Questions

Following are questions that I've been sitting with over the last 3 years of playing Warcraft. There's nothing like killing 100 Borean Rhinos and finally, finally getting one Arctic Fur to make you question the meaning of life.

What kinds of relationships do we form via MMOs? What is novel about them? What are the difficulties these attenuated relationships face? What kinds of relationships are not possible via MMOs?

What kinds of learning do we participate in within MMOs? What human capacities are we increasing via our use of these new virtual environments? What human capacities might we be dulling in these new environments? How might these environments be used in US schools, or other educational venues?

What use do we make of MMOs that is not in some way educational? What relationship do we create between our use of the virtual world and our concepts of Sin? Witness Caprica's vision of the hacked V-Worlds--spaces for teenagers to view and/or perform human sacrifice, engage in orgiastic sex, kill other players or become mob bosses without legal consequence.

What would we like to see change structurally within the MMOs we currently enjoy? What does the virtual environment do currently that we like, or dislike, and why; and what could it do, and why?

What ideas do we have for alternative MMO universes, on any level: in terms of game mechanics, programming possibilities, platform choices, storylines, characters.

What other game systems shape our thought on the subject of life, the universe and MMOs: pen n' paper RPG systems we've grown up with, explored later in life, or hated? Scrabble? Tic Tac Toe? How has Pong shaped your life? How did playing Space Invaders on the TRS-80 my dad built shape mine?

What is it like to be a member of the first generation to have grown up playing videogames? What kinds of memories do you harbor of videogame fun--did you beat Mario Bros? Did you beat Donkey Kong? How odd is it to see Donkey Kong touted as a titanic cultural icon 30 years after we experienced his low-res roots?

Please post your own questions about your use of, interest in, fear of, etc. the virtual world. I hope that we will find ways to get Meta on this material's ass.