.
Saying Goodbye to Strange People
The vast majority of people with whom you chat on IMVU will be decent. However, anyone with a computer can play this game. And you may have a few problems. It is simple to remove someone from your buddy list. And if you remove them, you come off their list, too.
You can also block someone who continues to give you a hard time. This should be sufficient in almost all cases. However, there is always the creep who thinks of something that no decent person would ever imagine. IMVU had a special line to report abuse and IMVU is very good about getting back to people who have a problem.
I Am a Mac and Cannot See PC on IMVU
For the time being, you must have a PC to play IMVU. However, IMVU hopes to have Mac software in the relatively near future. So, when you see that cute Apple ad, remember that Mac cannot yet do everything that old PC can.
Rude People
The other serious problem is that some people carry real-life rudeness into IMVU. Ladies, there is nothing wrong with telling a guy who show shows up bare-chested that you will talk to him only after he puts his shirt on. Gentlemen, if you don’t like women in real life who are a little too quick to kiss, who want to be too close too soon, and who ask for expensive gifts, you don’t need to play with them on IMVU either. There are plenty of nice people for everyone on IMVU.
One caveat: IMVU is not geared to young kids - it’s for people who are old enough to have some savvy about conversing with adults of both sexes.
The CzechRebel Character on IMVU
If you come to visit IMVU, you may chat with me in cartoon land. I ordinarily don’t mention politics there, but would be glad to talk about a blog post or an issue that we cover on the 1389 blog, if pressed. But, come to have fun too, please. Life is too short.
CzechRebel, the character, is real ladies’ man on IMVU. It didn’t start out that way. However, as in other online venues, a man who will be nice to the women can become pretty popular, and the image has stuck. When asked how many “girl friends” my avatar has, he said, “I don’t number them. They are all unique and special to me as individuals.”
That is my character; “the man behind the curtain” of the CzechRebel avatar is a good friend, just as in real life. I am interested in hearing about my IMVU friends’ real-life problems and joys.
But ladies, I strongly advise you: don’t kiss and tell. I never do. Your secrets are safe with me. IMVU is only a game and my character is really sweet to ladies. In fact, if he were to meet 1389 herself in a chat room, he would try to sweet talk her a bit. After all, she works day and night to make this blog possible. If she ever gets time to visit cartoon land, it would be just the thing to get her mind off politics and computers.
Hope to see you in IMVU’s cartoon world real soon!
Stickers for your IMVU Home Page
Terminology
Reviews
- Softpedia IMVU Review
- Common Sense IMVU Review
- IMVU Websites on StumbleUpon
- IMVU Reviews on RateItAll
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