Of all the rides in Meta's colossal metaverse project, this is the first one that caused me to pause for more than a second: the no-frills halfcourt basketball court located at the edge of the Plaza in Horizon Worlds. 

When I came upon it, I couldn't resist taking a few shots. Two other metaverse explorers apparently had the same reaction.

None of us felt the need to interact verbally. We were concentrating on our shots. 

It was late afternoon at the court at the end of Willow Avenue with the tattered net. Or a university gym during "open" hours, when none of the teams are practicing.

I navigated the buttons on my controllers to capture some in-metaverse footage. 

Then, just before I moved on, two teenage-looking avatars swooped onto the court, took a few shots, bantered a bit about the "automatic" basketballs that are programmed to go in if you throw them in the general direction of the basket. 

Then they flew off before I had a chance to tell them I was shooting a video. 

Later I messaged them, as a courtesy. We'll see if one of them responds...