I've covered my experiences with World of Warcraft a couple of times here, and I've now been playing for more than three years. Even if you don't play, you may have heard that Blizzard Entertainment are about to release the third expansion / fourth instalment for World of Warcraft, called Cataclysm. It's a fairly standard formula now for MMOs - release an expansion every couple … [Read more...] about World of Warcraft’s Cataclysm: lessons for virtual worlds
General News
The Watch – virtual worlds in the news
1. Gizmag (USA) - Play robot moves effortlessly between real and virtual worlds. "In an increasingly tech-centric world, keeping kids interested in learning can be an uphill battle. With teaching that involves play recently attracting some powerful supportive voices, students from MIT's Media Lab have developed a system which merges technology and play to stimulate young minds. … [Read more...] about The Watch – virtual worlds in the news
Departure from Second Life: one story
For the duration of the four-plus years I've been involved with Second Life, I've known Wolfie Rankin. He's been one of the driving forces behind the ABC Island community since its launch back in 2007, and has also been outspoken on a range of issues, including his perspective on furries. For me, he's been an enduring Australian presence in Second Life, so I was more than a … [Read more...] about Departure from Second Life: one story
Original content versus fan content
With studios and publishers flinging infringement notices around about fan-based role-playing environments online, it’s worth looking at the situation from another perspective. After all, why not just create new, original theme properties rather than basing role-play environments on popular books, movies and television shows? Why do so when official gaming environments already … [Read more...] about Original content versus fan content
Journal of Virtual Worlds Research Volume 3, Number 1 released
I'm a big fan of the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research - it's not just because they're one of the few journals around devoted to the topic, but it's the variety of articles in each issue. The latest volume is titled The Researcher's Toolbox, so as you'd expect its focus is research methodologies. That said, there's plenty of different topics to sample. I'll showcase the … [Read more...] about Journal of Virtual Worlds Research Volume 3, Number 1 released