Virtual Worlds

1. Virtual Worlds

2. Contents • Intro • Second Life • Popularity of MMOGs • World of Warcraft • Are we in a virtual world? • Cover picture is from www.globalkids.org/?id=30

3. Introduction • A virtual world (VW) is a computer-based environment in which its users interact via avatars. • For this course we are interested in VWs supported on the internet, so these are typically multiuser. • These worlds are classified according to: • Are they like the real world, e.g. conference calls vs fantasy. • Are they massively multiplayer? • What is their purpose? Education, entertainment, business, etc. • Within entertainment, are they violent? • Which of you has used a virtual world?

4. Second Life • Let's first look at SL for a moment. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2yGqDecBzs • Never have a bad hair day, successful virtual entrepeneur • The Math Department has an estate in SL called Portland Connection. • Have any of you used SL? For what? • How would you classify SL? • Is it a game? • Real world vs fantasy? • Massively multiplayer? • Violent? • What is its purpose? Education, entertainment, business, etc.

5. Popularity of MMOGs

6. World of Warcraft (WoW) • The preceding graph was from www.mmogchart.com • WoW has over 10 million customers, who pay approximately $15/month to play. • In contrast, SL (free) had 1.4 million unique users log in during the last 2 months tinyurl.com/n4gkbd . • What is so seductive about VWs? • Let's watch Second Skin to get a partial answer to this question.

7. Are we in a virtual world? • http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/254?in=47:20&out=