While most actions people take in the flesh are ephemeral – performed fleetingly, and unmarked – MMOGs and virtual environments keep that data as a rule, usually most or all of it.

Three social researchers from the University of Michigan obtained data from Linden Lab about the possession and acquisition of 'gestures' (preprogrammed sequences of text, avatar animations and/or audio) and data about account creation dates and friends-lists, and studied how gestures passed from user to user.

As we look back at the past several years of the MMO scene, we see a genre that has gone through significant evolutionary leaps. With those pioneering days of text MUDs and blocky graphics behind us, today we enjoy professionally developed games with impressive development teams and massive budgets behind them. The genre's depths have been thoroughly explored and we've even categorised the features we've come to love and expect from our favourite online retreats. Every part of the genre, from the types of gameplay available to the terminology we use, has been routinely evolving and redefining itself over time.

With professional MMO development soaring and a whole new generation of promising titles on the way, we stand on the cusp of what could be the next big evolutionary leap for online gaming. In the coming weeks and months, Massively will be examining how the MMO genre has been redefined during the current generation of games and where it's headed in the next. If you have something important to say on the topic, feel free to post a comment on page 2 or even write your own "Redefining MMOs" blog post and leave a comment with the URL.

In this introductory article, I ask why we use the terminology we do when talking about MMOs and if perhaps it's starting to change.

In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the development budgets of new MMOs. To stay ahead of the technological curve, a large portion of the budget invariably goes toward the graphics department. Studios produce impressive graphics engines and mountains of art assets in an effort to make their game one of the most visually impressive out there. Amidst all the fuss over graphics and gameplay, audio is often overlooked and underfunded. It's been shown that good music and sound effects can have a significant impact on the perceived quality of a game. This is something that some development studios recognise and support but many continue to neglect this vital part of the gaming experience.

In this article, I examine the importance of good audio in an MMO and explain the underlying psychology involved.

From movies and books to computer games, the concept of the sequel is firmly embedded in the entertainment industry. It's usually a much safer bet to make a new part to an existing successful intellectual property than it is to back an untested product. In the games industry, sequels are a great way to make more money from the same game concept but as usual MMOs have proven to be something of a different animal. Subscription MMOs don't conform to the same rules as non-subscription games, favouring recurring orders and longer-term customer commitment over single purchases. While development studios often take sequels for granted, I'm forced to ask whether MMOs should have sequels at all or if a different paradigm is more appropriate.

In this article, I explore the games industry's obsession with repetition as I ask the question "Should MMOs have sequels?"

By Sanya Weathers for GamerDNA

When you're the market leader in MMO games, you can afford to do a little innovating – though not so much as to disturb or ruffle the customers you've already acquired. When you're making a top drawer MMO with thirty million dollars of other people's money, you can't afford to innovate. Refinements, sure. But no big risks.

So where's the innovation? These days, you see it in the free to play genre, and its close cousin, the "freemium" game. Both of these games make their money from microtransactions. In order to get a customer to fork over a microtransaction, these games require customers that are vested into the world.

But free to play means the player has invested nothing but the time spent downloading the product. And there's a perception among some industry professionals that "easy come, easy go."

It feels like a new MMO is being released every month these days and the market for persistent online games is certainly expanding. At the head of this market is a set of games commonly referred to "triple A" titles. These are popular games from big name studios or games using popular intellectual properties. New games that are considered "triple A" have a unique ability to build unparalleled levels of anticipation and hype around themselves prior to release. In order to draw in as many players as possible, an obscene amount of cash is often spent on advertising to hype these games up for release. But is this appropriate and cost-effective or does it show a fundamental misunderstanding of of the MMO market?

In this article, we look at what can go wrong with over-hyped MMO launches and what happens when the subscriber bubble bursts.

Constance Steinkuehler is an educational researcher studying massively multiplayer online games from a learning sciences and new literacy studies perspective and an assistant professor at the University of Winsconsin-Madison. She teaches courses on virtual worlds, research methods and, as she says on her blog, the "smart" side of popular culture. Steinkuehler has announced that she's got the Nation Academy of Education / Spencer Post-Doctorial Fellowship to do a cognitive ethnography on RuneScape. The study aims to show the educational merit of games designed for and played by youths instead of adults, which is what is typically studied, and to examine the impact of gameplay on their everyday lives, social relationships and school work.

Cognitive ethnography is used to study the processes that effect the work carried out within a setting, whilst noting the effect of the material world and social context of the actions and social practices carried out. To put it in a simpler way, it studies how the social norms and social structures are created for a group of people who share a common culture, in this case RuneScape players.

You can read her proposal abstract over at her blog.

Every gamer, at some point, has been called a noob. It's almost a rite of passage and it's not unique to MMOs either. Indeed such is the power of this simple word, which is short for newbie, that it could well become the millionth word in the English language.

MSN are reporting that the Global Language Monitor (we've never heard of them either) have predicted that at the rate the English language is growing, the millionth word will arrive at approximately 10:22am British Summer Time on June 10th. How they can be this exact we don't know but various British newspapers, including tabloids like The Sun, to more reputable papers like The Independent, have decided that word is going to be 'noob'. Personally I was hoping for a brand new word rather than one that's been around for so long but we shall see.

This begs the question: how do you review an MMO? It's not like any other kind of game; there's no beginning, middle and end, just a beginning and an endless middle. Added to that, while video games are without a doubt mainstream, MMOs are a lot more niche. But Lesley, I hear you cry, how can games like Guild Wars and World of Warcraft with seventeen million players between them, be called niche?

It's not the first time we've heard that MMO gamers might be a force in the workplace, but the American Society of Training and Development's webzine, Training + Development, has added to the viability of the MMO gamer in the workforce.

Their article, "Slash, Burn, and Learn", focuses on how MMOs closely mimic team building exercises through their game design. Players are encouraged to progress through the game by solving challenges, only to be presented with harder challenges to solve as the game continues onwards. Certainly rewards provide incentive to keep plugging away at hard challenges, but players also learn how to manage personnel and look for diversity in the team to make sure all aspects of combat are accounted for. Players even submit to optional performance reviews just to see how much they've improved over time.

The article provides an interesting read and shows many of the parallels between raid management and workplace skills. While not every MMO player will gain all of these benefits, it is amusing to see how much our games sometimes parallel our lives in more ways than one.

What better people to sponsor a robotics competition than those making a futuristic sci-fi game? Hi-Rez Studios is exploring that opportunity at the 2009 FIRST Robotics Competition national championships held at the Georgia Dome on April 17th and 18th. This competition is designed to help high-school-aged kids discover the fun of engineering and research. Hi-Rez Studios' sponsored team, called Team 1771: The Global Agenda Gamers of suburban Atlanta's North Gwinnett High School, are featuring a robot named The Black Widow which has taken highest honors at the South Carolina "Palmetto" Regional Event at Clemson University.

"Game development requires the same combination of creativity and engineering that is being demonstrated by these students", says Todd Harris, executive producer of Global Agenda, "It seemed particularly fitting to support Team 1771 in this highly competitive sport that, like our game Global Agenda, puts a strong emphasis on team work and use of advanced technology" The team's faculty advisor, Mike Reilly, expanded upon this point, "I feel that a partnership with Hi-Rez is inspirational to our students, and is a great example of return on investment to both the school and local industry."

Mister Smith isn't at all well. During his stay he will be seen by many medical students. Unfortunately, he isn't going to get any better. Mister Smith occupies the respiratory ward in the Imperial College London, in Second Life. Available to students 24 hours per day, seven days per week, Mister Smith wheezes on command, and a variety of tests can be scheduled on him.

It's all a part of the College's exploration of new ways of teaching. Mister Smith's case is mostly procedural. It's not only important to obtain the diagnosis, but to follow proper procedure -- a vital part of avoiding error in modern medicine. The simulator enforces proper procedure.

If you're one of the ladies currently in grad school pursuing your dreams of getting into the gaming industry, then this is definitely something you want to know about. Applications are now open for Sony Online Entertainment's 2009 G.I.R.L. scholarships. The one lucky (and talented) entrant will score the ultimate prize; $10,000 for their tuition and expenses for attending college, and may additionally be offered an up-to-10 week paid internship at SOE to work on Free Realms.

"There are a significant number of women who are gamers, but not enough working in the video game field," said Torrie Dorrell, Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing for SOE. "With the application process starting today, we're taking a concrete step toward opening the door a little wider for women who want to go into game development."

So if games designing is something that really drives your interests and you think you've got what it takes, head over to the official G.I.R.L. scholarship site and check out all the details. Good luck to all who decide to enter! Hopefully we'll get a chance to work with you on one of your future game projects.