Academics study the avatar life and like what they see - The Denver Post

via denverpost.com

Anthropologists are turning to MMPORG's as 'self-contained, programmed space[s] for data mining.'

Interesting article - pretty clear echoes of the work of Jane McGonigal, particularly in the question of how to harness gamer enthusiasm to difficult problems. One researcher, Rosa Mikeal Martey, an assistant professor of communication at CSU,
received $400,000 in funding to study Second Life. Martey's research findings show that players carry their 'real-world baggage' into the game environment, which the writer of this article presents as surprising.

Really? Surprising? I not surprised at all.

Posted via email from Siobhan O'Flynn's 1001 Tales