Transcript from the final moments of Asheron's Call 2, an online game that got turned off on Dec 30 because it wasn't making any money. "This world will be shutting down in 2 minutes. Please log out." (via wonderland)
Interview with Edward Castronova, video game economist. Quite an interesting thought from him about using MMORPGs to test economies and social systems. "I think the smart thing for the US state department to do today is build a game about Islam but make it a democracy. And set it up so that every 16-year-old from Morocco to Pakistan can go into that world when they get a computer. Not say anything overt about democracy but have them play -- have them vote, for example." (via bbj)
Ten ways in which MMORPGs will change the future. "For now let's just say it's the most instantly gripping, involving and demanding entertainment technology ever invented. The addiction rate appears to be about twice that of crack Cocaine."
MMORPG and the Dunbar number. "Overall, these statistics still support my original hypothesis in my Dunbar Number post that mean group sizes will be smaller than 150 for non-survival oriented groups."
