Tag Archives: Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions in There

Welcome to our most frequently asked questions (FAQs)! If you are not able to find the information you need, you can always email our Staff at feedback@thereinc.com.

What is There?

There is a social virtual world where people go to spend time with friends, meet new ones and have fun in a beautiful 3-D environment. There was created to take online communication to a new level, allowing people to incorporate emotion, body language, and even voice into real-time communication with one another – just like in real life. People from all over the world have joined There and grown it into a diverse community with something exciting to offer almost anyone.

What do you mean by “old” There and “new” There? 

There’s Virtual World population soared in the 2000’s. In March of 2010 There closed. The 3D social platform was rebooted in 2012 under a different business model offering FREE and low-cost unlimited trial accounts plus a $10.00 USD monthly subscription option for a Premium Membership. When members or Staff refer to “old” There they are talking about the game prior to March of 2010. Our current Virtual World is considered “new” There and was established in 2012.

How can I create an Avatar and play There? 

Download the latest There software to your PC computer. If you want to help test a Mac version of the virtual world, read the There Alpha Mac Test Client blog post for instructions and where to post feedback. At this time, the virtual world game There is not available to play on an iPad or mobile device.

If you would like to explore, play and make new friends in the virtual world you can head over to www.There.com to create an Avatar, username and password. You will receive a Welcome to There email that includes an email verification link. The next step is to verify your email account. If there is heavy traffic in the game, the autogenerated email may lag and take some time to get to your inbox. Please be patient with our old system and our small team, we are unexpectedly going viral on YouTube. Check your spam folder or add the email noreply@prod.there.com to your contact list for added measure. If you still don’t receive the email verification, then please contact our Staff at Feedback@thereinc.com for assistance. Once you have verified your email, launch the There logo icon from your desktop and log into the 3D game to play in the virtual world.

How old do I have to be to play in the virtual world There?

The virtual world There is for ADULTS ONLY. The game is 18 and over. We know this comes to a disappointment to our younger friends. Members will be required to do an age verification check if you want to use text chat and Voice to communicate with other members. If you are found to be underage your account will be given a lifetime ban and you will not receive a refund.

How can I get an age check?

All new members enter the virtual world as FREE Silent Trial Accounts. Every time you launch the game from your desktop the login page will ask you if you want to do an AGE CHECK or if you want to Join Now to UPGRADE to a Premium Membership with all of the bells and whistles. You can completely ignore the opportunity to upgrade and continue to log in as a FREE Silent Trial Account. Just enter your username and password and click on the blue “YES, LOG IN” button to enter the virtual world game at no cost to you for absolutely FREE.

Is There free to play? 

Yes! You can log into the Virtual World There for FREE with a Silent Trial Account.  We used to hold events called Free There Weekends, but FREE accounts are now available 24/7, every day of the year. Our FREE and Basic low-cost trial accounts are unlimited. 

What kind of trial accounts or membership types are there in new There?

Premium Membership – $10.00 USD Monthly Subscription (PayPal or Stripe)
Unlimited Basic Trial Account – One-time fee of $0.50 USD (PayPal Only) for age verification
Unlimited FREE Silent Trial Account – No cost to join. Play as long as you like for free.

Silent Trials Accounts are limited in their communications. Free members are only able to text-chat with Phoenix Stars (New Member Helpers) or Staff members. If you’d like to be able to text-chat with other members in There, you can upgrade to a Basic Trial Account with an age-check by charging a one-time $0.50 fee to your PayPal. Trial accounts include the Explorer Pack and ability to listen to music in-world. Trial members are limited in their economic activities and cannot buy or rent Real Estate. Trial accounts cannot give or receive gifts from other members. Trial accounts can purchase ThereBucks (Tbux or T$) virtual currency and virtual goods like hair, clothes, props and vehicles. Read the low-cost membership trials help article for more information about account limitations.

Premium Membership Accounts are the best way to enjoy playing in the virtual world There. This affordable monthly membership breaks down to only $0.33 USD per day. The plan includes Voice that allows your avatar to speak out loud and the ability to hear others in real time. For only $10 a month you can customize your 3-D avatar, text chat, advance your skill ladder, attend and host events, voice chat with friends, bookmark your favorite places, design virtual goods, shop and list items for sale, join up to 100 clubs, own Real Estate and much more with a Premium Membership Account in There. Premium accounts are available through PayPal and Stripe. Your PayPal account will need to have a validated mailing address and be linked to a reliable backup funding source (generally, a credit card) before you will be able to initiate your Premium Membership monthly subscription in There. Upgrade to a Premium Membership Account to get all of the bells and whistles There has to offer.

I don’t have a PayPal account. How do I pay for a monthly Premium Membership?

You can use Stripe as an alternate money processing payment system. Stripe is a card processor that accepts a variety of credit and debit cards from around the world. If your card is supported, you may use Stripe to purchase Therebucks or a Premium Membership. You do not have to have a registered Stripe account in order to use it as a payment service on the There platform.

Please note that Basic Trial Accounts and Real Money Developer Sales are only available for purchase through PayPal.

How do I cancel my Premium Account subscription if I make monthly payments through Stripe?

Payments made through Stripe can be canceled through your There profile. View your profile, click on Member Info>Manage Avatar Subscription>Cancel your monthly subscription. You can restart your Premium Account Membership at any time.

How do I cancel my Premium Membership Account monthly subscription through PayPal?

Visit PayPal to cancel your monthly subscription. It will appear on your account as a Subscription/Recurring Payment with the name Monthly Subscription for There.com Avatar (Your Avatar’s Name). After cancelling, you will be able to continue to log with all of the Premium Membership perks until the end of your pre-paid period. There are no refunds for monthly subscription payments. You can restart your Premium Account Membership at any time.

What happens when I cancel my monthly subscription?

When you cancel your monthly Premium Membership Account either through PayPal or in your There Profile if you use Stripe, all monthly payments will automatically stop being collected. Your Avatar will retain full Premium Membership perks until the prepaid portion of your monthly subscription expires. When your Premium Membership ends, your Avatar will revert to a Basic Trial Account with limited communication. You will still be able to use text chat to communicate, but you will no longer be able to use Voice to talk to your friends and you will no longer be able to hear their voices speaking. You can upgrade your membership back to Premium at any time to get your Voice and premium perks back.

Can you tell me exactly when my privileges will revert after I cancel my monthly subscription?

Not really. The monthly subscriptions are managed by our payment processors PayPal and Stripe. The There system takes action to remove your privileges as soon as an email communication is received from the payment processors that your monthly subscription has ended.

Can I pay for someone else’s Premium Monthly Account?

That is really nice of you! Yes, you can pay to upgrade another member’s account to Premium with PayPal or Stripe. Log into your member account. Open your Profile and click on Member Info. We limit the number of age-checks a PayPal account is allowed to process. You will be sent an email stating how many you have left available. Please keep track of your purchased gift subscriptions.

When purchasing a gift subscription for a friend, you will assume some responsibility for the Avatar account. For example, you are vouching that they are 18+. Be aware that if they get themselves banned, it also reflects on your account. Avatars that share the same PayPal account will not be able to leave a Peer Review on the same Developer Item. If we find out that you purchased a minor a Premium account, that account will be banned and your account will be permanently banned for life.

Your friend’s Premium subscription will automatically charge your account every 30-days until you cancel the recurring payment. 

How do I change my nametag color? 

For a 36,000T fee you can change your nametag color to one of the sixteen available team colors. Go to your Profile. Click on Member Info> User Preferences>Change My Nametag Color. Please note that the ability to change nametag colors is blacked out two weeks before and two weeks after a winter or summer There Games event. If you cannot change your nametag color then we are currently in a blackout period. Join your new nametag color team to get invited to seasonal There Games events. There is no limitation to the number of times you can change your nametag color.

nametags

I am a Legacy Avatar returning home to There. How do I get my Avatar back?

Welcome back to There! We missed you. Your friends are still There and more are returning to our virtual world every day. You can easily resurrect your Avatar’s look-set, inventory and skill ladder in new There. Just like old times! Read the Returning Member Frequently Asked Questions blog post for more information about your old Legacy account.

Okay, I’ve created my Avatar, but I can’t seem to be able to log in to the 3D game.

You will need to verify your email address first before you can log into There.com. Go to your email account associated with your Avatar and click on the link to register your email. Make sure to add noreply@prod.there.com to your email contact list. Check your spam folder if you are not seeing the email. If you still don’t see the email, contact our Staff at feedback@thereinc.com. Email addresses must be unique to each Avatar. No two Avatars can share the same email address.

I forgot my password and the forgot name or password feature says my Avatar doesn’t exist!

The Forgot Name or Forgot Password tools are for brand-new Avatars only. If you are a returning member, these tools will not work for you. Legacy Avatars need to use the Help Me Remember Stuff tool to recover your information.

Can I design and sell virtual goods in-world? 

Yes! You can create houses, vehicles, props, clothing, etc. in our Developer Program. If you want to design and sell your goods you will need to join the Developer Program and read the Submission Guidelines and the Peer Review Guidelines. Developer submissions are approved in There by Peer Reviewers in the Peer Review Program. Developers can now paint a specific list of available custom hairstyles. Shop for men’s and women’s customized hair.

Can I earn US dollar sales on my Developer designs instead of Therebucks?

Yes, you can start earning real cash in new There with the Real Money Developer Sales option.  To begin, you will need to have a PayPal Merchant Account to receive your incoming payments. You will need to update the address of your PayPal Merchant Account on your Developer Profile. It is suggested for you to reach out to PayPal and work with them to set your account to micropayments so that the fees charged by PayPal will be as low as possible for you. It’s always good to offer Thereians the options of purchasing your designs with USD through PayPal AND purchasing goods with Therebucks. Some people don’t have PayPal, but they really want to buy your designs so it’s good to still offer a Therebuck buying option.

Can I act as a third-party Therebucks seller?

No, in new There members are NOT allowed to sell Therebucks. We have provided the Real Money Developer Sales as an option for designers to make real USD instead of stockpiling Therebucks.

How do I find people in There? 

There is a great big world with several Islands and lots of wide-open virtual space. People teleport and travel by vehicle to explore the Virtual World and discover thriving Island communities. It’s good to know when and where to find friends in There when you’re looking socialize online. The best way to locate other members in There is by signing up for daily scheduled Events and exploring Neighborhood hangouts.

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Are there weekly staple events I can count on people being at? 

Yes, there are recurring events every day of the week that you can count on members being at. Check out the special feature promo on There Central and the special feature promo section on the Activities page for rotating daily event promotions. There are new Event Hosts and new scheduled activities being added every week so the events offered will change over time. In addition to staple daily events, we also host themed events where the whole community gets involved with the theme. Some that come to mind are Superhero Week, Dog Days of Summer, Wonders of Egypt, Flora & Fauna Fair and more. We also host holiday themes like Halloween, Easter, Christmas, 4th of July, etc.

Someone is bothering me. How do I get rid of them? 

Sometimes you run into other people who just don’t like to talk the way you like to listen. Instead of getting into a big argument about it (they’re probably trying to troll you anyway), use the Ignore tool to mute them. Once you Ignore another Avatar, you will not be able to hear their voice, see their text chat bubbles, receive Instant Messages or Summons. You will not be able to see their custom design clothing in There and they will be unable to approach within a dozen meters of you. You will view the Ignored Avatar as halfway sunken in the ground 12 meters away from you. Everyone else will see the Ignored Avatar where it is currently standing, talking and communicating in real-time with everyone else. The best thing to do is teleport away from the person and go about your day.

I tried to log into There and I couldn’t get into the 3D world. 

The Virtual World goes down for maintenance around 3:00 AM Pacific time. Are you SURE you finished registering your Avatar? Remember to check your working email account for the There Welcome Email. It includes a link to verify your email account before you can log into There. If you have not verified your email account, you cannot log into to the web pages or 3D Virtual World.

When I try to log in it says Service Is Closed

Occasionally, the service is run in test mode after a client release (software update) for a few hours. During this time Silent Trials, Basic Trials and Premium Member Accounts are not able to log in. Only our debug Avatars will be allowed in to test the world during closure.

When I try to log into There it says Servers Are Busy

On occasion, we may have to limit the total number of people who can be logged into the Virtual World at the same time. Especially in these exciting times with high viral traffic from the Globatron video on YouTube there might be a delay. Keep trying.

When I try to log into the 3D world, it says Problem Connecting to World

Assuming you spelled your Avatar name correctly and that we are not down for maintenance, you most likely have security software on your PC or in your router/network that is blocking the There client from contacting our webapps servers (http://webapps.prod.there.com). Sometimes this will start happening after receiving a new client release (software update) if your firewall feels the updated client doesn’t deserve the permission you granted to the original client download. If you can’t figure out how to get your firewall (or other security software) to approve the current There client, then you can generally resolve this by uninstalling the client and then reinstalling the virtual world There.

After logging in successfully, I never see my Avatar appear in-world. I just see some mountains on a blue background. 

Assuming the servers are not down for maintenance, this generally means that security software (on your PC or in your router/network) is blocking or not forwarding some forms of internet traffic. Some of our client/server interactions depend on UDP packets (both incoming and outgoing) in the port range 2300-2399. Make sure the are not blocked by your firewall/router/NAT. In some cases, you might need to set up explicit port forwarding rules in your router so it knows which PC on your network should receive the packets. While we can’t provide much specific help for your particular AntiVirus package, be aware that the AV packages are taking on more firewall-like roles, so what looks like a firewall issue might be some add-on AV functionality. For example, if you use the AVG antivirus package, it has a module called Web Protect.

Tell me more about my firewall. 

Well, we probably don’t know much about YOUR firewall, but it needs to allow our client software to use TCP (in and out) in the port ranges 2300-2399 and 52300-52399, as well as the traditional ports 80 and 443. We also need to use UDP (in and out) in the port range 2300-2399. Note that you probably have more than one firewall, and if you have an antivirus package like Norton or Avast it probably came with some add-ons that also have firewall-like behaviors. Any one of these can nuke a program it feels should not have access to the Internet.

Are there any Windows compatibility issues I should know about?

Our client works with Windows 10 and Windows 11. However, Win11 updates have led to some issues that can only be fixed on Microsoft’s side.  Read more information about Window 11 compatibility here.

  • The use of the mouse wheel has changed, and you might have to use Windows Control panel to set it as you like.
  • You must have Edge installed.
  • our super modern version of DirectX might not include the version 9.0c we need (available from Microsoft).

Are there any browser compatibility issues I should know about?

Our 3D There Client depends upon Edge browser control, which emulates an appropriate version of Internet Explorer so as to be compatible with the websites you look at in a browser window while you are logged into the 3-D world. We automatically pick what we think is best for your particular combination of operating system and browser, but you can influence that decision via the “IE Emulation” setting in ThereTweaker.

What is ThereTweaker?

ThereTweaker is a stand-alone tool you can use to modify key client parameters outside of the client itself. This is particularly useful when the current settings are preventing the client from starting up. Use your local windows search to find your copy of ThereTweaker inside your installed client folder (it’s in thereclient/dlls), and execute it. The interface is pretty straightforward. Once you save your changes, they take effect the next time you launch the There 3D client.

I can log in OK, but I never get system messages and my compass and ChangeMe controls won’t open.

When “Flash” was replaced with “There Edge”, the things which were formerly Flash Controls – like the FunFinder, Shortcut Bar, ChangMe, and Message Bar – became like little web pages embedded in the There Client. There Edge uses a standard Microsoft component called “WebView2”, which is kind of like a tiny Microsoft Edge Browser. If you are noticing that you can’t see any system messages and the notification sound is going off, go ahead and maximize your window click on the system message command and the minimize the window again.

I can log in and play for a while, but pretty soon things get really weird and stop working until I reset my router.

This could be a symptom of owning a Motorola SURFBoard modem (popular with cable modem ISPs) that needs to have its “IP Flood Detect” feature disabled. The Motorola implementation of this feature erroneously treats most incoming stream data as ‘an attack’ and its reaction to that attack is to just start throwing every other packet away. Turning it off will improve your internet experience considerably, not just for There.com.

I was able to log in just fine until the most recent client patch. Now I get told my Avatar is unable to contact the login servers?

Generally, this means your firewall (or other security software) feels the client program has changed (It just did with the client update.) and thus no longer benefits from the permission you previously granted to it. Most firewalls are smart enough to just ask you again, but some will wait for you to manually change the firewall settings (remove the old permission, then either add a new permission manually or run the client and hope to be challenged by the firewall again). If you can’t figure out your firewall, you might achieve success by uninstalling and then re-installing the client.

None of these FAQs helped me. How can I notify There Staff of my problem and get help to resolve it?

Email Staff at feedback@thereinc.com for assistance with your account, technical issues or questions you may have about There. Always include your Avatar name in your emails so that Staff can easily identify who you are. Make sure to include as much detail as possible in your email to Staff.

THERE.COM SOCIAL MEDIA

Official There.com Blog

There Virtual World Facebook Business Page

MEMBER FAN SITES

Connect outside of There.com with other members through fan sites. The groups/channels listed below are run by our members and not directly associated with official There company channels.

Thereian Community Facebook Group

There.com Technical Help & Support by Members Facebook Group

There Community Discord

ThereCommunity.net Member Forums

Developer Program Updates

ANNOUNCEMENT – The virtual world There.com has made several updates to documents in the Developer Program. We have also added the updates to the Peer Review item summary page. We kindly ask that all There Developers and Peer Reviewers read the updated documents and familiarize themselves with the changes.

The following Developer Program documents have been updated. To view the internal documents, you must first log into your There.com account and copy and paste the links into your browser window.

Developer Submission Guidelines

Peer Review Guidelines

Peer Review FAQs

Below you’ll find a quick summary of the Developer Program changes. Please refer to the actual documents for full details regarding the recent changes in guidelines.

Expanded education about finding and tracking comments and reviews on cancelled submissions.

It is the Developer’s and the Peer Reviewer’s responsibility to know how to track comments left by Staff and other members on cancelled submissions.

  • Every time a comment is left on a submission an autogenerated email is sent by the Developer Program to the Developer and all reviewers.
  • The email is sent to your Avatar’s registered email address. You must have a valid email address on file to receive the system wide Theremail.
  • The autogenerated email will include a link to the cancelled submission. Click on the link to access the submission comments, approvals and rejections.

The subject of the email will look something like this for example:
(Username)’s Review of (Designer’s Name) (Title of Item) received (pid 12345678)
Example Subject Line:
Pyrena_Zosime’s Review of Vash’s Frivolous Shirt received pid 1132830

If you are not receiving the autogenerated emails from the Developer Program in your inbox, make sure that your Avatar’s registered email address is up to date. You can update your email address in your Profile under Member Info. The next step is to check your email spam folder. The emails from the Developer program are sent from noreply@prod.there.com to your Avatar’s registered email address.

IMPORTANT: Add noreply@prod.there.com to your list of email contacts. This will help prevent the emails from landing in your spam folder.

There is a small possibility that your email provider will block all system wide emails sent from noreply@prod.there.com. In this case, you may want to create a new email address with a different email provider and make sure to update your Avatar’s registered email address.

Lowered the number of negative reviews from 5 to 3 required for submission cancellation.

If a submission item receives three (3) or more negative reviews, the Designer is REQUIRED to CANCEL the submission. It is the responsibility of the Designer to remove the rejected item from Product Submissions. If the item was rejected for technical reasons, it can be corrected and relisted back in Product Submissions. If the item was rejected due to a violation of the Developer Guidelines or the Terms of Service the submission may not be listed again.

New requirements for test item identification. Test items are now only allowed 14 days in Submissions.

Test items must clearly be marked that the product submission is in fact a test item.

  1. Mark the Title as a test item. Example: Test Item (Product Type) or Test Item Blue Shirt
  2. Mark the Description as a test item. Example: This blue shirt is a test item only.
  3. Mark the Thumbnail image as a test item. Example: The text overlay on the thumbnail image should explicitly say test item.

Test items can only remain in Peer Review for a maximum of two (2) weeks. It is the Designer’s responsibility to remove the test item after fourteen (14) days. If a test item is left in Peer Review for more than a fortnight it will be removed by Staff which will result in a loss of points for the Designer and any Peer Reviewer who left feedback.

Test items are not supposed to be approved. They are for testing purposes only. Peer Reviewers who consistently approve test only items will be issued an educational warning.

Guideline addition – No imagery of children allowed in the Developer Program.

Do not submit images of minor children to the There Developer Program. This includes real-life photos, filtered photos, AI photos or artwork of any person under the age of 18.

Please read and review the Developer Program guidelines and FAQs for a full detailed explanation of the 2024 updates.