Virtual Cultures

Cultures of Virtual Worlds, UC Irvine

This should be proclaimed Virtual World Quarter (not to be confused with Real Earth Day) since it seems like there has been a high concentration of events on the between March, April and May. In March, Life 2.0 was held inside Second Life. Sadly, first life, especially the part of that involves classes, students and book deadlines, detained me from joining that. However, this last weekend, I was able to get myself to Irvine for the Cultures of Virtual Worlds Conference instigated by my dear friend (and one of my PhD advisers), Tom Boellstorff, along with Maria Bezaitis from Intel, who sponsored the event.

Rand Miller on the Design Philosophy Behind Uru

This is a very interesting interview with Rand Miller on "Gamers with Jobs" where he talks about the underlying premise of Uru. He describes it as content-based MMOG where content is the central focus of gameplay rather than a means to an end of a leveling-based experience, and new content is introduced on a regular basis to keep the world fresh. The challenge is to find a business model for this type of game.

Also for those who "myst" Uru, some players made a beautiful Myst-style 2D walkthrough of the game.

New Study: Violent games make people relaxed

A new study shows that players are

more relaxed after playing violent video games

, such as World of Warcraft.

The Final Days of Uru...Again

As most of our readers are probably aware, the game that initially brought Ron and I together, Uru, now known as Myst Online on GameTap, is closing this week. A group of players have made this video, which I must say, brought me to tears.

Don't Give Up, Uru

The Uru community has been through the "slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" multiple times on an epic level. This little film sums up not only the experience of Uru refugees, but of any group who has lost their play community.

I was sent this while in the middle of writing my Uru book. I'm sure this will find its way into the "final chapter."