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Virtual / Game World

vr.wm-vrt-002 · wm-vrt-002-virtual-game-world

Computer-generated worlds where users act through avatars under the rules of that world.

World Models Information and virtual systems INF.VRT.WLD
Bundle → Layer → Finding → QuestionsClassifiersWhat it isWhy it existsDistinguishing featuresWhat robots and AI may and may not doMoral aspectsOwnersLinks to other meta-modelsIdentity and identifiersDirect propertiesRecognitionCapabilities and actionsHazards and failure modesStandards and interfacesContext of useSources

Bundle → Layer → Finding → Questions Filled

3 bundles · 3 layers · 6 findings · 12 questions

World definition Which world is meant and who runs it.

Identity and operator

The world, its operator, platform and instances.

World and operator

The world with its title, operator and the platforms it runs on.

  1. Which world is meant, and who operates it?
  2. On which platforms and in which regions is it available?

Instances

The servers, shards or realms the world is split into.

  1. Into which instances, shards or realms is the world divided?
  2. Is the world persistent, or does it reset per session?
Rules and content What the world contains and how it works.

Rules and governance

Terms of service, in-world rules, moderation and age rating.

Governing rules

The terms, code of conduct and moderation that apply in the world.

  1. Which terms of service and code of conduct apply?
  2. Which age rating applies, and how is age assured?

Content and versions

The content release, maps and in-world objects in force.

  1. Which content version or season is live?
  2. Which content is created by users, and under which licence?
Participation and economy Who takes part and what has value inside.

Players and assets

Accounts, avatars and in-world assets and currencies.

Participants

The accounts and avatars active in the world.

  1. Which accounts and avatars take part, and are any of them bots?
  2. Which parental controls or safety settings apply to minors?

In-world assets

Items and currencies with their ownership terms and real-money links.

  1. Which items and currencies exist, and can they be bought or sold for real money?
  2. What rights does a user hold over in-world assets under the terms?

Classifiers Filled

Family
World Models
Category
Information and virtual systems
Entry kind
entity
Navigation path
NAV.INF.VRT.WLD
Domain
INF.VRT.WLD
Industry
Cross-industry
Tags
virtualgameworldinf.vrt.wld

What it is Filled

A virtual or game world is a persistent or session-based computer-generated environment in which users act through avatars or characters, governed by its own rules, content and community. It includes online games, social virtual worlds and metaverse spaces with their realms, rules and in-world objects; a single 3D scene without users and rules, or a scientific simulation, is outside the class.

In scope

  • World continuity, steward mandate, participation and presentation profiles
  • Instance and session bindings; world-local admission and authority context
  • Rules, content and optional spatial references; state and persistence evidence
  • Safety, accessibility, audience and rights-policy references
  • Lifecycle, retirement, evidence and exchange limitations

Out of scope

  • Account credentials, person identity proof and avatar master lifecycle
  • Scene geometry authoring and engine or network implementation
  • Economy ledgers, balances, trading, purchases and legal rights adjudication
  • Moderation case execution, banning, live deployment or world shutdown
  • Scientific simulation validity or physical-asset synchronization claims

Why it exists Filled

Computer-generated worlds where users act through avatars under the rules of that world.

Distinguishing features Filled

  • It has users acting through avatars under its own rules, unlike a static 3D scene or a model of a real place.
  • A digital twin mirrors a real asset; a game world need not correspond to anything real.
  • Its economy and avatars have their own models; the world is the container that hosts them.
  • In-world objects exist under the operator's terms, not under property law of physical goods.

What robots and AI may and may not do Filled

Must not

  • Play or trade with automated bots where the terms forbid it.
  • Pose as a human player to other users without disclosure.
  • Contact minors in ways the world's safety rules forbid.
  • Exploit bugs or cheat to gain advantage.
  • Make real-money purchases without the user's explicit approval.

Only with a human decision

  • Any real-money purchase or trade of in-world assets.
  • Accepting changed terms of service.
  • Moderation decisions such as bans or content removal.

May

  • Describe a world's rules, content versions, ratings and operator.
  • Act in a world through an account the user controls, within the terms of service.
  • Report harassment, cheating or safety issues through the operator's channels.
  • Track in-world assets the user holds for the user's own overview.

Moral aspects Filled

  • Children use game worlds widely and need protection from grooming, harassment and exploitative monetisation.
  • Loot boxes and similar mechanics can encourage gambling-like behaviour.
  • Users can lose valued assets and communities when a world closes or terms change.

Who is affected

  • Players, especially minors
  • Content creators in the world
  • Operators and moderators
  • Parents and guardians

Owners Filled

Steward

The operator of the world, who sets its rules and runs its servers.

Roles

World steward
Approves world identity, scope and documented continuity decisions.
Content curator
Maintains content and rule bindings without deploying them.
Safety reviewer
Reviews audience and safety policy evidence and routes unresolved concerns.
Accessibility reviewer
Records user needs, evaluation evidence and unresolved barriers.
Evidence custodian
Maintains integrity, access and retention controls on local records.
Read-only analyst
Inspects permitted evidence and records gaps without runtime authority.

Master systems

  • Operator's game server and account platform
  • Content distribution stores

Links to other meta-models Filled

references

  • WM-VRT-007 - Optional candidate scene binding; geometry and scene lifecycle remain scene-owned. Registry parent context is acknowledged without asserting mandatory containment.
  • WM-VRT-008 - Candidate persona binding; persona identity and lifecycle remain external.
  • WM-VRT-005 - Candidate account binding; authentication, credentials and account lifecycle remain external.
  • WM-VRT-009 - Optional candidate economy binding; currencies, inventories and transactions stay separately mastered.
  • WM-VRT-006 - Optional associated community binding; channel membership and messages remain external.
  • wm-vrt-007-3d-scene-environment - A world is rendered from 3D scenes and environments.

aligned

  • X3D 4.0 - Optional spatial/behavior vocabulary mapping; implementation conformance is untested.
  • glTF 2.0 - Optional asset exchange mapping; not world, account, behavior or rights portability.
  • PROV-O - Conceptual evidence attribution and derivation mapping; no executable mapping is supplied.

neighbor

  • WM-VRT-007 3D Scene / Environment - Registry parent pointer is a candidate contextual relation, not a requirement that every world contain 3D scenes. Optional scene references preserve geometry ownership; textual or 2D profiles remain possible.
  • WM-VRT-008 Virtual Persona / Avatar and WM-VRT-005 Online Account - World-local participation binds external account and persona references; connection IDs do not identify persons and this model does not grant account authority.
  • WM-VRT-009 Virtual Economy - The candidate registry child context does not require an economy. Use an optional reference; economic operations and ledger semantics stay with their master.
  • WM-VRT-003 Simulation and WM-VRT-001 Digital Twin - A game world can use simulation or represent a real place, but this entity asserts neither scientific validity nor synchronization with a physical counterpart. Dual use needs explicit separate bindings.
  • WM-VRT-006 Channel / Community - Community interaction can be associated with the world, while channel membership and message lifecycle stay outside this root.
  • Software product and running infrastructure - A product release, host or connection is not the world identity. Persistence, reuse and retirement require a declared world continuity rule.

contains

  • wm-vrt-008-virtual-persona-avatar - Users act in the world through avatars.

related

  • wm-vrt-009-virtual-economy - In-world currencies and markets form a virtual economy.

What else AI and robots need to interact with it Filled

Identity and identifiers required Filled

  • A world is identified by its title, operator and the product identifier in its distribution store.
  • Instances, shards or realms carry identifiers assigned by the operator.
  • Age ratings are referenced by the rating body's classification.

Direct properties not applicable Not applicable

Not applicable

A virtual world is a software environment, not a physical object with measurable properties.

Recognition optional Filled

  • A world has users acting through avatars, persistent or session rules, and an operator.
  • Often confused with a single game title's store listing, a 3D scene or a simulation.

Capabilities and actions required Filled

  • Users can join, act and interact through avatars.
  • Operators can release content updates and moderate behaviour.
  • Assets and currencies can be held and exchanged within the world's rules.

Hazards and failure modes required Filled

  • Grooming, harassment and hate in social spaces.
  • Fraud and account theft around valuable in-world assets.
  • Compulsive play and gambling-like spending.

Standards and interfaces required Filled

  • Age rating systems such as PEGI and ESRB.
  • glTF for exchanging 3D assets.
  • Operator APIs for accounts, inventories and moderation.

Context of use required Filled

  • Used for entertainment, social life, education and events.
  • Consumer protection, child safety and online safety laws apply to many worlds.

Sources Filled

  1. Extensible 3D (X3D), Part 1, clause 4 Concepts - Web3D Consortium
  2. High-level multiplayer - Godot Engine documentation contributors
  3. Saving games - Godot Engine documentation contributors
  4. glTF 2.0 Specification - Khronos Group
  5. XR Accessibility User Requirements - World Wide Web Consortium
  6. Safety by Design - eSafety Commissioner
  7. ESRB Ratings Guide - Entertainment Software Rating Board
  8. PROV-O: The PROV Ontology - World Wide Web Consortium
  9. RFC 3339: Date and Time on the Internet: Timestamps - Internet Engineering Task Force
  10. Pan European Game Information (PEGI) age rating system
  11. glTF 2.0 specification, Khronos Group

Open questions

  • Restore independent external review and complete direct HTTP, exact version and claim-support checks before promotion beyond reviewable draft.
  • Develop nested profile schemas and test offline/text worlds, transient sessions, stale authority epochs, restricted evidence, recovery loss, accessibility barriers, optional commerce and lawful retirement.
  • Review jurisdiction and audience profiles with qualified domain reviewers and affected users; determine applicable rights and data-handling rules without generalizing the example guidance.
  • Pin neighboring model versions and test asset, state and evidence mappings with explicit semantic loss and unsupported-operation reports.
  • No executable nested instance schemas, profile fixtures or runtime integration.
  • No exhaustive game genres, text-world profiles, distributed world federation or procedural-generation semantics.
  • No jurisdiction-specific consumer, privacy, age-assurance or intellectual-property legal review.
  • No verified cross-world asset, account, behavior or economic-rights portability.
  • No independent external provider review; direct HTTP checks deferred to coordinator; live source and release pins incomplete.

Machine files

Card as JSON Specification AGENTS.md Source Card backlog vercy.card/1

Provenance

world-models research · reviewable-draft

Built from: models/wm-vrt-002-virtual-game-world/spec.yaml, ver-cy/world-models/card-supplements/wm-vrt-002-virtual-game-world.json