Massively^™

Back in August, we talked about what we felt was an inevitability. A Second Life grid devoted to corporations and business collaboration, online 3D meetings and so forth. We figured that the agent-domain system that allows inter-grid teleportation would be a supporting factor in this effort. Also, earlier this week that the growing-yet-eternally-saturated Second Life economy would cause Linden Lab to announce a new revenue stream some day soon.

That day is today. All these things, it seems, may have now come to pass.

Rivers Run Red and Linden Lab (after a bit of a shaky time with their initial announcements for Immersive Workspaces 1.0), have launched Immersive Workspaces 2.0. The clean, sanitized, and focused leveraging of Second Life for your corporate collaboration needs.

Superstruct is the world's first massively multiplayer forecasting game. What does this mean? As a player of this alternate reality game, you envision your life as it would be in 2019 and collaborate with other players to come up with innovative solutions to global 'superthreats'. These superthreats may bring us to a tipping point that determines whether the human race either solves its looming problems and continues existence, or society collapses under the weight of its troubles.

The excellent sci-fi centric io9 has an interview with futurist Jamais Cascio, a member of the Superstruct game design team. Cascio discusses his work on "21st Century Ideas" (essentially a toolkit of solutions to the game's superthreats), the influence of Children of Men on the game and its setting, and some of the innovative creations he's seen from players in the relatively short time since the game launched. It's definitely worth a read if you're interested in a game grounded in futurist speculation. If this piques your interest in Superstruct, don't wait to find out more -- the game will only run for another 5 weeks. Be sure to check out Massively's primer on Superstruct to help you get started, as well as Jane McGonigal's Avant Game blog for more info about the game.

The Child's Play charity, brainchild of the Penny Arcade creators, is a community-based children's charity that benefits from generosity within the game industry -- both from the companies that make games, and the gamers themselves. Child's Play aims to help sick children, both in North America and abroad, and to that end has raised over $2 million worth of donations. Their official site paints an encouraging picture of the kind of positive change they're effecting in the lives of children, and how you -- as gamers -- can get involved.

The other half of the success story of Child's Play is the involvement of the game companies, themselves. CCP Games, the creators of sci-fi MMO EVE Online, is continuing its past support of Child's Play in conjunction with EVE Fanfest 2008. The main item to bid on is a private tour of CCP's Reykjavik HQ, where the highest Child's Play bidder will get to see how the game is run, and will get to meet the staff that keeps New Eden alive. See CCP's announcement and the 2008 silent auction page for the full details about how you can get the guided tour while benefitting sick children. It's a win-win situation for any EVE fan with deep pockets. Bidding in the CCP-Child's Play silent auction starts at $1000 (USD), with bidding already open as of today. Bidding ends October 22, and of course multiple (increasing) bids are possible and encouraged. The tour itself will be given to the highest bidder on November 5th, in advance of EVE Fanfest 2008. However, the charity auction isn't limited to the Reykjavik HQ tour. Additional items will be auctioned off for Child's Play during Fanfest, and will be given to the highest contributors on the spot.

What's this? An article on a mainstream news site proclaiming that gaming will not turn our children into mini Charles Mansons? It's true! According to a story published at MSNBC, the Pew Internet & American Life Project is discovering that online games are positively affecting our children's civic experiences. The research doesn't simply track how much time kids are spending in social games, but it's delving into what the children are doing with that time.

"Video games can provide hands-on learning opportunities for kids that can be much more meaningful than reading a textbook," this article states. It goes on to make an interesting analysis of social interaction in our favorite online games, "Helping a newbie get his sea legs in a game simulates the real-world experience of volunteering. And playing games online can expose kids to people with worldviews that differ from their own - in positive and negative ways."

The promise of what virtual spaces can bring us is significant -- erasing geographic limitations on interaction with others while fostering an exchange of cultures, beliefs, and languages. To this high-minded end, millions of dollars have been spent and many thousands of hours of work have been invested into creating rich graphical settings coupled with immersive environmental soundscapes. Crisp digital communication at its finest, right?

Much like the promise of the the eradication of artificial barriers to meaningful communication through the Internet, virtual worlds and online spaces in general have fallen short of expectations. It's generally not the fault of the companies or the service providers though. The fault lies with us, the users.

People are getting excited about Sony Online Entertainment's (SOE) upcoming Free Realms. Some think it's going to be 'the next big thing' while others remain skeptical that Free Realms will appeal to gamer demographics outside of parents and young children. It's way too soon to judge how well Free Realms will catch on, but the video previews being released of late show off what looks to be a very polished game experience.

The latest Free Realms footage comes from Eurogamer, who've gotten their hands on 10 minutes of walkthrough video. The walkthrough shows how you can change classes at will, either because you simply feel like it or to better suit the task you're trying to complete. The video shows the system of leveling up wearables, and how combat isn't needed to level at all; there are always other options available to suit different ages and playstyles. If you've been looking for a different kind of casual MMO, you may want to have a look at Eurogamer's walkthrough of Free Realms.

It's always good to keep things in perspective, right? These game are, after all, not the end-all-be-all of existence. They're fun social tools, wonderful hobbies, and can even be engaging stories in and of themselves. But they're not everything. So in that frame of mind, we ask: are you playing too much? We know that we certainly play a bit too much sometimes, and wanted to touch base with you.

Maybe you're not even playing too much - maybe you're just following upcoming releases too closely. Are you constantly refreshing WoW Insider to get that Lich King news? Or are waiting with bated breath for Warhammer Online? Why not sound off here, and admit that maybe (possibly) it might be worth it to take a little step back? Are you playing too much?

Frogster, noted European and Asian MMO publisher, has released a flying voidship-load of information about their upcoming MMOs for the European market.

Long awaited fantasy MMO The Chronicles of Spellborn is still due out late this year, with open beta to begin in October. We've been following this game closely for some time, but it looks like the rumored US publisher (given their prior relationship, perhaps Aeria Games) is not yet ready to announce North American release dates for the game. The World of Warcraft-ish Asian Import Runes of Magic, newly rescored and tuned toward Western tastes, will enter closed beta in September, for a European release about two months later. Isometric pet-raising, caveman-themed MMO StoneAge 2, already in open beta in North America, will be entering European closed beta in August ahead of a fall release. Next week, Frogster will release more information on its latest MMO, soccer-themed Kickster (formerly Kick Off). And they want us to keep an eye out for an expansion to the Bounty Bay Online pirate MMO.

Assuming you live in Europe, which ones should you particularly keep your eye on? If you bought a Gameboy just to play Pokemon, you might really enjoy StoneAge 2. If a subscription fee is keeping you from playing World of Warcraft, Runes of Magic might just be different enough to get you interested, and it will be free to play. If you liked Age of Conan's innovative combat system but couldn't get into the world of Hyboria, Spellborn's unique setting and combat system combined with its lush visuals might sell you.

Check out screenshots from each of these games in the gallery below.

"There's a misconception among MMOs," says Realtime Worlds' Colin Macdonald, "that they don't need to look as good as other games." Macdonald, studio manager for the developers of upcoming street-crime MMO APB (All Points Bulletin), was speaking about the general state of MMOs at the GameHorizon conference in Newcastle, England. "We think that when people look at a screenshot of APB, they won't think 'it's not so good, it must be an online game' -- they won't know."

While we definitely agree that APB is turning out to be an excellent looking game, we thought that World of Warcraft and EverQuest II had settled the 'no compromise, great looking game' issue ages ago. Modern releases like the oft-maligned Vanguard and more recent titles such as Lord of the Rings Online, Pirates of the Burning Sea and Age of Conan have spared no effort in making sure their games are as graphically luscious as possible.

Mr. Macdonald, it's great that you're proud of APB's graphics, be real. Modern MMOs are every bit as graphically gorgeous as single player games.

If keeping just one computer running and up-to-date is a hassle, imagine keeping six to seven thousand of them going, 24/7, with any unexpected downtime sure to draw the anger of extremely vocal gamers. That's the challenge faced every day by SOE's Director of Technology Operations, Mark Rizzo. Rizzo cut his teeth running the back-end for MMO legend Ultima Online. Back then, he and his team were building things by hand and learning as they went. Now, things are a lot more complicated. With eight games already and more coming online all the time, handling all the users and simultaneous transactions is more like working in the data center for a stock exchange rather than your typical web-hosting service.

Says Rizzo, "We did an April Fools' prank in one of the games and we had to have some server code updated to pull the prank off. Change management allowed us to know who approved it, and know where it's from, and where it's going." It's said that if you like sausage or law, you should never see it being made. This peek behind the curtain at the code and hardware that keeps swords flashing and spells weaving just deepens our appreciation of this difficult task.

[Via Slashdot]

As has become tradition for this blogger, every year on Memorial Day (aka 'the birthday') weekend, lots of people from our guild like to get together and party down. There are friendships in our guild that span many years and almost as many games. Of course, beyond just discussing whatever is going on in MMOGspace, there's lots of good food, beer, and geekery to be had for everyone!

Since this is the perfect weekend for getting together with friends and family here in the States, we thought that we'd ask you -- do you ever have guild parties in meatspace? Are there any particular times of the year that you and your guild-mates like to get together, like at a convention or fan faire? Or is your guild a strictly online-only guild?

Who'd win in a cage match between SOE's upcoming MMOs, spy-themed The Agency and family-friendly Free Realms? On one side, you have all the guns, explosives, and "M"-ratings. On the other side, you have cartoon-inspired graphics, Real Money Trading, and loads of fun from-7-to-70 minigames. And right in the middle of them both, there'd be John "Smed" Smedley keeping score. These are the kinds of things that come to mind while reading the latest interview with Smed. He talks, again, about the new MMOs and the innovations they bring to the genre, in a pleasantly relaxed tone. Absent are mad, loud proclamations to Funcom, EA Mythic and Blizzard describing how, in great detail SOE MMOs will KICK THEIR MMO'S BUTT.

He may not see his games in direct competition with the others, but players do. They want to know HOW the games will kick butt, WHERE they will do it, how PAINFUL it will be, and where they can get a front row seat. In this ION interview, Smed talks about how children who play Free Realms can be given an allowance in the game to limit the amount they spend on in-game goods. If you get your friends to try Free Realms, hey, you can find some shiny nickels in your account to perhaps buy that lovely outfit you've been eying. With The Agency, on the other hand, you want boom? They will have boom. You want bleed? Bleed will happen. SOE is committed to getting an "M" rating for the game, even if they need to have an NPC cuss to do it. We want passion and we get bullet points. We want butt-kicking and get fireside chats. Smed, please tell us how The Agency is going to slam Age of Conan to the ground. Tell us how Free Realms will make players around the world go "Maple What?". We want to believe!

Can you truly be held responsible for something you've done in a virtual world? Should the implications of your actions carry over to "the other side"? If so, then to what extent? This has been a daunting subject, even since the days of Tron, but a recent book by Jacob van Kokswijk entitled "Digital Ego" addresses this very issue.

The comparison of the virtual identity to our real-life identity is becoming of ever-increasing importance. This not only pertains to consequences and responsibilities in both realms, but also economic factors such as an advertising target audience. Will this trend continue to grow as the casual virtual world blossoms, and we begin to blur the line between a physical and virtual existence? Let us know your opinion.

Our characters spring forth, fully-formed, after just a few clicks, a few deft keystrokes (we're not doing anything so archaic as rolling dice anymore, are we?). They stride into their world built to face down epic challenges, confront any adversary, and never, ever break a sweat. They are engines of pure utility, supremely crafted to take on whatever they encounter and emerge victorious.

Min-Maxing (Min-Max or Min/Max) is the road of ultimate optimization. Allocating every available resource, from racial traits and alignment to equipment selection, to the pursuit of fitness to a specific purpose. This sort of focus and dedication serves our digital minions well, and by extension makes our play more fruitful.

There are plenty of folks on both sides of the argument as to whether Min/Max is a good thing. That's a conversation for another time in this space, though. No, today we're taking a step outside of the myriad virtual spaces where we spend time smiting our foes, fragging our friends, and considering what this would be like out here in the messy organic world.

Would you ever want to meet these characters? They'd be insufferable. Look at this guy -- can you imagine what life would be like for his tailor?

Let's take a few minutes to speak with a Max Mynn and his wife Mindy, to see what it's like for them.

With the advent of the next generation of social networking MMOs on the rise, and the retirement announcement of Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom, we can't help but wonder what is the real definition of an MMO these days? Where is online gaming headed, and what is there a real demand for anymore?

After VMK's closing announcement last week, users let it be known that they were not happy with Disney's decision. As we reported yesterday, there were several comments concerning the fact that taking down this virtual world was like taking down their real world. Many of them were not only fiery and disparaging, but the retorts to these comments were even more dramatic. Yes, this happened on the internet! Can you believe it? The fact is, this makes us wonder if we're approaching dangerous ground with the immersion factor of these virtual worlds, especially as they pertain to our children and their interpretation of the world. The real world, that is.