There are always going to be times when, due to real life commitments, you can't play your favourite MMO, whether it's a month of exams or an important week at work. I started playing WoW in November 2006 and was on the cusp of getting the game when my first month ran out and I had to fly back to Norfolk from Exeter for Christmas. My mother doesn't have broadband and is a little scared by technology (it's taken me two years to show her how to use a DVD player) so I didn't bother bringing my laptop. This meant over a month without the internet or WoW. It was during this time that I realised how much the game had gotten its claws into me. When I got back, a couple of days before The Burning Crusade was released, I re-rolled to my current main and haven't looked back since.

During that month I started to take an interest in the game. I hit the library and devoured WoWWiki, I researched the lore of my chosen class and that of Azeroth itself. Then I started reading the novels and finally, I was reduced to watching YouTube videos to get a better idea of how the game had evolved as well as a peek at the endgame. So, constant readers, let's say something in real life has meant you can't play your MMO of choice for a couple of weeks, how do you cope? Do you do something totally different? Do you use other media about said MMO (like YouTube or novels) to get your fix?

Irony is a weird thing. Here's an example: since becoming a journalist some four years ago I've had less time to read manga, watch anime and play games (oddly all things I do as part of my job). Here's another one: since joining Massively and WoW.com, my time playing WoW has dropped to just a couple of hours a week. Weird huh? It's something I'm trying to change but enjoying a raid is a bit hard when a voice in my head is whispering about news and European maintenance posts.

So readers, you work, you play, you go to school, you study and you obviously also love MMOs (or you wouldn't be reading this post, right?). How do you balance your real life with your virtual one? Does your MMO of choice have to wait till your chores/homework/research is done? Would you rather get your fix before dinner or are you up at the crack of dawn before work to do those all-important dailies?

Tokyo startup Genkii has released a new text communication app for the iPhone and iPod Touch, called Sparkle IM that allows messaging with Second Life (and opensim style) virtual environments. Essentially the application appears to be a lightweight viewer application not unlike SLeek (currently on hold, development-wise), AjaxLife, and similar, in that it essentially logs your avatar in, and gives you a non-graphical interface to communicate with others.

Genkii are also working on a lightweight graphical 3D environment for the iPhone, also part of the Sparkle umbrella brand, called (rather simply) Sparkle 3D, that may in future be integrated with other virtual environments.

Sparkle IM is priced variously, depending on where you are, but at about 4-5 dollars (for the special, introductory price) might be a little expensive compared to many of your existing apps.

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	Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.

This weekend, several local friends and I have been hosting a number of our real-life guild-mates. (We locals are all guilded together with the exception of one or two of us who have left that particular MMO and moved on.) Originally, it was just to be one or two people, but grew in size until we were a pretty solid rolling force when we decided to head out and catch Watchmen - first for some, second for others. That said, we've been friends for years, traveling to each other's weddings, parties, and all the rest - but most of us met via MMO. This morning we thought we'd ask you - have you ever traveled just to hang out with your MMO friends in real-life? Do you guys make travel plans to take vacations together (like say, a cruise) like some of our group does? Or is it something you really wouldn't ever do, short of seeing them at a convention or meetup for your favorite game that you might attend?

The online broadcast network VBS is showing a three-part video series on the life and times of (computer) RPG pioneer Richard Garriott. The footage explores his first steps into the world of video game design, explaining how the moniker "Lord British" became synonymous with Garriott.

The videos also give a look into what someone can do once they can afford any toy their heart desires, and chronicles a bit of the latest direction Garriott is taking his life -- into space. The short series is a revealing peek into the life of a significant figure in the games industry. We've got the video embeds for you below the cut, but for more background you might want to check out the accompanying info over at VBS.TV.

Rivers Run Red announced a new extension for their Immersive Workspaces enterprise-class virtual environment collaboration solution. Immersive Planograms is a 2D/3D planning solution giving brands the ability to plan and design effective product displays and store layouts using virtual world technology. With Immersive Planograms, Rivers Run Red presents brands and retailers with a persistent 3D environment they can easily design and manage through a web control system.

Corporate blurb aside, Immersive Planograms is actually a very cool concept that is implemented in a very clever way. Essentially a Web-based schematic can be manipulated to reflect a store layout or a warehouse floor-plan or a variety of other designs, and the manipulations of the 2D schematic are reflected in the virtual environment.

Knowing the Second Life environment as well as we do, we were actually pretty impressed with the simplicity and sheer ease of integration between the Web-control and the virtual environment.

Unlike the April Fool's joke from Blizzard in 2006, this time there really is a World of Warcraft-themed restaurant open for business in Beijing. The venue boasts a Dark Portal entrance, full wall prints of WoW scenes, an enormous screen that shows action from the game, a tree in the center reminiscent of Raynewood Retreat, and what appears to be the ability to log in from your table.

From the sounds of things you may not be able to order Delicious Chocolate Cake (after all, the cake is a lie), but maybe Gadgetzan Gado-gado or Murloc Mince Pie are on the menu. So if you're in the Beijing area and looking for a great place to host your next guild meeting, check it out and let us know how the food is.

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.