Virtual Worlds – Page 7 – Universe Creation 101

Bundle o' Joy: 15 Virtual Worlds Papers

2006 by christy

Terra Nova reports that 15 papers on virtual worlds are online for free and easy consumption. The papers were written by students of the “Games for the Web: Ethnography of Massively Multiplayer On-line Games.” or “Games for the Web” course at Trinity University. There is a great collection of areas of investigation. I’ve had a quick … Read moreBundle o' Joy: 15 Virtual Worlds Papers

Marketing Panel in Second Life

2006 by christy

As a nice followup to my recent post on SL marketing (an initiation rite that all SLers do!) Wagner James Au reports that there will be followup to the great article on Avatar-based Marketing with a panel discussion in this Friday in Second Life!: Moderated by Ansible Berkman (the indefatigable host and caretaker of Second Life’s … Read moreMarketing Panel in Second Life

Marketing Across Worlds

2006 by christy

I?ve been enjoying travelling around Second Life (SL) and investigating, among other things, the marketing systems being developed. Why SL? Everything in SL is created by the ‘residents’ who keep their IP and can choose to give away or sell their creations. This virtual money, Linden dollars,?can be?converted into real US dollars and withdrawn from … Read moreMarketing Across Worlds

Second Life & MySpace spoofs

2006 by christy

For those who are unfamiliar with Second Life and MySpace, and for those that are, here are some wonderful user-generated videos that ridicule and elaborate on them: The crass but true Ill Will?s Second Life Vacation And the sad but true Robbie Dingo?s Better Life David Lehre’s MySpace Movie Everything you see in these videos … Read moreSecond Life & MySpace spoofs

Virtual Love to RL

2006 by christy

There is alot of talk about cybersex, virtual love, in-game weddings and so on. I’ll be talking a bit about this soon. But for now, I’ll share with you something that is a bit closer to home. My brother, David Knife, and his wife were interviewed for a Wall Street Journal article on people who have made real life relationships from MMOGs. Just in case it switches to paid access I’ve reposted the text here but there are pics at the article. I attended their in-game wedding and it was great. The article didn’t include any pics from my brother and Traci so I’ve added one here. 🙂

Towards a Metaverse

2006 by christy

In Wired recently Steven Johnson, author of Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today’s Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter, commented on the need for a metaverse (a term apparently coined by Neal Stephenson — though I cannot imagine it never being uttered until 1992), a unified platform in which all our avatars can roam freely between the various virtual worlds. He argues: