Massively^™

Sure, we've got Second Skin coming up, but if you can't wait that long, here's a well-produced, nicely narrated audio documentary about the mechanisms of MMO relationships. It was created by a student from Central Michigan University's School of Broadcast & Cinematic Arts named Nathan Bender.

For a change, this documentary focuses on Final Fantasy XI, rather than World of Warcraft. It provides a great deal of insight into how players interact with each other, and an insider's perspective on what it's like to enter a larger social world than previously experienced. Running under 30 minutes, it's well worth your time and may have you nodding in recognition.

[Thanks, Fusionx!]

Here at Massively, we've been anxiously awaiting for Second Skin. One of my personal friends, Nexeus Fatale, was a subject in this documentary about MMOs and I've been hearing about it for at least a year. The wait finally appears to be over as they are hoping to premiere it at SXSW in March. However, Pure West released a trailer today to whet our appetite!

The trailer itself mainly focuses on World of Warcraft players as they fall in love, develop gaming addictions, and as they work together in guilds. However, I did spot two scenes with Nexeus and a short blurb from Tony Walsh, of Clickable Culture. They represent the Second Life aspect of the film, which was sadly neglected in the trailer. If you enjoyed the preview, you can check out the hi-res versions on their site.

Ten Ton Hammer has posted part 1 of their great Q&A with the folks at Pure West Documentaries, the company behind Second Skin. What is Second Skin? A documentary film about us... the players of the very subject matter you come to Massively to read about. It's a film that tells the tale of real-life players - your co-workers, your wife, boss, or even the girl next door - living within the virtual worlds of MMOs as someone - or some thing - else.

The interview asks a lot of very interesting questions and is absolutely worth the time to read. The film has been in the making for two years and was just recently finished. It's due to make it's debut at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March 2008. This is not a shockumentary or a slam film. The guys at Pure West are, like us, gamers who set out to put together a film that walks the tight rope between showing both the negative (of which we hear about all too often) and positive (which we hardly ever hear about) sides of this growing phenomena.

Peter Schieffelin Brauer, producer of the film says: Certainly we hear a lot about the negative aspects. But I think one thing we found was really important was to really give both sides a voice. Of course, I'm a gamer, I care about the gamer's voice a lot more, but if I don't come out and acknowledge the other side, no one's going to listen to me.

This statement in and of itself speaks to the legitimacy of the filmmakers. I know I'll be buying a ticket when this film hits my local metroplex.