Time for a chat (Virtual of course) (imvu.com (IMVU))

Member Name: Autarkis

Product:	imvu.com (IMVU)
Date:	17/10/08 (219 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun 3d virtual chat.

Disadvantages: Can be slow running on low spec pc's.

IMVU was launched in 2004 it currently has 20 million registered users,
and has just been awarded the 2008 Virtual Worlds Innovation Award.


IMVU is an innovative chat program that also has social networking. The site runs in two different forms, firstly a website with individual homepages for each member of the site in a similar way to places like "Myspace" or "Facebook".
Secondly a MSN or Yahoo style messenger client with one major difference instead of just getting to see text, you are given a whole 3D world in which your virtual avatar can not only chat with your friends but also interact with them in a similar method to such programs as "Secondlife" or "There".

For all those forum junkies amongst us there is also a wide selection of different forum areas to chat about things to do with the site its self or anything else that's on your mind.

Firstly you will need to go to the IMVU site and register as a new user on the site. Next you will need to download the chat client, once you have downloaded the client (this is simple and quick to do.) You will get a brief introduction and tutorial as to some of the basic functions of the chat client before you can start finding new friends and chatting.

There is NO CHARGE, and you don't need to spend money to enjoy the site.

However there is a virtual currency in IMVU in the form of credits or predits.

Credits- are currency that has been purchase from IMVU or one of the 3rd party sellers who populate IMVU. The rates of exchange as to how many credits you get for your money varies so make sure you shop around. IMVU's exchange rate is 1,000 credits to $1.

Predits- are free credits which are award to a user for a number of different things such as playing the daily spin game which gives you the chance of winning up to 500 predits and when you view the new section of the virtual catalogue you get 50 predits (this is given only once in every 24 hours)

Another way for you to gain credits is to become a developer, However this will require that you buy your avatar name from the site. The charge for this is $7.95 (approx. £4.61) they accept most major forms of payment from credit card to paypal to google checkout.

When you initial start on the site you will get to choose an avatar from a good selection of different avatars, you will also be given 1,000 credits to spend in the virtual catalogue to enable you to change the look of your avatar and make them more reflect your style. As well as this you will also get a free room to chat in with a variety of different furniture that you can arrange in the room to suit your taste. Plus a number of different gifts are given to you by the various automated help guides on the site such as extra rooms, pets and clothes.

You can also visit the virtual catalogue which contains a massive array of clothing, hairstyles, pets, rooms and many, many more different things to make your avatar your own.

Once you have customized your avatar and you are ready to chat in 3D you can search for someone to chat with, specifying age and gender, or you can use the chat now feature which randomly pairs you up with someone, which can be quite interesting.

You also get a homepage which you can customize, which is very easy to do, there are different sections on your homepage that you can drag and drop into the place where you would prefer it, you can hide certain panels if you don't want to use them, you can take pictures of your avatar which can used on your page also you can upload pictures from your computer. You can add a background, buy stickers, and it also supports html coding, so you can make your homepage your very own.

You can also create a wish list on your homepage, this can be used to add items you want to buy at a later time, and friends or people that visit your homepage may gift you what you want.

Chat in 3D animated scenes, with friends, and make new friends.
3D chat has many features, you can move your avatar around on the nodes, there are different actions you can use to express yourself, such as laughing and, waving, you can access the actions by right clicking on your avatar to get a menu, where you can also change your mood, from happy, to angry, sad, bashful, or inpatient. You can also interact with your 3D chat partner by clicking on the avatar, you can hug, kiss, shake hands and greet each other. Some of the actions are locked and only access pass users can use these.

In some animated scenes you can swim in water, ride on the back of a dragon, or even get lost in a maze.

Once you have found someone to chat with you will enter a room, which you can change using your inventory, also whilst chatting you can change the camera angle and zoom in and out.

If you decide to purchase your avatar name you can then use the developer program to create all sorts of things, from clothing to skin tone, pets and rooms. There are plenty of tutorials to help you. You can even go onto to make your own mesh to develop a new product in the catalogue. There is a small insertion fee (in the form of credits not cash) to pay for submitting a product into the catalogue, once you make a sale from your product you get a percentage of the sale.

If you are a successful developer and you make a tidy profit you can sell your credits to credit resellers for cash, however don't forget to keep some credits to one side to pay for the insertion fees of any new product if you wish to continue selling.
It takes a while to become an established developer.

There is also the option to join different groups on the site which will allow you to find people with similar interests to your own quickly and easily.

IMVU is appealing for younger people; however I would say that it is not suitable for minors, as there is some adult content.

IMVU also has a number of upgrades that you can purchase for your account such as

An Access pass which allows more adult orientated contact to occur in the chat client and also allows access to the restricted areas of the catalogue which would feature more provocative clothing and such.
The cost for an access pass is $19.95 (approx £11.57)

The VIP pass which is an elite status within the site which gives access to many different aspects of the site and the chat client plus it also gives you a credit income of 5,000 credits a month while you are subscribed to it.
The VIP pass costs from $6.25 a month (approx. £3.62)

IMVU is still in beta stage but it has come a long way since I have joined, there are still the odd glitches and problems, and the client occasionally crashes but usually only if you are using a low spec PC and are trying to chat with multiple people at the same time or have too many other memory hungry programs running at the same time.

I first became a member of the IMVU community in 2004 and have enjoyed using the site without spending any money for quite some time.Since then I have become a developer, which is a lot of fun, there are lots of helpful tutorials, and many new things to learn, there is a wide range of products in the catalogue for you to derive from.

I have really enjoyed my time on IMVU.


I would recommend this site, as it's a lot of fun. Always new things to do.
Always remember to be safe in chat.

To find out more visit www.imvu.com

Hope to see you there!

Summary: A great alternative to the traditional chat messenger.